Conference Hype!! Pt. 1: How to turn attending a conference into moments that matter.

One of the dope things about being a student leader is that you get perks! I will never forget how cool it was to have an office as the NPHC President at Texas State University. You couldn’t tell me I wasn’t the man; even though it was just a cubicle in a shared space in the student center. Another great perk was the ability to attend various conferences and events. Conference season is a great time for student leaders. It often means an opportunity for scholars to travel, stay at a hotel, maybe get a nice meal, and have an engaging social experience. They also get a chance to hear a few great speakers, attend thought provoking workshops, possible compete amongst their peers and meet students from across the country. It is truly a wonderful experience. But there was a consistent challenge, I would go to a conference, get fired up, and then…….nothing! 



I was attending conferences but didn’t always have much to show for it, outside of a t-shirt and business cards I was never going to use. Have you ever felt like you didn’t get the most out of your time at a conference or felt unsure about how to make your time at a conference count? When I started doing these three things, my times at conferences started to help me make an impact on my campus as a student leader and prepare me for my career. These things are so crucial that top executives and business people live by these three conference rules.


Network with a Purpose – Why are you attending the conference? What is your goal? Who do you need to meet? These are the type of questions you need to ask yourself BEFORE you get to the conference. The answer to these questions will help determine how you network at the conference. If you are at the conference to hear a great speaker to bring to back to your campus, be sure to attend both their keynote and their workshop, so you get to see how they interact with different types of crowds. Are you looking for a great community service idea or event, be sure make that the topic of your conversations. Before you go, know. Know who will be on a panel or presenting a workshop and then shoot your shot. Email the person you want to meet, let them know what you want to talk to them about, let them know when you will be at the conference, and then ask for a meeting. Connect with them on LinkedIn or Instagram, let them know why you are looking forward to connecting with them or hearing their work. When you get a business card from a colleague, be sure to write a note on the back about the conversation you had or a reason for a follow up. That way when you reach out after the conference you have more to say than, “nice to meet you.” You can also create a digital business card on sites like Linq or Dot. This way you can exchange information digitally and be a saved contact in their phone. This eliminates handing out business cards that may get left in a hotel room or random pocket. You’d be amazed what a little initiative like that can do for you.  Another pro tip is to see if you can be a part of the conference. Do you have experience that can add value to a workshop, panel discussion, or table talk? Is there a colleague at another school or organization that you can partner with to present a workshop? This is the type of thought process that allows you to maximize your time at a conference.


Plan your Sessions in Advance – You’ve been there, we all have. You hear a fire keynote and then you look at your friends and ask “what session you going to?” Or you want to go to the keynote’s workshop but of course its full. Now you end up in a random session that isn’t relevant to you or your group. Don’t be that person! Conferences post the workshop schedule for a reason. Most conferences try to offer a wide variety of workshops to hit as many demographics and meet as many needs as possible. With such a wide array of topics and experts at your disposal, it can be a little overwhelming. That’s why you should plan ahead. Create a schedule that allows you to make the most of your time in front of and with experts in your field. Come with questions or concerns so that you can be as specific as possible during question and answer sessions. Being intentional about the sessions you want to attend also allows your group to multiply its efforts. You can divide and conquer so you get the most information from the conference. While it might be cool to attend every session with you BFF, its not the most efficient process. One person can learn about Roberts Rules of Order, while another learns about delegation, and someone else getting ideas on vendors or community service projects. Another pro tip for planning your sessions in advance is to have a plan A and an alternate. Workshops and sessions can reach capacity quickly, if you know what you want to attend you might be able to beat the crowd. But, if you don’t, you are prepared and have an alternate session planned so you don’t end up sitting through 45 to 60 minutes of information that is not relevant to you or your org.


Follow up! – So you put in all that work to meet your favorite presenter and then you don’t follow up with them after the conference? Congratulations, you played yourself! The real work starts after the conference is over. That’s when you get to capitalize on all the great ideas and practice all the skills you acquired. It’s also when most folks drop the ball. Once you leave the conference you want to follow up with a few people:

  • Peers – let them know something you gained from meeting them, thank them for their time or investment in you, and get their permission to keep them in the loop with your progress. Also start developing that relationship as they may be a future partner for events, a great sounding board for ideas, or your next co-presenter at the conference next year!
  • Targets – the folks you really wanted to meet and it worked… thank them asap, show them how it benefits them to stay in touch with you, and let them how they helped you! This can be a connection to an internship, scholarship, or real world experience in your field.
  • Conference Planners – Thank them for a great conference. Let them know which speakers and sessions you enjoyed the most and then ask how you can be involved in the next one. You never know, you could be getting an email from someone saying that they really want to meet you.


Don’t leave your conference experience to chance. Successful experiences don’t just happen, they are planned because #leadershipisaverb! Also, when you show your campus or company that you are using your time at the conference effectively they are more likely to sponsor you to attend another one! What are you going to do to make sure you get the most out of the next conference you attend?

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Chris Collins

Chris is a speaker, author, and consultant with a message that is inspiring students across the country.

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Make Summer Count

By Chris Collins • May 9, 2024
Congratulations to all the scholars finishing up the school year, YOU MADE IT!! There are some big changes coming up for you next semester. So the team here at Chris C Speaks came up with 10 tips to help you #makesummercount so you will be ready for your next step! The first step is realizing that #leadershipisaverb so that means what you do (the actions you take) this summer will help to prepare for your next step, whether it’s high school, college, entering the workforce, starting a business, or something all together different. You may not know it yet, but how you spend your summer will either set you up to run the next stage of life or get run off it! 1 – Read a book for growth AND for fun – yes that means you have to read two books!! I used to only read books for fun; stuff I was interested in or something that was about to be turned in to movie. Then I went on a kick where I only read a book that was going to increase my net worth. SMH there is power in balance. Now I read for both growth and pleasure. The point is to keep reading and learning. You can learn just as much from a post-apocalyptic read as you can a self-help book. #readersareearners Just know that the more you get used to reading, the better prepared you will be for those college courses you'll eventually take, learning company policies, or starting a business. Full Disclosure: Leviathan and The Elements of Style (required reading on a lot of college campuses) or corporate disclosures might still be a tough read. 2 – Prioritize Service I know it’s the summer any you want to go to kick back and chill, I feel you fam! But the summer is not about just relaxing, it’s about making this summer count! What better way to make your time count than to prioritize service?! Do something for someone that can’t do for themselves. Connect with something bigger than yourself. It allows you put positive energy into the atmosphere, make a positive impact on someone’s life, and realize how blessed you are. It also allows you to put your time where your heart is all while growing/building your network. It is highly likely that the folks you meet when you volunteer and do community service surrounding things you are interested in will share similar interest as you, so you get to be around like minded folks with a passion for helping others. Those are some of the best folks to know. I am firm believer that your net worth is tied directly to your network. 3 – Practice a Real World Skill You Hate I hate washing clothes, especially white clothes!! I’d rather buy new white tees and undershirts than wash them. Even though I hate washing clothes, I know HOW to wash them! I will never forget my first year as an RA and a student turned all their clothes tie-dye because they put bleach in their color clothes load 🤯 🤦🏾! DON’T BE THAT STUDENT, 😂 (or the student that nearly started a fire popping popcorn in the microwave. They set the timer for 20 minutes….on purpose, cause they thought it “seemed like a good number”. )Take this summer as an opportunity to practice a real world skill that you hate doing or are unfamiliar with, it might be useful in your next phase. Things like washing clothes, cooking, balancing your bank account, paying a bill, etc. You will have plenty of new experiences once you start adulting, but core life skills shouldn’t be one of them. 4 – Get Active! Heal th is wealth! This one is simple, but I have to be honest..it’s also personal. If you’ve been rocking with me for a minute you know I couldn’t have shared this as a suggestion a few years ago. I was terribly inactive and my health and mobility suffered because of it. Now, I make being active a part of my daily routine and my quality of life has dramatically improved. If it’s a hobby or exercise, do something that gets you moving, gets your heart rate up, and lets you get a good stretch/sweat. 5 – Write a letter! I got a letter in the mail from my boy since summer before 3rd grade and it bought me to tears! We live in such a digital world full of likes, DM’,s and emails; getting an actual handwritten letter in the mail is such a rare occurrence and that is what makes it special! This is an intentional act that is mad thoughtful. When it happened to me, it motivated me to pay it forward and write a letter to a few folks that I hadn’t chopped it up with in a minute. While I don’t expect to become pen pals, the effects of getting a handwritten note in the mail cannot be overstated. Remember the feeling you get when you receive a note and imagine it amplified when you send one to your parents or teacher or mentor. 6 – Take a road trip Get in the car and drive somewhere you have never been!! I don’t care if it’s just to the other side of town! Do something different. See something different. Expose yourself to something new and exciting. Make a plan, take a friend, just make it happen. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the new place, find a favorite thing. Start getting your mind used to seeing and processing new places. There is something exciting about experiencing a place for the first time getting to learn about a new thing, but even more so is the journey. The conversations, funny experiences, getting lost, arguing over the playlist 😂! It will be a valuable exercise as you start your next journey. 7 – Clean up your socials Take a close look at your social media activity and go waay back. You know to that time you thought trolling was an Olympic sport and you posted things you knew would get under peoples skin. Make sure your current social media presence reflects who you are now. Also, be sure to check them all! You might not rock with Tumbler and X now, but maybe you did back in the day. If you don’t already have a LinkedIn profile, now is a great time to craft one. You’ll be attending conferences and meeting new and exciting folks. LinkedIn is currently the most professional digital format to network and connect with like minded folks, be sure to put your best foot forward. If you want to be really big time check out digital business cards with either a QR code or a NFC-Tap feature. 8 – Find a new place to eat Treat yourself to a new restaurant. Try a different type of cuisine or that new hot place everyone is buzzing about. Stretch your taste buds!! On a recent trip I had a student suggest a new ice cream spot. When I got there the flavors were crazy! I never thought I’d like rosemary, honey, and goat milk ice cream but I did!! Now I tell everybody that will listen about it! Its sounds silly but I gained some confidence by eating that ice cream. It helped me open up to new culinary experiences which led to cultural experiences which ultimately led to my growth and development. 9 – M ake a goal and CRUSH IT! I am a big fan of goals, vision boards and the like. I’m a bigger fan of winning and crushing goals! Take a moment and build the useful habit of setting goals (you should always have a blend of both short and long term goals that work together to create the vibe you want) and experience the confidence that comes from reaching those goals. Don’t get caught up on what your goal should be as long as the goal helps you, it’s a good one. You can start with micro wins like waking up at a certain time, being active, or reading/speaking affirmations. Consistency is the key here, it takes about 21 days of doing something to create a habit, but a with a goal, you set the end date! Start with something reasonable and set yourself up for a win! The process of successfully doing hard things has two main side effects: 1. It proves to you that you can do hard things which gives you confidence the next time a hard thing comes in your path. 2. It gives you a blueprint to scale - you learn how to motivate yourself and push your limits! 10 – Find your Big Bad Wolf Being independent is a big deal, so It’s ok to be nervous or even anxious about this next step you are taking. Don’t be ashamed or feel bad for having concerns. That just means this step is important to you. But I want you to ask yourself a question, WHY? What is it about the next step that has you shook? Is it the money, the books, the people, being away from home, etc. whatever it is, put a name to it!! Call that thing out so you can game plan on how to address it. Once you figure out what is causing the nerves, you can address it. Once the three pigs realized how the wolf was beating them they adjusted. That doesn’t mean you will never be nervous again, but conquering your fears is sort of like lifting weights…. 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3 steps to better presentations, plus 3 bonus tips to really change the game

February 13, 2024
Stop feeling like this cat and dominate your next presentation! Presentations are a part of life, especially if you are in a leadership role. We have to make them in orientations, meetings, class, work, even in social settings. It’s impossible to escape the need to present information to folks. Presentations are an easy way to convey your message to group. However, in today’s world your message is competing to be heard amongst dozens, if not hundreds, of other messages so its critical that you do your best. Even though some of us are comfortable giving presentations, others absolutely dread it! Either way these three tips will help you give better presentations. 1. Practice – Freestyling is for rappers and skateboarders! I don’t care how many times you have done the presentation or how well you know the info – prepare for each presentation like its your first time delivering it. The more familiar you are with the information the more confident you will feel. And confidence is one of the keys to an effective delivery. People want to know you believe what you are saying and presenting with confidence is a great way to make that happen. BONUS: how many times have you seen someone stumble in a presentation only for it to derail the entire thing?! DON’T DO IT! Keep going, being confident and having a strong finish can make up for a stumble here or there. 2. Be Prepared – Technology is cool until you don’t have the right adaptor to connect your laptop to the monitor! YOU should have the most basic adaptors to connect your laptop to a projector. If there is an IT dept. on hand to help be sure to be sure to communicate what type of laptop you have and the connections you need. It’s also a good idea to have an extra battery or at the very least be operating with a full battery. And when possible, you should have everything you need for your presentation on your computer, instead of if being in a cloud or internet based. You never know when you will be subject to to a spotty connection. You should also be prepared for your tech to completely fail you when you need it most! So be ready to give your presentation without it by having a printout of the key points you want to hit. BONUS: PowerPoint is cool but there are so many different options for making presentations. Check out prezi and slide rocket for starters. 3. Know your audience – Don’t be the guy on the southwest airlines commercial yelling out the wrong city or group! That’s a moment too tough to overcome. But seriously, it’s important to know how you are talking to and why. Having a solid understanding of your audience and why they are there will give you direction on how to best reach them. When you have a frame of reference of your audiences perspective, you can tailor your message to both meet their needs and their expectations. BONUS: knowing your audience is great but don’t over generalize, always remember you are speaking to a group but they are not all homogenous. So when prepping for a group keep the tailored part of your message general enough to hit home with with the average person in your audience. I.e. most freshmen are a little nervous about coming to campus and most seniors are nervous about finding a job after graduation. Knowing this allows you to tailor your examples, humor, and benefits of your message. Good luck and keep it moving!!

The dark side of Leadership

February 13, 2024
Leadership has been a buzz word in pop culture for the past 25 years. It is the undefinable ever evolving sometimes unreachable goal of CEO’s and yuppies alike. People present leadership as the cure-all for what ailes our communities, campuses, and offices. But there is a dark side to leadership, the side that no one talks about. EVER!! until now!! It is the thing that we don’t think about until we are knee-deep in our roles. Then it hits us!! The dark side of leadership. It hit me while listening to financial guru Dave Ramsey, the dark side of leadership is its opportunity cost! Strap on your Freaoenomics cap for a moment and follow me. When you buy a 40k car with cash, it cost more than just 40k. It also cost whatever you COULD HAVE PURCHASED with that 40k. i.e. 40k on a car or a 40k on a mutual fund the difference is you lose 35% of your investment as soon as you leave the lot when you buy a vehicle instead of the 8.5% interest you get from the mutual fund. In the end the opportunity cost is more than just the 40k. It is also the 8.5% interest you missed out on and the 25% you lost in instant depreciation. Ok!!! I’m done with the economics lesson, but there a valuable principles to gleaned here. Anyone that’s ever held a leadership position can identify with this scenario: Friday night, just got paid, party’s jumping…and you have SOMETHING to do!! A proposal, flyer, meeting, homework that you put off because of a meeting, or worst of all….a project that someone else dropped the ball on!! It is now that you are experiencing the opportunity cost of leadership. Because effective and progressive leadership demands your effort, time, and sacrifice. Whether its planning a retreat for your student organization, working on a project for work, or taking time out of your schedule to counsel a friend…all aspects of leadership have an opportunity cost. Because instead of leading, you could simply ‘be’ and go-with-the-flow. You can invest your effort, time, and sacrifice into less self-less things. And there is nothing wrong with that! Do you! But for those of us that decide to take on the mantle of leadership, understand that there is a dark side; effort to be given, time to be spent, and sacrifices to be made. In the spirit of full disclosure, every choice we make has an opportunity cost, the question to ask ourselves is, “is it worth it?” Don’t be scared of the dark side of leadership, embrace it!  The force is strong in you!! Make the most of your decisions and role as a leader, make the opportunity cost worth it.