Are you interested in becoming a keynote speaker?
Are you curious about what is involved with pursuing this path and what a day or week looks like for this profession?
In this article, you are going to learn what its like to be a keynote speaker and the top nine areas you will be focusing a lot of your energy on.
Introduction
If you have ever seen someone on stage giving a great presentation or talk, you might assume that being a keynote speaker is a glamorous job.
And while there are many perks that come with the role, what you are not seeing is a lot of the hard work that went into that person getting to the point in their career where people would hire them to be on their stage.
What is a keynote speaker?
The first thing you need to truly understand about this job is that for a company or organization to ask you to be their keynote speaker, you need to be someone who is seen as an authority in your industry.
You need to be someone who has established a great deal of trust, respect, and likability because you will become an extension of the people who have booked you.
Because the keynote speaker is someone who sets the tone of an entire function, this means that you will play a big part in ensuring that an event goes well.
When you consider the fact that these event organizers can spend upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars on these gatherings, you should now see how serious this job really is.
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Beginning vs established keynote speaker
The first thing you need to understand about being a speaker is that in the beginning first couple of years, it is very hard because you will be in the process of launching your career.
Even if you are an established executive with some branding momentum behind your expertise, like any new venture you take on, you will have to pay your dues.
So while it might be glamorous seeing some of the top speakers out there doing well, just know that this will not be the case for you in the beginning.
The keynote speaker to do list
Once you have become an established speaker, here are some common aspects of the job that you will be doing if not daily, then weekly:
- Positioning
- Marketing
- Traveling
- Reading
- Researching
- Note-taking
- Mental note-taking
- Coordinating
- Rehearsing
- Exercising
- Networking
- Learning
- Perfecting
I’ll now dive deeper into some of these areas so you can get a better sense of what it will look like.
1. Traveling the world
Keynote speakers tend to travel a lot in order to fulfill their duties. This is particularly true for professionals who are already well-established.
The more successful you become, the more invitations you tend to receive. If you choose to venture down this path, bare in mind that most speakers spend at least two weekends per month away from their home.
This is a similar lifestyle to that of any entertainer or live performer: you are mostly on the road.
Because organizations are looking to associate themselves with someone who is seen as the expert on their topic, this means you should always be working on your branding and positioning.
In the same way that an actor has to focus on his or her image, a speaker must do the same.
If you want to be asked to present at top tier events, then you need to constantly work on your branding and image.
3. Researching and reading
Because you are an established authority and expert in your field, this means that you need to stay on top of all industry trends.
The better a speaker is able to do proper research, the more effective their speeches will be.
It’s very common for speakers to be avid note-takers, and constantly finding new information or insights that they can expound upon.
4. Practicing and rehearsing
Your job is to be able to command a stage and deliver information that is not only engaging, but synthesizes a lot of information in a very short period of time.
New speakers are always amazed at how quickly five or ten minutes can go.
Because you may be given such a short period of time, you will constantly need to be practicing your speeches to ensure that you make the allotted time.
You will be spending a great deal of time working on slides and the flow of your presentations.
And because you should not be memorizing a speech verbatim, this means that you need to work on memorizing key points and practice your fluidity so that you can speak to an audience in a natural way that does not sound rehearsed.
You should also be recording yourself so that you can see what you look and sound like and make the necessary adjustments.
Remember that the most important factor for this role is perfecting your craft and like any live performer or entertainer, this requires a great deal of practicing and rehearsing.
5. Health and wellness
You must care about your physical and mental health as it requires a great deal of strength and mental fortitude to keep up with the amount of work that goes into this.
When you have to travel constantly, experience different time-zones and deliver energetic and inspiring talks, your physical health is a key factor to consider.
Not only does traveling take its toll on you, but speaking on stage requires a great deal of energy because you will have to muster up everything you got to deliver at a high level.
Aside from the mental aspect, being a speaker is a very physical job. Quite often you will have to give your talks standing up. You walk around, use body language and some might even run and jump on stage.
The stronger your body gets, the less sick you tend to get, which is something very welcome when you have a tour scheduled.
As a speaker, you are going to need to dedicate a great deal of time and effort to ensuring you stay healthy.
Balance is the key because you are going to need to be juggling a lot of different balls.
6. Marketing yourself
You can’t speak unless you are being booked which means a lot of this job entails marketing yourself.
You need to be consistently putting yourself out there so that you are seen by those who make the hiring decisions.
Whether it be by producing more YouTube videos, doing free speaking gigs, publishing new content, networking at events, or reaching out directly to event organizers, you are running a business of selling yourself which means you always need to be doing some form of marketing.
7. Coordinating with event organizers
Once you do start getting some bookings, then there is a lot that goes into managing the actual event.
1. Fees & Logistics
First you have to deal with all of the logistics which can include your fees, travel, accommodations, and the equipment at the actual venue.
2. Presentation
Then you need to spend time working on what you will be talking about and coordinating this with the event organizer to ensure you meet their needs and goals.
This part can be quite challenging because you might have a presentation already prepared and they can ask you to change it which might not feel comfortable.
3. Promotional Material
The organizer is going to need materials from you so that they can use it promote the event.
4. Setting Up
The day of the event you should show up early so that you can ensure that all of the staging is properly set up. Things like sound, lighting, and where exactly you will be on stage should be worked out so when its time for you to go out there, everything runs smoothly
8. Managing your nerves and anxiety
Even some of the seasoned veterans still experience some form of stage fright and anxiety before their speech.
If you are going to venture down this path, then you need to get used to the idea that you will have some nervousness before you speak to manage.
This means that you will need to invest some time on finding things that work for you to get over them.
Some speakers like to have morning routines while others use breathing exercises.
Before Tony Robbins gets on stage he always psyches himself up with a mantra and breathing exercise.
9. Interacting with audiences
You need to be prepared to be a people person and interact with a lot of people.
Not only because you should be good at networking, but you also need to be good at interacting with the events audience members.
Many of these people paid good money to come and see you so chances are they will have questions and will want to interact during or after your speech.