Call for Proposals at PUSH UX 2026
Keynote & Lightning Talk Proposals
Keynote Talks
For speakers with authority and experience who bring key content that's relevant to the majority of the audience.
Keynote talks form the single track stage program in the morning and afternoon each day, in front of the entire audience.
Most last 25 minutes, but we'll occasionally allocate 45 minutes to particular deep-dives.
Lightning Talks
15 minutes each, they are part of the multi-track breakout time. They bring 3 unique strengths to the program: specialisation, low effort and risk, and variety.
If you're a specialist or leader, preparing a short talk fits tight schedules, and it might be more valuable to speak to an audience of peers than a broad mass.
If you're just developing your speaker profile and looking for experience, the medium audience size and shorter runtime lower the barrier. Feedback from 2025 particularly highlighted that our experienced audience values fresh ideas that upcoming designers bring.
Lastly, the faster pace enables to cover a wider range of topics in the program, making it more valuable for everybody.
Requirements and tips
In 13 years we've reviewed well over 1000 proposals as part of curating for PUSH UX. Here are our learnings summarised for you – because we too want your proposal to be the strongest it can possibly be.
The 2 most important details we look for
This is where most submissions fail to get past the first review.
Authority
What makes you particularly well suited to speak about this topic?
The strongest signals that convince us are first hand experience, case studies, original articles, or even an existing version of your talk or session.
If you don't have those yet, develop a draft or rough outline – anything that serves as a teaser and example. Bring to life what you'll likely cover, and how you'll approach this.
First hand content
Show us that your talk and take-aways are built on your own original thinking and practice.
Nothing beats personal experience: real case studies, real failure, real advice.
The holy grail: showing how you solve specific problems in real projects – this behind-the-scenes look at other practices and companies will strongly resonate with the audience, and our curators.
Do's and don'ts to make your proposal stand out
Things to pay attention to, and things to avoid.
Frequently asked questions
Submission and review process
Verify your email, then tell us about yourself.
Only needed once. You'll receive a personal link so that all your submissions get linked to your profile.
Select a keynote talk, a lightning talk, or an interactive breakout session.
You can submit multiple proposals, including versions of your topic for different formats.
Share the details about your proposal – make sure to review the tips and requirements for the chosen format.
Use our templates to prepare content before submitting.
We review proposals as they come in and reach out if we need more details.
Our aim is to finalise the program 2 months before the event, so there's no specific deadline.
Ready to submit?
Start your profile through the form linked below. Watch out for emails to confirm steps, and to submit proposals connected to your profile.
You can also prepare your content upfront using our handy Google doc template.
