1. Session title
Six to nine words. Name the outcome the audience gets, not the topic you like talking about.
Example: "Close the Follow-Up Gap: Turning Warm Leads Into Booked Work"
Free template
Conference proposal template
Most conference proposals are rejected for the same reasons: no named audience, no outline with timings, and takeaways nobody could test. This template walks the ten sections event organisers actually read, in the order they read them. Copy the headings into a document, answer each prompt, and you have a submission-ready proposal.
2. Session format and length
State the format the organiser is buying: keynote, workshop, panel, or breakout, plus the run time and the room setup you need.
Example: "45-minute keynote, 10 minutes Q&A, theatre seating, handheld mic."
3. Audience and level
Say exactly who this is for and what they already know. Organisers reject proposals that could belong to any track.
Example: "Owner-operators of 5-30 person service firms who already run outbound but convert under 10%."
4. Abstract
120-180 words the organiser can paste straight into the programme. Open with the problem, name the shift, close with what changes on Monday.
Example opening: "Most teams do not have a lead problem. They have a seventh-touch problem..."
5. Three to five takeaways
Start each with a verb and make it testable. "Understand the importance of X" is not a takeaway; "Write the three-email sequence" is.
Example: "Draft a follow-up sequence you can send the week you get home."
6. Session outline with timings
Break the run time into blocks with minutes attached. This is the single section most rejected proposals skip.
Example: "0-5 setup - 5-20 the three failure points - 20-35 live rewrite - 35-45 Q&A"
7. Why you, why now
Two or three sentences of specific, checkable credibility tied to this talk. Numbers, named work, or firsthand experience.
Example: "I rebuilt follow-up for 40 agencies between 2023 and 2026."
8. Speaker bio
Third person, 60-80 words, written for this event's audience. Keep a shorter 25-word version ready for the programme.
Example: keep one long bio and one short bio in the same document so you never rewrite under deadline.
9. Evidence of delivery
Link a reel, a recorded session, or two past events with dates. If you have no reel yet, link the closest thing and say what it is.
Example: "Reel (3 min) - Regional Ops Summit 2025 breakout, 180 attendees."
10. Logistics and requirements
Travel origin, availability window, fee or fee range if the call asks, AV needs, and anything that would surprise them later.
Example: "Travelling from Phoenix, available Feb-May, confidence monitor required."
Before you submit
- Read the call for speakers again and mirror its exact wording for tracks and themes.
- Cut every sentence that describes you rather than the audience’s outcome.
- Check the word limits. Over-length abstracts are often filtered before a human reads them.
- Send it to one person who has never heard you speak and ask what the session is about.
Application 911
Bring your draft to a live Wednesday session
The 911 Room is the members-only room for Application 911, our every-other-week done-with-you speaker application session. Members submit the proposal they are stuck on and get it worked through live, in the order received.
Enter the room