If you are planning a leadership development conference or offsite, you likely have a stacked agenda. Your leadership team needs to bond, to strategize, and to grow as a unit.

But there may be one element missing on your agenda: a keynote speaker. While keynote speakers are typically found at large expos, announcement events, and more, that’s not the extent of their offering. They are also a great addition to a small or focused leadership development conference.

In this article, we will illuminate why a leadership development keynote can transform your next event. We’ll also touch on different topics your keynote speaker can bring to the table. By the end, you’ll have all the insights you need to pull off an actionable leadership development event.

Why You Need a Keynote Speaker

A keynote speech isn’t long, lasting only about 45 minutes to an hour in total.

But in that short amount of time, something truly magical can happen. You, with your keynote speaker’s help, can inspire. You can mold and guide. You can transform your leadership team into better strategists, better thinkers, and better leaders.

There are countless benefits a leadership keynote speaker brings to a conference or event. Here are just a few of them:

Outside Perspective

Typically, a keynote speaker to a leadership team comes from outside the organization. And this is actually not a hindrance but a major benefit. Someone who doesn’t operate within your company’s day-to-day is less likely to fall victim to its biases.

Much like a consultant’s impact on a company’s operations, a keynote speaker is inherently a trusted asset. The audience trusts they have been hired for a reason. And thus, they have an opportunity to transform resistant minds within a company.

Inspiration

Your leadership team deals in prospects, budget projections, and project proposals every day. Adding one more operational discussion to the table does little to change script. While your company likely employs many inspired individuals, it’s likely that few of them are trained orators.

On the flip side, an effective leadership keynote speaker can synthesize your company’s culture to their advantage. They can offer what you want your leadership team to hear into a different kind of communication medium. Great keynote speakers on leadership use intricate, yet accessible means for their speeches, including:

Personal anecdotes
Parables
Allegories
Illusions
And more

Their craft is all about engagement. After all, leadership speaking skills are judged not just by what is said, but by how it is delivered. And a motivational speaker should be keenly aware of how their talk is digested.

An engaging keynote presentation is likelier to yield an engaged audience. And an engaged audience is likelier to bring what they’ve learned with them after the keynote is over.

Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses

Serving as a business leader can be a taxing endeavor. Some may have trained for it, with a business school degree to prove it.

However, many of those who end up in leadership roles may never have been given the proper training. And remember, business school is about more than simply understanding the business world. It offers key insights and practices needed to become a mindful and effective manager.

Consider, for instance, a simple business leadership skill development session. Imagine this one was designed purely to help a leadership team identify the four leadership style types:

Autocratic
Democratic
Laissez-faire
Transformational

If members of your leadership team have never heard these terms used to describe how a leader guides a team, the opportunities abound. Imagine how transformational it can be for a leader to learn about new leadership types and the kinds of outcomes each type leads to.

Now, imagine that talk broadens to other aspects of operational strategy and people management. By enlightening your team on topics like effective communication, employee engagement, and more, the team can evolve. Your speaker has a chance to truly affect change in your organizational culture.

With these insights in-hand, powerful, introspective opportunities are plentiful. They can be better equipped to identify both the kind of leader they embody and the kind of leader they wish to be.

A Confirmation of Values

A leadership speaker should seek more than to inject your leadership team with inspiration. They should also shine a light on the areas of their leadership that are working. This, in turn, will help your company leaders know the aspects of their practice that are, indeed, making a difference.

Your company values should be embodied by every member of your leadership team. And your keynote speaker should notice and use that to their advantage. When you book a leadership speaker, help them understand your organization. Within them, you have a chance to celebrate what’s working in your organization and to identify and fix what’s not.

Book a Leadership Speaker Today

Jon Dorenbos has captivated corporate audiences across the nation with his keynote speeches. His blend of mission-driven framing and emotionally resonant guidance are relevant, actionable, and personalized.

Discover his leadership speaking skills, which are sure to inspire, embolden, and transform your leadership team. Learn more about keynote spearker questions and answers from Jon Dorenbos.

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