Keynote video

Watch a full keynote: Event Marketing Congress 2024

This is the full keynote as it was recorded live at Event Marketing Congress 2024. It runs 35 minutes. It isn’t a reel or a highlight cut, so you can judge it the way your audience would: from the first minute to the last.

Jump to a part

Sending this to a committee? Point them at the minutes that matter. Each time below starts the video at that point.

• 0:00 Opening: start with gratitude
• 0:52 The 100-hour weeks and what they cost
• 5:59 What influence is, and how it differs from authority and power
• 7:05 Authenticity
• 14:51 Intention
• 21:47 Where people get intention wrong
• 24:13 Trust
• 24:57 Is trust earned or given?
• 27:29 How trust gets built
• 28:30 People buy faces, not logos
• 29:14 Why AI makes the room worth more
• 31:16 What has to be true before people give you influence
• 32:51 Live in wonder, not in judgment

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What the talk covers

I’ve been the CEO with the title, and I’ve had the power to force a decision. Neither one gets much done inside a company if people don’t choose to follow you. That’s influence, and in this talk I argue it sits where three things meet: authenticity, intention, and trust.

Authenticity is your actions lining up with who you are. A leader who acts differently from one week to the next leaves people guessing. Leaders create a predictable environment for people to thrive, and that starts with values you’ve actually written down.

Intention is knowing what you’re after and saying it out loud. We judge ourselves by our intentions and other people by their actions. I ask the room to flip that: judge yourself by your actions and results, and ask what you need to give to get what you want.

Trust is the WD-40 of an organization. For a long time I thought trust was simply earned. Now I think earning it is only the prerequisite: the other person still has to give it, based on their own beliefs, experiences, and traumas. The talk uses the four pillars of trust (competency, consistency, integrity, and compassion), a model I borrowed, not one I invented.

It closes on what has to be true before people give you influence: you’ve done the reflection, you’ve stated your intentions, your actions line up, you can communicate, and you stay curious. It ends on a line I say to myself every morning: live in wonder, not in judgment.

Where this talk is now

This recording is the 2024 version of my Influence keynote. It was built for event marketers, so the examples come from their world. A few details in it are out of date; the talk page is current.

The current version is Influence: The Intersection of Authenticity, Intention, and Trust. It keeps the same three parts and turns them into three tests every ask has to pass. Like every talk I give, it gets rebuilt for the room: tell me who’s in the seats and who they need to move, and I’ll build your version around those conversations. Fees, travel, and A/V are on the organizers page.

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Questions planners ask

Is there a highlight reel?

No, there’s no reel. This full keynote is the one to watch. If your committee only has five minutes, send them to one of the jump-to times on this page.

Is this the talk I’d be booking?

It’s an earlier version of it. The current Influence keynote keeps the same three parts (authenticity, intention, and trust), and every version is built for the room that books it. The talk page lists what your audience walks out with.

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Check availability

Send the date, the room, and what you need the audience to walk out with. I answer every inquiry myself.