Amplifying New Voices workshop teaches diverse game talent how to lead and speak

Amplifying New Voices takes place on Sunday as a one-day workshop focused on professional skills and representation ahead of the Game Developers Conference. It caters to underrepresented individuals in the gaming community.

The 6th annual event brings together veterans with new voices in the gaming industry to educate a new generation of speakers and presenters. It provides training for early and mid-career developers to professionally represent their game or company to their peers, the audience and/or the media.

As the gaming industry becomes more diverse, gaming conferences need to reflect that diversity. But too often the same old speakers show up on the stage, and not enough women or people of color speak or even compete for the floor. Amplifying New Voices aims to change that, said Meggan Scavio, president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), in an interview with GamesBeat.

The AIAS Foundation organized the event with donations from GDC, which is providing space and AV assistance to help cover the cost of the event. AIAS is also raising more money from other sponsors to help fly out participants from around the world. This year’s sponsors include Microsoft, Sony, Supercell and Electronic Arts.

Amplifying New Voices was founded by industry veterans Perrin Kaplan, Zebra Partners; Robin Hunicke, formerly Funomena; Caryl Shaw at Double Fine Productions; Brandi House, formerly at Metas Oculus; and Sibel Sunar, Head of Fortyseven PR. Scavio said the group came together after GamerGate, when it was clear that highlighting different game developers could benefit everyone in the industry if they had more knowledge about who makes the games we love to play.

“It was our opportunity to try to address representation in games and really show the world who’s making games, not just the people we propose,” Scavio said. “We empower underrepresented game developers with the skills to become the next generation of voice actors for games.”

I agree with the approach the group is taking to train people to be storytellers. I’ve spent a long time trying to find the most prominent CEOs I could find to speak at our GamesBeat Summit events. But it turned out that many of them were reluctant to speak openly due to various company restrictions. And it turned out that focusing on anyone who was a good storyteller could lead to both better speakers and a more diverse range of people.

Applicants came from all over the world this year, from triple-A studios as well as indie game studios. Previous applications have come from all over the world, and the applications are often diverse. Wren Brier, creator of the hit indie game Unpacking, walked through the program.

Scavio said the training focuses on how to be a good speaker but also on skills like writing a bio that will help you get selected as a speaker. Too many people are too modest when creating a bio, Scavio said.

The program offers a full-day workshop of hands-on training and coaching for applicants demonstrating high potential as new voices, with the goal of creating outstanding, activated role models for underrepresented groups and perspectives. It also trains them about personal and professional PR and improves their public speaking and presentation skills. For example, they teach them how to conduct an interview with Dean Takahashi and not be intimidated.

All professional helpers are volunteers and the environment is supportive. ANV accepts about 36 people from an applicant pool of maybe 150 or so applicants. The ultimate goal is to normalize diversity in games.

“It’s a heart project for all of us,” said Scavio. “I love amplifying the voices so much I really want to talk about it all day.”