ACXPA Member Symposiums – Speaker Information
Thanks for considering presenting at an upcoming Members Symposium.
On the third Tuesday of every month, our Members Symposiums allow our members to hear and learn from others working in the industry in short (maximum 20-minute) presentations with a minimum of five presenters each month, followed by a live Q & A session.
For those that can’t make it live, members can watch the individual presentations in our library at any time, forming a valuable resource for our members all year round.
Presentations can include a range of different topics and formats, including:
- Best practice tips
- ‘How-to’
- Latest Insights
- Case Studies
Our audience demographics range from those just getting started in the industry through to senior executives typically working in contact centres, customer experience, digital service and frontline customer service.
Below we’ve included the process of how we record and deliver the Member Symposiums as well as a list of FAQs to help you make an informed decision about whether you’d like to present at one of our upcoming Symposiums.
The Process for Being a Symposium Speaker
If you are interested in presenting as one of our Symposium speakers, we’ve made the process as simple as possible to ensure we respect your time whilst still ensuring we can make you appear your best!
Step 1 – Select the Presentation Title/Topic
Our Symposium sessions are designed to enable viewers to identify specific topics that are of interest to them.
So the symposium sessions are focussed on that topic only, we won’t delve into your career history, get sidetracked on other topics etc.
Quite simply, they will see a title that appeals to them and know exactly what they are going to learn more about when they watch the session!
Step 2 – Select your Preferred Format
There are two ways to contribute to our Symposiums:
- Interview/Q&A Style – think of it like a chat between yourself and our host on your particular topic.
- Keynote/presentation style – no interaction, you just present on your topic for approx 20 minutes like you would as a keynote speaker.
Step 3 – Schedule the date/time to record
We typically need approx 40 minutes in total to allow for the set-up (making sure your camera and audio are OK and that you look your best!), and the presentation itself is typically up to around 20 minutes.
This takes the pressure off having to present live, which many presenters have told us makes it much easier.
It also enables us to scrap a recording and start again if you aren’t happy with how it went – our goal is to ensure you are comfortable with your session!
We have plenty of flexibility to find a date and time that works for you to record the session, all we ask that it’s within the first two weeks of the calendar month so we have time to prepare the session in time for the live stream on the third Tuesday of each month.
Step 4 – Live Stream and Q&A
The date and time for our Monthly Symposiums is advertised in advance and members can access the live stream directly on our website.
Our facilitator will introduce you during the live stream and then ‘throw’ to your pre-recorded presentation.
You don’t need to be present for this component.
At the end of the live stream, we will enable a Q&A session for the viewers to discuss the various presentations. You are welcome to join us for this component (we’ll let you know when to join).
Step 5 – Your Sessions is added to the Video Library
Once the symposium has concluded, we will make your session (and all the others) available for members to watch in the video library.
Frequently Asked Questions
When do I have to record my session?
We will work with you to find the most suitable date and time – we aim to have all the presentations recorded for the upcoming symposium within the first two weeks of each month to enable us time to edit and prepare your presentation for live streaming on the third Tuesday of each month.
What happens during the recording?
Our aim is to ensure your presentation looks great so you present well, and it makes for good watching for our members.
When you first connect via our special link (that will be provided to you for the agreed date/time of your recording) we’ll first spend a little bit of time setting up the various views we use and making sure you are in frame and looking good!
We’ll also check your audio to make sure our members can hear you easily.
We’ll then guide you through the process on how to start your presentation and we’ll control all the slides, different views etc so all you have to do is focus on presenting.
For the Interview/Q&A format, will I be told the questions in advance?
We think a natural conversation style always works best rather than scripted questions and answers. However, we’ll work with you in advance to ensure you are comfortable with what will be covered.
Remember, we aren’t 60 Minutes! We aren’t trying to trip you up, we are giving you a platform to shine.
For the Presentation/Keynote format, do you need my slides in advance?
Yes. We load your slides into our platform and will control them for you, enabling you to just focus on presenting.
What is the main objective of the Member Symposiums?
For too long, our industry has been addicted to sponsored webinars and vendor-generated content as a way to gain access to experts or they have had to attend an annual conference that is typically produced by professional event organisations who have no vested interest in our industry.
We want to provide a safe, trusted resource for members to learn and hear from a wide variety of people working in our industry without having to contend with a compulsory sales pitch or being added to another mailing list.
We were also keen to help facilitate cross-pollination of our skills across the different customer channels and industry sectors so that collectively we can all elevate our skills to improve our effectiveness.
What’s in it for me?
People volunteer to present at our symposiums for a variety of reasons, including:
- The desire to ‘give back’ to our industry and help others learn.
- To increase their profile within the industry to create further career opportunities.
- To share experiences that can prevent others from making similar mistakes!
- To support ACXPA and the work we are doing to move our industry forward.
We actively market our Member’s Symposium to our audience (the largest in Australia of CX and Contact Centre Professionals), so it’s great exposure for you/your company.
All upcoming speakers will be promoted across our website and media channels, and we produce a range of marketing materials including social media banners etc. that you can share to further boost your profile as a speaker.
Who are the typical audience members?
ACXPA caters to a wide variety of members working in customer-related roles across the voice, digital and in-person channels.
We have everyone from those just starting their careers and hungry to learn, to senior executives looking to gain the latest insights and trends.
So we aren’t prescriptive on who the target audience for your presentation is as all our members can watch the presentations in our library.
So even if your presentation is immediately relevant to someone today, it could be a few months time.
Are there any content restrictions?
Our goal is to provide valuable insights, tips and inspiration for our members without being sold to. So we don’t allow any promotion of products, services etc. in any of our presentations.
Am I able to review the final session to gain internal approvals?
We understand that some organisations can be sensitive around their employees presenting any information, data etc.
If you need to gain clearance internally before we publish your session then yes, we will provide a link so the session can be viewed by others you share the link with.
This will enable you to gain the clearance you need, and on approval, we will then schedule your session for broadcast. If it’s not approved, it goes to the trash can.
How does the live Q&A Session work?
If you would like to join us for the live Q&A session at the Symposium, you are welcome to do so (but it’s not compulsory).
We’ll give you a specific time to join us via a special link. Once you join, you’ll be placed into a virtual ‘green room’ where you will be placed until we go live.
Once live, you will be on a virtual panel and our moderator will manage the questions and direct them to you.
It’s essentially like Zoom/Teams, etc – all you really need to do is access the link, and we’ll take care of the rest!
Are there any technical requirements?
The recording of your presentation and the live Q&A session is all managed via specialised software that can be accessed by any internet browser.
Just like with Zoom/Teams etc, a strong internet connection will ensure the quality of your audio and video is not compromised.
Audio
We recommend the use of a headset, plug-in microphone, AirPods, etc, to ensure your voice quality is clear and that you are able to hear our moderator during the Q&A session.
Lighting
Video always works best with strong lighting, so try to ensure you are in a well-lit position to look your best.
Do I have to be an ACXPA Member to present?
No. Our aim is to ensure our members hear from a diverse group of industry experts so we don’t want to preclude anyone from presenting based on their membership status.
That said, we’d love you to join (and think you’d get a lot of value out of it as well) and are happy to provide you with a discount for joining. View our membership options >
We’ve included a couple of presentation/keynote styles below and there are more available on our Members Symposium page >
Ready to get involved?
If you’re keen to join our Member’s Symposium as a speaker, please complete the short form below and we’ll reach out to you soon.
