Can't argue much with these criteria. Yet why "previous presenter experience"? If you are afraid of inexperienced speakers to deliver a boring talk, why Not just give them a 10-15 minute slot?
Them, I am reminded that many speakers tour many events with the same talk. I rather like the idea of having fresh speakers on stage over the 4th instance of the very same old talk.
> Yet why "previous presenter experience"? If you are afraid of inexperienced speakers to deliver a boring talk, why Not just give them a 10-15 minute slot?
That makes it even less likely that the talk will turn out (as well as complicating the conference schedule). Giving a 30 minute talk is much easier than giving a 10-15 minute talk. "If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour, two days; if an hour, I am ready now."
Many conference organizers will give some slots to brand new presenters, especially if the topic seems interesting; they just want a good balance of new and experienced presenters. But a conference that has so many talk submissions that it has to reject incredible talks can afford to be more selective.
Most people will bomb their first conference talk (I'm sure I did). It's best to get that experience out of the way at a smaller venue, or even get some practice recording talks or podcasts for a blog before doing it in front of a huge live audience.
I think of it as a ladder that you progress through as a speaker. This reduces risk for the organizers, but it's also good for your growth as a speaker. If you think you can just hop right into a conference talk with no warmup, then the earlier steps should be a breeze.
- Short meetup talk (10-20 minutes).
- Long meetup talk (20-40 minutes)
- Conference talk.
The only gotcha is that most meetups are not recorded. That makes it difficult to apply for conferences outside of your hometown.
Most meetups would not have an issue with you bringing a friend who would record the talk for you on their phone or with a camera. As with all these things, make sure to ask the organizers first, though.
A flip cam is, what 100-200 usd? I know personally that you can get a mount with slideable legs for about 10 usd, and that will include noobs that you can turn to make it so that it can be slide left/right even by an inexperienced user. A slight breeze will shake it, but since most conferences/meet ups, etc will take place indoors that shouldn't be a problem.
it's a real risk when you're a conference organizer to take someone with no prior experience. I've seen quite a few talks where the abstract looked technically good, but unfortunately the delivery really didn't help the talk come over well.
As others have said, it's generally better to build up to a conference presentation through doing smaller events like user groups and maybe lightning or rookie track talks, before trying for a main track slot.
Them, I am reminded that many speakers tour many events with the same talk. I rather like the idea of having fresh speakers on stage over the 4th instance of the very same old talk.