By Sue Tinnish
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Table of Contents
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Hitting the Note- What Keynotes Accomplish
Keynotes vs. Breakouts vs. Panels vs. Discussions
Key Keynote Characteristics
Keynotes as Movies
Keynoters as Actors
Entertainment Infused Audiences
Freebies: Customization vs. Personalization
Future T.I.M.E.
Virtual T.I.M.E. and T.I.M.E. Gone By
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Hitting the Note- What Keynotes Accomplish
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The kind of information a keynote speaker provides may be:
Inspirational
Motivational
Promotional
Entertaining
Awareness-raising by creating
Change management
Changed perspectives
Educational by providing
Tools
Techniques
Benchmarking information
Historical
A keynote address may be more general in nature, support the theme of the
conference, features a topic that will be of interest to everyone at the
meeting or feature a well-known speaker who will serve as a draw.
Like other sessions of a meeting or conference, the keynote address will
offer your participants a take-away – a reason to have listened.
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Keynotes vs. Breakouts vs. Panels vs. Discussions
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Can a keynote speaker serve as a breakout or seminar speaker? Can they be
trainers? Can they be facilitators? And what’s the difference?
Many keynote speakers have the skills to play various roles within
meetings. And many speakers want to be able to wear many hats – it’s
their opportunity to expand their business opportunities.
It is important to differentiate what skills are necessary for various
sessions.
A breakout or seminar may be more skill based, a more niche topic, and/or
may have an industry slant. Typically, breakouts, while desirable to be
entertaining, contain significant content. Breakout sessions typically
have a training element to them. Trainers, subject matter experts (SMEs),
industry experts (a type of subject matter expert) or keynote speakers can
be effective breakout or seminar speaker. People select breakouts usually
because of the topic – not the speaker. Breakout sessions, like training,
are typically associated with learning new information or skills.
Perhaps your meeting includes a focus group or panel discussion. These are
scenarios when it is desirable to have someone with facilitation skills.
There is a difference between trainers, professional speakers and
facilitators.
A facilitator helps a group work together to make decisions, develop plans,
and then implement those plans. The facilitator makes it easy for the
group to carry out its mission. An effective facilitator must
differentiate between content and process. Process is the way the group
works together. Process is the HOW. Content is the actual ides,
suggestion and decisions that comes out of group discussion. Content is
the WHAT. A facilitator is more focused on the getting the right HOWnot
on delivering the right WHAT. (If you are interested in more details on
facilitation, request the September 2001 back issue on Facilitation by
emailing me or click here ) So a person with strong facilitation skills
might be your strongest moderator or focus group leader. In these cases,
you are not seeking specific subject expertise but rather someone who can
lead a group through a process.
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Key Keynote Characteristics
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A remarkable speaker, one of keynote caliber, delivers content and more.
They package information in an entertaining way and inspire action from
your audience. Keynote speakers transform universal ideas and themes
(being great, overcoming adversity) and make them real for your audience.
A remarkable keynote speaker has the following ten characteristics:
Understands the audience – Keynote speakers analyze your audience so they
can both prepare their speech and also connect with your audience. By
understanding the characteristics of your audience, they hone the elements
of their speech that will allow them to reach your participants.
Brings value – You expect keynote speakers to deliver –content bundled up
in a creative delivery. Keynote speakers need to be credible, substantive
and believable. Izzy Gesell, CSP, also states that keynote speakers need
to be “authentic”. Being authentic has the effect of holding the
audience’s attention. He breaks authenticity down into three elements:
vulnerability, presence and spontaneity.
Creates a focus on them – Fantastic keynote speakers focus the audience on
themselves. They do not rely on their visuals to deliver their message.
PowerPoint is not a crutch, cue or may not even be used. They use the
lighting and the physical space to deliver additional impact to their
words.Creates empathy - While the “presentation” is the keynote speaker,
a great keynoter relates to the audience, understands their condition, and
provides relevant help. A keynote speaker applies the information about
your audience to their material – adjusting it to your needs.
Delivers information in a conversation - A speaker should converse with an
audience. Whether the speaker refers to notes or has the presentation
completely memorized, a great keynoter talks with your participants.
Ultimately, an impressive keynoter focuses on the audience and not
reciting of the presentation.
Employs strategic physical movement - Every strong keynote speaker employs
highly targeted eye contact, hand gestures, movement around the stage. For
example, a keynote speaker moves when they tell stories and stands still
when they deliver key points.
Emphasizes focal words - Emphasis, like signposts, helps to show the way,
to clarify meaning. Remarkable keynoters “point” at the words and phrases
for the audience to process and remember. There are four ways to create
emphasis. First, by making the word louder or softer–louder being the
most commonly used method. Second, a speaker creates emphasis by
inflecting the word up or down on the vowel sounds. Third, slowing down
the pronunciation of a word or phrase draws attention. The fourth is by
using silence on either or both sides of the word. Creates a journey – A
superb keynoter constructs a tour for your audience. The journey includes
highs and lows, micro and macro views, and a lesson. The presentation
includes diversity of rhythm, emotion, and tempo.
Brings it to a close - A great keynote ends strong. Endings are just as
important as the rest of the program. The close summarizes for the
audience what they are taking away.
Meets the objectives - The ultimate test of a speaker’s effectiveness is
whether they met the objectives for the session. The test: Did the
audience gain one or more of the following: learning, knowledge,
enjoyment, changed behavior, new skills or self-awareness?
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Memorable, Moving, Emotive Messages
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A dynamic keynote speaker creates a Wow Factor. He or she uses techniques
that make the message more memorable, moving and emotional including:
Humor - Humor eases the tensions of life and provides perspective. The
appropriate use of humor adds entertainment, creates bonds between
participants and enables people to better remember the “point” of the
presentation.
Mental images - Mental imagery or visualization creates a picture in
participants’ minds and helps them focus on the key concepts. Strong word
choices also produce strong mental images.
Pauses – Keynote speakers understand the value of silence to accent ideas,
concepts and elements of their speech.
Catch phrases – A keynote speech may contain “catch phrases” that
summarize a main point of the presentation.
Alliterations - Alliterations are a phrase or sentence that uses the same
consonant sound at the beginning of each word. Sue sleds sideways on
shiny snow is alliteration.
Mnemonic devices - A mnemonic device is a clever aid in remembering, like
a formula or rhyme. My daughter was taught to remember the order of the
planets by this phrase: My Very Energetic Mother Just Served Us Nine
Pizzas.
Acronyms – Acronyms are an invented combination of letters with each
letter acting as a cue to an idea you need to remember. Some of you may
already know what my company name SEAL Inc stands for. Curious??? – email
me at stinnish@ameritech.net
Analogies – Although now longer found on SAT exams, analogies are a useful
tool found in speeches. An analogy is a comparison in which different
items are compared, usually with the idea of explaining something unknown
by something known. Analogies tend to suggest that existing similarities
imply even more similarities.
Metaphors - Metaphors are comparisons that show how two things that are
not alike in most ways are similar in one important way. Metaphors are a
way to describe something. A metaphor that has been used in corporate
America is the parable of the gazelle and the lion. A shortened version of
the parable is this: Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows
it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will die. Every morning in
Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest
gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a
lion or a gazelle; when the sun comes up, you'd better be running. A
speech might utilize this parable and say that you are either the lion or
the gazelle. Unlike similes that use the words “as” or “like” to make a
comparison, metaphors state that something is something else.
Stories or parables - Storytelling creates an environment which allows
visual, audio, and kinesthetic learners to follow along, comprehend and
absorb material. Through stories represent a small slice of life, a
speaker captures universal ideas, themes and concepts. For more on the
power of stories, request my past issue on Storytelling and the Freebie.
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Keynotes as Movies
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If stories are one device a speaker can use, what better place to find
great stories than Hollywood and the movies. Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE,
wrote a fascinating article on how keynotes are like movies. The complete
article is at:
She writes, “Creating a complete presentation is rather like making a
movie. A well-made movie has a good story (your speech), producers,
writers and stars (you), key scenes and highlights (your signature
vignettes and points of wisdom) and is made lovingly frame-by-frame
(paragraphs, sentences, phrases and words) until the movie is complete.”
A typical keynote presentation contains between 6,000 and 10,000 words.
Crafting of a speech like a movie creates great opportunities for your
audience to absorb and process the information.
Fripp includes five elements from moviemaking that allow speakers to craft
great presentations:
Flavor scenes - Movies often open with a “flavor scene,” grabbing attention
and positioning the audience for what is to come. A great speech contains
a flavor scene too.
Scene changes - The biggest enemy of a speaker, no matter how dynamic, is
“sameness” or lack of variety. Talented presenters use variety to keep
their audiences interested.
Captivating characters – Exciting characters, real and imaginary, exist in
great presentation. (These ties into the use of stories discussed above.)
Skillful speakers build characters that specifically address the values,
needs and wants of the audience.
Vivid dialogue - Great stories contain dialogue that allow the audience to
observe the story unfold as if it were happening real time.
Lesson learned – Without a link or connection to the presentation theme,
the funniest or most exhilarating story is pointless. Great speakers
connect the dots for the audience and insure that all elements of the
presentation exist for a reason.
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Keynoters as Actors
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If presentations are like story or movie, many successful speakers use
acting techniques to upgrade their delivery. Ed Brodow is a businessman,
actor, and negotiation expert. He highlights seven acting techniques that
strong keynoters use:
Improvise - Improvisation means to make it up as you go along; effective
use of improvisation gives the keynoter the space to be creative and
spontaneous. Moreover, it allows a speaker to respond to the mood and
reactions of the audience.
Motivation - An actor has a drive (or objective) in each scene that
motivates the character. Impressive speakers motivate the audience members
to enjoy, acquire new knowledge or new skills, change their behavior, or
create new self-awareness. Theatrical touches – An onstage performance is
really a heightened form of what we normally experience as reality. Reality
without theatricality is boring! Even the most subtle film performance has
a dash of theatricality thrown in. So too, a talented keynote speakers
add theatrical touches. Those touches include props, costumes, staging
techniques, or visuals.
High energy and focused </
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