If you’ve ever been responsible for hiring a keynote speaker, you know there’s no shortage of impressive people to choose from.
There are compelling speaker reels, bestselling books, fascinating credentials, big-name clients, and plenty of promises about transformation.
But none of those things makes a speaker the right choice.
I’ve been on the stage, and I’ve been in the seats. And from both sides of the room, I’ve seen the best keynotes happen when the organizers ask:
👉 What does this audience need from a speaker right now?
As someone who spends a lot of time thinking about what makes a keynote genuinely useful—not just entertaining—here are three questions that can help you make the best choice.
What does your audience need?
When I first started taking speaking engagements, I was very focused on getting everything right, remembering what I wanted to say, making sure I covered all the material, and staying on track.
The problem is that when you’re concentrating that much on delivering a presentation, it’s very easy to stop paying attention to the people you’re delivering it to. Often, the more I tried to pack in, the less helpful I was to the audience.
That realization changed the way I think about speaking.
A speaker’s job isn’t only to present what they know. It’s to make what they know relevant and useful to the audience.
Credentials may get a speaker onto the consideration list. But relevance is what determines whether the message will matter to the people in the room.
That’s why I’d start with asking, “What does this particular audience need right now?”
Maybe your organization is navigating significant change. Maybe communication has become strained. Maybe people are struggling to make decisions confidently or perform consistently in a demanding environment.
Whatever the situation, the keynote will be far more impactful when the speaker is chosen to fit a current need.
Most keynotes shouldn’t feel like a presentation that could have been delivered to any audience. The best audience experiences happen when the speaker understands who is in the room, what they’re navigating, and why the subject matters to them.
Is there substance behind the story?
I love a good story. I use plenty of them in my own keynote. For me, the strongest audience engagement happens when people can see themselves in what I’m talking about.
But inspiration needs application to stick.
Stories can grab attention, humor can create connection, and music can make an experience memorable—but those things need to serve the message rather than become the message.
In my own work, that means stories aren’t there simply to entertain. They’re there to illuminate an idea that people can then examine and apply for themselves.
Which brings us to the third question…
What do you want people leaving with?
Imagine people standing up after the keynote ends. What do you want them talking about?
Three weeks later when they’re in a meeting with you, what idea do you want resurfacing? What do you hope someone remembers the next time they’re facing a challenge that the keynote centered on?
You may have an action-oriented goal in mind, but remember this: action usually starts with seeing something differently.
Personally, I don’t expect someone to leave saying, “I’m going to do these three things tomorrow.”
I’d rather have them catch themselves three days later thinking, “Wait. Is that actually true? Or is that a story I’ve been telling myself?” Because seeing something differently can change the choices available to us—and what we do next.
A great keynote isn’t defined by what happens while the speaker is onstage. The better test is what people carry with them when the event is over and they return to their everyday lives.
