Behind My Latest Keynote: 3 Strategies You Can Use in Your Own Talk

Imagine you've just delivered a keynote. People in the audience come up to you and say, “I learned a lot” or “I was taking so many notes that I don't even know where to start.” That's exactly the *wrong* kind of feedback you want to get after a keynote. As a keynote speaker, you're there on the stage to provide an experience for the audience and to help them see something differently about themselves or their industry or their community or their world, and to have them believe that they can do it.  What you want is the audience to come up to you afterwards and say, “You got me to think differently. “ In this episode, I'm taking you behind the scenes of a recent keynote I delivered at a leadership retreat for the Space Coast Chamber of Commerce. The organizers wanted to bring together leaders from different sectors to address challenges in their community.  I'll share how I prepared, where I got stuck creating the talk (yes, this happens to me too), and what helped me pull it together. You'll hear how a conference I attended years ago became my opening story, how I built substantial audience participation into the two-hour session, and why attending the entire retreat gave me something I couldn't have gotten from my preparation calls alone.  These are strategies you can adapt to your own keynotes, conference presentations, and signature talks. In This Episode: The difference between teaching a workshop and creating a keynote experience. The questions I asked the event organizers and why I interviewed local leaders. How to customize a signature talk without starting over. Why I got stuck working on my outline in a Google Doc and how using our Signature Talk Canvas® framework made all the difference. The opening story that connected space travel to breaking down community silos. How I planned audience activities, table roles, and timing for a two-hour session. What I added to my slides after listening to the retreat's other speakers. About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals clarify their brand message and story, create their signature talks, and develop their thought leadership platforms. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power because it's through women's stories, voices, and visibility that we challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.  Links: Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/497/  Discover your Speaker Archetype by taking our free quiz at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/quiz/ Enroll in our online Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/  Attend our in-person speaking retreat in Orlando: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/live/  Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox Related Podcast Episodes: Episode 483: How an I.D.E.A., Not a Topic, Makes You Easier to Refer, Pitch, and Book Episode 445: 3 Must-Haves for an Unforgettable Keynote Episode 422: How to Create a 10-Out-of-10 Keynote that Leaves Your Audience in Awe Episode 458: Same Message, Different Medium: Why Your Talk Isn’t Landing (and How to Fix It)