What Program Committees Look For in a Session Proposal

Behind every conference agenda is a content committee sorting through hundreds — often thousands — of submissions. After more than a decade of managing event content programs, I’ve read a significant share of them. The difference between a proposal that gets accepted and one that gets passed over usually comes down to a few predictable factors. Here’s what works, based on what committees actually evaluate.

Nine Ways to Strengthen Your Submission

  1. Write the title like an email subject line. It needs to stop a busy attendee mid-scan and persuade them to click. Keep it clear and concise, but don’t be afraid to make it playful.
  2. Make key takeaways concrete. State exactly what someone will know when they leave that they didn’t know before. Write these as complete sentences that start with phrases like “Gain insight into…” or “Learn how to…”
  3. Prove the topic needs a live session. If the content could work just as well as a blog post, a committee will likely reject it. Explain how you’ll make the experience interactive or otherwise unique to a conference format.
  4. Get a fresh set of eyes before submitting. Ask someone outside your industry to review the proposal. They won’t catch technical nuance, but they’ll flag jargon and unclear logic. The same practice helps when rehearsing the actual talk.
  5. Show how the content lives beyond the event. Committees value speakers who can extend the conversation — through follow-up blog posts, podcast appearances, or connecting with attendees months later. If you’re open to that, say so in the submission.
  6. Keep it educational, not promotional. A session should solve a problem or teach a skill, not feature a product. Proposals that read like sales pitches get weeded out quickly.
  7. Share why the topic matters to you. Passion reads through in a proposal. Explain your motivation and what drove you to this subject matter personally.
  8. Avoid “TBD” at all costs. An incomplete submission is nearly impossible to accept. If you’re proposing a panel, confirm panelists in advance and include sample discussion questions. If you’re presenting survey findings, the survey should already be done — with a clear sense of what you’ll share.
  9. Do your homework before submitting. Read recaps from last year’s event to see which sessions resonated. Reach out to former speakers and ask how they approached the process. Stay current on industry issues through blogs, newsletters, trending discussions, and podcasts — the more well-versed you are, the more credible you’ll come across as a potential speaker.

The Anatomy of an Effective Speaker Bio

Your bio is another chance to generate interest in your session. A solid formula for a ~100-word bio covers:

  • Your name +
  • Something descriptive about what you do (vs. just stating your title and company) +
  • Why you are credible +
  • Your role and/or any previous roles that are relevant +
  • Any extracurricular professional accolades or organizations you’re part of +
  • Something personal that both humanizes you and that you wouldn’t be embarrassed to share during an icebreaker session
= one great speaker bio!

Here’s that formula in practice:

Rachel Heller is an event content professional with over a decade of experience working in the technology space (both in-house and on the agency side) on events ranging from 50 to 50,000 attendees. She leads content production for GitHub’s annual event, GitHub Universe. Prior to GitHub, Rachel held strategic event content roles at Bizzabo, PTC, and Sage. She is a member of the Event Content Council and serves on the content committee for the Corporate Event Marketing Association (CEMA) Summit. She is passionate about diverse, equitable, and inclusive presenter lineups and providing attendees with engaging content. When she’s not at work, Rachel enjoys hiking around New England, restoring furniture, and trying to beat her fastest time solving the crossword puzzle.

Resources Committees Often Provide

Many event teams publish materials specifically to help submitters. Take advantage of them — they signal what the committee considers a strong proposal. For GitHub Universe, for instance, prospective speakers can access:

  • Descriptions of each content theme with guidance on how to approach tracks as a submitter versus an attendee.
  • Examples of titles and abstracts from the prior year’s highly rated sessions.
  • An offline form to draft a submission and get feedback before applying.
  • A FAQ page covering specifics of the call for sessions.
  • A support inbox that answers questions within 24 hours: [email protected].

Why It’s Worth Applying

If your submission is selected, speakers typically receive a complimentary pass to both conference days, access to a professional speaking coach, and coverage of travel and expenses — plus the opportunity to share thought leadership with a global developer community of over 100 million people. For a session proposal on AI, security, or developer experience, applications for GitHub Universe 2023 are open until June 7.