Speak at the 2026 Freelancers' Awayday
Would you like to share your expertise, ideas or experiences with colleagues across the ELT and Educational publishing sectors?
We’re now inviting speaker proposals for the 2026 Freelancers’ Awayday, which will take place on 2 October 2026 in Oxford, UK. We’re keen to hear a wide range of perspectives and warmly encourage proposals from people across different roles, backgrounds and levels of experience.
The Awayday is a well-established networking and CPD event attended by representatives from publishing houses and suppliers – such as outsourced service providers and design, audio and media studios – alongside freelancers working in a wide range of roles, including authors, editors, proofreaders, project managers, picture researchers and designers.
Whether you already have a well-developed session in mind or just the outline of an idea, we’d be very happy to hear from you – simply use the button below to submit your proposal.
Presentation formats
We welcome speakers from the freelance community as well as organisations and we’d love to receive your proposal ideas. There are three possible presentation formats:
LIGHTNING TALK (10 minutes)
These short, dynamic talks are ideal for first-time presenters. Attendees particularly value talks that share practical ideas, useful tools or workflows, accessibility insights, lessons learned, emerging trends or honest reflections on the realities of publishing today. The strongest talks tend to have a clear focus and leave delegates with useful, thought-provoking takeaways.
WORKSHOP (30–45 minutes)
These more interactive sessions often focus on practical skills development and tend to include audience discussion, participation in tasks or sharing of experiences and ideas.
PRESENTATION (30–45 minutes)
These sessions typically explore industry developments, emerging trends, new ideas or broader strategic questions affecting ELT and Educational publishing.
New to presenting?
The Awayday is known for its relaxed, welcoming and supportive atmosphere and is an ideal opportunity to take a first step into presenting.
We particularly encourage first-time speakers to give a Lightning talk, either on an area where you already have experience and insight, or a topic you are keen to explore further and can research in depth as part of your preparation.
We are happy to discuss and develop your ideas with you and can offer a ‘run-through’ before the day to give you feedback on your talk and slides, if you choose to use them. We also welcome speaker pairs, so why not link up with a colleague to give a presentation?
And if your idea is still at an early stage, don’t worry – we’d be very happy to help you shape and develop it. You might also like to watch Eddie's video, in which he shares his experience of being one of our 2025 Lightning talk speakers.
Key information
Venue: voco® Oxford Spires Hotel, Oxford
Date: 2 October 2026
Proposal deadline: 10 June 2026
Ready to propose a session?
Use the button below to submit your speaker proposal idea.
Not keen on speaking yourself but know someone who would be great?
Feel free to share this page with colleagues who may be interested.