Consider this: It’s 2019, and you’re attending a work conference. Wearing your best business casual, you check in at the registration booth and greet co-workers with a handshake. As you settle in for the presentation to begin, the keynote speaker walks out onto the stage in front of a few thousand audience members and gives a 45-minute presentation in front of flashy LED walls with big, bold graphics. There are “oohs,” there are “ahhs,” and you’re ready to embrace the new strategy.
Fast-forward to 2021. You’ve traded in the pantsuit for athleisure wear, you attend all meetings and conferences from your kitchen table, and your only coworker has a tail. Long gone are the days of packed conference centers, swanky swag bags, and in-person networking, and you’re suffering from an acute case of screen fatigue.
The world has changed. We’re more reliant than ever on internet connectivity, the cloud, and digital collaboration tools. Virtual and hybrid events are here to stay, and the corporate world is continuing to adjust accordingly as “normal” recedes into a past that seems more like a dream as each day passes.
We’ve spent a good amount of time thinking about where we see events and keynotes going in the next five years. To understand the trends impacting future events and experiences, we sat down with one of our directors to discuss the fundamentals of what makes a great keynote in today’s business environment, and what key elements audiences are craving now more than ever.
Q / What are the key elements of a great keynote, and why?
A good keynote will capture and hold the audience’s attention while simultaneously providing the content and framework necessary to establish the tone for the rest of the experience. A great keynote does all these things AND takes the audience on an emotional journey, all while keeping dialogue fresh, compelling, and rooted in strategy.
Take one of our recently produced digital events, Microsoft Ignite, an annual conference for technology leaders and practitioners that included a keynote called “The Hybrid Workplace” by Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President at Microsoft.
For this keynote, we chose a human-centered narrative over a typical corporate presentation. This stylistic approach produced a more engaging attendee experience. Jared’s on his couch, he’s sitting in his dining room, he’s in the kitchen, he’s walking to the elevators, he’s at his office, he’s walking down a hallway, he’s in a commercial kitchen, he’s in a high-tech conference room at Microsoft. All those set changes helped keep things interesting for the viewer, and it was relatable because they’re places where people are working today. We’ve all had to take important work calls in the garage, the dining room, or the quietest space in the house with decent internet connection. His presentation style is honest and approachable, and the content is completely authentic, engaging viewers from start to finish.
Q / What made this piece different? How did we push the envelope?
This piece was different in that it wasn’t just talking heads and PowerPoint slides. It’s refreshing and a bit unexpected to see a successful corporate vice president struggling with the same things we all struggle with: using the newest features on Teams to present to a group of colleagues, switching a Teams call from our laptops to our phones, or frantically finding a room with no background noise.
“The Hybrid Workplace” did an excellent job of rooting the product in reality, rather than just talking about it. In addition, it gave viewers a peek into the daily life of a corporate executive, and it wove in humor at key moments throughout. Pushing the envelope should result in greater audience engagement through authentic interpretations of your content. We believe this can be accomplished looking closely at your desired outcomes – what do you really want to change? – and then boldly looking for opportunities to reflect those outcomes in a relatable, honest, accessible manner.
Q / What did we learn from this experience?
The goal of a great keynote should be to dream big, while being intentional and strategic about execution. Our work on “The Hybrid Workplace” reinforced three critical learnings: you have to start with the story, you have to be bold, and you can’t afraid to break some rules. Believing in the project makes all the difference in the world, and makes all the risks and sacrifices along the way worth it. Jared’s segment required more time, more crew, and more flexibility, but everybody believed in the vision, and it paid off.
Ultimately, we learned that getting out of your comfort zone is a good thing, and that audiences are craving new production and storytelling approaches now more than ever.
In 2021 and beyond, we expect to continue looking past the traditional place-and-date event limitations. We anticipate shorter keynotes and more presenters, in an immersive XR or 3D green-screen environment. At Touch, we’re interested in playing the long game. It can’t just be about helping a client once; you’ve got to have the patience to develop a clear, exciting vision and then see that vision through. That’s where the rubber really hits the road.