Let's be Upfront

The last time I was the only female speaker at an event I made a promise to myself, and the women and men who got in touch with me afterwards, to try and make this better.

When I ask women why they aren't on stage they tell me they don't know where to start. They tell me the thought of standing on a stage facing a sea of strangers is overwhelming.

How might women on stage support women who want to experience the stage without the scary bit?

This Tuesday I'm running an experiment at http://siliconbeached.tumblr.com/I’m sharing the stage with seven (and counting) brilliant women who want to start sharing their stories, knowledge and ideas with larger audiences. They’ll hang out on a big red couch whilst I talk about design, social change and raising the profile of women and then we’ll have a group conversation. I’ve been overwhelmed with the positive reaction to this idea. I hope it's start of something.

I’d love to talk to you if you are someone who:

// Regularly speaks at events and you’d like to use your time on stage to support more women to be #‎upfront

// Organises events and you’d like to use #upfront at your next event

// Would like to speak #upfront to large audiences but don’t know where to start

Please share this using the hashtag #upfront. Any messages of encouragement for the seven bold women who put themselves forward would be brilliant too.

Thank you x