One of my favorite acronyms is “COK”. But hold your breath! COK is not a poorly spelled version of what you might think it means. COK means curse of knowledge. The curse of knowledge is a trap many speakers fall into far too often. We love to speak to people based on our knowledge base. What we forget is that everyone has a different knowledge base. The bigger your audience the bigger the… problem.
Do you know what a speakers bureau is?
Well, I know. Because I’m a professional speaker. But…
The other day in Berlin I was meeting an old friend at SOHO House, the social club for creatives. Ingo is in his end forties, takes boxing lessons and is the owner of an internationally renowned model agency. I told Ingo about my new project.
“So the name is, ‘Top Speakers, Your Keynote Boutique’. It is a compact and exclusive speakers bureau.”
“What is a speakers bureau?”, Ingo replied with question marks in his eyes bigger than the Brandenburg Gates.
“Em, em, … ah… It’s something like… It’s something like a model agency for professional speakers!”
“Ahhhhhhh…”
Now Ingo was on the same page. He loved the idea.
Yes, keynoteboutique.com is a speakers bureau. But – is it just another speakers bureau?
On 1 October 2018, this new project came to life. For six months, I had been inviting trusted pro and corporate speakers from all over Europe. The starting 17 are carefully curated. They reach from fresh-faced Millennial speakers to experienced stage monsters. They cover a whole range of relevant topics from blockchain to social media, from cyber crime to what leaders can learn from improv comedy. A big benefit is simplicity: English speeches for international audiences in Europe. But there is an even bigger benefit.
All the speakers are personal contacts of mine. Many of us have been collaborating for years. That is why Top Speakers is not just any other speakers bureau; Top Speakers is not just a random collection of public speakers … We are a tribe.
We meet at events, retreats or business schools. We interact and exchange all the time. We even have a WhatsApp group where we motivate, inspire, help each other to become better versions of ourselves. We are a tribe. And that is the number one benefit for any event organizer who wants to work with us in the future. They will get the best option because everyone works together as a team.
And by the way… One thing you can completely erase from your list of doubts… There will be no COK on stage with my Top Speakers. All of them are far too empathetic, far too caring and far too vulnerable themselves.
See you at keynoteboutique.com!