techsupport Have you considered being a keynote speaker? Are you thinking of hiring one? Your first thought is likely to be – What qualities does a speaker have to make them highly sought-after and leave audiences thinking about their speeches long after it has ended?
While the list might seem to be endless, we’ve found 10 of them that were the most common ones that the best speakers exhibited. Read on to learn the ones that will make a business keynote speaker in high demand.
- They Are Passionate About the Subject – When the speaker talks, it’s going to be immediately obvious whether they love what they are talking about. If there are any reviews that they just seemed to pick because it was a hot topic, then you should look elsewhere.
- They Are Excellent Storytellers – The audience should be engrossed in what the speaker is talking about from the very first sentence. They can effortlessly weave in personal anecdotes and other stories in a speech that seems to only last for five minutes.
- They Are Credible – You want to make sure that the speaker is well-known in their field. Nobody wants to hear something from a person that has no hands-on experience. The audience needs to be able to trust what they are hearing.
- They Are Authentic – Here’s one way a speaker can quickly lose an audience — being inauthentic. The last thing they want is to spend an evening watching someone be something they aren’t. If that was the case, they’d go see a play.
- They Are Articulate – This one might seem to be a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how some speakers talk. It’s not something that could be chalked up to a regional accent, either. The audience shouldn’t have to strain to understand what is being said up on the stage.
- They Are Funny – While they shouldn’t be doing stand-up comedy sets on stage, the speaker should at least have the audience chuckling at various points. It’s a way that they can keep the crowd’s attention. Otherwise, it’s going to feel like a college lecture.
- They Are Confident – The speaker should make it abundantly clear that they know their stuff the very second they step on the stage. There should be no hesitation. The confidence should be palpable.
- They Are Creative – They can be creative in several ways. Options include slideshows, videos, and other ways to make this speech feel like something out of the ordinary.
- They Are Relatable – While the person up on the stage might be a titan in the business world, they also want to show that they are normal people, too. They could do this by sprinkling in personal anecdotes or even bringing up something like sports. The goal should be to have the audience feel like they have something in common with the speaker.
- They Are Powerful in Their Speaking – This might also be considered a no-brainer, but it’s still an important quality. Their vocal cadence should be strong. No droning here.
This is hardly an exhaustive list of the best qualities, but if you find a speaker that has them, you should book them. Both you and the audience will be quite happy.
