“Good transitions can make a speech more important to the audience because they feel they are being taken to a positive conclusion without having to travel a bumpy road.” – Joe Griffith

Most of you probably are members of associations in your professions.

Have you ever thought about the opportunities you would obtain if you spoke at your profession’s conference?

Writing for and speaking at your profession’s conference will provide opportunities that will supercharge your career.

Below, I explore these opportunities.

Opportunity to Write

In this world of virtual communication you find yourself in, it’s easy to forget that people still read what others write.

Speaking at a conference usually means writing a paper or conducting a workshop. As a result, many hundreds, perhaps thousands of your profession’s association members will read your conference paper or workshop extended abstract.

Writing a conference paper or workshop extended abstract immediately establishes you as a leading authority in the area of your paper or extended workshop abstract. As a result, you will get phone calls, texts, and e-mails from colleagues, conference attendees, and conference proceedings readers wanting to discuss your subject.

Writing for your association’s conference is a great way to get noticed fast, supercharge your career, and have a lot of fun.

As important as writing for your profession’s conference proceedings is, speaking at your profession’s conference will provide a human connection with your profession’s practitioners.

This human connection is crucial for you, your fellow association members, and your profession.

Opportunity to Speak

There is no better way to connect with more people in your profession fully than to speak at your profession’s conference. Seizing this opportunity may be easier than you think. It may be no more complicated than submitting a proposal and then speaking on your paper or running your workshop.

There are usually two categories of proposals. A proposal for presenting your paper and a proposal for conducting a workshop.

Your paper or the extended workshop proposal will be published in the conference proceedings.

You will reap many advantages of presenting a paper or conducting a workshop you would not otherwise obtain by being a conference attendee.

Presenting your paper or conducting your workshop allows conference attendees to see and hear the person behind the paper or workshop. When you consider that most communication is body language and tone of voice, I think you can see the advantages of speaking at conferences.

Speaking at a conference is what we used to call in the military a force multiplier. It instantly gives you the attention of hundreds or even thousands of attendees. To gain the attention of this amount of your professional brethren would be next to impossible by other means.

Also, you have instant confirmation from your audience’s reactions as to whether you “hit the mark” or, more importantly, would reveal needed corrections in your content or delivery.

So, writing for your profession’s conference proceedings and speaking there provides you with a human connection with your profession’s practitioners.

Perhaps the most important advantage of writing for and speaking at your professional association’s conference is the opportunity to network with your fellow professionals.

Opportunity to Network

You can look at writing for and speaking at your professional association’s conference as the entry point to developing relationships with others in your profession. It also allows you to network with your professional association’s members.

Networking takes writing a paper and speaking or conducting a workshop to the next level. Networking allows you to develop relationships that will benefit you and others.

When you network, go about it in these ways:

• Be other-person-centered. Always start with finding who the other person is, how you can help them, and then offer that help before asking for help.

• Start a networking conversation with a plan on what you will ask. “Winging it,” as in most things, will not offer much to the other person or you.

• Always decide on a collaborative call to action as to how you will help each other after your networking conversation. Make sure your mutually beneficial call to action has the following smart attributes: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realizable, and Time-bounded.

Remember, what you know may get you in the door, but who you know and what they know about you will advance your career.

To take a page from Sales, people buy from people they know, like, and trust. It is the same with networking relationships. Get to know the other person – what they do, what is important to them, and how you can help them reach their goals. All relationships are built on trust. So always do what you say you will do.

So, writing, speaking, and networking at your profession’s conference is a force multiplier for your career.

Take advantage of this, and you will see your career soar!

Call to Action

• In the next week, find out when and where your profession’s conference is being held and the requirements for a paper or workshop proposal

• In the second week from now, start sketching out your paper’s or workshop’s outline

• In the next month from now, finish your paper or workshop proposal and submit it to your profession’s conference committee for consideration

Frank DiBartolomeo is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and award-winning speaker, presentation and interview skills coach, and Professional Member of the National Speakers Association. He was awarded Toastmasters International’s highest individual award, Distinguished Toastmaster because of his outstanding work in public speaking and leadership.

Frank formed DiBartolomeo Consulting International (DCI), LLC (www.speakleadandsucceed.com) in 2007. The mission of DCI is to help technical professionals to inspire, motivate, and influence their colleagues and other technical professionals through improving their presentation skills, communication, and personal presence. Reach Frank at frank@speakleadandsucceed.com and (703) 509-4424.

Don’t miss Frank DiBartolomeo’s latest book!

“Speak Well and Prosper: Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Better Presentations”

Available now at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com