K is for Keynote
This week I will cover the letter K in the ABC’s of Success in starting a speaking business. K stands for keynote. Doesn’t everyone want to be a keynote speaker?
It sure seems that way to me, because I often hear from a lot of people, “I want to be a keynote speaker.” I like to ask those people questions such as, “Have you spoken before? How many people was it for? How did it go? How long did you speak?” I find out more and more of these people are trainers, seminar leaders, consultants, and coaches, but not necessarily speakers. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that, however, I think people believe keynote speaking to be the pinnacle of the speaking business and they want that for themselves.
For myself, being a keynote speaker has worked really well. People love to have me kick off their conference because I bring energy, passion, stories, and purpose. It helps them keep the fire burning for the next couple days of their conference. I also do some breakout and occasionally a seminar or an all-day training, but my primary focus is on keynoting because that’s my style. My very personality is high energy. I’m a storyteller, who likes to include some lessons within a great story. Keynote speaking isn’t for everybody though, which is perfectly fine.
While keynote speaking works for me, don’t think it makes you less of a speaker if you don’t do keynoting. If you’re called to speak, but you excel in a group of six to twelve people, such as for a training or retreat or all day workshop, that’s beautiful. Sometimes in speaking, I think people see keynote speaking as the top of the food chain, much like in leadership roles.
Instead, we need to remember it takes different personalities and strengths to do any kind of speaking. One is not less than the other. Sometimes one gets paid a little bit more, sometimes one doesn’t, but it doesn’t matter. Don’t try to be something only for the money. It’s much better to work with the gifts you have and capitalize on how you connect with people.
It takes a tremendous amount of energy to work with audiences of thousands. Especially when you aim to have each person feel like you are talking specifically to them. If that is not your strength, and you try to do it anyway, it unfortunately won’t lead to more business.
You need to know what your strengths are and use them to find your success. We tend to compare ourselves to others, and when somebody looks like a bright, shiny light as a keynote speaker, it is tempting to try it for ourselves. We should instead strive to know our own gifts and strengths and work within those.
I hope that you won’t see keynote speaking as the only king in the world of speaking. There are many opportunities, many great stories, and endless lessons to learn. This week, I encourage you to capitalize on what you’re great at so your audience benefits the most from your teaching. Remember, there’s a place for all of us in this business, so get out there and share your story. What does living your exceptional life look like to you?
Are you better when speaking for a small, midsize, or large group?
Do you think your audience generally feels like you connected with them?
Have you tried keynote speaking? If so, how was the experience? If not, would you try it? #professionalspeaker #keynotespeaker #motivationalspeaker #mentalhealth #communication
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