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A lot of people have indicated that they'd like to begin presenting, but haven't done so yet. I thought it would be interesting to talk about how to make that happen.
As someone who has found presenters for a lot of events over the years, one thing that's important to me first is that you are active in the public community. There are a couple of reasons. One is drawing power. You might be the best presenter in the world on the topic of, say, cupping, but if no one at an event ever heard of you, you're less likely to be an effective presenter. The other issue is, I'm not going to have someone I don't know, or know of, present for me. They might be, in one of my favorite expressions, an asshat. They might be offensive in their manner or boring in their presentation or simply wrong. If I like someone in person, it's a lot more likely that they have at least that going for them in terms of being a presenter.
I am going to notice whether you've been to that specific event before or not, or to the group that is sponsoring it. Some of it is about believing I know something about your priorities. You think community is important enough to make time for it in your life. You don't just show up when the spotlight is on you, but also when there's no spotlight at all, and the chairs need to be moved. That matters to me.
If you want to present on a technical topic and I've never seen you play in that way, I'm going to ask around. If you want to present on fireplay, I'm going to ask some people if they've seen you do fireplay, and if so, how good you seemed to be at it. Did you seem to take appropriate safety concerns, did you do it with some flair, did you have any serious problems? I don't want you to teach people how to do it poorly, after all. If you want to present on a non-technical topic, like maintaining long-term relationships, for instance, I want to know if you have a long term relationship, or have had them. Someone who has a string of velcro collars behind them is probably not the person for that topic. If it's something that might require formal education to do well or correctly, like a legal presentation or a first-aid training class, I'm going to ask about your training and education in that area. It's nothing personal, but it's my responsibility to the people who might attend a class demands it.
So, let's say you do have your ducks in a row, you're active, you know your stuff, and people know you know your stuff. The next thing you can do is send an email to the event at which you might be interested in presenting. Look on their website, see if there's a feel for the event. Is it a Master and slave event, or is it an event that focuses on a particular skill, like shibari rope work, or one with a theme like spirituality. See what kind of class you might be suited to provide would fit into that event, or how it might be sold to them. Write up a description of your class and make it something that's interesting. Ask a friend to read over it, make sure it's spelled correctly and seems interesting, and make sure it's the class you really want to do and are able to do. Then send the event organizer a nice note. If you've been to the event in the past, mention it. If not, tell them how much you're looking forward to it, and if they might perhaps still be looking for presenters. Send them a class description and give them a little bit of information about yourself. Tell how long you've been involved in the community and where, what participation you've had, and why you think you should teach this class. Sell yourself. There's nothing wrong with it, and it never hurts.
Sometimes you'll get a no, and when you do, be gracious, thank them for their time, and let them know that you're still looking forward to that event. Ask when they're opening their presentation schedule again, and to keep you in mind if they think they might have a fit for it.
If they say yes, then make them happy you did. Be there on time and prepared. If you got scheduled for the first class of the day, smile sweetly and thank them. End your class on time, don't make the next presenter have to come in and ask you to leave so they can start. And thank the event producer for the chance. They're the one who made it possible, after all. |
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