Being an excellent keynote speaker involves a lot more than simply delivering a good presentation. In this brief article we will outline the qualities most meeting planners are looking for in a keynote speaker, which will determine whether they are willing to work with that speaker again or recommend them to others. They are polite,…
In the past two decades I’ve delivered well over a thousand presentations, mostly live but also increasingly virtual as well (thanks, pandemic!). I’ve spoken to six people and to six thousand, and I’ve been everywhere from theaters to factory floors. No matter where I am, it’s fairly common for someone to ask me when I…
Last month, something happened to me at an event that hasn’t happened in well over a decade. I wish it were something cool like audience members throwing money and candy at me as they cheered “Bravo!” and “Encore!” But that’s never happened, and probably never will. No, this thing was far more mundane, and far…
Since many businesses are currently debating whether or how to return to the office – and meeting planners are debating how exactly to host their events – I thought it might be helpful this month to give you some insight into the state of in-person events today. My first live event post-apocalypse (my cutesy way…
I’ve been making my living as a keynote speaker for the past eleven years. I like my job. It’s allowed me to visit dozens of cities and countries I might otherwise never have seen. It affords more flexibility than almost any other career I can imagine. (Careers with more flexibility include ‘part-time sock collector,’ which…
Thanks very much, everyone. It is an honor for me to introduce our next guest. He has been a professor of Aerodynamics at California Polytechnic Institute for the past 17 years. He’s on the board of… And you’re already not paying attention.
I’ve been a professional keynote speaker now for over a decade, which means I know what I’m saying when I tell you that nobody really wants to look at me while I’m talking. To be fair, it’s not just me – nobody really wants to look at anyone while they’re delivering a presentation, which is…
Hi. I deliver presentations for a living, primarily because nobody wants to work with me for a full eight hours every day. Sometimes I get invited to lunch, but that’s about as far as it goes. I’ve tried making friends on the plane to and from my presentations, but those stupid noise-cancelling headphones have made…
I’ve spent the last decade of my life on one stage or another, first as a stand-up comedian and now as a corporate keynote speaker. Those two careers might seem to have nothing in common, but they’re actually closely related. Both require you to build engaging presentations, both demand an ability to capture an audience’s…
Hello, my aspiring professional speakers! If you’re like most people, then you loathe the idea of doing any public speaking at all. Playing music is one thing, because you can hide behind your drum set or use your guitar as a weapon in case your unappreciative audience decides to rush the stage – but there’s…