Analyze the submission guidelines presented by the conference organizers. Organizers will often restrict sessions by time, topic and number of presenters. Additionally, they will often require specific components not found in most traditional proposals, such as annotated bibliographies or detailed CVs or resumes of each presenter in the session.
Review past conference programs and session lists. Most professional and academic conferences occur annually, and most have professional websites that make past programs available to the public. Reviewing these programs will give you a strong understanding of what topics are of interest to the organizers of the conference.
Introduce your session proposal with a thoroughly researched context for the topic on which you wish the session to focus. Include references to recently published journals, articles and books, as well as recent presentations, sessions or conferences devoted to your chosen topic.
Describe the significance or relevance of your session's proposed topic to the field of study within which the conference fits. For example, you might argue that your session's topic is of paramount importance because it revisits and challenges historical conclusions within the field or because it presents new research or teaching avenues for future studies within the field.
Outline the objectives of your session. The objectives of your session should connect directly to what you believe to be your session's relevance to the field. For example, if you believe your session will open up new research avenues, one of your objectives will read "The session will open up new research avenues relevant to the field."
List possible presentations and presenters that could participate in your session, the focus or specialty of these presentations or presenters and how they relate to the objectives and relevance of your session. For example, you might suggest interdisciplinary presentations that address the overlap with your field and a second field. You might then identify several scholars or experts in both fields who can speak to the ways in which they have worked with the other field.
Describe any resources the organization of your session will require. For most sessions at conferences, this includes things like audio and visual equipment (microphones, projectors, computers), as well as special furniture (a lectern or podium) or even specialty equipment (laboratory equipment or record player).
Provide personal information about your professional or academic background that makes you particularly qualified to organize and conduct this session. Include information about publications you have or other sessions in which you've participated.
Conclude your proposal by reiterating the session's objectives, as well as its relevance to the field and the important ways in which the proceedings of your session will contribute to the overall best practices or research of your field.