Why have a keynote?
The purpose of a keynote speaker is tocreate the stage for the remainder of that event and bring people together with the same purpose. A good keynote speaker ought to an upbeat effect on your audience for the entire conference and even after it has ended.
Understanding that, you can see why a particular person is selected to make the keynote message i.e. to match a speaker to the leading theme you want your audience to learn. This can be achieved by finding someone where there is close match to your business or your subject.
To illustrate the point, you might have a product launch so a famous cook may not be suitable. On the other hand that chef may have launched a range of kitchen utensils so they are able to talk about the market research process, the sales strategy and various problems that go along with bringing a new service onto the market.
What types of keynote speaker are there?
Generally there are four main ways of categorising keynote speakers.
Motivational speakers
This is the most common style of presenter used for keynote speaking. They tend to have some notoriety for an accomplishment in a field like creating a famous business, beating the odds one way or another or being a recognised author.
Actually, books are a frequent cause for individuals to become a motivational speaker i.e. they have written a recently book or perhaps also have a training programme they want to sell.
These speakers tend to have a similar theme wherever they appear which is not to say the theme is not relevant but more that it is probably very slick with an emphasis more on them not your conference.
Technical Expert
These people rarely are good candidates for a rousing keynote speaker. Not because of any shortcomings in their presentation skills but mainly because their subject is more applicable than inspirational.
Plus, as a staff member of a service or product provider, the presenter is irrelevant because they will have a tested business presentation.
This type of speaker flies in the face of the purpose of a keynote and is used as a specialist topic during the conference to add insight or background to a specific aspect.
Internal speakers
Many corporate event organisers consider it is important to use a senior executive or higher management for the keynote presenter. Usually this is not a good idea.
Certainly it is good to have a person from the upper parts of the company speaking during the event, perhaps as the final speaker so the employees go with a supporting theme however their content is inevitably going to be serving the company instead of setting a tone or emotional direction for the meeting.
The Customiser
A very rare category of keynote speaker but is the ultimate.
They find out what you want from your conference or sales meeting. Then they will craft a speech solely for that intention. They will probably illustrate their talk with examples, their stories however the communications will all be aimed at your main objective.
Celebrity speakers
You can also engage celebrity speakers - sports stars, comedians and actors but they are unlikely to be best for a keynote speech however would certainly be popular for an after-dinner speaker.
Summary
To have an effective convention or sales meeting, you need to have clarity on your desired result. Once you have that you can then select a keynote speaker who can move your delegates towards that intention. And by recognising the categories of keynote presenter, it is possible to see if their style or topic to fit your goals.
Simon Higgins is a marketing consultant who writes on the motivational and celebrity speaker industry.
For more information and to learn how to book New Zealand's top motivational, business and celebrity speakers visit [http://www.thicmi.co.nz].
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