Three Conversations Every Meeting Planner Should Be Having: Can a Keynote Be Too Customized?

Customization has become the expectation rather than the exception. Today’s audiences are smart. They want to know a speaker has done their homework. They want someone who understands their challenges and can meet them where they are. Even a small amount of customization can make a presentation more memorable and far more impactful than a canned speech.

I believe audiences and meeting planners alike have largely driven this shift. Expectations have risen, and planners are expected to deliver experiences that feel relevant to their audience. After all, anyone can watch a keynote on YouTube. What they cannot get online is a message crafted specifically for the people sitting in the room.

That said, there is a point where customization stops adding value.

The purpose of hiring an outside keynote speaker is to gain outside perspective. When a speaker begins sounding exactly like an internal executive, they lose the very thing that made them valuable in the first place.

On the other hand, I become concerned when clients request presentation slides, speaker notes, or extensive edits after the contract has been signed. At that point, you’re no longer asking the speaker to understand your audience. You’re asking them to stop being themselves.