Are you looking for “an instructional speech” a motivational speech, or is the main purpose is for the attendees to be laughing and enjoying themselves: an entertaining speech.

Of course, all presentations require the speaker to focus on the audience, but a successful keynote requires an even bigger emphasis. In order to motivate change – the speaker must first genuinely connect with the attendees. Without a sold connection, it is impossible to inspire attendees to take action.

And just like any situation, solid connections are making by sharing and expressing common ground. The problem is speeches are mostly one-way conversations, so the speaker must get to know the audience ahead of time in order to incorporate appropriate connection references into the speech.