During the pandemic, the Diverse Speaker Training group (#WPDiversity) has been delivering our Diverse Speaker workshop to the global WordPress community online directly.

Each month, we are reporting at the tag #DiverseSpeakerWorkshopsReports how these workshops and trainings are going.

February 2021

Workshop / ā€œLearnā€ Watch Party Hybrid

In February, we tried out a new format for the first time: A 1.5 hour ā€œInteractive, Transformational Watch Partyā€ for WordPress event organizers and their underrepresented community members. We played the video on Learn, paused for exercises on camera, and held discussions in the text chat.

We got a great response from attendees. It was a successful format!

Number who attended: 7

From number of cities: 7

From number of countries: 3 (United States, Philippines, and Italy)

Increase in public speaking confidence after taking the workshops: 40%

March 4, 2021

Workshop for Ontario and New York (Great Lakes)

For March 4, 2021, I worked with Hamilton, Ontario, Canada meetupMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. organizer @tantienhime to put on an event for the Great Lakes Area, including Ontario and New York meetupsMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook.. (Hamilton, Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara, Toronto, Mississauga, London, Kingston, Durham, and any other meetups that may wish to include their members).

Members of the Diverse Speaker Training group @volkswagenchick and @sparklingrobots facilitated the live workshop.

Number who attended: 13

Not all let us know where they are from, so this is the info we were able to gather:

From number of cities: 5

From number of countries: 2 (United States and Canada)

March 18, 2021

Impromptu Panel / Discussion

We scheduled the workshop / watch party hybrid again for March 18, 2021. The only attendees were 3 volunteers from the Diverse Speaker Training group. We turned it into a panel / discussion about what organizers can do to help more people from marginalized and underrepresented groups to speak at events, especially regarding:

ā€“ what immediate actions organizers can take
ā€“ reaching more people with our teamā€™s workshops
ā€“ helping to create a more direct path from our workshops to speaking at meetups/WordCamps

Plans for May 2021: Philippines

In May 2021, Diverse Speaker Training team member @onealtr is planning to hold a hybrid workshop / watch party for the Philippines and countries that work in similar time zones!

How to Own Your Expertise & Start Speaking at WordPress Events

The potential date may be Sunday, May 16, 2021 in the afternoon.

Please watch https://make.wordpress.org/community/tag/wpdiversityworkshops/ for this workshop announcement soon!

Thank you

A lot of people contribute to making these workshops successful. Thank you to each and every one!

#diversespeakerworkshopsreports, #wpdiversity