The Interview

Have you ever had someone in mind who you really wanted to have speak at your event but they are just not a public speaker? I mean, their content is amazing and when you ask them a question, they are knowledgeable and witty. When you read what they have written on the subject, it is clear, concise, and brilliant. Unfortunately, when you get them on a stage, they are just missing that secret sauce that makes people want to tune in and stay there long enough to glean tidbits of wisdom this person has to share.

OR, another scenario might be you had a speaker you thought was qualified. You did your homework, watched them speak at another location, met with them prior to the event, discussed what they were going to be speaking on, and how they were going to deliver their message. Everything was set up for success. However, failure happened. Somewhere between preparing for perfection and game day, the speaker forgot their brain or their tongue at home.

How do you have the speaker in scenario A share their years of wisdom with the audience and how do you redeem speaker B’s debacle? Try an interview.

With speaker A you know that when you ask a question you are going to get an intelligent answer. With an interview-style keynote session, the two of you can pre-select the questions and prepare answers ahead of time. You, as the host, can redirect and summarize if the speaker has fumbled a little. You can bring the keynote address to a close if the speaker doesn’t have the skills.

In the case of speaker B, consider having the stage pre-set with a high-top table that the speakers uses as their “lectern.” Then, in an emergency situation it can then become the centerpiece of the conversation so it doesn’t feel awkward when you come up to “impromptu interview” them. In this scenario you, or the person you have assigned to this task, have to be skilled at interviewing and thinking on the fly. Once the keynote speaker has completed their portion, you can then step up, ask a couple of clarifying questions, redirect the “finish” and close out the session with a thank you. The audience should not even know what happened and ideally you were able to salvage the message the attendees leave remembering.

Hopefully, you will never encounter scenario B, but after 16 years of event planning, I have seen it happen more than once. It’s always better to be prepared and not need to use something than need it and have to scramble for it at the last minute.

Do you have another use for an interview-style session?
You can share it here or email me.

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