Who doesn't love to go to developer conferences? I know that I do. I always like hanging out with like-minded folks, learning new things, and getting some time away from the office. I always have a good time and expand my knowledge.

But I can tell you from experience that the real fun and benefit of developer conferences come when you become a speaker.

Being a speaker has a number of benefits:

• You get to attend the conference for free (hotel is usually included)
• You get to travel (usually at the conference's expense) to new places
• You get to show off how smart you are
• You might even get paid a stipend
• You get the satisfaction of giving back to your developer community

I've spoken at many conferences, both as a presenter and a keynote speaker. In addition, I've also been on conference advisory boards which select the speakers for a conference. I've had quite a bit of experience with conference speaking, so here are some ideas for getting yourself accepted as a first-time conference speaker.

Have a body of work

It will be hard for conference planners to choose you as a speaker if you don't exist on Google. Before you even begin to think about being a conference speaker, work on having a body of online work that shows you know what you are talking about. A blog with plenty of articles, and a YouTube channel with a bunch of videos showing off your speaking skills are great ways to show a conference planning board that you'll make a good speaker on the topics they need.

Take any and every opportunity to speak

Speaking at a local meetup is usually very easy as organizers are always looking for people willing to talk. Prepare and speak at small local events. You can even record these and put them on YouTube which can be used to show conference planners that you are a capable presenter.

Speak to your Tribe

As a developer, you probably are a participant in some community. (If you aren't, you should be!) I have been an active member of the Delphi community for many years now, and so my natural place to start speaking is at Delphi conferences. I attended my first in 1995, and decided then and there that I would try to be a speaker at the next one. As I was active in the community, I was a known entity to the people who choose the speakers, so they were able to have confidence that I would know what I was talking about. And sure enough, when I applied the next year to speak at the Borland Conference, I was accepted. So I suggest that you make your first attempt at speaking in the community that knows you.

Choose cutting edge topics

One of the reasons that those talks were accepted was that I chose the "new stuff" to talk about. At that time, the web was a burgeoning entity, and so I chose to talk about the new Delphi web framework called WebBroker. It was brand new, and no one knew very much about it. "New" and "unfamiliar" are ripe pickings for speaker topics at a conference. "Introduction to <some cutting edge technology>" is gold to a conference planner

Start with beginner stuff

I am speaking at TechBash this year. It's my first time speaking at the conference. I think one of the reasons that my topics were accepted was that I chose beginner topics. A conference needs all levels of presentations from beginner to advanced. Many speakers like to talk about advanced topics, leaving the beginner talks a bit more open. Talks that have titles like "Introduction to <Some Technology>" or "<Some Technology> for Rank Beginners" are a welcome sight to conference planners who want to cater to all levels of attendees.

Dont' be afraid to choose topics you only know only a little about

One of my tactics is to choose topics that are interesting, but that I don't know a lot about. This forces me to focus on learning the technology in order to give the talk. This fits in with my desire to be a life-long learner. It also broadens the range of topics that you can submit. Be willing to take some risks and learn your talk as you plan it out.

Give the conference planners plenty of options

Conference planners like it when you submit a large number of talks. It makes it easy to choose you as a speaker. Often a conference will want speakers to present multiple talks, and if you submit eight abstracts as opposed to two, it is easier for them to choose you. Submitting only two means that they have to like 100% of the talks you submit. Submitting eight means they can pick and choose the best topics to fit into the schedule.

Make your submissions clear, concise, and complete

I've been on both sides of the fence in conference planning. I've been a speaker submitting abstracts, and I've been a conference planner reading the abstracts and choosing topics for submission. As a conference planner, it was easier to choose a topic that had a clear, short (but not too short), and concise description. A good abstract makes clear right away what the topic is and what will be covered. One sentence isn't going to cut it. No conference planner wants to ready five paragraphs of description, either. Write your submissions with care, and keep them to the point.

Summary

Conference speaking is always fun. It's a great feeling to know that you successfully imparted knowledge to the attendees, and let's face it -- it's as close to being a rock star as most of us are going to get.