{"id":112964,"date":"2014-07-03T11:34:03","date_gmt":"2014-07-03T11:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2014.birmingham.wordcamp.org\/?p=112964"},"modified":"2014-07-03T14:26:49","modified_gmt":"2014-07-03T14:26:49","slug":"faq-wordcamp-speaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/birmingham.wordcamp.org\/2014\/faq-wordcamp-speaker\/","title":{"rendered":"FAQ: How to be an Awesome WordCamp Speaker"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>So you&#8217;ve seen our <a title=\"Call for Speakers\" href=\"https:\/\/2014.birmingham.wordcamp.org\/2014\/06\/25\/call-for-speakers\/\" target=\"_blank\">call for speakers,<\/a> and you keep clicking away from it.<\/p>\n<p>Returning.<\/p>\n<p>Clicking away.<\/p>\n<p>As soon as you read it, you had an idea of what you&#8217;d like to say pop up in your head.<\/p>\n<p>But you think you aren&#8217;t good enough. Trust us, you are.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve had engaging presentations from long-time developers and simply even fans of WordPress. That&#8217;s what WordCamp is all about.<\/p>\n<h3>So here are a few misconceptions about speaking at WordCamp.<\/h3>\n<p><strong>My talk has to be 45 minutes of hardcore WordPress speak.<br \/>\n<\/strong>Nope. Last year, I talked about my path to freelancing after leaving corporate life, and I shared some of me favorite WP plugins. Attendees want to know about every facet surrounding WP, including writing, blogging and design.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I have to be the absolute best in my field.<br \/>\n<\/strong>No. If you have a passion for WordPress, you are more than qualified. You don&#8217;t have to be labeled a &#8220;guru&#8221; or an &#8220;expert&#8221; to apply.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I should have lots of speaking experience.<br \/>\n<\/strong>This is also not true. In fact, this would be a great opportunity to break into public speaking, as WordCamp Birmingham attendees are friendly and welcoming.<\/p>\n<p><strong>My story is too insignificant to inspire others.<br \/>\n<\/strong>Never\u00a0think that way about your WordPress story. Everyone&#8217;s introduction to WP is unique. Every one has a different talent or skill set. Even if you simply blog for your own personal benefit, there will be a WordCamper who wants to hear your story.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Call for Speakers\" href=\"https:\/\/2014.birmingham.wordcamp.org\/2014\/06\/25\/call-for-speakers\/\" target=\"_blank\">Are you ready to apply? <\/a>Fabulous. <strong>Here are some tips and guidelines.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Before WordCamp:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Slides will add a lot of value to your presentation and give your attendees a chance to take notes. Send over your slides to WordCamp as soon as you finalize them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The presentation has to be relevant to WordCamp attendees and not simply a sales pitch for your product or plugin. Also, no inappropriate language or risque slides. WordCamp Birmingham and Wordcamp.tv are family friendly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>For speaking tips, the fine folks at WordCamp Asheville suggest using <a href=\"http:\/\/speaking.io\" target=\"_blank\">Speaking.io<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>During WordCamp<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Microphones and video cameras will be available. We will have more details about A\/V when we receive them. Be sure to bring an A\/V adapter, power cord, and what ever else you think you may need.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>You will have 45 minutes to speak. It&#8217;s good to allow\u00a0around 15 minutes for questions from the audience.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Introduce yourself and talk about how you incorporate WordPress into your life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Chat with attendees, be enthusiastic and have a good time!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>After WordCamp<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Provide links (when available) to WordCamp organizers so attendees can check them out later.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>If you have free time, and want to assist other attendees with WordPress queries,\u00a0feel free to volunteer at the Happiness Bar.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Take a deep breath. You did it! Enjoy the rest of WordCamp.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We hope this gives you a good overview of your experience as a speaker. <a title=\"Call for Speakers\" href=\"https:\/\/2014.birmingham.wordcamp.org\/2014\/06\/25\/call-for-speakers\/\" target=\"_blank\">Apply now. <\/a>We will make decisions the week of\u00a0July 13. <a title=\"Contact\" href=\"https:\/\/2014.birmingham.wordcamp.org\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\">Contact us <\/a>if you have any questions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So you&#8217;ve seen our call for speakers, and you keep clicking away from it. Returning. Clicking away. As soon as you read it, you had an idea of what you&#8217;d like to say pop up in your head. But you think you aren&#8217;t good enough. Trust us, you are. We&#8217;ve had engaging presentations from long-time &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/birmingham.wordcamp.org\/2014\/faq-wordcamp-speaker\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">FAQ: How to be an Awesome WordCamp Speaker<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12307827,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29361],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faq"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/birmingham.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/birmingham.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/birmingham.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birmingham.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12307827"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birmingham.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112964"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/birmingham.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113006,"href":"https:\/\/birmingham.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112964\/revisions\/113006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/birmingham.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birmingham.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birmingham.wordcamp.org\/2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}