Key dates

2027 NCRA Conference & Expo
  • Submissions open: Aug. 1, 2026
  • Proposal notification: March 1, 2027
  • 2027 NCRA Conference & Expo: Aug. 5-7, 2027, Kansas City, Mo.

Questions? Contact Cynthia Bruce at cbruce@ncra.org.

Call for Presentations

Conference purpose

The NCRA Conference & Expo is the Association’s premiere membership event - an annual opportunity for the entire Association is to come together to network, learn, and inspire each other.

The Conference program provides benefits to attendees on both educational and professional levels and provides value by enhancing their technical, managerial, and leadership skills. The Conference program topics listed below are used to define a recurring Conference program that draws attendees back year after year by focusing on the important and future issues affecting the profession.

Benefits of presenting

  • Enjoy a complimentary "Seminars-only Registration."
  • Earn CEUs by attending educational offerings.
  • Earn PDCs by presenting your session.
  • Grow your network.
  • Opportunity to present an approved session via webinar after the Conference for the members who could not attend in person.
  • Opportunity to purchase a "Speaker Registration" at a discounted price that will include the networking activities.
Presenter at NCRA Conference

Photo Courtesy: 2025 NCRA Conference & Expo, © National Court Reporters Association.

Conference program topics

The Conference program topics cover four key areas within the professions. Each topic has examples of subtopics to define presentation proposals within these broad topic areas. Prospective presenters should select the topic area for the general subject and then choose the more specific subtopic to better describe the presentation and learning objectives for the proposed seminar. Presentations are usually 60 minutes, with many presenters allowing questions in the last few minutes.

You may submit a seminar proposal that doesn't fall within these categories if you believe it will be relevant to Conference attendees.

Professional development

  • Ethics
  • Leadership/management skills
  • Marketing/advertising
  • Business development
  • Health and wellness

Teaching and learning

  • Court reporting education
  • Captioning education
  • Legal videography education

State of the industry/profession

  • Workforce
  • State and federal regulations
  • Official, freelance, or captioning
  • Steno

Technology/innovation

  • Automation
  • Software training
  • Realtime
  • Trends in technology

How proposals are reviewed

Seminar proposal submission

Selection criteria

Proposals will be reviewed and selected based on the criteria below:

  • Completed and submitted by Dec. 31, 2026.
  • Relevant to the defined Conference topics and the professions.
  • Attracts and stimulates synergistic and collaborative discussion.
  • Provides current, practical, and/or innovative content.
  • Offers clearly defined learning objectives.

 

Submission instructions

To create and submit your proposal, you will need to provide the following:

  1. Contact information: Title, organization, address, phone, and email address
  2. Biography: A short bio of the presenter(s)
  3. Conference topic: Select the topic that most closely aligns with your proposed seminar
  4. Target audience: Beginners, advanced, all
  5. Proposed seminar title: Make it provocative and compelling!
  6. A description of your proposed seminar: Include the learning objectives* and what attendees will take away from the seminar. Please limit your description to no more than 150 words.
  7. Number of presenters: Include the number of people who will be presenting (ex. 1, 2, panel)

* Learning objectives are needed to identify and award continuing education units (CEUs) during the Conference. Learning objectives are measurable and reflect what the attendees will achieve or learn by participating or attending the seminar. The following are a couple of good examples of seminar descriptions with learning objectives:

Captioning Hamilton: Theater Captioning 101

Intrigued by theater captioning? This seminar will guide participants through all the ins and outs of theater captioning. You will learn how to prepare for a live theater production and work with a play script, director, actors, and anyone inside the exciting theater world!

Getting It Done Right: Making Brief Interventions Work for Teachers

Helping teachers more effectively deliver and adapt brief academic interventions is critical to improving student outcomes. Learn common barriers and how to share simple strategies that busy teachers can successfully employ.

Questions?

Contact Cynthia R. Bruce, Senior Director, Education and Certification at cbruce@ncra.org.