From Boring Presentations to Breakthrough Keynotes: Lessons from the Conference Mainstage

Last week, I was playing in a golf scramble when a business owner said something I hear all too often:

“I just got back from our annual meeting. It was fun… but the presentations were so boring. Super smart people, but no clue how to educate AND keep the attention of the audience.” 

Sound familiar?

It reminded me of something:

• Some people pay to get on stages.

• Some speak for free.

• And a few get paid to speak.

I used to work at a company that's one of the best in the business at helping people get paid to speak. And if that's your focus, you should definitely reach out to Brand Builders Group.

But today, my focus is different -> helping speakers inside large organizations. The ones who speak for free (or even pay to speak) but still need to deliver with the polish of a paid keynote speaker.

Recently, I partnered with a senior exec at Rippling, a multi-billion dollar global HR tech company, as she prepared for a major industry keynote in front of thousands of HR leaders.

She could’ve talked product features. But features don’t hold attention or get remembered. Instead, she built context around an emerging problem: employees questioning their value as AI and automation begin to do what only humans once could.

Then she walked through innovative frameworks that begin to solve this problem by showcasing the tasks that tech should handle and the tasks that humans should handle. Ultimately revealing the truth that…

AI and automation aren’t the end of human work. They’re the beginning of more human work.

And of course, when talking about the tasks tech should handle, she showcased some key features of the Rippling platform to help solidify them as a leader in the market.

But the setup and the framing for the talk as a whole gave it more purpose and positioned Rippling as a company solving problems shaping the future of work.

The result? Engaged audience. Slides photographed. Lead magnet opt-ins. Booth traffic. Real impact.

So here’s my question for you: Who’s someone that doesn’t get paid to speak, but absolutely could based on how they show up and command a room? Tag them in the comments of this original post on LinkedIn HERE and give them some well-deserved recognition.  

And if that person is you, drop a comment and share what topic or big idea you’re helping people think differently about right now.