Coachamatic

Just the other week, I did a keynote address in front of 130 high school girls. I was a bit nervous as I hadn’t spoken to this age group in eons, but I used a particular template to help me craft a winning keynote address over and over.

The name of my keynote was What Technology (And a Cute Guy) Taught Me About Taking Risks & Being Myself. I used my experience approaching a cute guy in university to encourage these young ladies not to follow the template and instead, live a life with no regrets.

Here are my tips on how to craft a keynote address that leaves your audience wanting more.

• Know your audience. I spoke to the event organizer a couple of times just to understand who I was speaking to. While I typically speak to an older business crowd, I knew that my keynote had to resonate with a younger, more female audience. Hence the reason I could talk about a chance meeting with a cute guy to connect with my audience.

• Make it personal. A keynote can only work if you talk about you and your experiences. Focusing on your client’s experience or someone else’s background won’t work with a keynote. I decided to focus on why not following a template when I was younger helped me find success today.

• Start your speech with a thought-provoking quote, a startling statistic, or an attention grabbing question. This helps the audience to connect with you and feel involved. To start my keynote, I asked, “Who here appreciates their mom all the time?” Most of the girls in the room raised their hands eagerly. I then lead them into a story about my mom and a conversation we had after watching a TV show together.

• Tell people about the beginnings. Your audience will be curious to know where you started from. If you’re there to talk about surviving as an entrepreneur, you should focus on your first business as child. In my case, I talked about how as girl growing up, I didn’t like to do “girlie stuff.” So, reach back and focus on that time in your life when you became aware of your skill or uniqueness.

• Next, focus on your successes. Tell your audience what your bio failed to mention in terms of your accomplishments. This is your time to brag, so be boastful. I spoke about my successes in technology - how I became one of the top employees due to the fact that I completed 90% of my project on time and under budget.

• Now, focus on your struggle, failure or dark point. I call this the dipping point - the point in your keynote where you bring your audience to your lowest point in your life. In my case, I focused on the confusion I felt in university and why following the template damaged my self-esteem. Bringing your audience to this low point helps them to see you as human - that despite your successes, you’ve struggled.

• Describe the turning point. Now that your audience is at the dipping point, it’s time to pull them out. Helping your audience understand what you did to turn your life around is the story of redemption that we crave. In my speech, I talk about how I “slapped normal in the face,” the voice that told me that “good girls don’t approach guys.” I walked up to the cute guy I kept seeing week after week and said hello. That experience was my turning point in teaching me how to take risks. You need to find your turning point and describe it in detail to your audience.

• End your keynote with the lessons learned. Sum up your entire speech with 3 points that you learned from your experience. The 3 points should motivate your audience to take action or to modify their behaviour. I encouraged the girls to follow the career they wanted and to always tell “normal” to get lost.

At the end of the day, your goal is to provide infotainment. In other words, not only should you provide your audience with information, but you must entertain them as well.

Tell your story, be authentic and follow my tips above to make your next keynote address a winner.

Posted on Dec 19th 06 by Leesa Barnes.

Working with small business owners, entrepreneurs and consultants, Leesa Barnes teaches insider tips on how to use a podcast to open doors and fill your sales funnel. Named as one of Canada's top marketing bloggers, Leesa's podcasting tips have appeared in national and international media, as well as countless books and digital products. http://www.leesabarnes.com

Other posts on Coachamatic by Leesa Barnes.