Speakers
OpenEU Festival: The Open Canvas of Democracy
Speaker Information
Welcome
Thank you for being part of the OpenEU Festival: The Open Canvas of Democracy.
We are delighted to welcome you as a speaker, practitioner, researcher, artist or community contributor.
This page contains practical information to help you prepare your participation, including session formats, technical preparation, accessibility guidelines and submission requirements.
The OpenEU Festival brings together participants from across Europe to explore democracy through dialogue, participation, creativity and exchange.
Biography and Profile Photo
To introduce you to festival participants, please submit:
Your final session title
A short biography
A profile photograph - upload it to your Folder for Speakers
Your personal title (for example: CEO of OpenEU Festival, Spain)
A short session description
Your preferred session style
Do you have a poll in mind? Please send it to us
Three recommendations to share with our participants, related to your talk or professional field: a book, a film/documentary, a project, a website, an app, or another resource you feel connected with your talk.
Download our consent form and upload it - all in your Folder for Speakers
Any accessibility requirements or support needs, so we can prepare in advance
Any documentation related to your talk that could help our International Sign Language Interpreters prepare- upload it to your Folder for Speakers
PLEASE FILL THE FORM IF THERE IS ANY MISSING INFORMATION
https://forms.gle/GwjjvXio5TFAqhxm8
Your biography and photo may be used for festival communication and program materials.
Session Format
The OpenEU Festival is designed around conversation, participation and exchange.
We encourage speakers to approach their sessions as opportunities for dialogue rather than traditional one-way presentations. Our festival is dedicated to democracy, and we want to honour it by encouraging the audience to participate.
Please consider:
Creating space for questions and discussion
Engaging participants whenever possible
Use polls if possible
Focusing on key ideas, examples or experiences rather than long presentations
Presentation Materials
Slides are not recommended and we encourage speakers to avoid relying heavily on presentations.
If you choose to use slides:
Please submit them in advance.
Use high-contrast colors and clear, simple fonts.
Avoid text-heavy slides.
Explain the images while presenting so people with vision impairments or blind people can understand what it is on the screen
Don't rely on color alone to convey meaning (for example, avoid "the red bars show...")
Include image descriptions/alternative text for images, graphs or visual elements to support participants using screen readers.
If you're preparing any written materials (handouts, summaries, or documents shared with participants), we recommend using Easy Reading / Easy-to-Read guidelines: short sentences, plain everyday words, one idea per sentence, and a clear layout. This makes your materials easier to follow for participants with cognitive disabilities, non-native speakers, and anyone reading quickly. If helpful, we can point you to Easy Reading guidance when preparing your materials — just let us know.
Accessibility and Inclusive Communication
We are committed to creating an accessible and inclusive festival experience for speakers and participants alike.
To support all participants, please:
Describe yourself as part of your introduction (For example: 'I have short brown hair, I'm wearing a blue jacket, and I'm sitting in front of a bookshelf.'). This helps participants who are blind or have low vision
Speak clearly and at a moderate pace. Avoid speaking too quickly, especially when explaining complex ideas.
Pause briefly between key points — this helps live captioning stay accurate and gives everyone time to follow along.
Use accessible language whenever possible, and explain specialized terms when needed.
Keep in mind that participants may have different linguistic backgrounds — when using very specific idioms or slang some participants might not understand.
In Q&A or multi-speaker segments, please say your name before speaking, so participants using screen readers know who is talking.
Live captions will be enabled for all sessions.
Please avoid using virtual backgrounds during your session — they can create visual glitches that make lip-reading and sign language interpretation more difficult.
If you have accessibility requirements or specific support needs, please let us know in advance so we can prepare accordingly.
Technical Preparation
All sessions will take place online. Our technical team together with the organizing committee will prepare 2 sessions for you to review technical details and the program sessions. This will be done based on the day where you are assigned to speak.
Friday, Saturday morning, Sunday morning speakers - October 2 at 16:00 (4pm) CET time
Saturday afternoon speakers - October 3rd at 16:00 (4pm) CET time
Before the festival
Before your session, please make sure you have:
A stable internet connection.
A working microphone and camera.
A quiet environment.
Good lighting.
Headphones, if possible.
We recommend testing your internet connection in advance.
Minimum recommended speed: -5 Mbps download / 3 Mbps upload (wired connection preferred over Wi-Fi if possible)
A technical check will be organized before the festival. You will get the information on how to join. Please do it a few minutes before the scheduled start time. We have a function that allows you to do that without being noticed.
Please check your session time carefully according to your own time zone.
https://24timezones.com/difference
Communication and Promotion
We encourage speakers to share their participation through their professional and personal networks.
Festival branding, communication materials and promotional resources can be provided by the organizing team.
We have also opened an Instagram account for the festival. We encourage you to help us by sending us some short videos presenting yourself and the talk, quotes, or anything you dim interesting for the audience. You can upload everything here Folder for Speakers
Community Guidelines
The OpenEU Festival is built on respectful dialogue, curiosity and openness to different perspectives.
We encourage speakers to contribute to an environment where participants feel welcome to:
Ask questions
Share ideas
Exchange experiences
Engage with different perspectives
Contact Information
If you have any questions regarding your participation, session format, technical preparation or materials, please contact the organizing team.
We offer indiviudal sessions if required to any speaker that needs some further introduction to the festival or if they need to go through any details. Please send and email or a message to Telegram, WhatsApp or Viber message to +34 659894681. Please do it after 14:00 (2pm) CET time.
We are happy to support you and look forward to welcoming you to:
The OpenEU Festival: The Open Canvas of Democracy
openeufestival@gmail.com
Menelaos Papamichelakis: menelaos.papamichelakis@ac.eap.gr
Tamara Diez : tdiez6@alumno.uned.es