[Editor’s note: In addition to being Watermark’s founder, Jon Picoult is also a frequent keynote speaker at corporate conferences and association events. He periodically blogs on topics of interest to meeting and event professionals.]
Is that keynote speaker preview reel… real?
That’s among the questions event professionals should be asking themselves as they evaluate potential speakers – because, as it turns out, you can’t believe everything you see. These days, the exercise of reviewing speaker preview reels is more complicated than ever. Understanding why requires some background on the recent evolution of these videos:
The Backstory On Speaker Reels
Event organizers and meeting professionals typically spend hours viewing keynote speaker “preview reels.” Prepared by the speakers themselves, these reels are a compilation of video clips that are meant to help an event management team select a suitable speaker for their corporate or association conference.
In the early 2010’s, a handful of video production companies turned their attention to what appeared to be an underserved market: keynote speakers needing preview reels. These firms applied a repeatable formula to the production and editing of these videos: Inspirational music scores, dazzling graphics, backstage footage, and crystallization of each speaker’s content into a concise, multi-step framework.
The formula worked, and speakers flocked to these firms to have their reels transformed into what is essentially a movie trailer format – high production values, flashy editing, lots of sizzle.
The Rise Of “Synthetic” Speaker Footage
Eventually, as these video production companies expanded their businesses and moved down-market (serving more inexperienced keynoters), they ran into a longstanding issue that has bedeviled many a speaker: How do you get large-stage gigs if you don’t have any large-stage footage to put in your reel?
The answer these firms came up with was clever, but also a bit disturbing: They fabricated large-stage events for their clients – renting out big meeting halls, filling them with fake audiences, and filming speakers (with multiple takes) to capture just the right soundbites in a carefully controlled environment.
This is “synthetic” speaker footage because it truly is staged. It’s not a real speech, it’s not a real audience, and it’s not really a fair depiction of how that speaker will perform at your event.
The Sizzle Starts To Fizzle
The wide proliferation of slickly produced speaker “sizzle reels” has created a new problem – these videos are all starting to look and feel the same. Early on, these cinematic reels were largely the domain of elite keynote speakers, since the investment (and footage) required to create them was significant. Now, however, video production companies have deciphered how to churn these reels out with factory-like efficiency, so they’re everywhere.
Indeed, these speaker reel production firms have arguably become victims of their own success. Their product is so ubiquitous (now used by speakers at all fee levels) that it’s become a commodity, doing little to distinguish one speaker from the next, and making it increasingly challenging for event professionals to discern which keynoter is the best fit for their audience.
Five Tips For Prioritizing Substance Over Sizzle
Given how preview reels have evolved, they’ve become unreliable instruments for gauging the competence and credibility of a keynote speaker. For this reason, event professionals need to be diligent when screening these videos. They must be adept at spotting synthetic footage and concentrating on the most meaningful and relevant parts of the reel. Here are five tips for accomplishing that:
1. Look for the telltale signs of synthetic speaker footage.
The easiest way to verify the authenticity of speaker footage (i.e., video from a real speech, delivered to a real audience) is to look for a company or association name somewhere on the stage (emblazoned on a podium or a backdrop). If you recognize the name, or can find the organization via an internet search, then you can be pretty well assured that the footage is real.
Conversely, if you just see generic identifiers on the podium or backdrop (such as the term “Annual Conference”), or if you just see the speaker’s name projected behind them – that’s a good indication that the footage was probably recorded at a “fake” event, organized by the company that produced the speaker reel.
To be clear, if someone is using synthetic footage in their reel, it doesn’t mean they’re a bad speaker. What it does mean, however, is they may lack the onstage experience that the reel implies, and that’s something worth considering when selecting a speaker and evaluating the impact they’ll have on your event.
2. Don’t get distracted by fluff footage.
The now formulaic, professionally-produced speaker reel has several standard footage components that give these videos the feel of a 60 Minutes human-interest story: There’s the sit-down interview with the speaker. There’s the speaker traversing an airport, exhibition hall, or city street. There’s the speaker scribbling notes in their hotel room, thinking intently in the back of a limo, inspecting sound and lighting boards backstage with the A/V staff – and, of course, getting a standing ovation (often courtesy of stock B-roll video).
This is largely footage fluff, and it’s easy for event professionals to get intoxicated by it. Sure, the 60 Minutes inspired profile of the speaker might be interesting and engaging, but you know what? Your event audience will never see it. Instead, they will judge your speaker on one thing and one thing only: what their message is and how well they deliver it.
When viewing a speaker reel, keep in mind that everything other than actual, onstage footage is just noise – a distraction. Event professionals should consciously set all those extraneous components aside and be sure to evaluate the speaker as your audience would: on the merits of their message and how effectively they convey it.
3. Watch longer cuts of the speaker’s onstage footage.
Using speaker reels to evaluate potential keynoters’ content and delivery can actually be quite difficult given that many of these videos contain only short snippets and soundbites from a speech. (This is no doubt done deliberately by the video editors, because a few carefully chosen soundbites can make a speaker appear more confident and credible than might otherwise be the case.)
Avoid this pitfall by watching extended clips from the individual’s past speeches (if you can’t find them online, ask the speaker to provide some). By viewing unedited clips that are at least a couple minutes long, you’ll be better able to judge how the speaker frames and explores a topic, as well as how engaging they are beyond a single soundbite.
4. Explore the speaker’s client testimonials.
While viewing extended footage of a keynoter is preferred to preview reel soundbites, there’s still no substitute for experiencing the speaker live at an actual event. Presuming no one on your speaker selection team has had that opportunity, the next best thing is to familiarize yourself with testimonials from those who have.
Read client testimonials looking not just for good feedback, but for specific feedback: What do past clients say about the speaker’s preparation prior to the event? The degree to which the speaker genuinely customized the speech for the audience? How engaging and/or eye-opening the keynote was? And perhaps most importantly — the tangible impact the speaker had on the attendees, long after the event concluded.
If time allows, consider asking the speaker if you can contact some of their past clients. A quick phone call or e-mail exchange with a few of them can be enormously valuable in understanding what it was really like working with the speaker and how their message landed with the audience.
5. Remember that there’s no substitute for genuine onstage footage of the speaker.
Despite the widespread availability of synthetic speaker reels, there are some speakers who don’t have any keynote footage posted to their websites or speaker bureau profile pages. Instead, they might have footage from a podcast interview, or a video introduction that they recorded themselves.
Do not mistake these as acceptable substitutes for real speech footage. How someone comes across in an interview can be very different than how they command the stage during a keynote. With the possible exception of high profile celebrities, the absence of any onstage speech footage should give event professionals pause. It may not be disqualifying, but it should most certainly trigger a deeper examination of the speaker’s experience and credentials.
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We live in a world where “fake it until you make it” has become a professional rallying cry. A world where misinformation is easy to create and even easier to spread. This has alarming implications for the events industry, because if a speaker isn’t who they purport to be, it impacts more than just a few colleagues. An entire audience can be left unfulfilled. An entire event can be spoiled.
This is why meeting and event professionals shouldn’t accept everything they see as reality. They need to be truth-seekers, interrogating all of the information that’s presented to them (speaker reels included). That’s how conference organizers can best navigate the “smoke and mirror” tactics that have become commonplace in speaker marketing. It’s the key to ensuring that they – and their audiences – will be well served by the people they invite onstage.
Jon Picoult is founder of Watermark Consulting, a customer experience advisory firm that helps companies impress their customers and inspire their employees. Picoult is also an acclaimed keynote speaker who is proud to have a preview reel that is 100% organic and free of fluff. Follow Jon on LinkedIn or Instagram, or subscribe to his monthly eNewsletter.