Software Testing Conferences have become extremely important nowadays with constant changes in techniques, and up-gradation of technology, it is extremely important for Testers to keep a tab on these changes and that can only be done by attending various conferences.
After attending Software Testing Conferences, many people have thought of presenting the conference themselves some time. Although the thought is quite intriguing it’s also a bit intimidating. For the ones who are new, are not clear from where to begin, and don’t know how to propose a paper that will get accepted.
Here are some tips that might help in presenting a successful proposal.
1. The topic should fit the conference – There is a lot to learn from Conferences, they assist the people in thinking out of the box. One of the main things for submitting a paper is the topic, so the topic should be something that matches with the conference’s main theme. While writing the paper it should be made sure that the audience is also able to understand what the theme is. Explain how the topic is fit for the conference and how will the attendees benefit from it.
2. Title of Proposal – Writing a proposal is not only about writing the abstract but along with it the Title. The title is part that will draw people to the talk and will get them intrigued for it. Take time to put in all the creativity and work to come up with a title that is catchy and sums up the entire paper.
3. The abstract should be free from any errors – When writing anything important or official try to keep it free from any sort of errors because typos are the major things that might lead to the proposal being rejected. There are various tools available online that might help in checking grammar and other sorts of typos, like Grammarly, Hemingway App, etc.
4. Know the Audience – Before submitting the proposal it is necessary to figure out who the audience of the conference will be and what they will be expecting from the conference. The content should be relevant and no off-topic proposals should be sent. Additionally, this also means that the person presenting the proposal should know what the people reviewing the abstract are looking for, too.
5. Submitting should be solely for the Attendees – The proposals for conferences are generally done via call for papers online form. And then those details are sent out live as it is. So the end-users of your submitted proposal are the paying attendees only. With these details only they will decide if they should attend the session or not. It is for this reason only that conference organizers take a lot of time to find the most attractive and best-written proposals.
6. Fill everything on the form correctly – A call for papers online form contains several fields. The form has some mandatory fields that are used by organizers and reviewers as further parameters to evaluate the submissions. As mentioned above Title and Abstract are the important ones but that doesn’t mean others are of any less significance. Everything on the form should be filled with complete diligence and should be free from any sort of errors.
7. Talk from experience – The best material for any conference will be if it can be related to everyday experiences. Use real-life lessons as it ensures others that they can learn from the same failures and successes that have already been noticed. Maybe start with something that is the biggest learning moment of your career.
8. Quality over Quantity – Many times people submit 5+ or 10+ papers thinking that this will raise their chances of getting selected. It might even do but it will have the exact opposite effect. Then some people will spend all of theirs time on a single sheet so in that case, the 5+ papers are not able to stand out in comparison to that one single paper. So it’s better to invest the time in a single sheet rather than submitting multiple sheets.
9. Valuable Contribution – The submission should be accurate, to the point, and easy to read. It should be clear what the conference is all about, and what experience you have and why should you be trusted to deliver a talk to the conference audience. So the idea of the submission should be articulated decently.
10. Get the submission checked by others – There’s absolutely no reason to work on the proposal alone, specifically if you are a first-timer. There are various programs like Speak Easy that are dedicated to mentoring speakers and increasing diversity at tech conferences. You can even contact your colleagues or friends who are in the same field and can ask them to review the proposal and you can find out if you’re getting your point across and communicating clearly.
Speaking at a conference is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to share your ideas and connect with others who are there in the same testing field as you are. For participating in such conferences you must stay up to date on current trends. Even after the conference ends, you can still use the knowledge you have gained for the betterment of your organization.
