You Can Become a Keynote Speaker - Here’s How
CATEGORY
If you’ve entertained the idea of making your living as a keynote speaker or master of ceremonies, I have a little secret for you: you can do it.
Want to know how to BECOME a keynote speaker? I’ll walk you through it step by step (or should I say, letter by letter):
See Related: How To Introduce a Guest Speaker In 4 Foolproof Steps
How to BECOME a Keynote Speaker #1: Brand yourself
As a keynote speaker, you are your own product. So, you need to brand yourself the way a business would!
Curate your public perception
When the public thinks of you, what do you want to come to their minds?
Perhaps you want to be the approachable, fun keynote speaker who always brings the party wherever they go.
Maybe you want to be the cutting-edge industry expert who is always equipped with the latest knowledge in your chosen field.
A consistent brand = a successful brand
Whatever you choose, you must stay consistent and incorporate your brand into everything you do.
From your website to your attire, your visual presentations to your marketing materials (more on that later), everything you put out to the public needs to gel with your overall brand – so understand what that is, forwards and backwards.
Try this:
Create a tagline for your business and use it as a guide for everything you do. Like a mantra, it should be short and clear – something you will never forget.
What do you want your impact to be?
Identify where in the speaking business you can make the greatest impact and use that to build your brand.
For example, if your skills and life experience lend themselves to communicating with young people, curate your speaking business to cater to organizations and schools that address the needs of young people.
How to BECOME a Keynote Speaker #2: Enhance your public speaking skills
You’ve got the drive, you’ve got the discipline, you’ve got the decorum – but do you have the public speaking skills to give an impactful keynote speech?
Be your own audience
You know that feeling when you look at a picture from ten years ago and think to yourself, “What was I wearing?!” (No? Just me?)
Well, sometimes we all think we are nailing it when we’re actually doing something a bit… cringeworthy. To avoid this, observe your work as objectively as possible and practice the skills you need to improve upon.
Are you enjoying the (*cough* your) performance?
A good process in life for aspiring keynote speakers is to record themselves. It may sound silly, but hear me out: listening to your keynote speech can be a very different experience from delivering it.
Here are a few ideas: Observe your tone, rhythm, speed, timing, enunciation, storytelling, and projection. Where can you improve? A keynote speaker will go from good to great, great to excellent, if they acknowledge the areas in which they can progress.
Learn from the best
Who has a speaking career you admire?
Take advantage of the rich online catalog of videos and podcasts and immerse yourself in the work of keynote speakers you wish to emulate.
What is it about them you love? Is it their comedic timing? Their authentic, heartfelt way of connecting with the audience? The eye contact they make with the audience?
Expert tip:
Keep a handful of your favorite keynote speeches bookmarked on your computer and return to them for inspiration whenever you need it.
How to BECOME a Keynote Speaker #3: Connect and collaborate
One of the most challenging parts of starting a career in keynote speaking is getting your name (and face) out there.
This is where you really need to put in some elbow grease and pound the pavement. You never know when you’ll meet the first person to hire you as a keynote speaker!
Attend industry events and be ready to talk
As you will read about in #4, a great keynote speaker understands their niche. And because you are going to become a great keynote speaker, you will stand confidently in a niche, too!
Depending on what that is, I highly recommend that you start attending speeches and conferences that pertain to your chosen industry of focus. You’ll start to network and word of mouth will spread!
Where should you go to talk with industry professionals?
For example, if you specialize in professional development for teachers, then you may meet helpful connections at school board meetings and education conferences.
Or maybe your public speaking centers around diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in nonprofit organizations. It would probably be worthwhile for you to attend nonprofit fundraisers, as well as regular DEI training sessions.
How to find events
You can identify events by:
- Checking organizations’ and business’ websites and social media pages
- Contacting their outreach departments
- Reading local publications’ recent articles
Partner up
As you begin to network, you may meet other folks at events or in online groups who are also looking to build careers as keynote speakers. This is a great opportunity for both of you!
If you click with another aspiring keynote speaker, partner up and help each other stay accountable as you build your businesses.
The benefits of having a public speaking partner
You can keep your eyes out for events and networking opportunities the other may benefit from, serve as fresh eyes for each other’s marketing materials, and be each other’s audience for practice runs of keynote speeches.
Chances are the two of you won’t fit into exactly the same niche, so you will not be taking away from your own career growth by supporting each other.
