Most people think an 8-minute keynote is something you just “tighten up.”
I used to believe that too.
Until I actually tried to make one unforgettable.
The problem
From the outside, it looks easy.
You walk on stage. You smile. You deliver.
Behind the scenes?
This talk is in a political landmine field.
This talk is about a controversial subject, the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation.
National Speakers Association is attempting to unify over 18 speaking associations over this standard.
This keynote was in Canada which already has its current aversion to anything American.
One wrong step and I could insult 60,000 professional speakers around the world.
I knew I needed help.
The insight
The 100+ hours weren’t about memorizing lines.
They were about:
• Contacting the CSP experts like Frank Kitchen & Shelby Longman
• This topic was so important that NSA CEO Jamie Nolan decided to meet with me directly.
• Meeting with Canadian Association of Professional Speakers Education Chair Merge Gupta-Sunderji to formulate a strategy that creates value (notice that I don’t say CSP until minute #7)
• Asking 20 others CSPs to review my draft and give me valuable feedback
• Asking legend Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE, Cavett for help and she replied by RE-WRITING my entire script with her expert language eye
Eight minutes only looks short when the work is invisible.
I took over 30+ hours of my own preparation AND a community of professionals shared over 70 hours of their professional advice in coaching to make this presentation even better.
Here are highlights from that coaching:
In my meeting with Merge Gupta-Sunderji, she was adamant that we deliver value to this audience no matter what their goal or position in. She was also aware of the political challenges of an American talking about the CSP to a Canadian audience. Together we created a strategy to NOT say “Certified Speaking Professional” until minute 7 of an 8-minute keynote. This important strategy meant everyone was engaged in the talk early and did not turn anybody off as the tips were framed “to become a top 1% speaker” which every speaker can aspire to.
A 24-second walk in video that ensures I walk on at a high note
The opening line is “Imagine…How would you feel…if you walked on stage knowing… you are one of the top 1% speakers in the world?” This line is a direct re-write from Patricia Fripp that uses powerful language to engage attendees immediately. An attendee said the opening line was so powerful, he was willing to listen to 8-minute of anything now.
When 1% of the speakers of the world is said, 60 photographs of all Canadian Certified Speaking Professionals slowly arrange themselves in beautiful rows. This is using PowerPoint’s “morph” feature. The slide before has all 60 slides arranged in various orders outside of the frame, the slide after has all 60 photos neatly arranged into 6 rows of 10 each. Morph creates all the animation in between.
When you look at the video, Encore and CAPS created a video wall and I could use whatever images I want behind me. This is the in-person equivalent to “PowerPoint as Virtual Background” and this was my first time to use it in-person. For 6 billion people, 60,000 speakers and 600 Top 1% speakers, I used a genderless icon and made backgrounds of 6 billion of them, 60,000 and 600 of them. They were behind me to increase the impact of what I was saying.
CAPS President Nathalie Plamondon-Thomas shared her recent speaking data of how many paid presentations she had in the past 10 years. This is a nod to a very important CAPS members in addition I was able to help celebrate her success of having the most paid presentations in a year in 2025. More importantly, I was able to share he strategy of booking 1-4 additional speaking engagements whenever she booked a new speaking engagement. Smart.
In social proof, I used my own testimonials screen from my speaking reel. I was able to prop Talkadot’s new AI summary feature. To top it off, I showed using my DJI Osmo Pocket 3 video camera with DJI Mic Mini 2’s with a testimonial from the CEO of The Gottman Institute.
To showcase the use of video, I highlighted 2 important CAPS members. Lauren Pibworth is the AV expert and long time sponsor of CAPS. I called her and asked her for her best CAPS speaker video and she immediately said Sarah McVanel. Sarah McVanel is a Certified Speaking Professional and we met at the 2024 CSP summit and made a connection. When I called her to ask her to use her video, she said she’d be honored!
The Soft Ask – Most Certified Speaking Professional talks tell about how to apply and all the paperwork that is involved. We decided NOT to ask anyone to apply for the CSP. Instead, we asked all the CSPs to stand up so they could be celebrated. Then the ask was to “just have a conversation” with one of them if you’re interested in being a top 1% speaker. It worked. Multiple CSPs told me afterwards that they had conversations and many decided to make the CSP one of their career goals.
Appeal To Different Modalities – While the setup for the talk was about making more money, I created the catchphrase “It’s not the cash, it’s the community”. When you become a CSP, you become part of a special community that can help you in many ways. In this talk, I tapped over 22 CSPs to help and coach me through this talk so I wouldn’t become a political disaster and more importantly, I could inspire CAPS attendees in a welcoming way.
Closing – My first closing was “Canada is the second largest country with CSPs. When are you going to be the first?” Hall of Famer and CSP Bill Stainton chimed in that the last phrase could be looked as accusatory or assuming a superior position. He suggested, “Congratulations Canada, you are the second largest country with CSPs. I look forward to when you’re the first!” Similar message, more aspirational and more complimentary to the Canadian’s in the audience.
Buying and bringing a fake handheld microphone for the entire talk so I could do a mic drop at the end. NOTE: I informed the AV team of the mic drop to prevent their heart attack and no one in the audience knew. “Oh Canada”, the national anthem started playing and I dropped my mic on stage. I could hear an audible gasp in my audience. I walked off to the closing 4th line of Oh Canada to a standing ovation.
That is what 100 hours of preparation will do for an 8-minute keynote.
The action
This week, try this:
- Cut your next presentation in half. Then cut it again.
- Test it with at least three people who are experts and who don’t think like you.
- Rehearse out loud — not in your head — until you embody the talk.
Watch what changes.
The CTA
What are you preparing right now that looks easy on the surface?
Drop it in the comments 👇
Tag someone who needs this reminder.
And if you’ve ever done something that “looked effortless” but nearly broke you… I want to hear that story.
