Keynote addresses

In almost all conferences today, there are keynote speeches. In the inauguration, you will generally see address by the Chief Guest or Guest of Honor and a key note speech by an eminent personality. When the program is generally conducted in sessions, you see a key note speaker featured for the session as well. Then there is a valedictory address to be given at the end that is rated equivalent to the inaugural keynote address.

Keynote speakers are difficult to get as most are busy. Risks of not showing up are also high. So,  the conference organizers are in a fix and are always ready with Plan B and Plan C. This mess typically happens when a Minister suddenly insists to give a keynote address and does not show up in the last moment due to other compelling reasons. Now you have many agencies to assist you in finding a keynote speaker, for example The Outstanding Speakers Bureau  or Indian Speaker Bureau or Chartwell Speakers  where you get to see a profile and watch a sample video talk on the speaker.  Getting a keynote speaker at a conference is now a business.

Keynote speeches are the heartbeat of any event. The idea is to inspire and shape the event’s narrative, leaving a lasting impact on delegates. Keynote speech sets the tone and captivates the audience. Some say keynote addresses during inaugural are generally 30000 ft high while in key notes presentations in the sessions are at 3000 ft.

Some people are seasoned keynote speakers. Their reputation in fact pulls the crowd to the conference to great extent and so organizers often brainstorm carefully and go through a selection process. They  also ensure that the bringing a particular key note speaker is politically correct when he/she shares a dais with the minister. Getting invited as keynote speaker during an inaugural of major national/international conference is an honour that other speakers are jealous of.

Introduction of the keynote speaker is generally drab as someone reads out a long typed text and struggles how to highlight major achievements of the person. So to be safe therefore, the key note speakers are often introduced as “Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr XXX does not really need any introduction but …..” or say fluff at the end such as “Mr XXX has published numerous articles in journals and has received several important awards considering his valuable contributions to …”.

I have been that Mr XXX many times and have faced embarrassing occasions when I was introduced wrongly using my outdated biodata found on the internet. I wish some AI engine could remove all duplicate stuff from the world wide web, especially the outdated content (by timestamps). May be the DeepSeek does that. So when look for who Mr XXX is on DeepSeek, you get the latest profile and also the latest photo.

Other day, my Professor Friend asked me to accompany him to the inaugural session of a major national conference held in New Delhi.  He was to give a keynote address.

We reached just 10 minutes before the session was to start. The organizer was impatiently waiting for us in the lobby. On seeing us, I saw a great relief on his face just how a bride’s father will feel seeing a timely entry of the groom in the marriage hall. As we shook hands, a woman in a blue saree approached us with a rose and another one in red saree called me aside to take the pen drive for “loading” presentation on the laptop. The pen drive contained Professors lifetime collection of PowerPoint slides. This was always a treasure for me. I then took extra precaution to point to the red saree lady the correct PowerPoint slide deck on the pen drive that Professor prepared for the conference. I was worried if by mistake another presentation was shown. Of course, I was confident Professor would have handled this emergency like a breeze, navigating from slightly irrelevant slides to a stream of relevant thoughts. Most seasoned key note speakers are so versatile that they can play keys in any “octave” with all possible “sharps” and “flats”.

Many keynote speeches are memorable. Sometimes you get goosebumps while listening to the giant thoughts that are out the box, and you witness a fine dissection of the problem like how a seasoned surgeon would do. Such speeches touch your heart and make you think or rather rethink. It is wonderful to see how people discuss the key note speech during coffee break, some praising, some arguing and some who are wise quietly sipping the coffee.

Dr Adi Godrej, Chairman of Godrej Group in India has a unique style of giving a keynote speech in the style of rhymes. I don’t know which version of ChatGPT he uses, but jokes apart, his musical speeches are stunningly appealing and beautiful. Dr Godrej speaks in all earnest, shares hope or positivism and raises your conscious towards actioning sustainability.

Sometimes, some great personalities speak to everybody not limited to a conference. Video from Chairman of Tata Group Ratan Tata addressing youth of India is one great example. In this video Tata reveals the problems he faced during his lifetime and what lessons we should learn from his experiences.

In this conversation, Tata mentions about Apple and so I get reminded of a speech by Steve jobs that walks people through his own life and struggle to give messages that you will always remember

Keynotes strike the chord (pun intended) when these great people use their journey of life to communicate something hidden and extraordinary that people should know.

There was a bespectacled technical guy who joined us as Professor was heading to the front row of the auditorium. We were ushered to the row that had a banner “RESERVED”.  While walking along with Professor he asked whether he would use a collar mike. Professor said “Yes” and quipped “ is a slide mover was available?”. He nodded and explained Professor keys to press for going forward and backward.  I did my part of telling the red saree lady that one of Professors slides contained a video clip. She should ensure that the voice in the clip was embedded to the speaker system. Most times, this part is overlooked, leading to some embarrassment and loss of momentum in the keynote. So everything was set.

A Minister was to inaugurate. He was delayed due to another commitment. On the dais, I saw name plates of Minister, Presidents of two organizations who were jointly holding the event and Professor. All were patiently waiting.

The Minister’s security guards (commando’s?) appeared first giving us an early warning of his arrival. And there he was walking to the stage. He was greeted by the organizers with a beautiful bouquet of the flowers. He lighted the lamp and everybody on the dais joined to do their part. He was then introduced by the lady in blue saree reading his long CV. That was so impressive. The Minister then read out his speech that was printed perhaps in font 16 as he did not use his spectacles. He did not faulter a bit. It was a smooth delivery, relevant and politically correct. The speech writer really impressed me.

Then came Professors turn to give a keynote address. And to my surprise, two strange things happened. The lady in blue saree said, “ Ladies and Gentlemen, Professor will speak now and he does not need an introduction” . She just stopped there although I saw her holding a sheet of paper. And as Professor stood up with slide mover in his hand and started walking to the dais, the entire audience of 500 stood up in utmost respect. Seeing this reaction from the audience, even the Minister stood up. (I do not know whether this was politically correct!).

I then realized the  Power. The power of a keynote speaker.

I wish I see more people like my Professor Friend who get such a spontaneous standing ovation without any introduction from the organizers.

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