You’re sitting alone, deciding whether to submit to speak at NANT 14. The committee in your head tells you that others have more knowledge, time, expertise – more something.
You’re afraid your abstract might be declined (I’ve been there), or maybe even worse, accepted – then you will have more deadlines to meet and must stand on a stage facing an international audience of your peers. It’s a brave decision because it’s vulnerable work. Only those who have clicked ‘submit’ or stood on such stages fully understand that vulnerability.
But here’s something to consider: What if it’s not about you?
What if it’s really about the individual humans in the audience who will benefit from your work? What if it’s about advancing research and practice or challenging the status quo? What if it’s about the positive effect your perspective and work could have on thousands of babies and families all over the world?
Below are ten quotes directly from the NANT 13 evaluations. There were plenty of constructive suggestions as well. (We can’t improve without feedback.) But notice the presenters’ impact. Notice the ripple effect.
- “Your talk provided excellent support as we forge ahead with a small baby unit.”
- “This presentation provided excellent practical information that I can take right to the bedside. We were literally gasping in the audience at the results.”
- “Ground-breaking and extremely exciting research.”
- “I have been feeling very burnt out and alone in the challenges that my NICU faces, and I no longer feel that way. I have expanded and valuable resources to implement change and support my babies!”
- “Great to learn about the big-lens view of cohesiveness amongst the NICU team to optimally support the infant during his NICU stay.”
- “Thoroughly enjoyed the real-world case examples and will be able to pull several things from this presentation and put them into practice.”
- “Every single point was applicable and pertinent to neonatal therapy practice.”
- “This presentation and the research it explored is a perfect example of the power of having multiple disciplines looking at the same issue.”
- “Appreciated all of the speaker’s case study examples and the framework she used for clinical reasoning in these challenging cases.”
- “Amazing innovation, love the clinical reasoning, effective use of media to illustrate points, engaged throughout! Everyone should listen to this talk.”
If you’re on the fence, tell the committee in your head to kindly take a summer vacation while you step toward the next version of yourself in the name of babies and the professionals who serve them.
Click here to begin. Submission deadline: August 14, 2023.
