The keynote killer: does anyone actually want it?
As I’ve been connecting with paid speakers over the last while, one of the interesting things that has come up is that of topics: does anyone want what you’re selling?
I’m meeting amazing speakers lately…
What’s been really interesting is connecting with all kinds of different people who are talking about different things. They’re from all over the world, and each has a fascinating background.
Some are authors, some come from learning and development backgrounds, others are former execs: there’s a wide range!
While some people I’ve spoken to are still working through what’s exactly they should be bringing forth as a keynote topic (they are still early in their journey), others have been going through slightly more mature problems when it comes to their keynote topic(s).
I have a marketing problem with my keynote speech
Case 1: I know what I’m bringing forward has real impact because I’m seeing it with the audience. “once I have them for 10 minutes, they get it.”
As I listened to this person share about their specific focus, it’s very clear that they may have something really interesting, unique and valuable for the audience. Their problem? It’s marketing. “I’m not sure how to explain this.”
While I’m certainly not an expert storyteller or marketer, I’ve certainly learned a lot over the years in terms of helping my ideal clients better connect with the thing (product, service, event) that I’m trying to position to them. In this specific case, because what they have is really unique, the person was leading with the name of their methodology.
Making sense of things
The problem? Any time when you’re introducing a topic to someone, we naturally as humans try to make sense of the first thing that we see.
We equivocate it with something that we know from previous knowledge which helps us then extrapolate and contextualize what this new idea or concept might be.
Many years ago, I was running training for companies across Atlantic Canada and was running into the issue where what I was positioning wasn’t resonating. People either thought they knew what it was, thought they already did it well (most didn’t) or would confuse it with something else.
This speaker was running into the same issue: my suggestion? Flip it on its head.
It doesn’t matter what you call something, but your audience has to be able to connect with it to immediately understand that it’s going to be relevant for them. For this person, refusing to reframe their positioning means missing opportunities that could open up with just a different angle on the same content.
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How customer insights can help
Case 2: in a different conversation I was having recently, I was speaking with someone that is so smart, is focused on really cool work, and left me asking myself: “does anyone care?”
Because if decision-makers don’t see immediate relevance, even brilliant content won’t get booked.
When you’re going for paid speaking opportunities, there are generally two pathways: you’re going to be brought in for a corporate event or you’re going to be brought in for an industry show (let me know if I’ve overlooked anything!).
Depending on your topic of choice, it can open or potentially close off opportunities for you. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is a reality that you have to wrestle with in terms of your overall business strategy.
In the case of this particular speaker, I did suggest that it would be a good idea to do some research with the people that they think are the ideal customers to really understand and validate the topic with those would-be buyers.
Why? The topic is very forward looking and for many organizations, the benefit of a keynote on such a topic may not be obvious: in fact, it may be very hard to sell.
The likely buyers for this talk are likely experts, or would know experts in this field: so, what’s the unique value that you can bring? I do think there are probably better opportunities on the industry event side for this person. This is and will likely continue to be a fairly interesting topic over the next few years, but this is where a little bit of foresight can also come into play as well: “what’s the lifespan of this topic likely to be?”
What does the future hold?
I saw a post in recent days where someone had shared a 2017 Gartner prediction for areas like Blockchain, voice technology, augmented reality, and other technology areas. For the most part, they were all wrong, but it’s also understandable why those projections were made: at the time, based on the current momentum of certain technologies, it seemed like many of these were going to advance and be much more widely adopted than they
What role the macro environment plays and how it can impact your business
This isn’t just about topic selection: external forces can reshape your entire market overnight.
Not only is it your customer that matters, it’s also how the macro environment can shift the opportunity (and customer focus). I know a number of people that work in various ways in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). Some of them sell software, some of them are consultants, some of them provide keynote speaking services as part of their offering.
For those working in different parts of the world over the last couple of years, there has been a boomerang impact from what we’re seeing in the macro environment (especially geopolitical) which has trickled down to the customer level for these people. DEIB is actively shunned by some, is welcomed under coded language by others, or has been recalibrated as some form of leadership development (as long as you don’t say the wrong words). Shhh!
That is a significant shift that is happened in the last few years, and for those people who had previously focused their business in this area, many of them have been forced to pivot or change their focus with customers.
Thinking about the future for your keynotes
When it comes to developing your keynote, as well as continuing to appropriately reinvent yourself, it’s really critical to utilize insights from your customers and prospects: part of this is what they care about today, some of it is what they are hearing and what they are seeing coming down the pipe, and it’s also important to tap into those internal insights on where the organization is going at large and how that may impact your customers planning cycle over the next 12 to 24 months.
With the macro environment, there are some points to consider:
Is the language evolving?
Remember, quiet quitting? There were some opportunities in that area for probably about three months. And then the next term came along, and everyone forgot about quiet quitting. Building a business around a flash in the pan term can be dangerous.
Is there an opportunity to evolve an old concept?
Maybe you’re bringing a new, fresh perspective to a type of business that has not changed in decades. That opportunity can re-energize and provide fresh ideas and motivation for your customers in some cases: the question is, do they want it? Home Depot is a great example – it’s not just a big box store. You can go and learn how to actually do specific things like tiling from them.
As trends evolve, is there an opportunity?
Regulatory changes is always an interesting area because often there’s a great deal of uncertainty after something is announced and if you can become an expert in that domain, or if you are an expert in that domain, there can be a pretty good half-life to that opportunity, depending on the specific regulation, its impact on industry, etc. we want to be thinking last year about “flavour of the week” and more about clear trends that are going to impact your customers for the next year and beyond. GDPR, pharma and financial services regulations are good examples of this.
Other market factors
Areas like geopolitics, technology, and other market factors can change your operating environment. Having a really good visibility on how your business could change if there’s a major change in one of these types of areas is important. Pairing this market watching with customer level insights can be a powerful combination.
Does anyone want your keynote?
To conclude: when you’re thinking about developing a keynote, it doesn’t matter what the subject matter is: obviously, you have to have some passionate about it, you have to have knowledge, and you have to be able to convey that effectively: beyond that, you need to identify the commercial opportunities: is there anyone who actually WANTS this?
It’s critical to gather insights from your customers and prospects to make sure that someone is willing to cut you a check for your topic and perspective.