Many people who have trained and worked with IH are regular speakers at National and International Conferences and within the languages industry, International House has an excellent reputation.

We want to foster new talent and showcase IH expertise to the world. So we would like to encourage and inspire all the excellent teachers, trainers and DOSes in IH schools around the network to take on the challenge of standing up in front of your peers at external events and talking about the topics close to your heart.  You can do it!

Don't be nervous!

Public speaking takes skill and preparation and can be nerve-wracking. With this in mind, Diana England (IH Torres Vedras), who has a great deal of experience as a speaker and trainer, has produced some very useful guidance to support aspiring new speakers.

Log onto our secure Members Area to find this (click on the button opposite). The guidance contains principles behind session design so you convey information and share knowledge and experiences as effectively, efficiently,  and enjoyably as possible. 

There is also guidance about the "nuts and bolts" of delivering a session - from initial planning, submitting your proposal, preparing materials and handouts, then actually speaking!  It's a very useful and detailed set of guidance!

Will 300 euros help?

Sometimes travel and accommodation expenses or conference fees are prohibitively expensive and so opportunities for IH professionals are lost. If the cost of attending is a barrier for you, we can help. IHWO is providing grants of 300 euros to staff from IH schools presenting at conferences. You may qualify if:

1. You currently work in an IH school
2. You want to speak at an event that is NOT an IH event (i.e. not hosted by an IH school)
3. The event will provide an opportunity to raise awareness of IH and our commitment to excellence in language training.
4. You use IH branded slides (we will provide templates) 
5. You write a summary of your talk afterwards, and let us publish it and your slides on this website as a useful resource for others.

If you would like to apply please complete the form in the member's area – remember to persuade us that you are a good investment! 

Norman Cain and Giovanni Licata from IH Rome did it ...

Dear IHWO, Even though you said it would be great, it was even more amazing than that! We were a bit scared at the start because we’d never done this before and there were lots of famous names who were much more important than we are. Anyway, we knew we had to do this for IHWO coz you’d been really cool about sponsoring our talk for “All In” in Venice, so we gave it our best. The topic was a bit risky (LGBT themes in ELT) and the public was totally unknown to us, yet they were really involved, warm and supportive of what we were putting forward as an alternative to mainstream materials out there. In the end, we were so thrilled that we’d been able to represent IHWO and build a new community of friends and similar-minded colleagues through the opportunity you’d given us. It’s a great opportunity for anyone who feels they have something to contribute on behalf of IHWO to the teaching/learning community. BTW, Venice is A-mazing! The people, the architecture, the food and the gondolas are as good as it gets!!!!!!!

By Norman & Giovanni

Mike Bilborough from IH Madrid did it ...

Dear IHWO. There is a danger, perhaps, that after many years of teaching English in the classroom, the job becomes routine and the professional loses enthusiasm and interest. The way I have found to combat that "burnout" syndrome is to get involved in research regarding topics related to language learning. This can be done as classroom research, where the teacher begins to implement ideas in his/her own classroom; ideas based on the outcomes of reading from sound research papers that have been recently published in academic journals. In my case, there then came a desire to share those ideas with like-minded professionals (my area was the use of gesture in language teaching) and what better venue than a teachers' conference such as TESOL Madrid, 2018. I found an audience who was receptive and respectful of my findings and wanted to learn more from me after the conference had finished - very rewarding and motivating for any professional. I highly recommend other teachers to do likewise. I am grateful to IHWO for their grant that sponsored my travel expenses, accommodation, attendance and presentation I gave there. It has encouraged me to research more and now when I go back into the classroom, teaching my students takes on a whole new and fascinating dimension.

By Mike Bilbrough

Amy Blanchard from IH Palma did it ...

Earlier this month I spoke at the Innovate ELT Conference in Barcelona – what a great experience! I delivered a workshop on evaluating and adapting course-book activities. I was a little nervous but the advice I got from IH beforehand was useful and the event organisers were really supportive. It’s a really great experience going to a conference as a speaker, Representing IH gave me extra confidence, and lots of people came to talk to me because they work for IH too. I’m really grateful to IH for the speaker’s grant -it’s definitely encouraged me to try and do more talks in the future!

By Amy Blanchard