Rosenverse

Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.

Log in Create free account

100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.

Coffee with Lou #3: What Makes for a Successful UX Conference Presentation?

Thursday, May 2, 2024 • Rosenfeld Community
Share the love for this talk
Coffee with Lou #3: What Makes for a Successful UX Conference Presentation?
Speakers: Louis Rosenfeld , Jemma Ahmed , Christian Crumlish , Uday Gajendar and Chris Geison
Link:

Summary

Some of us are naturals when we take the stage, whether virtual or in person. But most presenters struggle--with time limits, clear storytelling, impostor syndrome, slide creation paralysis, and good old fashioned stage fright. So we've convened some of the UX pros who curate Rosenfeld Media's conference programs and help prepare their speakers--they'll answer your questions and offer some tips on what makes a good UX conference presentation.

Key Insights

  • Inclusivity in speaker selection and presentation development enriches conference content and broadens audience relevance.

  • Collaboration during talk preparation, including peer cohorts and speaker coaches, significantly elevates presentation quality.

  • Iteration over time is essential; rushed last-minute talks rarely succeed or engage effectively.

  • Passion and intrinsic motivation in a topic strongly differentiate compelling talks from routine ones.

  • New speakers with fresh perspectives often bring valuable insights that resonate well with audiences still exploring the topic.

  • Panel discussions work best with pre-event planning to tease out varied, possibly conflicting viewpoints, avoiding bland consensus.

  • Starting small with informal talks or meetups helps speakers refine material and build confidence before pitching to large conferences.

  • Conference curators focus on thematic narrative arcs in programs, so narrowly focused talks are easier to integrate and develop.

  • Rejecting a talk does not imply poor quality but often results from program constraints or lack of fit with other sessions.

  • Speakers should build a portfolio of modular talk content that can evolve, mix, and be repurposed for varied venues and audiences.

Notable Quotes

"Inclusion means not just who’s on the program but who you’re researching and collaborating with as you create your presentation."

"Collaboration with peers and speaker coaches creates better content and stronger relationships beyond the conference."

"Iteration means don’t prepare your talk the night before. Start early, practice, and evolve your message over time."

"Give a s**t about your topic. If you’re not trying to change something, why are you on stage?"

"Don’t be afraid to poke the bear; controversy can help make your talk stand out and provoke meaningful discussion."

"Newness isn’t necessarily a new methodology—it can be a new way of looking at something familiar."

"Starting small with local meetups or internal talks helps you test and improve your material before bigger stages."

"Most bad panels feel like a bunch of people showing up at the last minute without shared goals or preparation."

"If your talk isn’t accepted, it doesn’t mean it’s bad—it might just not fit the program’s narrative arc or available slots."

"Building a portfolio of talks, refreshed over time, lets you keep evolving and sharing your ideas in different formats."

Ask the Rosenbot
Juhan Sonin
Design Now! The Agenda for Action
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Sam Yen
Driving Organizational Change Through Design? Do more of this and less of that
2017 • Enterprise Experience 2017
Gold
Kyria Stephens
Power to Heal: Civic Design in the Aftermath of Tragedy
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Bria Alexander
Opening Remarks
2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Gold
Bria Alexander
Opening Remarks
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Shreya Dhawan
Making service tangible: the fastest path to higher performance
2025 • Advancing Service Design 2025
Gold
Bianca Jefferson
From Sprints to Systems: Operationalizing Continuous Discovery Through DesignOps
2025 • DesignOps Summit 2025
Gold
Lija Hogan
Practical Principles of Inclusive Research
2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Gold
Frank Duran
Partnership Playbook: Lessons Learned in Effective Partnership
2024 • Enterprise Experience 2020
Gold
Lisanne Norman
Why I Left Research
2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Gold
Mark Interrante
Collaboration Flows in Product Development
2017 • Enterprise Experience 2017
Gold
Sean McKay
Coexisting with non-researchers: Practical strategies for a democratized research future
2025 • Advancing Research 2025
Gold
Courtney Kaplan
Taking it to the next level: Career paths in DesignOps
2018 • DesignOps Summit 2018
Gold
Kim Fellman Cohen
Measuring the Designer Experience
2019 • DesignOps Summit 2019
Gold
Mansi Gupta
Drawing from Feminist Practice to Make Inclusive Design Operational
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold
Johanna Kollmann
Insights-Driven Product Strategy: Get your Research to Count
2022 • Design in Product 2022
Gold

More Videos

Victor Udoewa

"Community-rooted wisdom like the Mexican 'guana' practice reduces postpartum depression without traditional research."

Victor Udoewa

Beyond Methods and Diversity: The Roots of Inclusion

March 26, 2024

Peter Morville

"Most categories are fuzzy; there’s no clear boundary between what’s in or out."

Peter Morville

The Architecture of Understanding

May 13, 2015

Sam Ladner

"The boss’s son is no longer the default backup boss; there are now written rules accessible to all."

Sam Ladner

How Research Can Drive Strategic Foresight

March 9, 2022

Michelle Bejian Lotia

"Templates outline workflow models that encourage peer feedback before insights get published to the main hub."

Michelle Bejian Lotia Anne-Marie Morell

Rolling Out a Repository: How Zapier Centralizes Insights from Across their Organization

March 28, 2023

Leisa Reichelt

"When negotiating, bring plan A—show what you need and what good looks like—even if it seems outrageous."

Leisa Reichelt

Opening Keynote: Operating in Context

November 7, 2018

Sarah Gallimore

"Every parent we talked to had some variation of the question: this exists, can I use it right now? Where was this when I needed to apply?"

Sarah Gallimore

Inspire Progress with Artifacts from the Future

November 18, 2022

Joerg Beringer

"The task objects are central to a popular conceptual design approach called OOUX."

Joerg Beringer Thomas Geis

Scaling User Research with AI: Continuous Discovery of User Needs in Minutes

September 10, 2025

Peter Merholz

"When the design team is organized into coherent teams working across multiple squads, designers feel more supported and less isolated."

Peter Merholz

Customer-Centered Design Organizations

June 8, 2017

Dalia El-Shimy

"Different people communicate in different ways, and understanding those ways gives you the key to convincing them."

Dalia El-Shimy

So You've Got a Seat at the Table. Now What?

March 31, 2020