Session Preparation
Session Preparation
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Preparing Your Session
Looking for tips and guidelines to get ready for your Learning Leadership Conference session? Check out these answers to some commonly-asked speaker questions:
- What should I know about the audience for the Learning Leadership Conference?
- How should I prepare my content?
- What do I need to do before building my session?
- Should I create additional resources?
- I have additional questions. Who can help?
What should I know about the audience for the Learning Leadership Conference?
Attendees at the Learning Leadership Conference represent leadership in L&D, talent development, and knowledge management at all levels of their organizations. Explore proven practices, meet and share ideas and experiences with their peers, and learn the proven strategies that they can apply within their organizations.
- Are conversational and collaborative
- Are built around the context of learning leadership
- Go beyond theory to focus on strategy and successful approaches
How should I prepare my content?
To increase accessibility and usability, we encourage you to follow these guidelines when preparing your slide decks and other session materials:
- Use large, clear fonts (preferably sans-serif)
- Use white space; do not cram too much text on a slide
- Include alt-text descriptions of images and charts in materials that will be shared electronically (handouts, slide deck, resources)
- Ensure that images are inclusive and representative of your audience
- Ensure that captioning for your slide deck is turned on (PowerPoint and Google Slides, among others, support this); you can build this into your template
- Follow color contrast guidelines; use a tool, such as WebAIM’s contrast checker, to verify
- Use an accessibility checker before finalizing your materials — Microsoft products have one built in — and address issues found
Use inclusive language:
- Avoid jargon, stereotypes, and overly complex language
- Be mindful of attendees who may not be fully fluent in English and/or are from other countries and cultures; avoid cultural references and assumptions
- Use examples that are diverse and inclusive
- Spell out acronyms on first use
We will not proofread your materials; please check your presentation deck for readability and spelling/grammar errors.
What do I need to do before building my session?
The description is critical. It’s one of the main ways that people decide which sessions to attend. You’ll want to make sure the session you create fully matches the details of the description we have posted, especially the takeaways (In this session, you will learn …).
Be sure to review your session description on the conference website/app. This provides a refresher on the talking points and takeaways you’ve committed to delivering.
Should I create additional resources?
While it’s not required, you might want to consider sharing your slide deck and creating practical resource materials for your audience.
This is a great way to enhance attendees’ experience and help them apply your content when they return to work. You can also share materials for attendees to use during the presentation. It is especially helpful for attendees who use assistive technologies to access conference content.
You can also share materials for attendees to use during and after the presentation.
Examples:
- Your slide deck
- A short summary of the key points from your presentation
- Checklists and/or action plans
- Job aids or tools
- A list of recommended websites, articles, books, media, and more on your topic
Notes:
- Your session presentation and supplemental materials should not include promotional material of any kind, including large company logos. We may send materials back to you for revision if we cannot remove these.
- They also may not include links or QR codes that ask attendees to provide personal contact information in order to gain access to the materials. We will remove these prior to posting session materials.
- We will add a cover page to all session materials and create a PDF, which we will link to your session in the event app.
I have additional questions. Who can help?
We want your session to be a success and will help you in any way we can. If you need any additional assistance getting ready for your talk, please contact the event programming and content team at [email protected].