Zero to Keynote (Digital)

A field guide for the conference speaker

Learning to speak from the stage was the single most important move I ever made in my career.

It opened doors I didn't even know existed - consulting work, invitations, the chance to travel the world and share my ideas.

But it didn't start well. Far from it. My first talk at a conference was, by my own assessment, a rather hot mess. I bounced around, lost the room, and had an out-of-body experience watching myself fail. Then the next day, I signed up to do another one. A year and eight talks later, I delivered my first keynote.

This is the honest field guide I wish I'd had back then.

Not the arm-waving, "go big or go home" school of advice - the real foundations of speaking well: finding something worth saying, getting it accepted, building the talk, and delivering it with calm presence, nerves and all.

It's 195 pages, built to be carried to a conference and dipped into as you submit, build and deliver a talk.

It's the consolidation of twenty years of presenting all over the world, and of teaching hundreds of people to do the same.

Underneath it all is one idea: make every talk a keynote - design and deliver even a small talk as if it's the main event, and the real keynotes start coming to you.

What you get

• A field guide covering the whole journey - why speak on stage, finding ideas, the ten communication principles, getting accepted, building the talk, logistics, delivery, nerves and Q&A
• 195-page full-colour PDF · Immediate download · Lifetime access · Available worldwide · Version 1, 2025

Inside the book

• Why speak from the stage
• A hot mess (the origin story)
• Make every talk a keynote
• What kind of talk to give
• Generating talk ideas
• The ten communication principles
• Submitting to a conference
• Creating the presentation
• The art of being prepared
• Delivering with calm presence
• Q&A and dealing with problems
• How to support a speaker
• How to survive a conference.

Every industry needs fresh voices with something worth saying.

There's room for you.

"Presenting my ideas at a conference was my worst nightmare. Now it's the thing that brings me the most joy in my career."

Published by Cultivated · Created in the United Kingdom

A print edition is also available for UK readers — A5, full-colour, gloss paper stock, with a handwritten thank-you note.

Refunds

For digital products you may request a full refund within 30 days of purchase by emailing products@cultivatedmanagement.com or visiting our FAQs.