The Speaker Development Group is a mentorship program that prepares you to be a speaker on a national stage. AAEM matches mentees with mentors who are already experienced, nationally recognized speakers.
The goal for the Speaker Development Group is to help mentees become confident, polished, and engaging speakers. Mentees who successfully complete the program will have the opportunity to gain national speaking experience by presenting a Breve Dulce lecture at AAEM’s Annual Scientific Assembly.
AAEM Full Voting members, Associate members, and Fellow-in-Training members are eligible to participate as mentees. Join AAEM or renew your membership today!
Mentee application submissions for 2026-2027. Please review the applications instructions below.
- Applications Open: June 10, 2026
- Applications Close: July 8, 2026 at 10:59pm CT — The deadline will not be extended.
- Notification of Acceptance: October 31, 2026
- Guidance and direction from a highly respected, AAEM nationally recognized speaker to enhance speaking skills and content
- Quarterly check-ins with your mentor:
- Quarter One – Set goals and get initial guidance for speaking engagements and confirm topic; read assigned reading material, Presentation Zen
- Quarter Two – Develop slides and content
- Quarter Three – Delivery and review of presentation
- Quarter Four – Give newly improved presentation and discuss next steps
- Mentees are responsible for keeping in contact with their mentors throughout the year-long process. The process is mentee led.
- To complete the program and present at Scientific Assembly, mentees must actively submit materials on time and engage with their mentor for each activity noted. Failure to do so will result in removal from the Scientific Assembly program.
To be eligible as a mentee, the individual should have:
- Demonstrated initiative – The ideal candidate would lead and value the mentor relationship and take responsibility for at least four communication touch-points within the year and follow-up with mentor using available resources (Zoom, phone calls, email.)
- Current AAEM membership – Participation in the AAEM Speaker Development Group is a member benefit. AAEM Full Voting members, Associate members, and Fellow-in-Training members are eligible to participate as mentees. Join AAEM or renew your membership today!
- No formal speaking experience or training required.
The application is a 2-step process. You must submit a Speaker Development Group application with an introduction video, and you must submit a Breve Dulce speaking proposal.
- Log in to the Speaking Proposal Submission site
- Select ‘Click here to begin a new proposal’
- Session Title: Speaker Development – First Name Last Name
- Session Type: Speaker Development Group Application
- Complete the Mentee Information Task
- Complete the Speaker Development Group Application Task
- Provide your residency graduation date
- List any upcoming scheduled talks
- List lecture title(s) or topic(s) of your Breve Dulce proposal. You may submit multiple proposals, but your mentor will only help you develop one lecture.
- IMPORTANT: You must also submit a separate Breve Dulce proposal submission with a session description and learning objectives. See Step 2 for details. Listing your lecture title in the application form is only intended to connect your application with your proposal.
- Upload introduction video (no more than 4 minutes in length). Your video should include the following information:
- Your name and institution and a brief summary of your training and passion in emergency medicine
- Previous speaking experience
- Mentoring experience or summary of what you have done to improve your public speaking skills
- Expectations/what you hope to gain from the Speaker Development Group
If selected for the program, you will be invited to give a Breve Dulce lecture (7 minutes speaking time / up to 25 slides) at Scientific Assembly. Please submit a proposal for your lecture via the official speaking proposal submission site. You can browse recent Breve Dulce presentations on the AAEM26 Program Schedule.
- Log in to the Speaking Proposal Submission site
- Select ‘Click here to begin a new proposal’
- Session Title: Lecture Title
- Session Type: Breve Dulce
- Complete the Financial Disclosures task
- Complete the Speaker Information task
- Complete the Session Description task
- Complete the Learning Objectives task
See the Speaking Proposal Guide for tips on writing a session description and learning objectives. Speaking Proposal Submission Deadline: July 8, 2026 at 10:59pm CT.
- Tatiana M. Barriga, MD MS
- Matthew Johnson MD
- Neena Kashyap, MD
- Kristin Lewis, MD, MA
- Kendra Morrison, DO FAAEM
- Heather Posillico, DO FAAEM
- Tiffany Walker Sigal, MD FAAEM FACEP
- Sophia Spann, DO
- Laura Sprunt, MD
- Maura Walsh, MD
- Maureen Aiad, DO FAAEM
- Jordan Becker, MD FAAEM
- Elisabeth Calhoun, MD FAAEM
- Casey T. Carr, MD FAAEM
- Juliana Jaramillo, MD FAAEM
- Lauren E. Lamparter, MD
- Sarah Lee, MD
- Masood Mohammed, DO MS FAAEM
- Monika Pitzele, MD PhD FAAEM
- Dillon J. Warr, MD
- Amil Badoolah, DO FAAEM
- Brian Cameron, MD FAAEM
- Yash Chavda, DO FAAEM
- Annette Grajny, MD FAAEM
- Brian T. Hawkins, MD FAAEM
- Venkateswara Kotamraju, MBBS MRCS PGDipMedTox MAcadMed CMQ CPPS RCPathME FEBEM FRCEM
- Katherine Darr, MD
- Robert Needleman, MD FAAEM
- Valerie Pierre, MD
- Amy Prescott, MD
- Mark Ramzy, DO
- Angela Regina, DO
- Alan Sazama, MD FAAEM
- Matthew Stampfl, MD
- Molly Boyd, MD
- Neil Dasgupta, MD FAAEM
- Jim Gill, MD MBA FAAEM
- Mercy Hylton, MD FAAEM
- Scott Leuchten, DO FAAEM
- Neeraja Murali, DO MPH FAAEM
- Lauren Murphy, MD FAAEM
- Afrah Abdul Wahid Ali, MBBS
- Andrew M. Bazakis, MD FAAEM
- Jessica Fleisher-Black, MD FAAEM
- Mohamed Hagahmed, MD
- Roberta Enes, MD
- Marco Propersi, DO
- Stephanie (Goike) Schley, MD FAAEM
- Gregory Wu, MD FAAEM
- Vonzella Bryant, MD FAAEM
- Jason Hine, MD FAAEM
- Demis Lipe, MD FAAEM
- Daphne Morrison Ponce, MD FAAEM
- Patricia De Melo Panakos, MD FAAEM
- Alexis Salerno, MD FAAEM
- Randy Sorge, MD
- Celine Thum, MD FAAEM
- Jeffrey A. Baker, MD FAAEM
- Maite A. Huis in ‘t Veld, MD FAAEM
- Robert P. Lam, MD FAAEM
- Samreen Vora, MD MHAM
- Matthew D. Zuckerman, MD FAAEM
- Matthew P. Borloz, MD FAAEM
- Mike Gottlieb, MD RDMS FAAEM
- Danya Khoujah, MBBS FAAEM
- Andrew Phillips, MD MEd FAAEM
- Kraftin Schreyer, MD CMQ FAAEM
- Erica Simon, DO MHA MPH
2025-2026 Speaker Development Group Mentors
Laura J. Bontempo, MD MEd FAAEM
Peter M.C. DeBlieux, MD FAAEM
Molly K. Estes, MD FAAEM FACEP
Mimi Lu, MD FAAEM
Amal Mattu, MD FAAEM
Kevin C. Reed, MD FAAEM
Zachary Repanshek, MD FAAEM
Julie T. Vieth, MD FAAEM FACEP
George Willis, MD FAAEM FACEP
Michael E. Winters, MD MBA FAAEM
Testimonials from Past Participants
“My experience as a Speaker Development Group mentee was simply perfect. Dr. Winters is calm, efficient, seasoned, and offered the perfect amount of support, advice and direction. I received detailed advice on how to re-word the talk, what steps to take to improve. Probably the one thing I learned most was how to organize and focus the subject matter. I would unequivocally recommend the Speaker Development Group. I’d like others to know there is a unique experience to guide members to be their best presenting self. My advice for future mentee candidates is to listen, learn, absorb and join.”
“My mentor provided excellent feedback and advice for a recent lecture at an outside institution.”
“Dr. Mattu is a world-class speaker, and his willingness to help develop future speakers is awesome.”
“Connecting with and working with rising speakers. Great fun.” (Mentor quote)
“The direct access to experienced speaking experts is a definite highlight of the program. Mike Winters was very approachable and gave excellent advice.”
Questions?
Email Rebecca Sommer, AAEM Senior Education Manager, or call 800-884-2236.