Safer Summit Speaker Applications with Mai-kee Tsang
Speaker applications have become much more common in the summit space, and it's something that I've been leaning into a lot more lately. I used to really dislike speaker applications because I saw people using them as a way to slack off on making strategic pitches, and then ending up with a lineup that wasn’t serving them, their attendees, or the speakers who were applying.
But I’ve changed my tune a bit. I do love that they let you get buy-in from people who are excited to be a part of your event and are more likely to promote. They also give you the chance to feature fresh faces and topics that you wouldn’t get to otherwise.
There are nuances to the application process that are really important to pay attention to. In fact, a lot of things we're talking about in this week's episode are things I hadn’t even considered, but I'll definitely be incorporating them next time I put out a summit speaker application.
I’m excited to bring on a special guest, visibility mentor, Mai-kee Tsang, to talk about creating safer speaker applications and specifically those that feel more inclusive to people with marginalized identities. Many summit hosts want to place a high value on diversity and inclusion in their speaker lineups, but that doesn't happen without being intentional. In this conversation, you'll hear about the extra questions she recommends including in her applications, how she filtered through the 85 applications for her most recent summit in a way that prioritizes speaker fit and having a diverse lineup, and more.
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Episode at a glance:
(3:49) Mai-kee has a lot of experience speaking at summits, in addition to hosting an event of her own. It all started back in 2019 when she challenged herself to pitch 101 podcasts in 30 days. She ended up booking about 1/3 of those podcasts and because of all that visibility, summit hosts started pitching her to speak at their summits. As she started prioritizing summits more in her visibility strategy, she began applying to speak at summits too. She noticed that many hosts would say that they were committed to creating a diverse speaker lineup, but often struggled to see how that intention was being carried out.
Sometimes I would ask the host if they were open to a conversation about how they were prioritizing diversity and inclusion if it wasn't obvious in their application. And I'm saying this from a place curiosity, not pretending that I'm on this high horse that I get to determine what diversity is and isn't. But I started to see that a lot of the good intentions were kind of falling by the wayside a little bit because there wasn't very much congruency in the application process itself. I feel like there is a gap overall between good intentions and the reality of how applications land for a lot of people.
(7:34) When Mai-kee started planning her event, she knew she wanted to have an application process in order to connect with potential speakers she might not have known about. She was surprised to get 85 applications within 2 weeks, but what surprised her more were the messages she got from people who applied saying that they appreciated her application process. She goes on to share the important pieces she included, like using a landing page for applicants with a summary of the event before they even apply to it, and a section on her values where she was very explicit about the importance of values alignments.
I feel like there is a gap overall between good intentions and the reality of how applications land for a lot of people, especially if you're looking for a diverse audience and calling in more marginalized voices. There are a lot more nuances that need to be accounted for to create a safer application experience. For me, that included stating my non-negotiables when it comes to values alignments. I basically said, "Do not proceed if you do not agree with all of these things" because I wanted to protect, support, and advocate for various members of my community with certain identities.
(12:53) While most of the messages she received in response to her application were from people who applied, she also heard from a past client who actually chose not to apply because they were misaligned on some values. They communicated it with such respect for how she wanted to run the event and opted themselves out because they had to be honest with themselves about how they weren't aligned all the way through when it came to these specific values.
One of my core values is compassionate change-making, and it makes such a lasting impact when you allow people to make mistakes and learn from them instead of shaming them. I told them my stance, and if they didn't agree, fair enough. I'm not going to tell them to change for my sake. I'm just going to say this space is not for you, where you're going to feel the most authentic version of you. I try my best to lead with values and I think that when you have a human first business, when you see people for their humanity, they see you for yours as well.
(15:47) In the application questions, Mai-kee prioritized getting an understanding of the speaker's expertise and the lived experiences that contributed to their expertise. Instead of having a diversity checkbox, she asked them to share about their identities, and offered an example, and explained that she was asking because she's committed to a diverse speaker lineup, and that means representing visible and invisible identities.
I'm not denying the fact you absolutely need to know about a potential speaker's expertise and their experience, but I think something that is missing from a lot of applications is asking about how they got there, and asking about their lived experience. I chose to ask an identity question: To whichever degree you're comfortable with sharing, I would love to know, which identities do you think make up who you are? And I gave some examples and explained that the reason why I'm asking this is because I am committed as much as I can be to create a diverse speaker lineup, and that means representing identities that are both visible and invisible to the naked eye. It can be as simple as that when it comes to not only saying you want a diverse lineup, but actually asking the kind of questions that will help you know whether you actually are curating a diverse speaker lineup.
(20:24) To round out the interview, Mai-kee walks us through her process for how she selects speakers as she goes through the applications. She puts their identifying information at the end so she can see them for their expertise first. She focuses on their proposed topic and value they would bring to the event first, and then from there, she sorts through based on the identity question so she can be mindful of representation. Then, she factors in audience alignment because it has to be mutually beneficial to have them at the event.
The reason why I focus on the topics first is so I'm not picking because of their identity. That's when, to me, it feels like it's checking the box and dipping into tokenism territory. So I focused on their topic, then identity, and then audience alignment. You want it to be a symbiotic relationship with your speakers for your Summit.
About Mai-kee
Mai-kee Tsang (She/Her) is The Sustainable Visibility® Mentor, Podcast Guesting Strategist, & ICF Certified Trauma-Conscious Leadership Coach.
She helps human-first business owners get heard & hired for their work in the world. Through the power of Sustainable Visibility® & Podcast Guesting Strategy, she’ll help you show up consistently in your business (not constantly!) without compromising your capacity, boundaries, or your bottom line in the process.
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