Winning a keynote speaking spot at a conference can take a lot of work, reputation building, and occasionally… stress.
But a good presentation is rewarding in many ways:
- It reinforces your reputation in the industry.
- It opens new doors, career paths, and partnerships.
- It helps you earn another keynote speaker spot.
- It can provide additional income.
So how do you build a reputation as a speaker and win speaking engagements?
So let’s take a look at how to “cheat your way to a top spot.”
Some tips…
Table of Contents
Don’t include well-known tactics
If you start your speech with stuff most listeners already know — stuff you can easily find on popular blogs — you’ll hurt your reputation.
Focus on providing information that ain’t easy to find.
No reading ahead
Don’t reveal too much of the presentation on your slides.
Revealing too much too soon can frustrate listeners because they’ll know where you’re going, and will get tired of waiting for you to get to the point.
Create tension or expectation and resolve it
Nothing works better to capture attention than telling a snappy story.
Try crafting a real life example that starts with a conflict, then resolve it.
For example: You send an email to a new subscriber. They don’t engage. Then the next email gets deleted. Third email, they report spam. Google flags your domain as spam, you try to hold back the tears… But don’t worry, there’s another way.
Say controversial things you can back up with data
The most interesting info is often controversial, sometimes even unbelievable.
But if you segue into scientific evidence that backs up your initial story, you’ll grab attention and build credibility.
