It’s music industry conference season again, with Music Biz and The Great Escape taking place this week, and Brighton Music Conference following close behind. Later in the year, events like Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg and Indie Week in New York are on the horizon, all offering panels, workshops and showcases for a global crowd.
Hopefully this year will see more fresh voices take the stage. So here are some practical tips I’ve put together to help first-time speakers prepare, show up with confidence, and make their contribution count.
The current push to increase diversity across our industry will, I hope, mean that it won’t be the same old faces on the circuit. New people will hopefully come along with fresh, contemporary perspectives and ideas.
But having fresh ideas and up-to-date experiences doesn’t automatically mean you’re used to panels or other public appearances. As part of doing my bit to support diversity, I’m sharing some practical tips on how to prepare and succeed in your first few panel or speaking engagements.
Like any skill, it’s extremely rare for someone to be born able to speak confidently and engagingly to a room full of people. It takes practice. But I’m not seeing much practical help out there from our colleagues in music to support people starting out as panellists or speakers, and helping them do a really good job.
So here are some tips from my experience. I definitely wasn’t a natural public speaker. I still don’t consider myself a natural public speaker. But I’ve definitely got much better at it, and more importantly, totally comfortable with it over the last few years.
It’s now a core part of what I do professionally. In addition to my legal and business affairs work, I run training workshops, seminars and offer individual coaching. This has become a central part of PTR Strategic’s client offering. A big part of that is speaking to groups clearly and effectively.
I can clearly remember the first few times I had to do all the talking in various meetings and training sessions. I quickly went on to doing a lot of conference speaking as a panellist. It wasn’t long before I was chairing sessions myself.
Here are a few things I’ve learned over the last decade. If you’re new to this sort of thing, I hope this helps you. Let me know your experiences and thoughts. It would be great to develop these tips into an updated resource that anyone can use.
And before we dig into the details: good luck, and see you on a panel line-up sometime soon!
Ask the organiser if they can support you with training or preparation. If they’re serious about increasing diversity, they’ll be happy to do this. It’s a virtuous circle. They do their bit by inviting underrepresented speakers, and you get the opportunity to take part and share your views.
Don’t forget it works both ways. The organiser also benefits by demonstrating their commitment to inclusion, attracting sponsors, audiences and media attention. They should be more than willing to help you feel welcome, comfortable and ready to deliver a great session.
How can you be underrepresented and therefore not yet experienced in speaking, but simultaneously expected to fly solo? That tension needs resolving.
If the organiser won’t help, let me know. I can either help you get your point across, or give you some support myself.
2. Be prepared
Jot down the main points you want to raise. Do this well in advance of the session. Make a few mental notes. Practise a few statements out loud. It will make things much easier on the day, especially if you’re feeling nervous (see point 5).
3. Help the moderator
It may seem like they’ve been doing this sort of thing all their life, but we were all learners and totally new to this once. It’s their job to keep the session flowing smoothly, not running over time and staying on point. I have developed a checklist for moderating panels effectively which I’m very happy to share. Check that out and grab some insights from the moderator’s perspective!
If you’ve been asked to moderate a session and you could use a few pointers, congratulations – you’ve earned the trust and respect of your peers to take this role.
4. Turn up!
Yes, people sometimes don’t turn up. I was moderating a panel in New York once where one of the main people in my session didn’t turn up. It was a panel of three, including me as chair. This reduced by one third the amount of material we were looking to cover in the one hour slot we had. So it fell to the rest of us to fill the 20 minutes or so that the other panellist would have had.
In the end it was all fine. It allowed for more in-depth exploration of the topics the other two panellists were talking about. But it still created additional work for the rest of us. If you really can’t make it on the day for some reason, at least let the organisers or fellow panellists know.
If you are on the programme, you are one of the reasons people will attend.
5. It’s ok to be nervous
There are some standard and very effective ways to deal with nerves.
Be prepared. Use the microphone. Speak up. Keep your contributions short and to the point. Don’t ramble.
6. Meet your fellow speakers ahead of time
Your moderator should have made contact well in advance. They should have explained the format, timings etc usually by email in advance. Engage in that conversation. Check out who your colleagues are, what they do, and say hello to them.
On the day, make sure you meet your colleagues well before the session starts (on-site or online). Arriving immediately before the start isn’t maybe as bad as being late (or not showing up at all!), but it can be annoying for the others, and misses an opportunity to set the scene before sharing your insights with others.
7. You’re there for you, but also for others (and they’re on your side)
So you’re not a super high profile figure. This doesn’t matter – think about it: how could you be both “known” and “new”? Rarely do people turn up to see speakers at industry conferences for the ‘love’ experience of seeing their industry heroes/heroines in action (is there even such a thing?!).
Panel audiences are there to absorb knowledge, insight and experience from their peers just as much as their heroes. Sharing common experience is a good way to learn, make new contacts and keep up with a fast changing industry.
You are there because you have experience and insights to share. People in the audience may not know you as an individual, but they will know you have insights they will learn from, and knowledge, tips and other things they will want to apply in their worlds. Remember that people are there for what you have to say about your own experience, so they can apply it to theirs.
8. Don’t worry about anything other than what you have to say.
Don’t worry if there aren’t many people in the room. It’s still a great opportunity. You can still get a lot out of it!
9. Keep in touch
Keep in touch with your fellow panellists. You’ve shared an important experience together. They should be more than happy to connect with you on LinkedIn at the very least. Give them your contact details, via the panel chair or organisation if you’d prefer. Mention the session on your blog and socials that you did the session. Point out some highlights, and link it back to your regular work.
This can be a fantastic way to position yourself and your skillset in a meaningful professional context. Hopefully you’ll chat to a few folks after your session. Take their details, and initiate contact if they’re likely to be useful contacts for the future. One big tip is to offer your time as part of any follow up, rather than focussing on how they can help you.
10. Do your own bit for diversity.
Pay it forward! Check with the event organisers that they are doing some basic things to move towards a more fair and inclusive industry.
Is there minority/underrep balance in their programming? Are their panels/presenters/contributors balanced and reasonably ‘fair’ in terms of opportunity and representation? Is your session balanced? You shouldn’t be the token under-rep person on the panel, least of all in the wider conference programme!
If nothing else, get the organiser to confirm that the event is accessible. If it’s an on-site physical meeting or conference, is it wheelchair friendly? Public transport? Signing, interpretation?
If it’s an online session: are there captions, does it work with audio only? If you want to get really proactive, tell the organiser you won’t participate until at least one or other of your questions/requests are answered positively.