{"id":313,"date":"2026-09-15T15:45:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T15:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/?p=313"},"modified":"2026-09-15T15:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T15:45:14","slug":"spot-a-good-digital-transformation-keynote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/spot-a-good-digital-transformation-keynote\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do You Spot a Good Keynote on Digital Transformation?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>A good keynote on digital transformation turns a vague buzzword into concrete changes in your audience's working day.<\/li><li>Most weak talks fail in one of three ways: buzzword bingo, a tool tour or a doomsday scenario.<\/li><li>Good speakers put processes before tools, work with live examples and know the audience's world from their own practice.<\/li><li>The briefing call is your most important test: a speaker who asks no questions there will deliver the standard talk later.<\/li><li>A serious proposal states the fee, travel costs and scope of services transparently \u2013 and explains what happens during preparation.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Imagine asking ten executives what digitalization means for their company. You will probably get ten different answers: the new software, the paperless office, artificial intelligence, remote work, the online shop. That is exactly the challenge for every talk on the subject \u2013 and for you as the organiser who has to choose the right speaker.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Is Digital Transformation So Hard to Pin Down as a Keynote Topic?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Digital transformation is not a topic; it is an umbrella term. When you book a keynote on digitalization, you are first of all buying a headline \u2013 someone still has to fill it with substance. For the sales conference of a machinery manufacturer it means something entirely different than for the annual meeting of a cooperative bank or the leadership team of a care provider.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A comparison helps: nobody would book a talk on \u201chealth\u201d and expect a nutritionist, an orthopaedic surgeon and a psychologist to say the same thing. With digitalization, this happens all the time. The result is talks that fit everyone a little \u2013 and therefore nobody properly.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Do So Many Keynotes on Digitalization Fall Flat?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After more than 35 years of practice and many events, I keep seeing three patterns:<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Buzzword bingo:<\/strong> disruption, transformation, ecosystem \u2013 after twenty minutes the audience knows which terms are fashionable, but not what to do differently on Monday.<\/li><li><strong>The tool tour:<\/strong> one tool after another is demonstrated without ever making clear which problem it solves. It looks impressive and is forgotten by the next day.<\/li><li><strong>The doomsday scenario:<\/strong> digitalize or disappear from the market. Messages like that grab attention briefly and then trigger resistance \u2013 especially among the very people you want to bring along.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The common cause: the talk starts from the speaker, not from the audience. It shows what the speaker knows instead of answering what the listeners need.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Do You Recognise a Good Speaker on Digital Transformation?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A good keynote on digital transformation starts with your audience's problem and ends with a first achievable step. These five criteria help you choose:<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Process before tool:<\/strong> the speaker first explains which workflow should improve \u2013 a proposal, a meeting, a handover \u2013 and only then which tool helps.<\/li><li><strong>Show, don't tell:<\/strong> live examples, for instance with Microsoft 365 or artificial intelligence, are more convincing than any statistic on a slide.<\/li><li><strong>Hands-on experience:<\/strong> someone who uses the tools every day can give concrete answers to spontaneous questions from the floor.<\/li><li><strong>Industry relevance:<\/strong> the examples come from your audience's world, not from Silicon Valley.<\/li><li><strong>Respect for scepticism:<\/strong> concerns are taken seriously, not ridiculed. How that works is described in the article <a href=\"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/digital-transformation-talk-tech-skeptics\/\">How Does a Digital Transformation Talk Win Over Tech Skeptics?<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A simple test: can a participant say in two sentences what they will do differently from tomorrow? Then the talk has worked. If the answer is merely \u201cit was about digitalization\u201d, it was too abstract.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Which Questions Belong in the Briefing Call With the Speaker?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The briefing call is your best test. Pay less attention to what the speaker tells you and more to what they ask. A good speaker wants to know:<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Who is in the room \u2013 executives, managers, staff from administration or production?<\/li><li>What should be different after the event?<\/li><li>Which digitalization projects are already under way, and where are they stuck?<\/li><li>Which topics are currently sensitive in the company?<\/li><li>What comes before and after the talk in the programme?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If the other side asks none of these questions, you will most likely get the standard talk. And if you are still deciding which topics belong on your conference agenda at all, the article <a href=\"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/digital-topics-leadership-agenda\/\">Which Digital Topics Belong on the Agenda of Your Next Leadership Meeting?<\/a> will help.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Does a Keynote on Digital Transformation Cost?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A keynote on digitalization is usually charged as a flat fee, regardless of the number of participants. My fee for a keynote is \u20ac6,900 plus VAT, plus a \u20ac500 travel fee. Workshops and multi-day formats are quoted individually.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More important than the figure is what you get for it. Is a briefing call included? Are the examples adapted to your industry? Is there material for participants after the talk? A cheap off-the-shelf talk saves money on paper \u2013 but rarely sticks with the audience. And then it turns out to be the most expensive item on the day's programme.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Planning an event?<\/strong> As a keynote speaker for artificial intelligence, digitalization and Microsoft 365, I bring technology topics to the stage in a way that sticks \u2013 hands-on, entertaining and immediately actionable. <a href=\"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/digital-transformation-keynote\/\">Book a digital transformation keynote: content, formats and fee at a glance<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)<\/h2>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Long Should a Keynote on Digital Transformation Be?<\/h3>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A keynote usually runs 45 to 90 minutes \u2013 enough time for live examples and a Q&A. For packed conference programmes, an impulse talk from 20 minutes is a good fit. When each format makes sense is explained in the article <a href=\"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/ai-impulse-talk-or-keynote\/\">When Is an AI Impulse Talk Better Than a Keynote?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Does a Digital Transformation Keynote Differ From an AI Keynote?<\/h3>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An AI keynote focuses on one technology and its applications. A keynote on digital transformation looks at the bigger picture: processes, collaboration, leadership and culture. Artificial intelligence is an important building block, but not the only one.<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is the Keynote Also Available Online or in German?<\/h3>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes. The keynote is available in English and German \u2013 live on stage, online or hybrid. The examples are adapted to the respective audience.<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Does the Audience Need Technical Background Knowledge?<\/h3>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No. A good keynote on digital transformation engages beginners as well as experienced users. What matters is that the examples come from the listeners' working day, not from the IT department.<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Early Should Organisers Contact the Speaker?<\/h3>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For annual conferences and congresses, a lead time of several months is advisable, because the programme, invitations and speaker information need to be fixed early. For the content briefing call, a few weeks before the date are usually enough.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Looking for a digital transformation keynote? How event planners spot a good speaker, which mistakes to avoid and what to ask in the briefing call.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":315,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digitalisierung"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":317,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313\/revisions\/317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}