News

When reviewing proposals for talks and workshops, we have some things we look out for.

• Focused ideas that are clearly and persuasively expressed in the summary pitch.
• Topics based on demonstrable, practical experience.
• New and interesting insights beyond what we all discover in our first couple of years working.
• Enough detail for us to get a clear idea of the presentation narrative and objectives.

How to create a winning proposal

We read a lot of proposals for our conferences and based on successful submissions, here’s our top tips for a winning proposal.

Present from experience

UX Australia conferences are about sharing knowledge, insights and practices among UX professionals. As such, we look for presentations that are grounded in lived experience. We favour ideas that come from direct experience and a deep working understanding. 

For this community, it isn’t enough to share principles or methods, our audience is looking for applied knowledge and stories about what happens when principles and methods are used in real scenarios. 

Develop a sharp, concrete summary pitch

The summary pitch clearly distills the main idea, sets objectives, describes the premise and intrigues readers enough to want to know more. It is also what conference attendees read about your talk on the website. 

The pitch is the foundation and core truth of your talk. Hone it, shape it, whittle it, and condense it until it is crystal clear. Doing this will help you communicate to us exactly what you want to say and why.

A clear and refined pitch tells us you know your stuff, without the fluff.

Provide enough detail in the description

A detailed talk description supports the summary and helps us more fully assess your proposal. 

We’re looking for evidence of your first-hand experience with the topic, why you think it’s important, what you plan to talk about and what the audience “gets” from your talk. If you don’t provide enough detail, we won’t be able to properly review your idea and may reject your submission for being too vague.

Here’s what you might include in the description:

• Why you think your talk is unique or takes a different angle on the topic.
• Where your idea came from or what inspired you.
• Why you are qualified/uniquely positioned to give the talk.
• Outline of case studies, experiences, practices or examples you intend to share.
• List of insights or lessons learned and where they came from.
• Practical objectives for the talk, including what you want audience members to think or do.

Write the title last

The most effective talk titles clearly describe the talk content without unnecessary click-baity mystery or overly clever puns. It can help to write the title last.

Feel free to be imaginative, just not at the expense of clarity.

Proposal mistakes to avoid

Here’s some things we’ve seen in proposals that lessen their effectiveness and persuasiveness.

Circling the point

Being general and talking about your talk approach is not what we are interested in. We want to hear substance and detail. For example:

• Don’t tell us that you are going to describe a methodology - tell us what the methodology is.
• Don’t tell us that you plan to share insights and lessons - tell us what those lessons are.

Building straw men

A straw man is a way of building an artificial picture, in most cases, only to knock it down. We want to hear about your actual experience and insights, not theoretical ones that will potentially come across as negative or critical, rather than insightful and helpful. 

Vague, convoluted or jargony language

Keep the language of your proposal simple and to the point. You don’t need to use fancy language if your premise is strong. Remove jargon, use active voice, write in first person, use clear nouns and strong verbs.

Jamming too much in

The best talks are built on a single solid idea, or are aimed at exploring a clear concept or method. Don’t try to demonstrate ALL you know and more, be selective about what you include and work on being clear, rather than thorough or deep.

Reasons why your talk might not make it

Even if your proposal meets all the above, it may not get selected. This does not mean your talk is not good, it might be because:

• We had multiple proposals with a similar theme and had to choose.
• We had a similar proposal that was more persuasively pitched.
• There were so many proposals we were unable to include it.
• The review panel did not achieve consensus.

Talks are reviewed by a suitably qualified volunteer panel who apply consistent scoring criteria based on the above proposal characteristics. In most cases we are unable to give individual feedback on proposals. But if you have legitimate concerns you can contact us.