Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) have certainly become buzzwords in recent years, as companies work to prioritize these efforts across their teams. And for good reason! Here at cred, diversity is a priority across all of our projects and client work. We maintain diversity goals for our events as well as represented speakers. In this blog, we outline 5 tips, from our own experience, to ensure the speaker lineup for your event is diverse.
It’s important to note that diversity does not exist across only one type of identity. Diversity includes the representation of different genders, races, nationalities, sexual orientations, and cultures. It also includes the representation of backgrounds that may be less visible—including, but not limited to, experience in other industries, at what stage in their career someone is, if they’ve spoken at events before, and personal obstacles overcome.
Understand the bigger picture. Before acting on any of these tips, it’s key for event planners to first understand the context of diversity for the specific event that you’re planning. Is there a particular group that has been historically underrepresented in the industry? In what areas has there been improvement, and in what areas has there not? How can you plan speaker outreach accordingly?
Be transparent. Make it clear in your speaker outreach, event planning, and branding that diversity is a priority of the event. Encourage new voices to apply to speak and welcome session topics that explicitly touch on DEI. Ensure confirmed speakers know you’re open to hearing suggestions of any diverse speakers or topics they’re connected to—as long as they work with your event’s content, of course.
Be open. Similarly, seek speakers beyond the typical network. An “open call” format for speaker applications is a very effective in this regard. Make your promotion obvious on your event’s website and/or social channels, so interested speakers can easily apply to speak. Ensure that instructions are clear and inclusive.
What are inclusive instructions, you may be wondering? They are instructions that don’t intimidate or deter particular groups from applying—e.g., a lot of prior speaking samples required to apply, certain title/role level requirements, etc.
Be intentional. A diverse speaker lineup won’t just happen on its own. You’ll need to put work in to achieve these rewarding results and plan far in advance, depending on how many speakers you are targeting. You may need to forgo the more convenient route at times (reusing old content, asking the same group of speakers and/or keynote speaker from previous years), but it will be important to set goals for the demographics you’d like your lineup to hit. Examples of goals/guidelines you can set for your event:
No ‘manels’ (panels without any women speakers)
50% of speakers are women
50% of speakers are URM (underrepresented minorities)
20% of content focused on DEI topics
Be humble. Know what “tokenism,” the practice of making a merely symbolic effort to fulfill criteria (i.e., diversity), looks like. It’s more obvious than you may think when a speaker or panel is added to the lineup in the name of diversity and nothing else. To avoid this, promote sessions with awareness and highlight the expertise that every speaker will bring. Also - don’t be afraid to openly acknowledge where diversity falls short—whether it be in your event specifically, or the industry more largely.
What DEI really comes down to is paving the way for a variety of ideas and a variety of voices to be heard and elevated. If you follow these tips, you will absolutely enrich the diversity of content & speakers as well as the perspectives being shared at your events.
Need help putting together a diverse speaker lineup? Drop us a line!
