Sponsored by Geneva Business School.
Have you ever been to a conference and noticed that you’re watching an all-male panel? Or looked around the room at an event amazed to see such diversity, only to disappointingly turn to the front and see that the diversity isn’t replicated on stage?
Stereotyping and unconscious bias can lead to discrimination in any professional area, as an organizer, making sure that your team is diverse can help to mitigate this. And, diverse teams make good business sense.
10 Ways Organizers Can Create More Diverse Conferences
- Look for speakers outside of your immediate circle. One activity I do with students is Trusted 10, which is a way to question our unconscious bias by listing people closest to us that we trust. It can be surprising how those people who are close to us are not so diverse in terms of race, gender, sexuality, ability, etc.
- Ask for speaker recommendations and explicitly state that you're looking for diverse, non-traditional speakers. This prevents manels (all-male panels)!
- Encourage women leaders to speak by offering support and training. A run-through before helps!
- Search longer and harder. The same goes for recruitment too. It takes time to carefully curate your speakers and the most interesting ones are not always the most obvious choice.
- Create a safe space with inclusive topics for all attendees. Also ensure your space is easily-accessible for wheelchair-users and there is provision for people with limited vision.
- Don't just go for qualifications, fancy titles and big names. Look for people with diverse experiences and backgrounds to enrich your event.
- Try not to accept no for an answer from a female speaker without finding out why. Maybe the scheduling doesn't fit. Maybe she needs encouragement.
- Please don't claim that it's not possible to find good female speakers. Think about compiling a speaker database for your industry, like Request A Woman Scientist.
- Before publishing your panel, check that it's diverse and not a manel.
- Make sure everyone feels comfortable and included during the networking, whether that's by inclusive activities like those mentioned at the TEDx Women event or by using online forums to connect attendees.
Read about the strategies that some organizations in Barcelona use to enlist a diverse range of speakers in Ending the Conference “Manel”.
10 Ways Speakers Can Create More Diverse Conferences
Historically more men have either had the opportunity to speak at conferences and on panels or put themselves forward, whereas women may be more likely to wait to be asked, or even decline due to anxiety at speaking in public. But, as a speaker, there are things you can do to encourage organizers to seek out and engage more women and minorities to participate in conferences and panels.
- If you are speaking at an event where the panel isn't diverse, or it's a manel, speak up to influence change. If the organizers won't change the lineup, refuse to speak and give the opportunity to someone else if you are from an over-represented group. This is happening at music festivals, with bands such as 1975 refusing to play at male-dominated festivals.
- Share the stage with a female colleague if she feels uncomfortable speaking alone or offer to train her in public speaking.
- Mentor and coach female leaders in your organization so that they are ready to take up the challenge when approached.
- Use your sphere of influence to create awareness about the need for more diversity at conferences and events.
- If you're afraid or anxious about speaking in public, remember it's perfectly natural to feel nervous and it can be overcome. Public speaking is a skill you can learn, not many of us are born natural public speakers.
- Don't decline an invitation if you're female (or from another unrepresented group) because you're scared to speak in public. Ask the event organizer to coach you.
- If you're speaking, invite friends and colleagues to support you which will help make the audience more diverse.
- Don't immediately decline an invitation if you need childcare or have to take care of elderly parents. Talk to the organizers about this to see if there's a solution. If you're pregnant, talk to the organizers to make sure their facilities will be comfortable for you. Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's prime minister, didn't let pregnancy stop her!
- If you feel comfortable, share your imposter syndrome or anxiety. Take it from me, it really helps to talk about it and may help further your career!
- Put yourself forward to speak, start small, and you'll be surprised how much easier it gets.
After ten years’ commercial experience managing the accounts of some of the U.K.’s best-loved brands, most notably drinks company Innocent (voted third "Best Company to Work For 2018" in The Times), Victoria took a career break. Whilst finding herself in India, trekking across Thailand and meandering in Mexico, she discovered a passion for teaching, as well as her rescue dog, Jamie.
Based in Barcelona, she leverages her commercial experience to teach and train business professionals and undergraduate and master students with a focus on startups, diversity and inclusion, networking and social entrepreneurship. Her purpose is to give students real-world experience which enables them to build a professional portfolio of achievements.
Sponsored by Geneva Business School.