Build a Signature Keynote
Crafting a signature keynote requires a clear intent, audience understanding, structured storytelling, and engaging hooks. Learn how to price, book, and negotiate keynotes while maintaining credibility and confidence. Elevate your speaking career with practical strategies from this session.
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How to Build a Signature Keynote That Captivates and Converts
A powerful keynote isn’t just a speech—it’s an experience. Whether you’re an aspiring speaker or a seasoned professional, crafting a signature keynote requires strategy, structure, and a deep connection with your audience. In this session, we break down the key elements that make a keynote memorable and impactful.
1. Setting the Intent for Your Keynote
Every great keynote starts with a clear intention. Ask yourself:
• What is the core message I want my audience to take away?
• How do I want them to feel and act after my speech?
A keynote without intent lacks direction. Define your purpose before structuring your content.
2. Understanding Your Audience
Your keynote isn’t about you—it’s about who you’re speaking to. Consider:
• Their industry, background, and expectations
• Their pain points and challenges
• The action you want them to take after your talk
The more you tailor your content to your audience, the more engaging and effective your keynote will be.
3. Structuring Your Keynote for Maximum Impact
A well-structured keynote follows a logical flow that keeps the audience engaged. A simple yet effective framework includes:
• Opening Hook – Grab attention immediately with a question, bold statement, or powerful story.
• Core Message – Deliver your key insights with clear takeaways.
• Storytelling & Mental Models – Use real-life examples, analogies, and frameworks to reinforce your points.
• Closing Call to Action – End with a memorable message that inspires action.
4. Creating Engaging Hooks & Storytelling Techniques
Attention spans are short. Engaging hooks ensure your audience stays invested from start to finish.
• Open with a thought-provoking question or challenge.
• Share a personal story that creates an emotional connection.
• Use contrasts and surprises to keep people curious.
Having a story library filled with compelling anecdotes and case studies will help you adapt your keynote to different audiences.
5. Effective Use of Tools & Visuals
Slides and visuals should enhance your message, not distract from it.
• Keep slides minimal and impactful.
• Use images and videos to support storytelling.
• Leverage props or live demonstrations when relevant.
6. Pricing & Booking Keynotes
Monetizing your keynote involves strategic pricing and professional contract management.
• Set your value based on industry standards, experience, and audience size.
• Negotiate effectively to maximize speaking fees while delivering value.
• Use contracts and deposits to secure bookings and protect your time.
7. Building Confidence & Credibility as a Speaker
Your presence, tonality, and body language significantly impact how your message is received. To maintain credibility:
• Speak with authority and conviction.
• Balance leadership with audience connection.
• Use negotiation tactics to position yourself as a premium speaker.
A signature keynote is more than just a well-prepared speech—it’s a powerful tool for influence, business growth, and personal brand building. By refining your intent, structure, storytelling, and negotiation skills, you can craft a keynote that leaves a lasting impact.
Are you ready to take your keynote speaking to the next level? Start implementing these strategies today.
Highlights:
00:00 Introduction to Keynote Topics
01:09 Setting the Intent for Your Keynote
02:16 Understanding Your Audience
03:51 Structuring Your Keynote
09:34 Creating Engaging Hooks
10:36 Building a Story Library
13:34 Utilizing Mental Models
15:35 Effective Use of Tools and Visuals
17:39 Pricing Your Keynote
23:04 Q&A and Practical Advice
26:26 Booking Keynotes: Contracts and Deposits
28:21 Creating a Signature Keynote
29:37 Matching Your Keynote to Your Audience
32:51 Maintaining Credibility and Confidence
35:56 Combining Leadership with Seduction
44:09 Negotiation Tactics for Keynote Speakers
51:43 Final Thoughts and Q&A
Transcript:
[00:00:00] So these are the eight topics we go through. Some only a little bit high level and some a little bit deeper and that's due to timing. If anyone is interested we can go into One topic, more details if, if, if that's required in, in one of the future sections. So this one is really going into all the depths of it.
So before we go into the presentation itself, saying it already before, there are a lot of methodologies on how you can do this. I'm showing you how I do this and how I have done it on small and large stages in the past. So that's my way of doing this. That doesn't mean that other ways are not working as well.
So tag for yourself, what works for you. If you have never done it, maybe it's a good starting point. If you have done it, you can fine tune it and take what you think will enhance your keynote. Just saying this up front, [00:01:00] I have experience, but I'm not the person that is teaching people on doing keynotes, though that I do a little bit.
So starting with intent. So for me, creating a signature keynote always starts with the intent of what do you want it to achieve? with that keynote. So my example is I want to build thought leadership. I want to educate people and I want to make sales. So I have a combination of these things. So for you, when you start building a signature keynote for yourself, it starts with that in mind.
Like, do you want to be well known for a specific topic? Do you want to create a motivation? Do you want to create inspiration? Do you want to create sales for yourself? A combination of all of the other topics, it's, it's a key point because some things, let's say if I want to build a keynote that is driving sales, it's different than a keynote that is driving education.
And though [00:02:00] that there might be overlaps, but of course the goal with driving sales is. You want people to buy from you after the keynote. So it's a, it's a different strategy and a different buildup. So it's, it's really dependent on what you are after. That's the starting point. Then we go into the audience and building a signature keynote is different than being invited for a keynote.
So building a signature keynote for me starts really. Who do you want to speak in front of? So the target audience that you want to speak to, what would you like them to take home? And what experiences would you like them to, what you create for them? And this, this three things are super, super important because if you know that, let's say in my case, sales is one part of the keynote.
That I want to reach people, inspire people, and educate people on a specific topic so that they in the end convert to customers. [00:03:00] That requires me to be very specific to whom do I want to speak. Like I can speak at events where I maybe have an amazing time, maybe inspire a couple of people and even educate them, but that doesn't lead to sales.
So let's say I could speak at a healthcare event and might not have any conversion. So it's really important for you to understand who you want to speak in front of. And that then goes into, like we have said in the past, the events that you choose and or the businesses that you reach out to, to be speaking in front of.
So that's the two things are critical starting points before you even think about what the topic of your, um, signature keynote is, because everything else is then connected to those two. So this, this two we take as a given for everything, what we're building now. And then the structure, I go very, very simple.
And that's just for me, an easy way, how, how I remember it. I'm creating a menu, [00:04:00] which is a starter, the main course and the dessert. And if we now go deeper from a structure perspective, the starter for me, number one is always the why hook. So I believe whatever is, is often what I start with when I do very, very big keynotes.
Because then you give the, the whole audience a connection to what, what you are all about. Like, why are you existing? Why are you speaking at this event? And so on. So it's a critical moment for me where you capture the whole audience in one, in one sentence. And then of course there are different techniques that you can engage the audience in different ways.
But for me, the most important things is this. Then giving an, an overview of what you're talking about, which is the main course in our. Context and then I always give a forecast of the dessert So I give them already a little bit of hint what is coming in the end so that [00:05:00] they stay on in the room and not run away.
So there's something like a carrot that you throw at them in front of them or dangle in front of them that they're staying. So these three things I always put into the start of the keynote. And that can be 30 seconds. It can be five minutes, depending on how much time you have and how much in depth you go.
So having finished the starter, everyone understands. Your why everyone understands what they can expect from the keynote, which the main course. And then everyone has somehow something that is, Oh, that's interesting. And that comes in the end example, when I was saying that in, in Switzerland, of course, they have most of the people in the room have seen me doing that on the stage where I asked them in the end to come on stage.
So the, the, the funny thing of that was I was able to, I'm losing my connection here. I was able to explain it based on the keynote that they have literally [00:06:00] seen me live on stage. So I'm trying to keep it a little bit different now, but in the end it's like they go out and, and, and understand what's, what's coming.
So then we go into the main course. I always try to build. A structure that I can remember. So as easy as possible for you to remember. So I always say five ingredients, I have six. So something that you remember. So my, my signature keynote is called leading with impact. So impact is then I M P A C T. So that's, I'm, I'm using that for me as a structure so that I always know where I am in my keynote.
I don't need slides. I always know I is innovation and so on. So I know what the words are behind and I don't need to, to show them even on a slide or tell them to anyone. I just go through that for myself. So what is [00:07:00] a menu structure that you can utilize for yourself, which five to six or even less ingredients of the menu so that you can repeat them.
all the time. Plus you remember them in the structure. So it helps you in a lot of different ways and then making it simple as well. Inside of this ingredients, I always go hook, story, takeaway, which is a little bit, it's, it's again, a mental model, which we go later in that I use for videos that I use for other topics as well.
And it's easy to understand. So a hook is something where. You, you create the interest of what you talk about, then you create, uh, tell a story and then you go into the takeaway. So it's a very simple structure of the main course that you can use for yourself. One thing is to give the audience a structure so they know what you're talking about.
And the other thing is you have yourself the structure and then it's very easy to follow through. And. As well, be on stage doesn't [00:08:00] matter in the, in let's say how anxious or how excited you are. You still can follow that through because you have hopefully trained that before and it's an easy structure to remember.
Then when we come into the dessert, of course, it depends which kind of keynote and what you're doing. Always try to build in at least the key takeaway, obviously, and sometimes linking that to an irresistible offer like I did in Switzerland. Um, which was in that case, I was saying, okay, 10 CEOs from the room on stage, and I will help you for a whole year.
Um, which I started in the beginning though. So maybe for those that haven't seen the keynote, I started the whole keynote with a hook when in the, in the, in the, in the starter, I was, I was talking about the. That I'm investing, what was it, like 300, 000 Euro in 10 people in this room, and I will tell you [00:09:00] in the end.
So that was kind of the hinge was the dessert. Then what I always do is the loop back to the five ingredients, like what did we learn? And then I will go into the final takeaway. That sounds. Basic, but it is basic. It's, it's not difficult at all. It's just having a structure that you know how, how to use.
And for me, it's just easy, easy to remember. It's it's, it's the menu and I follow the structure of the menu. And then I go inside of each of these things into the three topics. Hooks. Hooks is super important because we use hooks in a lot of ways, not just in keynotes as well in social media, in everything that we are doing.
So starting always with what do you want to trigger in the other people? Like, do you want to trigger emotions? Do you want to trigger, trigger logical understanding of something? And then you can use them in different ways. And it's all about how [00:10:00] do you grab the attention inside of the room? And that can be a word that can be a sentence, but it can be as well you on stage moving around and doing certain things.
So it's not always. That it is only words in the end, the whole keynote is not just words, words is just one tiny piece of the total, but it's just using them with intent and knowing exactly how you want to use them so that you can throw out the hook into the audience and then you kind of fish them to where you want to get them.
And that's the same with stories. So I always say you should have a story library that you can use, reuse in different ways. So, um, just, just one thing, um, you can have stories that are completely true, but you can as well have stories that are completely made up. In the end, it doesn't matter. Like Jim was, was doing a good example in the last five minute keynotes where he has.
What was it [00:11:00] broken your finger or something, which was a made up story. Like he, his, his fingers were okay. But if you, if you watch the keynote, then it felt like, Oh shit, he has broken his finger or something went wrong with his finger. So it doesn't matter if it's true or untrue. And credibility is a key part.
So you can use your credibility as part of stories. I, for example, tell stories about my past in IKEA or about people that I have met. So you use credibility of big brands. credibility of yourself, credibility of things that you have achieved as part of the stories. So it's not as such in itself. It's more about you, you just mentioned it, like while you tell the story, you are, you're dropping the small things.
Um, then. Two things. One thing is super powerful is your origin story, which every one of you should know, like, how did you get to where you are today? And why [00:12:00] is it you and what is your, why connected to, to that? So if you are able to tell that story, you can do this in 30 seconds, in 20 minutes, in an hour in different ways to get everyone on board that you are the person that can be trusted in, in, in this way.
And then next to that is like a story library of different topics from your life. If you are telling about yourself, obviously I have the same for stories from Ikea stories from working with startups. So it's, it's kind of, you build this for yourself and then you can always pick stories for certain topics where you can trigger the audience.
Important with stories. They always like everything it needs to fit to the audience. As more it connects to the audience, as better it is. Like, if I would tell stories from Ikea being in front of startup, I need to tell them still, let's say of startup founders, I need to tell them in a way that they make sense [00:13:00] to the startup founders.
If I'm standing in front of big corporate. I need to tell the stories from Ikea in a way that they are related to them in their role in what they're doing. All logic, but it's very, very critical that you have your story library. And then you use that stories to tell the things that you want to get across so people understand it.
And then you do that in a way that they truly understand it. And can relate to it. Just checking the messages here. Okay. Mental models. One of the things a lot of people don't utilize and that's a super super powerful one. Mental models slash frameworks are simple and easy ways to explain things so that people will remember them.
It's always, uh, let's say topics that you divide into five or topics that you invite, divide into three. [00:14:00] You can use acronyms like I said. Like impact in my case is my, my main menu and I remember that and then you connect that to stories. Why? Oh, like one mental model I use all the time in all our calls is the, the visibility and the credibility.
If you, if you, if you have the credibility and don't have the visibility. You need to get them at least even and then drive the visibility up so that people understand how credible you are. And then I'm using another mental model that I'm linking to that, which is the difference between thought leadership and, um, How is this called?
I'm blanking. Thought leadership and, and influencers. So influencers are into visibility only and thought leaders have way more credibility. So these are mental models that you can use for yourself as more you use mental models that you use all over the time as [00:15:00] more people will see these mental models as part of your repertoire.
So they will understand, ah, that's the mental model of Jim. That's what he says all the time. It doesn't matter if you have made them up or not. It's just that you use them to explain things. Like the why, how, what. Mental model is a model or framework. That's, that's what Simon Sinek is using all the time.
And everyone knows that he has used it. He has had a huge TED talk about it, but that doesn't mean that he has invented it. So it's, it's just an easy way to explain things. Tools also super, super simple. Obviously you can use slides. My recommendation is using slides without words as much as possible. A lot of people have slides and it's like almost like a newspaper on the slide.
So everyone starts reading and nobody pays attention. When I had the keynote speaking training way back, was like, don't have [00:16:00] slides at all. And you are the person that is in focus. That's the best way because nobody looks at anything else than you. But it's not always possible. And sometimes it's required to have slides.
Then do as less as possible text and as much as possible pictures, pictures similar, like on social media as more faces as better, but of course use them in a way that you can tell the stories and then there are visual hooks for what you're talking about. And then you can use physical objects in the same way.
Um, like I was giving the example on my speaking page on my personal website, there is a photo where I'm standing with, um, what is it serving plate? Like, and I was standing there with, with a water glass on it for 45 minutes keynotes, and I was not explaining why I'm standing like this. And the, the, the keynote was, um, in one of the big innovation events in Russia and Moscow.[00:17:00]
And in the end I was giving it up because. I, I was then explaining it because the, the keynote was about in big organizations. And when you're innovating, you need to serve the customer. So that's what's literally the link to me standing there all the time. But it kind of creates, um, a dissonance, I think is the right way.
Like every, like you're talking about something and nobody gets it while you are standing like this. And it's just an intention grabber for everyone because people want to know why the heck are you standing there? So there are thousands of this opportunities that you can do for yourself. Um, just being, being a little bit innovative when it comes to that.
Last point, pricing.
Number one is ask if they have a budget. So let's say you're, you're getting approached for being a speaker, always ask. If you don't ask if they have a budget, they will always ask you for doing it for free. [00:18:00] And I have seen this over and over and over again. If you ask, they will figure it out. So if you don't ask, you will not get an answer.
When you ask, then they say, yeah, we don't have a real budget. But we can pay for the travel and we can pay for the accommodation. We can do this. We can do that. So one good example, and for those that have not seen it in the last days, Christian was posting it inside of the community that he got his first speaking gigs.
And though that they asked him to do that for free, he gets exposure. He gets Paid to get there, which is like travel and so on and, and, and all of that is giving them him a free ticket to the whole conference as well, which is like a three K deal. So in the end, if you think about it, he's getting paid three K to speak on stage.
Um, and still can do sales of it. So it's, it's [00:19:00] just being aware that even if it's maybe in the initial thinking for free and you're not getting paid cash, it can still be beneficial and that it's just a way of understanding it. So number one, ask for it. Think about creative ways of how you can be paid.
That is maybe not money straight away. And then the third thing is obviously if you, if they have a budget, if they're paying always tell them your pricing. Okay. So it's like when you are at a bazaar and you're like negotiating, the person that is setting the price is, is, is in the lead. Let's say if, if you, if you want to buy the wallet and the person that is selling it says 15 euro.
Then you go lower, right? But he will not be able to go to 20 anymore. So what I always do is I always go higher. So it's like you're setting the upper, upper level and then you can go down [00:20:00] from that example. So you want to get 10k for speaking if you say 15k and then you can go to 10k and then it's still cheap for them.
It's, it's still like they got you to 10k the same, let's say, if you want to get 3k, you start with 5k, obviously you need to be able to say that, that you can deliver it to, to that level. It's like, don't charge 20k and then deliver something that's 500 like you, if you, if you want to get 10 or 15 to 20 K on stage, you need to be a really, really good speaker and it needs to be a huge event or.
Like something business wise where they really get value of what out of what you're doing. So it's critical, critical thing. And then one thing that I recommend everyone to do always try to double the price next time. So you, you, let's say you speak for free. And you've got the value with trips and everything.
And it was 3k in the [00:21:00] example of Christian. Next time I would set 6k as the goal. And you do this as, as often you can, because in the end it's just perception. So you putting the, the, the price high will enable you to. get them understanding, Oh, that's what he, she is about. That's the level we need. We need to talk about because there are people who are charging, let's say a hundred thousand plus for a keynote.
It's not about that their time or their performance. It's that much better than yours. It's just perception of the people. It's just, they want to have this person talk about they're just. utilizing their credibility and or visibility. They're like TikTok stars that speak on stage, they get paid a lot. And there are other people that are less visible who are getting, getting paid a lot as well.
So it's, it's again, it's, it's an opportunity for you to, to define what you want to have and [00:22:00] then understanding the context. Let's say if you are at a startup event, you're most probably. not getting paid 10k. If you are talking in front of a very large corporation that has, let's say in my case, In, in the keynote was like 6, 000 people, 6, 000, let's say, even if they take entrance or entrance fee or whatever, then you know how much people you can reach, then you know the benefit of you being there.
And then you can calculate based on that, or you get a feeling of that. So I always, and still do today, I try to double doesn't work all the time because I'm already quite expensive, but I try to get to that. And try to understand. That's why I ask for the budget. If they give you the budget, then you know a number.
It's again the same sales tactic. If they tell you, yeah, we have a budget of 3000, then you know you cannot ask for 20k. You can still try it, though. But always ask for 20k. For [00:23:00] budgets. Critical thing. I want to speedrun. Questions?
When you have a, when you have a speaker opportunity and you feel it's absolutely not really fully like your audience, would you do it anyway? Just like for the chance that maybe one person is there that can be like converted or can be a link to someone else or is it like, yeah. Because they pay nothing.
Um, I have an offer like, and it's on, at my birthday. It's like, but it's the second stage is, uh, yeah, that's a bit ouch. Uh, they pay nothing. It's in Berlin. It's good. This comes so naturally, right? It's in Berlin, so they pay nothing. Uh, and it's not really my audience. Depends. [00:24:00] So if you can turn this into an advantage for yourself, it's still worth it.
Let's say you want to get more speaking training on stage in front of bigger crowds, still worth it. You have the possibility to get a video shooting of it. And have someone who takes photos still worth it, even more worth it sometimes than being paid. Yeah, I know with photos of like workshops and stuff like that.
Exactly. It sounds stupid, but seeing, seeing, seeing like yourself on stage, having a good quality video, even if it's bad quality video is better than no video. Yeah. Will show that you are a speaker that speaks on stage. I mean, I don't know if you have seen Jim's video. That's incredible. Like if he's not getting 25K for keynotes and I don't know after that video, it's like the investment is huge.
Last week that what you gave us, the finger thing. No, no, no. The real, the real [00:25:00] video of him doing the real keynote. No I haven't seen. Sorry, Jim.
No, maybe you can drop it in the, in the chat here for, for those that are interested. Um, it's definitely in the community somewhere in the thread, but so it's, if you have a high quality video, if you take the video that is on top of my, um, keynotes, uh, page, it's not the most exciting keynote. If you ask me, it's like not the best keynote I ever did, but it's the highest quality of video footage I got video and sound wise.
I only have one that's better, but that's a panel discussion. That's why I'm using that right now. And it still converts because what people see is my energy. What people see is that I can speak in front of a large audience because it was a huge stage. Um, so all of that is, again, it's perception. If you, if you [00:26:00] can create that going back to your initial question, if you can create that in the way that they understand, Oh yeah, he speaks on stage and it's big, it's a lot of people.
Even if it's just five people in the audience, nobody sees that exactly, but you create that. And if you, if you can do that. So that you get the footage is still worth it 10 times
because people will see this and then they see, okay, he's speaking on a big stage like you see with Jim's video, Jim. Oh, yes. Uh, we, is this a, uh, is it standard practice also to, you know, collect a deposit, like up to like a 50 percent deposit to just secure the, the booking for the keynote since I imagine these, uh, getting booked for these events happens months and months in advance.[00:27:00]
So what, what I do, I have, um, normally I try to sign a contract that is kind of like a real contract. And then I try to get paid before, not all are up for that, but I try to get paid before I go on stage because afterwards you have like, you have delivered, you cannot do anything anymore. But if they don't pay, you can say, Hey, you didn't pay.
I don't go on stage. Not that you should do that, but it's still, you have like power dynamics. It's still in your favor. So, I mean, you can, you can do if it's far away in advance, you can ask for an up like payment, 25 percent or 30%, whatever, or even full paid. It's like, yeah, guys, if you, if you want me to reserve that spot, you need to pay in the next 14 days.
If not, I will not be able to reserve it because there will be people who are [00:28:00] paying me in front because that's the way how I do things. Excellent.
Good deal.
Other questions?
Um, the headline was, um, how to create signature keynote, right?
There's things, I mean, I feel somehow like, okay, it's like appealing for me to talk about them. Uh, and it's the signature because you sign with your personality and like the way of deliverance and like also the topic, but what about matchmaking between your dream audience and the signature that you put into your signature keynote?
That's why it should be. Or how it should be, like for me, a signature keynote is your number one keynote. [00:29:00] No, I understand. It's like how to, how to ensure this match between my signature and my like assigned like audience is like, uh, uh, yeah, like three, the best. So you mean the ones that you set out to do it for?
Yeah. Or the ones that are booking you. That's a good question. I mean, like, uh, yeah, it's interesting to differentiate it like this way, the people that host you or the people they also, uh, or the, the, the people that they host as like audience as well. Right. Interesting. Yeah. All right. This, this, this really depends.
Like in the end, who is paying needs to have benefit from you speaking there. And then depending on what the audience is, they need to have a benefit of that as well. So that's, if you remember when we talked about doing keynotes, like a critical part when you're getting booked is understanding why do they book you and what they want the audience to go away with.
If you know [00:30:00] this. It still can be 100 percent your signature keynote because what, just, just to give you an example, what I always get is, Hey, we want to have this keynote, that topic. And my signature keynote is always on top. Um, and that's why they're choosing that topic. So example with the speaking agencies where I'm listed, they, if they reach out like once in a moon, then they say this keynote we want to have from you.
And then the clients are requesting that as well. What's your signature keynote? Leading with impact. So it's quite, I mean, quite wide. Yeah. Yeah. Then it depends on the, the subtitle is always, um, how I learned to innovate at Ikea. So that's then a little bit closer to it. But the good thing is it is flexible so that I can still use it in different, [00:31:00] different ways.
So you have like, Even the five or six, in my case, topics from the main menu, they are always the same, but I can still fine tune them. Like the stories that I tell, how I tell them, I can always do towards the audience. Still the structure is the same. My preparation for all of it is done, literally. Don't tell anyone that is booking me.
Yes. In the end, I use the same structure, the same topics. And then I just fine tune it to the audience that I'm speaking in front of. So example, I was, I was doing the keynote for that I did, which is the top video on my speaking page right now, which was startup nights in Switzerland. It's, it's a version of it.
It's not a hundred percent the signature keynote, but it's in the end, it is kind of, but I did this in very, very, very big corporate, like three months prior. [00:32:00] And that was a different version of it, a different direction. But in the end it was the same thing. So that's why for me, it's like the signature keynote is the number one thing you talk about.
And then everything else falls into place because I can talk about like personal branding, I think a bit, but it's not my keynote and it's not where I have the biggest credibility compared to what I did in Ikea. Compared to what I did, like the last 20 years, maybe in 10 years, it will be personal branding or thought leadership or whatever.
But right now, this is my number one thing that I have the biggest credibility, especially for people who want to pay. So that's, that's then important for you to find out, like, what is the topic that you are, let's say the number one [00:33:00] person or the top 10 in the whole industry. What is the industry? And then how can you bring this in a way that is interesting to the people that you want to reach?
How do you measure that? Because I mean, this is like when my imposter kicks in finally, and like due to like this, yeah, like how I experienced like this more like crisis ridden years. Um, I feel a bit like, for instance, when it comes to facilitation that I really like untrained a bit this muscle. So I don't necessarily feel and it's like hard to measure anyway.
I can just like put that with mental training that I'm maybe like one of the 10 best. You know, but I don't, I don't, I'm not like, honestly convinced I'm right at this place right now. So I feel like this subtly, there's like a little bit of insecurity. I would be afraid that shines through when I'm speaking about it, [00:34:00] even if I can speak confidently.
Yeah. But then, then I would more go into, so let's say if we look 10 years. What is the topic that you have the biggest external credibility in external validate
good question? Yeah, do you don't need to answer? It's more if you go back the last 10 years Then then then you look into okay How can I use that and and use that going forward as as my signature? If we use Jim as an example, like Jim is using like acoustic guitar Which he is a professional since ages as the key thing.
And then he's building his keynote around his personal story and linking that to business. But the most credibility he has is [00:35:00] from the past, which is playing the guitar in Huge events on stage and, and everywhere. In my case, if you go back my world, that's like the biggest credibility I have is running innovation in IKEA.
So that some people have forgotten that already, but it's still. I mean, I, I just like, I'm, I'm just like left to, to marry somehow like there's two realms of, yeah. Also like innovation work and workshops. On the one hand, and then I shared with you, I was doing this conscious sexuality workshops more as edutainment formats on festivals.
We had kind of a, like, I don't know, there was a, it was very like, like juicy and flirty and stuff. So for me, it would, I have a, you know, like in, in German, you know, like führungskraft and verführungskraft. So it's like a concept. It has a complimentary concept. So what I see is like, I would like my, my closest thing I would [00:36:00] like look for is to, to marry somehow like leadership with.
Seduction and arrows. That's awesome. Yeah, it's not many people doing it. Because I just like see like most work environments are actually unsexy. Especially in Germany.
Why? There's hierarchy. Yeah, that's okay. You can play with that. Yeah. Seriously. You can play with like, let's make leadership sexy again, or whatever that, something like that, something that is a little bit provoked, provocative. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of, yeah, boxes underneath, they're like, just like leadership language, it's very rarely inviting, it's still like hierarchical, and it's not like, It's not seductive.
And I think like people would be more on the, I want to page if they [00:37:00] would be seduced to work and not be like pushed by motivational, uh, approaches, right. Right. The policy to get into the office. Exactly. Yeah. Okay. And then I will stick to that. So it feels somehow and you can still fine tune it. So you don't need to be only this, just, just see what sticks.
There's actually like, you know, Robert Greene, I can recommend everybody here to Robert Greene is like taking always like one topic, like power, uh, and his newsletters book is actually about seduction. He has a book like about power and he totally like. Like a maniac goes into the topic. He always then writes a 700 pages book.
And the one about power is very interesting and about leadership as well. But that's, that's what you see. Let's say if you take authors as an example, they use the, the, the main signature keynote for that time is always about the book. Or the topic connected to the book so that they [00:38:00] promote the book and most of them have businesses behind it as well.
If I would be better in writing, I would have a book too. I'm just waiting for AI to catch up. I think like Claude does a very good job or if you prepare your like prompt setups, um, you can even say like, you can give it the tone off and then you just like prompt, write me an article about this with your little abbreviation and it takes the whole tonality of Mark Manson on forever.
Yeah. Charles Manson, if you prefer.
Any other questions? There's chat question. Wait. I know. That's just the videos. Highly recommend to watch the videos. The videos of? Of Jim. Oh yeah. Just to get. Yeah. Thank you, Jim. Get a taste. I bookmarked it in my folder. [00:39:00] Awesome. Cool. Any more questions?
Not, you can still ask them in the community, of course.
When, uh, have you, like, when you say, like, signature, um, uh, keynotes, so, like, how, how do you ensure yourself to not, not get bored by doing, like, repetitive stuff? And connected with this question, whenever you go somewhere, do you kind of Do you do kind of like an audit or research about the auditory, about the people coming to be more sure, okay, how to touch them, how to catch their sense of humor, their cultural cues and so forth?
So to the first one, I'm not getting bored because I can still change it up as much as I want to. without anyone getting it. That's [00:40:00] the cool thing. And it's still what I see, at least for myself, it's still an amazing topic that I can talk about. And like worst case, I'm still getting paid well to that. It sucks for an hour.
Uh, that's so bad. That's exactly like worst case now. So yeah, that's, that's, that's a key part, but it's. I, in the end, I'm not doing it for the money. That's why I'm getting paid as well. That's, that's the weird thing. If he, if you only are after the money, it's not going to work. No, no, no. You're after if the impact then it's, it's differently, but I, until now, I'm not getting bored yet.
Ask me in 10 years, maybe. Yeah, but I'm, I'm just mixing it up. Inspect or like scan, like the expected audience, like how you do that. Because if I would be invited to kind of, uh, I had that just like three years ago, I was like invited for, um, I dunno, like [00:41:00] some pharmaceutical. And it was like a meeting with 500 executives.
But I didn't want to pay 4, 000 euros. It was, they told me it's too expensive. And I would have gone or like probably even like 20, 30, like short interviews with people from the audience to feed the keynote up with like pain stories and like whatever, you know, wake them up with insight and intel. Yeah. So what I always do is number one is I ask the organizers, let's say I'm invited for a keynote that I try to understand as much as possible who is in the room.
Um, then I can use that obviously, if you're in big conferences, that's easy. You will see who is there. Like you use their app or whatever in the past. And if it's a big corporate event, that's, that's the ones that are paying best. Then it's always like deep preparation with the team. Let's say when I was speaking for the big American [00:42:00] company was like two months preparation, couple of calls, understanding exactly what they want to get to, understanding who are the people in the room.
It was all driven by me. I wanted to know this to be able to perform. Um, and I've had this with like, yeah, all of the big corporate clients. So I tried really to understand to your point, like, okay, what are the people in the room? What are their pain points specifically to that topic? So when I was doing leader leading with impact for one of the biggest tobacco companies, um, I was asking like, who is in the virtual room because of virtual keynote.
And what are their problems to these topics, to leadership, to innovation? How do they see this? What is the problem of the organization and the people as part of that? Because it was a cross functional. What are their problems in all the different fields inside of the different parts of the organization and [00:43:00] countries?
Because they have a like country set up as well. so that I had like a whole tapestry of that I can press depending on how people are reacting on screen because what we said is like have the screens on, cameras on so that I can see them so then you can still work with them. But for me it's a critical thing to perform properly.
To know who is in the audience. Oh, absolutely. I mean, this is like, I don't know like why I haven't done it even earlier, but like, all like, performance I'm running, I just prepared it with this systemic interview, because it's told to the point. It's already like strong relationship building gives you so much more security on stage.
Exactly. Oh, this is just amazing. And you really know, okay, you talk about things that like at least the 20 people you talk to are not bored by, like you at least meet them, find it quite valuable. And yeah, it's, I think like the most misleadership approach.[00:44:00]
Talking with each other. Listening, exactly. Jim. Uh, yes. So, I've been thinking since I don't have prior paid keynote bookings, um, trying to navigate how to confidently, confidently justify charging 5, and up for my keynote concert. Uh, and then I think, well, should I start with a lower rate to build momentum, or would that just Just coming in with a lower rate hurt my perceived value.
I would go as high as possible for you. You have the video, you get them to watch the video and, and shit, we are recording, but worst case you can bring me in as your agent, say, Hey, there's a My agent, I need to bring in, in the negotiations then I, because it's easier for me to say no, then for you, it's like, Hey, sorry, but Jim is booked that day.[00:45:00]
It's not going to happen. If you're not getting to 25K, it's not going to happen. I'm sorry. Okay. Like I would, I can play this harder than you would ever do. Or like you choose a friend that is really good in negotiation that works the same way because I'm not emotionally connected to you earning money.
I mean, I, I do as, as a friendship, but not like to like shit, but I'm not getting this. I will, I would do it for 10, though, that I know it's worth 20. I'm, I'm just like, okay, bring it on 20. So that's, that's a strategy you can, you can do, um, if you have a friend or us, like I'm happy to do this for any one of you.
If anyone wants to, I'm jumping in as your agent, say, Hey, sorry, go on, like you will not get it. There's no chance.[00:46:00]
Great. Okay. Thank you. I mean, this, this, but, but for you, it's like, go high, go high. So one, let everything that comes inbound always start with anchoring them straight away. So my, my keynote concerts are between 20 and 30 or 25 and 30. So you, do you directly anchor them on the, it's the same in sales. You always, you should always do this.
Whatever you do, you anchor them here and then you can still go to, to 20, but they will never, never ask you to go to 15. If you, if it's half the price, they would never, nobody would ever ask you, they would rather say no, then ask you to go to 15. Okay. And then it's more a question. You can be flexible. If you say, yeah, 15 is still good, but that's something you, you can see if they're [00:47:00] still willing to do it afterwards, but that's, that's more a negotiation tactic.
So I would always anchor them as high as possible. What you feel it's like ridiculous. That's the number you should put yes, there will be people who say yes without anything like that will just yeah, okay Why do I need to sign and because if you if you would not do this like you will miss out That's what it's like salary negotiations in big companies like Before you start in the company you says like yeah, whatever 150k look deal shit You know when they when they they directly accept it's it's shit And if they say, Oh fuck, that's too much, then you, then you know, then you're at the right spot.
If they directly accept, you know, you're too low, but you cannot say anything higher anymore because you said already [00:48:00] 150 K. So the HR person or the person that is hiring is like done deal,
even more so in business. Like if you would tell me, yeah, I'm coming for 200, off we go. It's like, you, you will not be able to get 2000 anymore with me, at least. So it's go high. You have, you have the credibility. It doesn't matter if you have not done the keynote concert for big clients. You have been on stages.
You have the video that is proof. You have all your history from big stages around the world. That's what you can use. Okay, okay, and that was the, that was at the core of my Uh, concern there was the credibility aspect specifically for keynote concerts with, you know, those types of clients. So yeah, it's, it's just, I'm, I'm big fan of not lying.
That's very important, [00:49:00] but you don't need to say everything, so you don't need to say, I have not done keynote concerts in front of paying clients, like in like corporate stuff, stuff. Why would you say that? And they will not ask you this as well. Like they will not ask you that. So what performances did you have in the past?
You can tell them all about your amazing performances. Like, where have you been speaking before? Then you can say, yeah, you were still speaking when you were doing music. It's kind of a bit on the edge, but even if they ask you about that's basic communication, they ask you about. So, where, where have you been speaking before?
And then you're saying, I was performing on this stage, that stage, that stage, that stage. You just didn't answer the question properly. [00:50:00] Right? That's like, that's PR communication training in big copper. Yeah. How to answer, or politicians, like how to answer without answering. Sure. So. It's, it's just that you, you stay true to yourself and be a hundred percent convinced which you are, that you can deliver.
I mean, this for you is not a problem. And of course we all have this like, shit, if they pay me 20K for an hour, it's quite ridiculous. Hey, the second time it's like, yeah, I can do that. And the third time it's like, okay, 50 without the doubt. It's always like this. It's the same when you do consulting, like first time you take 5k for a day and you have never done it before.
It's like, Whoa. And then the next time it's like, shit, they don't pay me 5k.[00:51:00]
So it's just, it only goes up. And it's, it's just the confidence that you, that, that you project inside of your videos. If we take you as in the videos, because everyone can watch them. If you just project that inside of the negotiation, it's, it's going to happen. Cause it's, it's, it's like 70 percent your, your tonality, your body language, like every, everything.
And it's just a bit of words. And I know a big part of what they're buying is our confidence as well. Exactly.
Excellent. Good. Ben, see you next week. Yeah, that was well put, Jim. What they're buying is our confidence. That is well put. Thank you, Sabine. Sabine is good at that as well. [00:52:00] Even with camera off. Thanks. No, but you're on the videos every day, so we know how you, how you look. Yeah, yeah. Even on construction sites today.
Yes. Okay. This was a good one. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. See you next time. Cheers. Jens. Bye bye. Cheers.
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Transcript:
Personal development masterclass. One of the topics that's dear to my heart, because of what I have seen over the last 15 years is that personal development is quite seldom in organizations. It's not really taken, uh, in a proper way, at least in my eyes. So that's why I'm really keen on sharing this today.
So we have two. main perspectives. One or two topics for today. One is personal development talk versus performance evaluation. And then we do a deep dive into how I'm doing personal development talks. And then we do questions in the end. Personal development. So we have one part, which is the personal development talk, and then we have the performance evaluation.
And a lot of organizations, focus on performance evaluation. And the difference between those two is that the performance evaluation, the main part they are focusing on, or the main source of that is the company. So the company is on the top. And from there, it goes into, the individuals and the different tasks that need to be done to accomplish what's happening in the company, what is required to do to be done in the company.
And the individual that is doing the task is the last point. And then inside of the performance evaluation, you're looking backward. So you look, how did this person perform in the past? The development talk is the opposite. So the most important part of the. Development talk is the future. Where does the person want to be in the future?
And it has nothing to do with the outcome of the company or where the company wants to be. The goal of this is, and why, why do this personal development talk? I believe that if we are developing people in organizations beyond what the organization needs, they will contribute more to the company. They will contribute better.
So the goal of what I'm doing with development talks is finding out what the people desire and going deeper into that. And we will have a look at that in the next couple of slides. And then look, what are the different tasks of the organizations that fit the person and what the person wants to be. And then you marry these two things.
And then it works as well from a performance evaluation perspective. So that's my perspective on development talk and performance evaluation. Let's go into personal development talk a couple of, I think it's almost two years ago or something. I've developed this in as, as a worksheet. So if anyone is interested in getting this worksheet as a PDF.
Happy to share that. So, the starting point of a development talk is really a setup of the atmosphere and the place. So you are going to do a development talk with another person. So you are the manager and the, the other person is like reporting to you and then you're meeting up. So what you need to make sure of is that you have, an appropriate place.
The best case is always doing this outside of the office environment in a. In a place where people feel well, the atmosphere is super important. The time of the day is important, not doing it on Friday afternoon, for example, when people want to go on the weekend, of course, you need to be aware of your relationship with the other person, depending on how deep your relationship is.
You of course have then a perspective on how deep you can go. And how much that is. And then what is important as well is that you put the note-taking responsibility to the person that is inside the room or is working with you. So me as a leader, I always give the note taking responsibility for the other person because then you see what they understand and what they get out of that.
And then I always do as well. A version in front of us so that people understand this. So printing out this worksheet as an example, if you do that in a physical space, then you print it out and then you go into the development talk. And the starting point of the development talk goes really wide.
Looking into what's the personal vision like. I always ask these as open questions without showing them the worksheet in the beginning. Who do you want to be? And that's very, very, very wide. Like, who do you want to be? What does it mean? Some people who have never had a conversation like this, struggle with this.
So they start with, yeah, I want to be a manager. I want to be something specific. So they go very, very, very specific and they don't really look into the future. So the first round of this, I just, Help them to find out who they want to be and they write down, they write down a manager. I want to be a good father.
I want to be whatever they come up with. And then I go to the next question and I show them the next question, not before. So why do you want to be that person? So then they're reflecting on the answers they have given and then they go back and refine who they want to go to be. And that's an interesting process because what.
You as the manager that is holding this development talk are doing, you're literally shutting up and just asking open questions to tell me more. How, how does that feel? What does that look like? What would that look like in the future? So you only ask open ended question when that gets the person talking and reflecting.
So if you're saying this, what does it mean? So, and then they're explaining, explaining, and they go in a loop between who am I going to be? And why do I want to be that person? So until they have clarity, and the first loop is always. The starting point where they don't know what's going to come, then who am I going to be?
They come up with high-level topics and then they go, Why do I want to be that person? Then they go back to Who am I going to be? And then they go deeper. And I always then give them a perspective. Okay, think about five years, 10 years from now, who do you want to be? And then they go more particular in all of these things.
And then we go, we don't close this, we keep it, we put it aside. And then we go to the next sheet, which is a personal development map. So I want them again to reflect on certain questions. And it doesn't matter in the order, I just take them clockwise right now. But it's really going and answering the specific questions.
What do I want to learn? So you're asking this, the person that is in front of you. So what do you want to learn to be that person? So linking it back to that person of the future. And then you're asking, what do you want to improve? And then they come up with things. So it's, it's like writing down the, all the different topics and then what do I want to leave behind?
And then they come back with topics that they want to leave behind. Another question is what excites you? Yeah. And then going deeper into this, who is important to them? And then what is important to them? And when you have done this circle, you go around it and they were deeper in this topic.
What quite often happens then if you ask them, so how, if we go back to the other one, is that still the same thing you want to be? Because they have now clarified what they want to be. and answer the question, they go back to this one and then clarify, no, no, no, I want to be this, I want to be this. What I always ask them, in this part is to paint a picture.
So when, when we have finished with this one, I go back to this one. And say, from a personal vision perspective, imagine a picture and describe the picture that you see on the wall. And then they describe to me who they want to be and who they are going to strive to be inside of a picture and explain everything that is around them.
I've had, for example, a person that told me where they are going to live, what, how it feels, um, in this picture, where the kids in this picture, where the wife or husband and, and going really into details and then linking this to. A job perspective as well, because in the end, we are at least this part is in a job environment.
So they are linking that to the job environment of who they're going to be working with as well. So these two are super powerful. And then you go into the next step, which is a goal perspective. So it starts with the staircase. So in the top right corner, we have what is the goal. And the starting point is really, um, defining that goal.
So if you want to be this person in five years, what is the goal for the next year for you to be very specific? And of course, you can do smart goal setting and all of that, but it's in the end, What does feel right for that person? What is the development goal they want to reach in one year from now?
And then they formulate that goal. And then you go to the bottom of this page where you look into where do you stand today on a scale from one to 10. So they're rating themselves on how close are they to that goal. If they're close, then they're at 10 or 9. If they're far away, then they're at 1. And what always happens is they're somewhere in between, obviously.
So when they have rated that, then you look into what are the things that get you closer to that goal, meaning moving your scale from 5 to 10. And that's what they are writing down above the stairs. So, above the stairs are the things that are getting them closer to their goal. And then they're defining this in bullet points and formulating that out.
And [you do that obviously all in a conversation. You ask the person who is doing the development talk, you are asking them questions to get them moving. You're asking them clarifying questions about the topics that are put, into the sheet. And then the next part is, what are the things that getting you further away from that goal?
So downstairs, if you think at it from a staircase perspective, and then they're writing these things down and then they have a clear picture of a goal staircase where they, they know they want, where they want to be linking that to the vision that's five years from now and the goal picture, and then they rate themselves.
And have then clear understanding of that are the things I need to do to get to my goal and that are the things I should not be doing. And then the last step of the development talk is getting specific. So now we zoom into one year and actionable goals that help them or tasks that get them towards the one-year perspective.
So what are the things they're going to do? When are they going to do this? What do they need to make happen to be able to do this? What are the things they need help with and how I'm, how they going to measure them? So it's a very, very simple setup where they write down literally the different steps that help them to get there.
And they're putting measurable goals towards the goal. And this is roughly. I would say one and a half hours, even if we go through this right now in a theoretical setting in, let's say 15 minutes in a real conversation, in a coaching style, where you ask the manager or coach the other person to find out what they are desiring and where they want to be.
It takes roughly one and a half hours if you do that well, sometimes it's faster depending on the relationship as well. The fascinating thing with this is it has zero to do with the company you work in and one hundred percent to do with who they want to be. And as well as zero to do with you as their manager, if you're their manager, like your perspective, your opinion on anything of that.
Um, just to give you a couple of examples, I've had people that told me that they want to be. building their own company in the next five years and they worked in the company and I was their manager they told me because they trusted me that they wanted to build their own company and we built a plan for how they were going to build their own company and I've had situations where people told me that they want to get married in the next five years and then we built a plan to get them towards marriage getting married and looked into how that does that work with the career perspective same with kids and all the other things so this is a development tool you That I use with everyone that is working with me over time because I believe that as further we as managers and organizations help people to develop as better it is.