Give a talk: 5 tips for your perfect keynote speech

For some years now, more and more people have been looking for their way onto the big stage. However, it can take several years before you take off as a professional speaker and give your first talk. Especially speaking beginners ask themselves again and again questions like:

• What is the best way to start a presentation?
• What goes into the introduction of a presentation?
• How to make a presentation more interesting?

In order to make your presentations, whether you are a beginner or a professional, more successful in the future, we have provided you in this article with a total of 5 tried and tested tips prepared for your next Keynote can use.

You will see that the ideas from this article will help you to have more stage presence and a better effect on your audience. So, if you have to give a presentation soon, it will definitely be a great success.

In addition, you can get here our free workbook "Keynote Presentation downloadwith the help of which you can create your first Develop Keynote or an existing presentation improve you can.

Tip 1: What is the best way to start a presentation?

No matter how good the content of your keynote is, if you mess up the introduction, you might lose the audience's interest right from the start of your presentation. Therefore, there are some tricks you can use to make the introduction more exciting and interesting. 

Especially the first 10 seconds of your presentation decide whether your keynote will be a success. With innovative entrances you directly gain attention of the audience and build up tension:

"Did you know? Already in 20 years the Climate Change be responsible for numerous natural disasters. If we want to save the planet, we must take the initiative now."

Also rhetorical questions can be a good, first start: 

"Are you tired of your Fears determine your life? Wouldn't you much rather become the designer of your life and determine your own destiny?"

Or you start with personal experiencesthat at the same time create a more personal connection between you and the audience:

"Just three years ago, I couldn't pay the rent on my apartment by myself. I was penniless and torn apart inside. How to find the way out of my Life crisis I'd like to reveal to you today."

In addition to the 10-second rule, you should also keep in mind that a good presentation consists primarily of InfotainmentThis is the right combination of entertainment and information. Contemporary speakers in particular rely on infotainment when giving presentations, because this is the best way to pick up the audience and create excitement.

But to make sure you don't lose the attention of your audience during your keynote, you can unforeseen plot twists and moments of surprise can be a real magic bullet. For example, you can give an unexpected twist to an obvious story or mirror a seemingly personal story to the audience so that they recognize themselves in it. 

Have you ever used surprise moments in your presentations? Then tell us your favorites in the comments below this article. 

Tip 2: Don't lose sight of the common thread when giving a presentation

When giving a presentation, many speakers tend to ramble on. During their presentation, they jump from topic to topic and lose sight of the actual core message. The result: the listener no longer follows along and loses interest in you and your presentation. Therefore, you should always keep an eye on the red thread that leads to your actual core message.

You can do this best with a good keynote architecture. When giving a presentation, you can use numerous methods that have proven themselves in practice as a guide.

One of them is the KAUB formula. This is particularly well suited for beginners who want to gain their first experience as a keynote speaker. The KAUB formula consists of four individual parts: The Contact phase, attention phase, instruction and affirmation. 

• The contact phase: To begin, you should use an "icebreaker" to create a Relationship to the audience.
• The attention phaseIn this phase, the audience is slowly guided towards the topic and the core messages of your presentation.
• Briefing: This is where the main part of the lecture begins. You share important information with your audience and illustrate it with appropriate exercises.
• The affirmation: Your keynote ends by reinforcing your core message(s). The audience is encouraged to put it into practice.

In addition to a good, structural structure of your presentation, you should not forget the interests of your audience. People attend lectures and seminars because they want to get an personal benefit for one's own life from it. Conversely, this means that your audience should not only be able to follow you thematically, but should also take key messages from your presentation.

Therefore, instead of trying to distinguish yourself with your own successes during the presentation, as a good speaker you should address the problems of the audience and present possible solutions.

Tip 3: How do I make a presentation more interesting?

Giving a talk is like taking your audience on a journey. On this journey, your audience wants to Experience feelings and not be fed exclusively with dry information. Therefore, avoid at all costs to design your keynote like a university lecture.

Because the drier your presentation, the faster you lose the attention of your audience. And that is the absolute horror scenario for every speaker. That's why it's essential that your keynote includes emotional elements to keep the attention of your audience.

Personal stories and anecdotes can further support your keynote by making your messages more tangible as you deliver them and help your audience better identify with the content. Your stories and anecdotes can be anything: emotional, exciting, scary, personal, sad etc. The main thing is that they underline the core message and the topic of your presentation and illustrate your words.

Particularly popular, for example, are also "Zero-To-Hero Stories" in which a person or group makes their way from difficult circumstances to success as they build excitement and inspire compassion.

Tip 4: Integrate your audience 

The times when the speaker stood monotonously at the lectern and simply rattled off his content are long gone. Nowadays, the audience expects more - and you should definitely address this in your presentation. We would now like to tell you what options you have to do this:

• Ask questions: As a keynote speaker, you can involve the audience by actively asking questions. If you are particularly spontaneous, you can immediately take up the answers in your presentation and use them for the further course.
• Group Exercises: You build closeness to the audience primarily through exercises. This can be, for example, a group meditation or other interactive elements.
• 1-to-1 demonstration: You want to prove content that might be viewed skeptically? Then demonstrate this with exercises on a participant from the audience.

Also Join-in exercises are a powerful tool to engage your audience when giving a talk. 

• Future Pacing: This is a method derived from Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) originating exercise. The audience is taken on a journey. The intention is to suggest to him what feelings and what kind of life he will have if he puts the contents of the lecture into practice.
  
• Audience Report: Rapport is also a term from NLP and means the mutual connection between two people or a group of people. This can be evoked, for example, by the audience performing exercises among themselves, which cause a sense of community.
  
• Guided Meditation: A guided meditation during a keynote can have a tremendous effect on the audience. This helps to put the audience in a positive emotional state and thus full of Motivation leaves the lecture in order to subsequently put the lectured contents into practice.

Lastly, one thing in particular is important during your presentation: Your Energy level hold up. Nowadays, a modern speaker resembles more and more an entertainer. 

The latter is always characterized by a high energy level. 

That's why it's also important for you as a speaker to have a high energy level when giving a talk, which helps to engage your audience. Here 3 short tipshow to get more power on stage:

• Music: Create a playlist of songs that push you and tap into your energy reserves. For example, songs that you associate with positive experiences.
• Sports: Don't worry. You don't have to run a marathon before a keynote. You just need to do some calisthenics or run in place beforehand. This way you'll release some adrenaline and boost your energy level. When you give your presentation, you will notice that you have much more power.
• The inner cinema film: Imagine how it feels when you enter the stage and the audience applauds you. This imagination alone is sure to trigger energy in you, which you can then use effectively for your real performance.

Tip 5: Be authentic

Authenticity is the key to success. The audience immediately notices whether you are genuine or pretending. Therefore, stay true to your line and try to convince the audience of you in a natural way.

If you are truly authentic, people will remember you and they will remember your individuality. And that, in turn, will make you stand out from the gray mass of the average. So as soon as you have to give your next presentation, be sure to pay special attention to the following things:

• The power of the voice: The voice is your most important tool. Speak calmly and deliberately so that your key messages can be clearly understood.
• Use breaks in a targeted manner: Pauses help to ensure that important content and messages are better absorbed and internalized by the audience. You should make sure that your pauses fit exactly so that your presentation does not seem choppy.
• Observe speaking tempo: Many speakers make the mistake of simply rattling off their talk for fear of making a mistake. But it's perfectly fine if your keynote doesn't go 100 % perfectly. It's much more important to stay authentic and not look like a robot.
• Using body language in a targeted way: As a speaker, you should be sure to maintain a confident posture. Push your shoulders back and stick out your chest. In this way, you appear more present and take the stage better.
• Move correctly: When it comes to communicating profound messages, you should stand in the middle of the stage, lower your voice and slow down your speaking tempo. If you want to communicate important information quickly one after the other, then you can move from left to right on the stage. Americans call this approach "tiggling".

Last but not least, not a tip, but an absolute must: Practice, practice, practice!

No master has yet fallen from the sky, because even top speakers like Tobias Beck, Dr. Stefan Frädrich or Michael Rossié always take enough time to prepare their speeches. When they give a talk, leave they nothing to chance.

Your goal should always be a Stage performance that will be remembered. And that's why it's also true for you: Practice until the keynote sits! If you're still unsure about how to properly set up your keynote, then download now here our free keynote workbook down.

How to make your next keynote a guaranteed success

In this article, we have presented you 5 valuable tips that you can use to improve the quality of your keynote. With the tips from this article, you will be able to captivate your audience and add more value with your keynote. 

Which of the tips did you like best? Do you have any other tips that you use on stage that work particularly well? When you have to give a talk, what do you pay special attention to? Feel free to share your ideas with us in the comments. We'd love to hear any other suggestions you have.