Explore our program

"As a copywriter aspiring to break into Content Design, I faced fear, insecurity, felt lost and uncertain. This is the story of how I took a few bold steps - (1) force my previous job to fit the work of a content designer into (2) network with the global community of content designers and (3) wear the entrepreneur hat. It was a lonely, uncertain and miserably long journey but it was worth it. Just when I decided to give up, one recruiter held on to me and led me to my current career at Accenture. That's all anyone needs: one break. The rest will follow as you tread on this path.

"I became a UX Writer without really knowing what one was, because I wanted to live in Amsterdam. With this talk, I will try to ensure that your first six months as a UX Writer/Content Designer are less chaotic than mine. The ultimate guide to saying no to imposter syndrome, and not getting fired.

"The goal of the talk is to provide strategies and tools for gaining confidence when transitioning into tech. It will also include methods for maintaining confidence when onboarding a new job. The talk will touch on obtaining experience when you’re completely new to the field, navigating job applications, the relationship with imposter syndrome, and branding yourself as a new Content Designer.

"Content creation, like many other careers, can include times of set-backs, rejection and self-doubt. This session will explore, through a series of brief interactive practices, how to stay centered and confident in yourself. Megan will weave together her experience as a psychologist and yoga teacher to remind you of your strengths and help you find ways to soothe the inner critic, empowering you to let yourself shine!

"Thinking about switching your career to content design? Not sure where to start, or if you have the skills to be successful? Do you have ideas about how to improve communications in your organization? If you’re considering a career shift, or have identified needs at your job, you’re already aware of how content design impacts people. And, you're aware of the importance of thoughtful, inclusive communication. Part pep talk, part prep talk, part practical advice, this session will help you start where you are:

• Recognize skills and characteristics you already have that can be applied to the content design field
• Find or make opportunities in your current position
• Trust your knowledge and experience, and inspire trust in your colleagues and audiences
• Meet people where they are with the information they need in the ways they are able to receive it

"In her talk, Cara shares her journey transitioning from a freelance blogger into a full-time content designer through self-studying, curating an irresistible resume, and acing content design interviews. Learn how to tackle common interview questions using the STAR method, give constructive feedback to mock crit reviews, as well as make your resume stand out.

She will also touch on things you can do to grow the content practice at your company and establish yourself as a subject matter expert.

"Looking to learn what tools you might use as a UX Writer? Then this is the talk for you!

I'll cover some of the most common tools used by UX Writers and Content Designers ranging from tools for writing, enhancing your writing, and visualizing your work/collaborating with a team. I'll also include a bonus tool that's helped me both write better and break through the dreaded writer's block.

"Promotions can be hard to navigate, especially if you aren't comfortable with talking about your accomplishments.

Fighting for a promotion means dealing with awkward questions like:

• How do I know I'm ready?
• How do I start that conversation with my manager?
• How do I justify myself and my value?

In this talk, I'll go through the three things you can do to set yourself up for promotion to a more senior level. They are:

1. Perform an audit of your skills, to see if you're ready for a promotion.
2. Stop, and reflect on past projects.
3. Collect testimonials from colleagues.

"If you're looking at freelancing, especially with such a wide field as content design, it's a great idea to decide how your skills and passion combine into your unique offering. It means you can plan your career so that the right work finds you, and so you’re happy and fulfilled while you're doing it.

At the same time, you can't walk into a field of interest, plant your metaphorical flag and declare yourself Emperor. What work is already going on? Who can you make friends with, and how can you amplify them, and learn from each other?

Learn how to identify what you can uniquely bring to a piece of work, and balance imposter syndrome with staying humble and always learning.

"Strategically building a career brand isn't easy, but you can be the product owner of your career because you are the real MVP! Let me show you how to discover your secret sauce, unlock your zone of genius, and master your unique, unicorn skillset. This will help you better articulate your unique value, using the unique value propositions and key differentiators. Following the MVP/ lean startup concept you can define and evolve your success metrics and learn how to measure and document your progress or wins. Being able to speak to your success helps makes you promotable! Learn fast, fail fast and pivot faster!

"This workshop is about touching base with you, reconnecting with what that is, who that is, what our inner landscape is. We’ll be letting that take seed and sit in confidence in ourselves. You’ll get to experience the benefits of breathwork and learn some useful techniques for calming your nerves - super useful ahead of important meetings and interviews.

This session will involve:

• Breathing to start grounding our thoughts and physical body to the moment
• A nadi shodana (alternate nostril breathing) to balance our mind and emotions
• A grounding flow to move and reconnect to ourselves and senses
• A few Yin postures to settle yet challenge the monkey mind
• And, ending with Savasana, as we bring to mind a positive affirmation, we would like to carry through the year with us.

"The current perception of ADHD isn’t a charitable one, although that has been recently changing. ADHD is not the inability to sit still and focus – it’s a different way of processing the world and managing executive function. And people with it can have thriving careers because of the way they perceive the world, not despite it.

In this session, we’ll look at what ADHD actually is, how it manifests differently in men vs women (and how women and girls have been comparatively underdiagnosed), and how it can be a strength, rather than a liability, in content design. We’ll also discuss coping mechanisms, ways to stay organized, methods of maintaining focus in a demanding world, and additional resources to learn more about how ADHD works.

"Here’s what no one tells you about becoming senior: the behaviors that got you this far start to break down.

In entry- to mid-level roles, you get praised for things like saying yes to everything, jumping in headfirst, and obsessing over craft. But in a senior role, those behaviors can sometimes backfire, leaving you in search of a new strategy.

To succeed, you’ll have to flip the script on your work habits. In this talk, we’ll cover three paradoxes of senior content roles drives them. We’ll also talk about some of the nuances at play as you adapt — and why organizations need to adapt with you.

Whether you’re in a senior role now or looking to get there soon, this talk will help you remake your mindset, expand your toolkit, and get the career growth you deserve.

"Leveling up is the next step in your career. But what do you do when there is no forged path, no existing criteria, or no clear expectations on how to go from mid-level to senior-level (and beyond)? Are you even sure it’s the right time to ask for a promotion, and if so, how can you be confident that you’re ready to make that leap?

In this talk, you'll get real-life examples and actionable steps to get buy-in, impress a cross-functional promotion panel (not just your boss), and land that coveted title.

"So you're looking at resourcing and finding content design support for multiple product teams. What's the best ratio of content designer to team? How many content designers do you need?

There's a balancing act to supporting #allthethings and having overworked/burnt-out content designers, or, not supporting some things in favour of deep content design support for others. So how do you make this decision?

In this talk, Noni will share her rules of thumb when it comes to content design resourcing, as well as a framework to help you get buy-in with cross-functional peers.

"How many times have you neglected your wellbeing (consciously or unconsciously) to win approval from your boss or for the betterment of the company? Despite corporate websites having 'fun' pictures of the team and claims of 'being like family,' many of us have worked in environments that have been far from healthy or nurturing behind the scenes. The great resignation of 2021- where almost a quarter of UK workers decided to leave their jobs and a whopping 41% was predicted to do so this year in the US - show us that many people are unsatisfied with their jobs. I will discuss how to lead with empathy in a way that ensures that you and those you manage are thriving and not just surviving.

"Today's event marks 150 days since becoming a manager. Expect fresh perspectives about recruiting and structuring a team of UX Writers.

"As managers, how often do you feel overwhelmed, stressed and anxious? Managers are at the forefront, leading people and teams to navigate a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world (VUCA). It's easy to get blindsided by our habitual ways of thinking and behaving when we're stressed and uncertain. Your Saboteurs generate all of your negative emotions: stress, anxiety, self-doubt, anger, avoidance. Your Sage handles challenges with a clear and calm mind and positive emotions: creativity, empathy, compassion, focus. When you are in full command of your mind you can choose to not stress out over what you can't control, push away self-doubts, recover from disappointments immediately, and spend less time in anger, regret and blame.

Join me as I introduce the concept of Positive Intelligence (PQ). Positive Intelligence has boosted mental fitness and generated fantastic results for employees at Google, Microsoft and Pinterest - 91% manage stress better and 92% improved their ability to develop others. Learn a simple mind/body connection strategy to move from Saboteur to Sage self and inspire those you lead to do the same!

"In this talk, Molly will share what she’s learned about being an effective leader in Co-op’s Customer Experience team while working less hours than her colleagues.

She’ll cover the tools and methods that help her stay organised, the behaviours that mean the team and work don’t slow down when she’s not around, and the importance of knowing and demonstrating your value when you work part time.

You’ll leave this talk with practical advice and tips that you can apply to your own work.

"We come to all of our relationships - both personal and professional - with a lot of baggage. On any given day, our teams might encounter many different sides of us: The perfectionist. The people pleaser. The worrier. And so many more.

Let unexamined, these personas run the show -- and they can keep us from showing up as the kinds of managers we WANT to be.

In this talk, I'll help you get to know your inner managers by introducing you to mine. And I'll share tools and techniques to slow down your thoughts so that you can manage yourself before you have to manage others.

"Building thriving teams means building teams that trust. This talk explores authentic leadership as a means of hiring, managing, and coaching teams that trust. When teams trust each other and trust leadership, amazing things begin to happen. Collaboration and creativity increase. Job satisfaction and happiness improve. And team members learn to rely on leadership and colleagues for support, guidance, and feedback without worrying about appearing weak.

I'll share methods and techniques I've used while building out the Retail content strategy team at CVS, how to run team meetings that acknowledge accomplishments and allow for sharing work and asking for feedback, and how to educate and create a psychologically safe space where people can do their best work.

"After a whole year of survey data, video calls with other neurodivergent folks, meetups and diving into the community of neurodivergent designers, UX professionals and health advocates, Katrin shares a multitude of learnings in her talk. With a speacial focus on how to lead for neurodivergent folks and what leaders with neurodivergencies, Katrin aims to shed a light on an invisible struggle that does not have to be one if we all educate ourselves about it. Especially since a pandemic changed the whole world's collective mindset and neurochemical setup in each individual brain, it is time to talk about how less is more and where neurotypical people can benefit from the neurodivergent experience and the other way around.

"As a new leader, stewarding a team of people also growing in their leadership journey, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking you should know everything and be able to do everything. However, in 5 years of building a team of world-class content experts, I’ve learned one of the best ways to enable your leadership team to learn, develop and lead effectively and sustainably is to get out of their way.

In this talk I’ll share insights into how you can lead through other people by:

• showing trust in the leaders you manage
• empowering leaders to make and own their decisions
• creating a safe space that builds people’s confidence to experiment and take risks
• stepping back when it enables others to shine

This talk is aimed at inspiring confidence in content leaders who manage or lead other leaders.

"Moving into leadership requires you to get creative about scaling yourself. But how do you do this without becoming a less dynamic, rich version of yourself? Great leaders are not automatons. This talk will provide concrete tips on how to move into this new way of functioning honestly, without losing your uniqueness, sense of self or perspective. This approach will be built on three foundational concepts: empathy, authenticity and vulnerability.

"In this 50 minute workshop Chioma will share with you:

• What is EFT Tapping and how it can enhance your wellbeing
• Teach you how to do EFT for yourself
• Show you how to use EFT immediately to relieve stress and boost your resilience at work.
• Provide a short stress relief tapping session with the participant so they leave the workshop feeling the benefits of EFT for wellbeing.
• Provide you with tapping guide to take away to use anytime you feel overwhelmed to connect to a sense of balance and calm.

"Who else puts everyone else’s problems before your own? No, just me? It’s hard to find the time and focus to make your work better in between the work itself.

Hear an overview of how we grew Lullabot from a company where two experts independently did content strategy to a company boasting a refined strategy department. We established a shared understanding, an increased consistency across projects and staff, and open doors for collaboration. See some tangible ways we empowered our team to do the work they already do, but this time, for the team itself.

"I would like to offer an anecdote from my experience to remind you to act courageously and overcome your fears.

"The operational side of leadership is one we rarely focus enough time and effort on. But improving process and workflows, fostering stakeholder relations, and growing capability will help take your team from zero to hero.

In this talk I'll share my top ten tips for growing your influence and helping your team thrive in your organisation – so you can be a more impactful leader.