A keynote speaker is certainly is an investment, but it will prove to be a valuable one. A keynote speaker can bring excitement and notoriety to your event. They also provide expertise on the topic your event centers around, and sometimes an outsider is just the person to really drive a particular message home. A keynote speaker will help set the tone of your event, bring thought leadership and expertise to your organization, and inspire audiences.

To set the tone

This is the very name sake and role of a keynote speaker, to set the tone of the entire event. A keynote speaker can bring it all together and make all of the varies workshops and presentations a cohesive element.

To create buzz around the event

A keynote speaker, especially a well established one, carries a certain level of notoriety and can draw media attention to your event. Usually speakers are also bestselling authors, and in some sense have developed a following. The notoriety that the speaker possesses will bring a sense of buzz and excitement to your event a well. This attention can put your event and company on the map.

To bring thought leadership to your organization

The purpose of a keynote speaker at an event is not solely for entertainment purposes, though a keynote speaker should be entertaining. The main purpose through of a keynote speaker is to inform an audience and make them think about a subject in a new way. A keynote speaker should provide audiences with actionable insights that they can take away from the event and implement into their daily and/or work lives that will help to make them more productive, energetic, happier, healthier, or something along the lines of keynote topic.  

To inspire your audience

While the audience should walk away from the keynote having learned something, if they are not simultaneously inspired by the keynote speaker and his/her message, then they will not be inspired to actually implement what they have learned into their lives of work. So a keynote speaker will also inspire your audience and provide them with the reassurance that they are capable of making the change the keynote speaker speaks of.

As you can see the keynote speaker plays many roles at an event, and thus there are many reasons why you would want to hire a keynote speaker at your event–plus, your event attendees will thank you if you do!