Keynote Speaking Takeaways From WordCamp Phoenix
It was my extreme pleasure to be the Keynote Speaker at WordCamp Phoenix 2020.
I was beyond excited when they invited me to do this talk and, in fact, I created an entirely new talk just for this event.
Now that I have been able to reflect on my experience, I wanted to share with you a couple of my takeaways that may help you as well.
1. Stories connect us.
I decided to tell some stories that included my family (and my family was in the audience…a little awkward and vulnerable!) but sharing these stories connected me to the audience. Those were the parts where I saw the “aha” moments. When I could describe a point using a story, especially a personal one, that’s when I knew the audience was getting what I was trying to portray. It was epic.
2. Support is everything.
My biz bff (hi The Stacey Harris) was there the day before and the day of my talk. She was there to help me practice, she was there to give me feedback, and to take care of the little things that pop up. It was a reminder to me to accept support from my business community, family, and friends. Having their support is so helpful when you are out doing new, and kind of scary, things in the world.
3. Be unattached to the outcome.
This was a totally new thought for me and could have gone sideways for sure. But about an hour before I went on stage, I really thought “what is success here” and I decided that success would be that one person in the audience heard something from me that they needed to hear. Doing that helped me be unattached from the outcome. I didn’t need a standing ovation, I didn’t need people to talk about this for forever.
So freeing myself from the outcome on the other side of speaking really allowed me to show up more fully for the audience and be present in the moment so I could give them the best version of myself.
So those are just a couple takeaways, if you’d like to book me as a speaker or talk more about how to create a successful keynote or talk, schedule a call with me.
