Rules and Guidelines
Want to participate in the discussions? Please read our Community Rules and Guidelines. Need some help? Visit Support and Answers.

  • State Not Answered
  • Locked Locked
  • Replies 1 reply
  • Subscribers 17 subscribers
  • Views 200 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
You may also be interested in
This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

The Switch List

Amber Thomas
I recently received an email from someone who was trying to get more female speakers for an energy event. I'll paste the text of the email below, but I think that the Switch database is a great idea. If you are working in the energy sector and are looking for more speaker opportunities, please consider registering with the site. For anyone organising energy events that wants to get more female speakers on the billing, the list is freely available via this link: https://www.renewableuk.com/page/SwitchList.


I have met people before who would love to speak at events but don't know where to start and, of course, met people for whom the idea of public speaking is an absolute nightmare. Which are you? And did speaking (or not speaking) at an event have an impact on your career progression or subsequent opportunities?
Parents
  • 0
    The text of the email:

    "Over the previous months I’ve been working with the team pulling together agendas for our upcoming events including our Annual Symposium for the Electricity Storage Network, our next EVs and the Electricity System series focusing on fleets and getting the band back together for our Subsidy Free Solar Developers forum. I have to confess, it has been really hard to find female speakers. We aren’t short of who to ask to speak, but are finding that many women are declining the opportunity and passing it to their male colleagues, who are jumping at the chance. We have secured some great female speakers but this more general reluctance to speak reiterates the need for tools such as the Switch campaign. 


    It also led me to question why and to think of my own experience. Firstly, I know that I can really swing between wanting to be out and about networking and building connections for work, and feeling a need to put my two year old to bed every night. I’d be grateful if anyone has any tips or hints that they would like to share, or perhaps produce the next blog on managing travelling for work and kids.

    But the other and probably bigger thing that bothers me, and did so long before children, is the ‘am I expert enough’ question. I always feel motivated and inspired when I get out and about to events and external meetings, and I know it makes me better at my job. Yet I still find it very hard to say yes and can always think of someone with more expertise that I can default to (usually always a woman though)! Do others find this?
     
    What are the reasons that you decline speaking opportunities and how as a network can we address this? Is it managing work/life balance, is it building your profile, speaker training or technical workshops on areas to build your knowledge? I’m very open to incorporating some ideas into our programme of work over the coming months. I’ve been reading a book called ‘How to own the room’, which is a very witty approach to the art of brilliant speaking for women and it addresses the ‘am I expert enough point’ pretty well. I'd love to hear your experiences and what encourages you to step forward as a speaker."
Reply
  • 0
    The text of the email:

    "Over the previous months I’ve been working with the team pulling together agendas for our upcoming events including our Annual Symposium for the Electricity Storage Network, our next EVs and the Electricity System series focusing on fleets and getting the band back together for our Subsidy Free Solar Developers forum. I have to confess, it has been really hard to find female speakers. We aren’t short of who to ask to speak, but are finding that many women are declining the opportunity and passing it to their male colleagues, who are jumping at the chance. We have secured some great female speakers but this more general reluctance to speak reiterates the need for tools such as the Switch campaign. 


    It also led me to question why and to think of my own experience. Firstly, I know that I can really swing between wanting to be out and about networking and building connections for work, and feeling a need to put my two year old to bed every night. I’d be grateful if anyone has any tips or hints that they would like to share, or perhaps produce the next blog on managing travelling for work and kids.

    But the other and probably bigger thing that bothers me, and did so long before children, is the ‘am I expert enough’ question. I always feel motivated and inspired when I get out and about to events and external meetings, and I know it makes me better at my job. Yet I still find it very hard to say yes and can always think of someone with more expertise that I can default to (usually always a woman though)! Do others find this?
     
    What are the reasons that you decline speaking opportunities and how as a network can we address this? Is it managing work/life balance, is it building your profile, speaker training or technical workshops on areas to build your knowledge? I’m very open to incorporating some ideas into our programme of work over the coming months. I’ve been reading a book called ‘How to own the room’, which is a very witty approach to the art of brilliant speaking for women and it addresses the ‘am I expert enough point’ pretty well. I'd love to hear your experiences and what encourages you to step forward as a speaker."
Children
No Data

Community Rules & Guidelines