So you want to be a conference speaker? Are you sure?
Recently, a few people have asked me what it's actually like to speak at tech conferences. How do you get accepted? What does preparation look like? And what happens behind the scenes? So I decided to write about it. And let me warn you: the reality isn't always pretty. In fact, after hearing about my experiences, one person has already put their conference-speaking plans on hold indefinitely. 😅
Because conferences aren't just about getting on stage and having fun. They're also about rejected abstracts, endless preparation, stress, and logistics. And is it actually worth it? Let's find out! 😉
One little disclaimer: everything I'm about to share is based on my own experiences and observations. Other speakers might have completely different perspectives, and I'd love to hear them in the comments!
First, a Little About My Conference Experience
Before we start, let me briefly tell you about my conference "achievements," so you know where I'm coming from. I gave various talks and workshops around 2019, then took a break for several years to focus on my professional development, occasionally running a workshop here and there.
About a year ago, I decided to get back into conference speaking seriously. Since then, I've spoken at:
- JS Poland
- jsday Bologna
- JSNation (online)
- AGNTCon + MCPCon Europe (Amsterdam)
- FrontKon (Prague)
And I still have two conferences coming up this year:
- iJS Munich
- AI Coding Summit Berlin
I even had to turn down one invitation because I simply couldn't fit it into my schedule anymore. :( I still regret it!
I got accepted to some through CFPs, was invited to others, and got a few opportunities partly through connections (for example, because another speaker remembered me from a previous conference).
I'm not a keynote speaker. I often speak on additional tracks or in smaller rooms, and I'm perfectly fine with that. Actually, I think that's what makes my perspective interesting. I'm not a conference veteran with ten years of experience whom organizers are fighting to book.
And while I feel pretty confident about blogging these days, conference speaking still gives me a massive case of impostor syndrome. Especially since English isn't my native language. I always think nobody will ever invite me again. And somehow, people keep inviting me. 😅
Getting Accepted: The Wonderful World of CFPs
Okay, so how do you actually get accepted as a conference speaker?
If you're not the face of a huge tech company, the maintainer of a famous library, or some kind of tech celebrity, your main option is to apply through a CFP (Call for Papers). Most major conferences accept talk proposals, so you just need to check their websites for submission deadlines.
Sounds simple, right? Well, if only conference organizers were sitting there, eagerly waiting for our submissions!
Let's say a conference has 20 speaking slots. That doesn't mean organizers will select 20 people from the CFP. Quite a few slots might go to invited speakers — well-known names who help sell tickets. Others might go to sponsors. And who knows who else! When hundreds of submissions compete for the remaining places, your chances aren't exactly amazing.
Rejections are completely normal, and they don't necessarily tell you much about the quality of your abstract. Your topic might have been great but didn't fit the agenda, or the organizers decided it wasn't relevant to their audience.
But let's not fool ourselves, either. Your topic might simply have been weak, and submitting it twenty times won't magically make it better. You can ask organizers for feedback, but they're under no obligation to provide it.
How to Make Your Talk Stand Out
As someone who has lost quite a few CFP battles but managed to win a few as well, I can offer some advice.
First, look at your abstract from the organizers' perspective. They're not selecting you just to make you happy. You need to bring something valuable to their conference.
If you're not famous enough to sell tickets just by having your name on the agenda (and I'm guessing you're not, unless you're just reading this out of curiosity), you need an exceptionally interesting topic. Something original that hasn't already been submitted by 20 other people.
Ideally, a case study from your work or personal projects, or a fresh perspective on a familiar subject. Your topic should be original, but not too niche, either. After all, people still need to be interested in it.
For example, I've traveled to a few conferences with a talk about WebGPU, but I presented it more broadly as "Your Browser Is a Compute Platform." It was a big-picture talk about what browsers can do these days, including running LLMs directly in the browser. Because if I'd submitted something like "Introduction to WebGPU with Shaders," I'm pretty sure nobody would have cared.
Spend some time working on your abstract, too. Ask yourself: what will attendees actually take away from this talk? This will also help you prepare the narrative later. And who knows? You might realize your talk isn't particularly useful in its current form and that you should rethink the approach.
The Catch: Nobody Knows If You Can Actually Speak
Now, here's another problem. You might have a fantastic topic and a beautifully written abstract, but if you have absolutely no speaking experience, getting accepted will be much harder — especially at prestigious conferences.
Again, put yourself in the organizers' shoes. How do they know whether someone who's never stood on a stage can handle the stress, deliver an interesting presentation, and finish on time? (By the way, finishing one minute early is much better than finishing five minutes late.)
Blogging or making YouTube videos can help, because they at least demonstrate your storytelling skills. And of course, some conferences happily accept first-time speakers.
But if you're struggling to get accepted anywhere, consider starting with a local meetup. There's usually less competition, and you'll have a speaking engagement to put on your CV. 😉 The more you speak, the better you become, which improves your chances of getting accepted in the future.
Congratulations, You're a Speaker! Where's the Money? 💸
Okay, you've been accepted! Is this where the fame and fortune begin? Hahahaha. I seriously doubt it.
People often ask me whether conference speakers get paid. Well, some do, especially famous keynote speakers who can command speaking fees. But if you're a regular speaker accepted through a CFP, you probably shouldn't expect payment. At least, that's been my experience. I know there are exceptions, so feel free to correct me!
Conferences often cover travel and accommodation, but read their policies carefully. Personally, I always make sure those costs are covered. I mean, okay, I might not earn anything, but I'm certainly not going to pay out of my own pocket for the privilege of speaking. So check this before submitting your proposal.
Sometimes your employer will cover your expenses if they consider your appearance good publicity for the company. But again, make sure that's actually the case before committing to the trip.
Preparing a Talk: How Much Work Are We Talking About?
So, how much work does it take to prepare a conference talk? Well, it depends!
My first conferences took absolutely ridiculous amounts of preparation. Weeks of research, creating slides, endless rehearsals, and carefully weighing every sentence. Because what if someone decided I was an idiot?!
I also had this habit of writing down all the absolute must-have information. Somehow, I'd end up with 45 minutes of material for a 20-minute talk. Well, apparently the audience doesn't need to know absolutely everything. 😀
Before my first conference after my long break, I experienced something very close to anxiety attacks almost three weeks in advance! It was awful. Consciously, I knew that even if I walked onto the stage and burst into tears, nothing particularly terrible would happen. 😅 But my subconscious had other ideas.
Conference preparation can consume practically unlimited amounts of time and emotional energy. And if you start speaking regularly, you eventually need to get that under control. Otherwise, you might as well give up and find something more productive to do with your life.
What Works for Me Now
These days, I often speak about topics I've already covered on my blog, which makes my life much easier. I already have the narrative, a working demo, and even comments from readers that give me additional perspectives.
All I need to do is put everything together, prepare slides, and rehearse a few times to check whether the presentation flows naturally and fits within the time limit.
Nowadays, this usually takes me about two weeks, and I'm not working on it every day. During the final stage, I generally do just one rehearsal per day, meaning less than an hour of work. But remember: I've already done the research while preparing the original article!
You can also reuse presentations at different conferences. In fact, organizers often prefer talks that have already been delivered successfully. That doesn't mean traveling around with exactly the same slides, though. Usually, you'll need to adjust something: make it longer, shorten it, or approach the subject from a different angle.
So yes, preparation gets easier. But it definitely doesn't drop to zero.
Your Talk Is Not a University Lecture
There's one trap beginners sometimes fall into. A 30-minute or even 45-minute conference presentation isn't a deep dive or a workshop. You don't need to transfer every piece of knowledge you have into the audience's brains. They won't remember it all anyway.
Your job is to inspire people and show them new possibilities. If they're interested in the details, they can explore them later. After all, people attending tech conferences are intelligent adults. They can figure things out!
I actually think conference presentations should be treated a little like a show. Of course, we're still talking about technical conferences, not TED Talks or theatrical performances. But the entertainment aspect matters.
There are plenty of techniques for engaging an audience, and I'm not going to list them all here. But here's my minimum rule: if you're doing a dry run and start getting bored at some point, imagine how bored the audience will be. That's probably a good place to introduce something more entertaining. 🙂
And Then There's the Logistics ✈️
After all those rehearsals, you still need to actually get to the conference. Which means flights, airports, transportation, hotels, and all the other wonderful aspects of traveling.
Very often, you'll need to arrange your flights yourself. Accommodation is more frequently booked by the conference, but that varies too. And even if your expenses are covered, you might not get reimbursed until after the event. So you need to pay upfront.
If you have a family, well, they'll have to manage without you for a few days. And you're lucky if your employer supports your speaking activities and continues paying your normal salary. Because if they don't? You're simply taking time off work.
Suddenly that "free trip" isn't looking quite so free anymore.
Stage Fright Never Really Goes Away
Now, let's talk about the actual presentation. Getting on stage comes with stress, whether you're speaking for the first time or the hundredth. Even Luca Mezzalira, with around twenty years of experience, once joked on LinkedIn that before every talk, he wonders why he didn't become a shepherd instead.
I think the difference is mostly about how long you feel stressed. These days, I usually start experiencing mild panic about an hour before my talk. 😀 Progress!
But here's another funny thing: every speaker seems to worry about two things. Will anyone show up? And did I do a good job?
Seriously. At one conference, I was surprised when some very well-known female speakers, who had delivered keynotes in an auditorium with an audience of around 2,000 people, asked how many people had attended my WebMCP talk. (It was a full room!) They were interested because their talks covered similar topics. 😱
And even speakers at that level appreciate hearing that their presentation was good. So if you're attending a conference and enjoy someone's talk, don't hesitate to tell them! I promise they'll appreciate it. 😀
So... Is Conference Speaking Actually Worth It?
Okay, but why go through all this? What are the actual benefits of public speaking? Well, in my opinion... Not nearly as many as you might expect.
You get a free trip, sometimes a T-shirt or a baseball cap. You meet other speakers and make lots of connections. 😅 (And sometimes you might even make actual friends!) You can take souvenir selfies with tech celebrities and collect LinkedIn connections from the local community.
Plus, of course, you get a nice new entry on your CV.
But will your career suddenly take off? Probably not, especially after just one single talk.
Sure, if you're selling consulting services, courses, or something similar, conferences can be an excellent way to reach customers. But that's a different story, and if that's your business model, you probably already know how it works. If you're a DevRel, it's basically your job.
If you're not selling anything, though — like me — speaking gives you some credibility points. But that's about it! Okay, okay. You also make connections that might become useful someday. Or they might not. Who knows?
And let's be honest, you don't actually need to be a speaker to enjoy many of the benefits. You can attend a conference, meet interesting people, make connections, and enjoy the whole experience without spending weeks preparing a talk or questioning your life choices backstage. 😅
Why Blogging Has Been More Valuable to Me
When it comes to my career, blogging has actually helped me much more than conference speaking. And the potential audience is much bigger.
Think about it. How many people attend one of my talks? Maybe 200 or 300? And perhaps another thousand watch the recording on YouTube, if I'm lucky.
Meanwhile, on my blog, I can publish whatever I want, whenever I want, about whatever interests me. I reach people from all over the world, and my articles keep working for me even while I'm sleeping. I don't need to book flights, prepare slides, rehearse for days, or stand nervously backstage wondering whether anyone will show up.
I just write. And the content keeps reaching new people long after I've published it.
So if you're thinking about conference speaking but you're terrified of public speaking or overwhelmed by the amount of work, I genuinely encourage you to think twice about whether it's worth it. 😀 There are other ways to share your knowledge and build a reputation in tech, and some might be a much better fit for you.
And Yet... I'd Do It All Again ❤️
Despite everything I've written, I absolutely love speaking at conferences. I love traveling, meeting new people, the atmosphere, the conversations, and being part of the international tech community.
Unfortunately, there's something a little addictive about it. That rush of adrenaline when you step onto a stage is something even the most successful blog post can't quite replicate.
So, is conference speaking worth all the stress, preparation, rejected abstracts, logistical headaches, and questionable ROI? Honestly, I'm not entirely sure.
Will I do it again? Absolutely. 😂
And even though I still have no idea whether anyone will ever invite me to speak again 😅, I hope you'll see me on more European stages in the future. And hopefully, not just European ones!
But that's just my perspective. If you're a conference speaker, I'd love to hear about your experiences. Do you get paid for your talks? Has speaking made a difference to your career? Do you also question all your life choices an hour before going on stage?
And if you're thinking about becoming a speaker, did I encourage you or scare you away completely?
Let me know in the comments! 😁
And if you'd like to follow my adventures in tech, blogging, and conference speaking, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn! 😊
