How to Choose a Keynote Speaker for a Conference

Show Notes

How to choose a keynote speaker for a conference comes down to one thing most meeting planners overlook: did the speaker actually research your people before they said yes? In this episode I walk you through what separates a speaker who shows up and recites a canned talk from one who studies your culture, asks what matters to your attendees, and builds the address around the room you're actually filling. I'm Brian Brandt, founder of Core Insights here in Tyler, Texas, and I've spent close to twenty years keynoting conferences and large corporate events across the country. My whole approach is simple: no two are ever alike. Before I ever step on a stage, I'm asking the questions — what does your audience care about, what's the win you need from this session, what will be the impact? If I truly care about your people, that's the work I owe them before I open my mouth. If you're an event planner, conference organizer, or association meeting planner trying to book the right person, this one's for you. You'll learn the questions to ask any speaker you're considering, why engagement beats lecture every single time, and how to match the format to your room — a keynote for the big main stage, a workshop or breakout for your smaller sessions. When you're ready for a keynote built around your conference and not recycled from someone else's, I'd love to talk. Reach me at CoreInsightsLeadership.com, email [e-mail], or call [phone]. It's just a pleasure to serve.

What is Core Insights with Brian Brandt?

Core Insights with Brian Brandt is amazing!

Welcome to Core Insights with Brian Brandt. I'm Brian, and today I want to answer a question I hear from event planners and conference organizers all the time, which is simply how to choose a keynote speaker for a conference.

You know, the short answer is this: choose the speaker who does the homework before they ever walk on your stage. Anybody can deliver a polished talk, but the one worth booking is the one who studies your people first.

Here's what I mean by that. For me, no two keynotes are ever alike, and I don't mean that as a slogan, I mean I literally research each client's culture before I build a thing.

I ask what matters to you, what your people are wrestling with, what a win looks like for this particular room. Then I design the talk around that, because a speaker who reuses the same canned program is really just performing for you instead of serving you.

So when you're vetting a speaker, listen for the questions they ask you. A great keynoter will be curious before they're impressive, asking clarifying and follow-up questions until they understand the real root of what your conference is about.

If someone's ready to say yes and send a contract before they've asked you a single meaningful question about your audience, that tells you something. The best ones want to understand your world first, because they know the impact depends on it.

That word, impact, is the whole thing for me. Before every session I ask myself, what will be the impact, what can be the impact, and if I truly love these people, what is going to be the impact?

When you're choosing a speaker, ask them flat out what they want your audience to walk away with. The great ones can answer that clearly and specifically, and they're thinking about your people, not their own applause.

The other thing I'd tell you to look for is engagement over lecture. A keynote shouldn't be sixty minutes of a talking head while a few hundred people check their phones.

Even in a large conference room, the speakers worth your budget know how to make people think, connect, and have a little fun. Years ago I led a training in The Bronx where all twenty one participants were born in different countries, and watching the way an engaging design makes people lean in and light up, that's the standard I hold myself to no matter the size of the room.

Now let me give you one practical filter. Match the format to the room, because a keynote is the main address at a conference or a large corporate event, and a smaller team is better served by a workshop or a breakout session.

A speaker who knows the difference, and who'll tell you honestly which one your event actually needs, is a speaker you can trust. That's the mark of someone giving you not what you want to hear, but what you need to know.

So gather a short list, get on a call with each one, and pay attention to who gets curious about your conference and who just talks about themselves. The one asking the better questions is usually the one who'll deliver the better keynote.

If you're planning a conference or a large corporate event and you want a keynote built around your actual people, I'd love to talk. Reach me at brian at core insights leadership dot com, or call me at nine zero three, five three four, one five two five.

Thanks for spending a little time with me today. Keep leading well, keep leaving things better than you found them, and I'll see you on the next episode of Core Insights.