Today, June 23, we opened the application process for Phase 2 of the Mozilla Tech Speakers program.
We are calling this the summer ‘pilot’ because we are trying a new design for the program, that will allow more Mozillians to participate and work on developing skills and confidence as technical presenters and evangelists in your local developer communities. We hope to begin the Phase 2 pilot with 25-30 new participants.
We are also building a cohort of Tech Speakers who are helping each other with presentation materials, humor, and all kinds of Tech Speaking resources and tips.
Please read this: Tech Speakers Phase 2: MasterClasses & Labs https://wiki.mozilla.org/TechSpeakers#Phase_2:MasterClasses.26_Labs_for_Tech_Speakers
For this first instance of Phase 2, we need participants who are available to commit 2-3 hours a week from early July till early Sept. Hope to publish a more locked down calendar VERY SOON.
Also, because it is a ‘summer pilot,’ and we want to test some of our ideas about how to scale effectively, we are planning to move quickly and pack a lot into a short amount of time. If you are the kind of person who likes to experiment, debug, give feedback, try new things, step out of your comfort zone, and share your technical knowledge with others, please APPLY!
Application shortlink: http://bit.ly/mts2-apply
Here is the info that I shared and the questions I answered today at the Mozilla Reps call (Line 99)
If you have new questions, you can add them here.
FAQ in progress: Questions & Answers
1. Will the phase 2 be open for people that have already finished phase 1?
There’s the opportunity to participate as a Labs facilitator working with the new Tech Speakers.
2. A tentative schedule would be nice, if possible:
Yes, it would! 
Coming quickly… Application opens today, closes July 4, midnight PDT, first masterclass is July 18. You will hear from us “yes” or “no” by July 11, at the very latest. The sooner you apply, the sooner you will hear from us.
There will be 3 masterclasses, mostly on alternating weeks, they will be scheduled & recorded in PDT. We are locking down the schedule now.
Summer Pilot will end week of Sept 5. Labs sessions will be scheduled in alternative weeks, scheduling and invites will be responsibility of the Labs facilitators. In some cases we will use alternatives to Vidyo, like Hangouts, or maybe even physical spaces.
3. Will TechSpeakers be focused on technical topic presentations?
Yes, primarily. This is a Developer Relations team initiative to extend our influence and our message to technical communities worldwide. But if you are already talking to web designers and other web builders or technical advocates, you are also eligible to apply. If the audience you work with now is children, web beginners, consumers who are not technical, this is probably not the program for you.
4. Could the program material be available to others Mozillians, who will not be in program?
Yes, all the Masterclasses will be available publicly over Airmo, probably a week or two after they are first broadcast for the Pilot participants. The methodology for doing Speaking practice with constructive feedback as a small group either in person or online is available for anyone to use and organize in your school, community, hackerspace, or office.
There’s some info here: https://discourse.mozilla-community.org/t/next-steps-mozilla-tech-speakers-developer-events/6837 and on the Tech Speakers wiki.
5. Any similarities to larger community speaking projects, like Toastmasters?
Well, yes and no. Our focus is on speaking, teaching, facilitating for developer, designer, and web builder audiences. Toastmasters is a great resource for anyone who wants to do more public speaking - we are more focused on getting a message out that solves a problem for a technical person, and encourages them to work with Firefox, Mozilla, & the Open Web.
In Toastmasters, there is more emphasis on the craft of public speaking (reducing “ums” in your presentation, for example)
6. Only Mozilla technologies, right?
Think of it as Firefox, Mozilla, & the Open Web, with a technical focus. So, for instance speaking about what’s new in JavaScript, CSS, Rust or web security are all great topics, not exclusively Mozilla. Also, “How to get started in Open Source by logging bugs to bugzilla” might be a powerful topic to present in your community. There is no “one size fits all”
6. meetup.com is a very interesting platform (not a question, just a shout-out!)
Yes, I agree 100%! We are happy to support people who are designing meetups on technical topics of interest to Mozilla, Firefox and the Web, or just want to organize a meetup about Tech Speaking. If it makes sense to use meetup.com in your community, we would be very interested in hearing more about it. (ex: http://www.meetup.com/Tech-Speakers-London/)
MORE DETAILS:
Application form will close at midnight PDT (GMT-7) on July 5. This will ‘pilot’ will happen quickly and intensively over the summer. This is for contributors who are working with developers and technical audiences in their communities and want to be more active in presenting and facilitating as Tech Evangelists. There will be a “Recommendation letter” requirement. Please help your friends and community by completing recommendation letters quickly if asked and if you honestly think the person will benefit themselves and others.