SVG Europe Women calls for women to sign up to Speakers Corner

Secure database of female speakers to help get women on stage throughout industry

SVG Europe Women recently launched Speakers Corner, a secure managed database of female speakers designed to help get more women on stage at events throughout the sports broadcasting industry in Europe, and beyond.

While the list is growing, more potential female speakers are now being encouraged to register with SVG Europe Women Speakers Corner. Those with prior experience speaking on stage as well as those with none are welcome to register.

Head of SVG Europe Women and editor at SVG Europe, Heather McLean, said: “The response to SVG Europe Women Speakers Corner has been fantastic, but this is an ongoing shout out for women; we can all be part of making sure women’s voices are heard everywhere. Speakers Corner gives us an opportunity to stop the situation where you look at an event programme and see solid lists of male names on the panels. But if you don’t sign up, experienced or not, you make it harder for that change to occur.

Watching the panels at SVG Europe Women’s 2019 summer event at Sky Studios

“I want you to volunteer to come onto the Speakers Corner database, and to encourage your female colleagues within sports broadcasting to get involved. I know speaking in front of people might seem daunting, but it is important to have more women represented – it is our duty to get on stage and have our voices heard – and it adds to your self-confidence as well as your CV,” McLean added.

Once there is a strong list of female speakers on the database SVG Europe Women will let other associations, organisations and publications know it is available.

Keeping the database fully secure and GDPR-compliant, McLean will then act as a ‘matchmaker’ between potential speakers and those holding live, recorded, virtual and in-person events.

The way the process will work is people looking for speakers can contact McLean with details of the session in question. She will crosscheck the database, finding matches based on topic expertise and location, then will personally ask individual speakers that may be right for the role if they are interested. If they are, she will connect the speaker via email to the seeker. If the speaker agrees to appear on a panel, the hosts simply have to use the SVG Europe Women Speakers Corner logo on all their marketing material in return.

Please register here: https://sferainteractive.wufoo.com/forms/svg-europe-women-speakers-corner/