Have you been forced to sit in on a graduation or awards ceremony recently?
I say forced but it is not that you were forced as much as once you agree to attend one of these events you can’t very well get up in the middle of one of those horribly boring speeches and leave.
And I wonder who hires (hire being a very loose term here) these speakers and whether they explained to their speaker the purpose of their speech. Because for the most part, it does not seem like they understand why they are speaking or what they are trying to accomplish.
So tell me, what is the purpose of YOUR keynote address?
I recently had the displeasure of sitting in on a ceremony celebrating the intelligence of thirteen and fourteen year old students where the keynote speaker was an exceptional woman. Accolades, awards, a lifetime of successful academic achievement. She certainly had a lot of advice to offer to these young people even if she was two generations away from them societally and probably could not relate to their upcoming challenges in today's realm of fast paced high tech jump on the Jetson Car lifestyle.
So now I ask again, what was the purpose of her keynote address?
It appeared from how she started that it was to uplift and motivate the teenagers to believing they could succeed, that they had a bright and exciting future, that they could change the world if they applied themselves and found the right niche for their talents.
But that was the first paragraph.
After that first paragraph of rhetoric she dissolved into talking about her achievements, where she got awards, who she went to work for and how many awards she received in her line of work.
She didn’t make it generic so the English students could see their future, or the art students, or the athletic students, or the math students.
It was her telling about her scientific (if I even remember what she was prattling on about) achievements in her field of biology I think it was.
But I am sure I wasn’t able to pay enough attention to even remember.
For she was not trying to encourage all of the four hundred plus attendees or their families to go to the next level of success as much as she appeared to be telling her own accolades about her long past successes and awards.
And I ask again, what is the purpose of your keynote?
Is it trying to instill great power into the hearts of your audience? Is it trying to talk and relate to them? Is it trying to inspire? Is it trying to inform?
As a professional speaker, college speech instructor, and speaking coach I try to help my students understand that the primary purpose of your speech is your audience.
If you have been hired to give a speech one of your first questions should be, what is the purpose of my speech?
For that is why you are being hired. That is your goal to achieve that purpose. If it’s to inspire then be inspirational. If it’s to motivate then be motivational. If it’s to inform then guess what? YES! Be informative.
But above all, never ever never be boring. Never be self-serving. Never put yourself before your audience. Always accomplish what you were being brought to do and be an amazing speaker that if they don’t ever remember your name, they will always remember your message.
After your life is over your will be judged not by how many people remember your name or how many plaques have your name upon them but you will be judged by how you treated others and certainly by how you changed one person’s life with your message.
It is the most wonderful thing you will ever do.
You can reach me at steve@stevesapato.com or favorite this blog and comment. I would love to hear from you.
