The person introducing a keynote speaker gets the audience's attention and sets the tone for the talk and for the experience. To make the most of your presentation of presenters – I thought I’d share a few industry tips.
- Prepare. Be sure to meet with your keynote speaker well before they take the stage to get their introduction, any guidance on their preferences, and definitely the correct pronunciation of their name! (I can’t tell you how often I’ve seen that go sideways!) Most keynoters are professionals with enough experience behind them, they’ll have some ideas on best practices for their particular topic.
- Practice. Even the most experienced keynote speakers practice and rehearse before they take the stage, so should you. Take some time to rehearse your introduction and cadence before you take the microphone.
- Let your confidence come to the surface. Your team or organization has made a great decision to bring a professional keynote speaker to the audience. Bring a confidence to your delivery style as you help the audience welcome both speaker, and the message they are about to convey.
- Brevity is your friend. The best introduction are short and sweet. They deliver enough about the keynote speaker to provide authority and context without losing interest. It’s an intro, not a novel!
- Tee up the topic. Tease your audience with a little bit of what they are about to hear and why the topic is so important to them, and to your organization.
A successful speech is “all in the delivery” as they say. Be thoughtful, be yourself, and be prepared and you’ll do just fine! If you want to learn more tips and tools for your next event or how to hire the best keynote speaker possible for your organization, give me a call. We specialize in bringing remarkable speakers together with clients from all over the globe. We’d love to be of service!