Speaker Guide
Review this Speaker Guide to better understand our guidelines and expectations for becoming a Speaker or Chalk Talk Co-Facilitator.
Content sessions are generally classified into one of two broad areas: FinOps Topics (current themes in FinOps that inform Foundation activities and Framework improvements), or FinOps Capabilities (from the FinOps Framework).
Topic examples are shown below, and the full list is available on the FinOps Topics page.
You can also align your session proposal with a FinOps Capability from the FinOps Framework.
Watch previous FinOps X Breakout Sessions to get a better idea of how to address and speak to these topics.
Ready to submit your proposal? Fill out the CFP form. The FinOps X 2026 CFP closes on February 6th, 2026.
Choose which type of session you would like to propose. FinOps X features two types of content formats:
These formats cover FinOps best practices and cater to various ways practitioners and the community want to learn.
We use a range of levels to help attendees find the most appropriate content for their experience level. FinOps X tends to focus on advanced sessions, including tangible examples of business outcomes from longstanding practices, real world experiences (and consequences), and technical deep-dives into key topics.
Make sure to have actionable points for the audience and share real-world examples and data. Secure proper permissions or attributions to use data examples in your sessions. Speakers may choose to anonymize data or redact sensitive things in order to still use data to support their topics.
Use findings from the State of FinOps annual survey to support your talk. We also encourage speakers to reference and cite past FinOps Foundation materials to help us grow our body of knowledge.
The FinOps Foundation welcomes stories and lessons from practitioners of all walks of life. We encourage organizations to support diversity with speaker representation, including other FinOps personas from underrepresented groups. Speaking with a co-speaker can broaden the perspectives shared at the event, but please ensure any panel submissions (3 or more speakers) are not all-male (per Linux Foundation guidance).
Chosen speakers will be supported and encouraged to take the Linux Foundation’s free inclusive speaker training, preparing them to build a safe, welcoming, and thoughtful space during FinOps X.
We’ve seen speakers find great success from aligning their talks to parts of the FinOps Framework, including Topics, Capabilities, Domains, addressing Personas, and more.
We encourage data-driven storytelling and real-world examples in FinOps X. You can use anonymized FinOps data (redacting any sensitive material, and with proper permissions and attribution) to support your talking points.
You can also use data from the State of FinOps Report to support your talking points. Our staff is more than happy to provide high-res charts and graphs if you choose to do so. We ask that you use proper citations and attribution when doing so.
Breakout stages have a maximum of two speakers. Chalk Talks typically include 2-3 co-facilitators.
We are accepting proposals from end-user practitioners for Breakout Sessions and Chalk Talks. If you work for a cloud provider, tools and services provider, or vendor, the organization needs to be a Platinum or Gold sponsor.
Lightning Talk ideas are welcome from all types of roles within the FinOps community.
Of course! You can work with our designers to include high-resolution images, charts, and graphs. FinOps X and XE provide large presentation screens for speakers, so we want to use the highest quality images we can to support your talk.
NOTE: We ask that you get proper permissions from your organization ahead of time to use charts, graphs, and data that they might provide.
Yes! Chalk Talks continue to become a popular way for practitioners to workshop and discuss their FinOps challenges, best practices, and key topics. Feel free to submit your idea and indicate if you think it might be more ideal as a Chalk Talk.
Unlike Breakout Sessions, Chalk Talks focus on small groups of interactive workshops and are not recorded. We encourage participants to take plenty of notes and share them with their peers (e.g. on LinkedIn, Slack, etc.).
While the CFP collects proposals immediately, the review process begins later this year, and into 2026. The content committee will review submissions and inform potential speakers and co-facilitators about next steps.
We encourage engaging the audience in a respectful, inclusive manner during your talk. Some speakers have polled their audiences with a “show of hands” to build context and gather information before diving into their talks, for example.
Facilitating an inclusive question and answer session after prepared content is a great way to engage everyone as well.
We also welcome speakers to invite audiences to learn more by getting involved with the FinOps Foundation, whether it’s joining a Slack channel to discuss a topic, signing up for a Working Group or Special Interest Group, seeking certification in a given topic, or checking out other related content.
Keynotes and Breakout Sessions at FinOps X are recorded and uploaded to our community YouTube Channel after each FinOps X conference. Chalk Talks are not recorded.
Lightning Talks are new for 2026 and we currently do not have plans to record them. This is subject to change.