You’ve done the hard work of securing a keynote or guest speaker for your upcoming event. Celebrity, Professor, Author, Leader, you name it. They’re a big draw, and potentially a big part of your event budget whether it’s a conference, a company All Hands, a sales kick-off, or more. 

Of course, we want to sell tickets and increase attendance. But we also want these guest speakers to spark movement or change in our attendees and our organizations. How can we help ensure their message sticks and has a meaningful long-term impact?

Here are 3 tips on how to get the most out of hiring a keynote or guest speaker at your next event.

Don’t customize, personalize

Unfortunately, it’s not realistic to request radical changes to a speaker's content for each event. Instead of customization, focus on personalization. 

Personalization means helping your attendees see themselves in the material that is shared instead of changing the content for each group.

Personalization is more scaleable and also stickier. One reason is we tend to learn more and more deeply when content touches on something we care about. People are looking to connect to their needs anyway, so we might as well make it easier. Here’s how:

“We want to ground this in something real for you. Take 2 minutes to think of an example you can use today’s content with”. Small, simple questions on a screen or prompts at the start of a gathering serve to bring the material closer. Ask, “what does this topic make you think about?”, or “what’s top of mind for you about this topic?”. 

These prompts can be even more personal and resonant if company leadership goes first. Tell attendees how you feel about the content and its effect on you. When leadership goes first it gives everyone else permission to do the same. 

Another idea is to create what I call “after-shows”, where small curated groups discuss the material in more detail after the session. These choices go beyond simply adding a Q&A, so that your gathering is personalized for everyone - not just those who had their question answered. 

Give the audience ownership 

Typical keynotes put the audience in the passenger seat, passively listening to content that was pre-determined without their input. People are more committed to what they help create versus consume. To boost ownership:

1. Add #hashtags: Borrow an idea from Wharton professor and keynote speaker himself, Adam Grant. In a group chat or virtual event use hashtags like #question, #aha, #onfire, and #debate to capture insights, determine what needs more explanation, or draw out new perspectives

2. Create and send a worksheet based on the gatherings’ material. Providing attendees with a worksheet instead of simply a copy of the slides puts the attendees in a lead role, giving them responsibility and a role to play. 

3. Ask for feedback. “Listen, the show is a bit too long, you see. I need to cut some. You’ll tell me what that should be”. In one line and in no more than 30 seconds of time, comedian Hannah Gadsby gave her audience ownership over her comedy show, without changing her content. Use your introduction to signal to attendees that you want their ideas on how to use or apply the content that’s shared. This is especially powerful when company leadership asks for this help from their employees. 

Add time to reflect 

Educator and scholar John Dewey said it best, “We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.” Keynotes alone don’t necessarily lead to learning - it’s the reflection and processing that does. We often pump our events so full of content that we leave little space or time for not just reflection but application.

Engage attendees in asking for their ah-ha’s and takeaways, either via a post-event form or more powerfully with a partner or a small group. So much learning comes in the comparison of perspectives. This can also be done in the middle or during a pause in the keynote, especially after a content-heavy section.  

In addition to reflection, focus on application, meaning asking and answering questions like, how will we go forward because of what we’ve learned together? How will we work together because of what we learned? What could get in the way? 

The difference between an event that informs versus one that engages is often this lack of implementation. Without time to reflect, we are less likely to take up the content as our own, store it in memory, and apply it. 

Though we may hire a guest speaker for their words, it's our attendees who we need to carry the words forward. In order to help them do so and increase the ROI of our investment, we can personalize instead of customizing the keynote, give the audience ownership, and give them time to reflect. 

When we are a part of a gathering that transforms us, it’s rarely because of the content alone. It’s how we connect to it. These choices fuel connection so that an event stays with us long after the event is done. 

Lindsey Caplan is a screenwriter turned organizational psychologist who helps HR & business leaders create experiences that boost motivation, engagement, and performance

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