Call for Speaker Proposals

2026 AATH Annual Humor Conference
On The Edge: Humor in the Hard Places
May 14-17, 2026 | DoubleTree San Diego Bayside, San Diego, California

Proposal Submission Deadline: October 31st

Speaker Notification by November 30th

All proposals must be submitted electronically.
A sample speaker application is available as a reference.

Presentations are typically 50 minutes within a scheduled 60-minute timeframe. During the conference, a variety of speaker formats are utilized (breakouts, keynotes, topical panels, research, etc.). Speaker proposals may be considered for all formats.

In 500 words or less, describe your presentation, highlighting as many of the following as you can:

• Content/Organization - Provide a clear description of the content of the conference presentation
• Timeliness of Topic  - Addresses a current issue
• Research Base - Includes up-to-date research
• Audience Appeal - Appeals to the target audience and includes engagement and/or participation
• Knowledge Base - Advances the knowledge base of AATH

Participant Objectives

State 3 action objectives to define what participants will be able to do as a result of participating in this session. (i.e., recall, define, explain, summarize, develop, identify, etc.)

AATH is seeking sessions on everything from applications for applying humor and laughter to enhancing health, happiness, brain fitness, and education, from clowning to marketing, from stand-up to fundraising.

We encourage submissions in all the categories below and more! If none of these categories apply, please indicate your own category.

Upon selection of your proposal, you will be required to provide additional information, including, but not limited to:

• CEU Disclosure Statement
• Speaker Introduction
• Photo/Bios/Links
• Handout materials

Thank you for your interest in presenting at the 2026 AATH Annual Humor Conference.

Please feel free to contact AATH at info@aath.org or call 815-708-6587 with questions.