How to validate your Keynote idea in less than 5 minutes

It’s easy to create a keynote.

But it’s much harder to create one that people actually want to book you for —again and again.

So here’s my advice:

Don’t waste time creating a keynote unless you know it will succeed.

And how do you know?

You validate it.

Now, this doesn’t guarantee success, but it shifts you from throwing darts blindfolded to aiming at a clear target.

Here’s how I’m testing my next keynote before I write a single slide:

Right now, I’m working on a 22-minute keynote called:
“How To Turn Boring Facts and Numbers Into Memorable Stories.”

I wrote an email about it a few months ago, then posted a short 6-minute video on LinkedIn.

It got some engagement, so I decided to explore it further.

But before I pour weeks into building it…

I asked myself three key questions:

1) Is there demand for this topic?
2) Do professionals (especially in finance) actually need it?
3) Has anyone successfully sold a keynote like this before?

Instead of overthinking the answers, I followed my simple 5-Minute Validation Test:

Step 1: I went to the Speakers Bureau website.

(If you don’t know, speakers listed on these sites typically have 25-50+ paid gigs under their belt and charge $5,000+ per keynote.)

Step 2: I searched for finance speakers

Step 3: I looked at their validated keynote topics and compared them to my keynote idea.

It took me five minutes to find a few speakers specializing in financial storytelling who talk about similar topics. Which meant the demand was there. And that my idea was a proven bookable idea.

And just like that… I had proof of concept.

Now that I know this is a topic worth developing, I’ll start structuring the keynote and finding the right gigs for it.

I’ll share that process with you in my future emails.

But in the meantime, if you’re working on your next keynote and want to validate or refine it, here’s how I can help:

• Need 1-on-1 guidance? Book a free consultation with me here.

• Want a system to collect and store your best stories? Get my Story Crypt system here.

• Starting from scratch? Grab The Speaker Within: A Beginner’s Guide to Public Speaking here.

Until tomorrow,
Mo