Building a keynote speech is quite different from delivering an everyday presentation, running a training program, or conducting a workshop.
It’s a very particular kind of skill. You know it when you see a great keynote speaker. You might not consciously analyse why it’s great, but somehow, you feel it.
So how do you achieve that?
Recently, I was lucky enough to be the opening keynote speaker at the Professional Speaking Association Annual Summit. I put together an almost entirely new keynote and had some fascinating conversations with delegates afterwards about how I did it. I thought some of the things I learned might be useful for you. Even if you don’t fully agree with my approach, it could provoke you to think more deeply about your own keynotes or presentations.
I’m sharing this as a series of short videos, each focusing on one idea or tip that helped me build my keynote. Here’s step one:
Step 1: Know Your Goal
This might sound simple, but so many people miss it. You need to be crystal clear about what your goal is.
First, understand what a keynote can and can’t do. Keynotes are not great for delivering lots of detailed information. If you’ve got 30 bullet points of things people must know, a keynote isn’t the best way to share that. People won’t remember that much detail—they’ll dip in and out of attention, make judgments based on how you look and sound, and so on.
If you need to convey detailed information, create a brochure or add it to the conference agenda.
What keynotes are brilliant at, however, is engaging and emotionally connecting with your audience. Your goal should focus on how you want your audience to feel and how you want them to engage with your message. This can involve humour, storytelling, or addressing their specific needs in a way that’s relevant and thought-provoking.
For this particular keynote, my guiding question was: What do I want the audience to do as a result of my message? I find that visualising what the audience will physically do at the end of my talk helps to clarify my message.
In this case, I spoke to the organisers about their expectations. They wanted the audience to feel excited—it was a three-day conference, and as the opening keynote, my role was to set the tone. My talk needed to feel generous, warm, and engaging. People had paid money and invested three days of their time, so it was crucial to make them feel their commitment was worthwhile.
At this stage, I wasn’t even thinking about the content. My focus was on the tone and the emotional impact. I imagined the audience feeling energised, flipping through the conference agenda, chatting with each other enthusiastically, and coming up to me afterwards. I wanted them to feel welcome, excited, and curious about the days ahead.
That’s step one—know your goal and visualise the outcome.
I’ll keep these videos short, so I hope this first tip was helpful. See you tomorrow for the next step in building a keynote!
