Find answers to your most important questions about hiring a leadership or change management keynote speaker.
1. I’m looking for a keynote speaker who can talk about leading through change. What should I look for in a speaker for this specific topic?
2. What are some examples of practical lessons about leading through change that a speaker should be able to share with my attendees?
3. How important are practical leadership lessons in a keynote speaker?
4. What makes someone an effective keynote speaker?
5. What topics do successful keynote speakers talk about?
6. What unique content do the best keynote speakers share?
7. Is it important for a leadership speaker to have real-world business experience?
8. What type of stories do effective keynote speakers tell?
9. Does a speaker need to be a C-suite leader?
10. What makes a keynote speaker compelling and engaging on stage?
11. Should a keynote speaker have a professionally published book?
12. Who are the top keynote speakers to hire?
13. How important are testimonials and reviews?
14. Do keynote speakers customize their content for audiences?
15. Should a speaker be willing to spend time with me in advance of the speaking engagement so I can be confident they will do a good job for our audience?
16. Can I preview a speaker’s presentation materials in advance? Will I be able to make changes to their presentation materials?
Leading through change is a complex leadership task that many speakers have not experienced themselves. It will be important for you to look for a speaker with real-world business experience and who has a demonstrated track record of leading through change. You will want a speaker who has successfully navigated difficult change, who has led teams through challenging change, and who has mobilized employees to be willing to go through change with a positive mindset.
Examples of practical lessons about leading through change your speaker should be able to talk about include:
This is very important. The speaker you hire must be able to offer practical, actionable strategies, tips and tools that your attendees can apply immediately. Leadership theory is not particularly useful if your attendees are busy leaders who are actively leading teams in the workplace today. Your audience will want specific, practical simple steps they can take to lead more effectively on the job now.
The best speakers have the right combination of charisma, an engaging stage presence, an ability to draw your audience in and engage them in the message, proven expertise on the topic, an impressive resume of business and leadership experience that demonstrates their own ability to be an effective leader, compelling stories that help to bring the message to life, a creative them or approach to getting their message across, professional slides with colorful images and pictures, and a passion for helping your audience to learn and grow.
Leading through change is one of the most popular keynote topics with business and leadership audiences today. How to be an inspiring leader is another topic that attendees look for from an effective keynote speaker. Motivating employees is a critical business topic for leaders. Another topic audiences are interested in is how to manage stress and pressure and how to be a more centered and grounded leader.
Look for unique yet practical content that your audience has not heard of before or that they can easily find online. For example, the best keynote speakers offer content such as: how the brain works, what makes people resist change, how to shift the mindset of employees and team members, how to show up more effectively in day-to-day leadership. This often includes practical, applicable lessons and insights from the world of neuroscience and behavioral science. You also want keynote speakers who can talk about the art and the science of leadership – the technical skills and the soft skills leaders need to be successful.
Yes, you want a speaker with business experience if your attendees are actively working in the business world themselves. You should look for a speaker who has a strong track record of real-world leadership experience, who has been in the trenches of the daily workplace, who has led teams, who has had to make difficult decisions, and who has experience leading through change.
The best speakers have compelling in-the-trenches stories from their own experience that not only engage your audience but make a key point and underscore a valuable leadership lesson that your attendees can learn from.
Ideally, yes. You want a speaker who has held a leadership position at or above the level of authority as your audience attendees. This is particularly important if your audience includes mid- to senior-level leaders. In that case, they will want to see someone at the C-suite level on the stage who is seen as an expert, who has an impressive resume with significant accomplishments, and who has relevant knowledge and compelling stories from their time in the trenches. Hiring a C-suite leader as your keynote speaker would ensure they have instant credibility with your audience before they even walk onto the stage.
Look for a real-world business leader with an interesting hobby to hire as your keynote speaker. This combination of experience and hobby can help make a speaker more compelling and engaging on stage and offer a more memorable presentation for your attendees. You want a speaker’s hobby to be exciting, but it also should directly relate to the topic you want them to speak about. For example, look for a speaker that has a hobby such as motorcycling or auto racing, or a speaker who was an astronaut or pilot. These types of experiences can relate to business topics such as leading through change and inspiring leadership. Be careful, though, as you want a speaker who has real-world, in-the-trenches business experience. That’s why finding a business leader with an interesting hobby they can use as a creative platform for their message works the best.
Yes, being an author of a professionally published book on leadership, business or leading through change is almost a requirement for top speakers today. Authors will have a much higher level of credibility with your audience. Look for speakers who have a book that has been published by a top publishing company, such as McGraw Hill, instead of speakers who have self-published a book. Publishing companies select only the best manuscripts to print and pay an advance to the author for the exclusive rights to edit, publish and distribute the book. As a result, only the best manuscripts are professionally published. Self-published books can be written and printed by anyone who wants to be an author. In most cases, their work has not been professionally vetted or edited, and the accuracy and level of expertise of the content cannot be objectively verified.
It helps if a speaker has been named to a “best speakers” list by a reputable website or media outlet. For example, HuffPost publishes an annual list of “top speakers to see” with a short write-up of what makes them so appealing.
Testimonials and reviews on a keynote speaker’s website or on their Google Business profile can be useful to get a better understanding of what makes the speaker stand out, what the audience liked about the speaker, how practical or relevant their content was, and how engaging the speaker is on stage. You can usually also find testimonials on a speaker’s website.
Not many do, so finding a speaker who is willing to customize their content for your audience, your industry and to align with your conference theme is very valuable. This preparation can lead to a presentation that is far more relatable and relevant to your attendees. You should ask a speaker you are considering hiring if they will customize their content for your audience and ask for examples of how they have customized content for previous speaking engagements.
Yes, but many do not beyond just a brief introductory call. You should ask how much time a speaker is willing to spend with you in advance so you can share important details about your audience, your industry and the specific needs of your attendees.
Not every speaker allows you to preview or make changes to their materials. This is something you should request so you can ensure the content will be effective for your attendees.