How to Write a Successful Experience Report Conference Proposal – Johanna Rothman, Management Consultant

I’m reviewing expertise report proposals for the XP 2023 convention. While I see potential in lots of of those proposals, I do not see sufficient proposals that make me say, “Yes! I need to learn this report! And see the speaker!” (Yes, I react in exclamation marks after I learn a terrific proposal.)

Experience stories enable us to be taught from one another, from the successes and the failures and every part in between. And expertise stories inform the story of these experiences. Here are three mandatory items for profitable expertise report proposals that make me react in exclamation marks:

1. A profitable expertise report proposal has two tales: what occurred within the group and your story, because the experiencer and author.
2. Write your proposal so this system committee can see each of these tales.
3. Remember that your first viewers is this system committee.

I’ll take every of those so as.

Tell Two Stories in Your Proposal

Experience stories inform two tales: the larger story of the expertise and your story. I like to consider the larger story as what occurred with the specified end result. That is perhaps for the group or a particular product or undertaking. Your story, as the author and experiencer, explains the way you realized and adjusted through the expertise on the way in which to that end result.

For instance, I’ve collaborated on two writing expertise stories. The first was Mike Griffith’s and my expertise writing the Agile Practice Guide. See Bridging Mindsets: Creating the PMI Agile Practice Guide.

The second was with Mark Kilby and the way we wrote our e-book. See You Have to Say More There: Effective Communication in a Distributed Agile Team.

In each circumstances, we advised two tales in a single report. The first story contained the larger expertise of the writing undertaking and its ups and down. The second story was how every of us realized and advanced as we proceeded with these initiatives.

The program committee must see each of these experiences within the proposal. As you think about your expertise, take into consideration the bigger story of how the group, undertaking, or product modified. Then, bear in mind so as to add your story, what you realized, and the influence of that studying.

When you embody each tales, this system committee can see what’s particular about your expertise. We can get enthusiastic about your proposal. But we have to see the tales.

How to Organize a Story

Often, expertise stories inform these tales in chronological order. That means every story has a begin, a center, and an finish.

1. The preliminary state: What did you first see that prompted this expertise? Was there an issue? An alternative?
2. Then the meat of the story, the place you clarify the way you selected options.
   • Which issues did you strive by which order, and what occurred? Think of these issues as strive/fails or strive/succeeds.
     • People tried one thing that had some end result. Was that end result a “failure” the place you thought-about new options? Was that end result successful the place you constructed on that success and proceeded to the subsequent experiment?
     • What did you measure? Did you modify any measurements?
     • How did folks react and be taught? How did you react and be taught?
   • When did you discover successes or failures? When did you modify course?
3. The present/finish state. What did you and other people be taught? How did you and the folks evolve or change?

That’s the construction of an expertise report.

For a proposal, this system committee must see sufficient element that they’ve a cause to say sure. If you do not write down sufficient element, it is too straightforward for the committee to say no.

So your first viewers is this system committee.

Explain the Experience to the Program Committee

The program committee is the gatekeeper for the convention. That means they should see sufficient of the expertise to have the ability to decide the 2 tales: the group’s or larger story and your story.

Consider having a paragraph for every of the three factors above. I notably like OneStartlingSentence for the primary paragraph, so this system committee understands why you began this effort.

Next, program committees have to see the construction of the story, to allow them to see the distinctive perspective you deliver to the expertise report monitor. Then, the strive/fails and take a look at/succeeds. In the proposal, you needn’t write paragraphs. Bullets will do for now. When you write the paper, you may add in all of the pleasant element.

Next is the story of the way you and the folks modified or realized (or didn’t). Again, just a few bullets will do. This is the subsequent place you’ll present what’s distinctive about your expertise.

Finally, the top state. While I be taught from folks’s successes, I additionally be taught from their failures. We have too few failure expertise stories, and INMHO, we might be higher as an business if we had extra of them. Include how lengthy the group has succeeded or failed. (There’s a cause so many organizations can solely use agile approaches on the group stage.)

Iterate in your proposal till it is finished. Once you might have a proposal that explains each tales (in bullets), now you possibly can edit. Check for typos, and so on.

As a last test, do you might have roughly 4 paragraphs that describe the story? If you do not, you won’t have sufficient to assist this system group say sure.

Help the Program Team Say Yes

Use these concepts to put in writing your profitable expertise report proposal. Make me, an expertise report reviewer, need to work with you and browse your report.

Include all of the items above, even when you put them in a special order. I can not assure this system committee will say sure, however present them every part they should know. Good luck!

I wrote an entire sequence about convention proposals, beginning with Create a Conference Proposal the Conference Wants, Part 1. I additionally wrote a e-book: Write a Conference Proposal.

This weblog put up expands on the concepts in that e-book.