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Thought leaders thrive on intrinsic motivation as their carrot and by continuously committing to speaking at external events with new content as their stick.

What is new: There is an opportunity to encourage our thought leaders to advance their thought leadership by committing to introducing evolved points of view at significant events.

Why it matters: The larger or more important a stage is, the bigger the opportunity becomes to create a strong first impression with novel thought leadership ideas. But even more so, it is an opportunity to make a larger leap forward.

🫣 Management by embarrassment: No one wants to goof on a stage, a reality that is true for thought leaders as well. They often love to shine on stage, and they need support to find a suitable cadence of external speaking opportunities where the thought leaders elevate their game.

Bigger leaps bi-yearly, or smaller leaps in each external talk, both work as long as your stories evolve at least as quickly as the market evolves.

The risk of goofing is always present, especially when you push into uncharted terrain. The best insurance against goofing is a thought leader who prepares thoroughly and consistently delivers at a high level.

🧐 Great speakers grow with pressure: Speakers are performers, and they face the same type of pressure that athletes and entertainers face. The build-up towards the big day. The butterflies when you get really close, and the ability to enjoy unleashing energy at show time.

Thought leaders with strong speaking skills are likely to perform well under pressure. Developing Thought Leadership is a high-pressure activity, and a speaking commitment adds to that pressure. The added pressure can contribute to higher-quality thought leadership and to getting it out on a predefined date.

Work closely with your thought leaders to understand how they respond to pressure and great stages. Exploit all opportunities where it is a positive force that excites your thought leader.

⏰ Big stages and events are firm goals: Big stages and events put two potential in play. First, the opportunity to present new ideas and perspectives requires extensive preparation. Second, the chance to reach a large audience at launch.

A commitment to speak starts a critical process. The date and stage are firm. It is easy for all contributors to a thought leadership initiative to focus efforts towards a common goal. Aim to get the team flying straight out of the gate, even if the target delivery date is far out.

The drawback is that a project delivering novel thought leadership does not run in a straight line, and it is tough to avoid being back-end-heavy.

Multiple delivery formats: A well-thought-through initiative that is not limited to, but includes, delivery on stage. As part of the journey, you have to create an impactful portfolio of assets, such as:

• An executive talk track outlining the story to be delivered and a base for fireside chats and podcast sessions with the launch.
• A thought leadership paper presenting your point of view and the underlying research
• Owned, earned, and paid social media promotions that bring in an audience
• A presentation designed for deliveries by others than the thought leader
• Teaser and short-form videos with the thought leader.
• Content customized for different audiences.

How you sequence things is essential. The earlier you have a firm storyline and a visualization that frames your thought leadership, the better. The storyline set the stage for the rest of the assets, and the great visuals have the longest lead times.

Experienced thought leaders place the final comma on their assets two weeks before their big delivery. Slack provides its thought leadership team time to pre-brief media and analysts about the paper and launch a comprehensive portfolio of assets in conjunction with the main delivery.

📝 Close collaboration with copywriters, proofreaders, and graphical designers: Experienced thought leaders realize the value of a close relationship with the key professionals who shape the quality of assets.

If your thought leaders are not talented writers, their relationship with their copywriter is essential. A relationship starting before a sharp delivery situation with a paper in execution. Expect a journey about getting to know each other well while playing to the strengths of each party.

Graphical designers bring life to sketches. Thought leaders take the lead in developing sketches that make sense and clarify their points of view, and the graphical designer elevates their impact. Never save this job to the last thing you do. It is and should be the starting point for a great point of view.

🌅 Lick a stamp and send it: Delivering novel thought leadership generates goose bumps and butterflies in the stomach. If not, you have not pushed far enough. Take the opportunity to turn goose bumps and butterflies into positive delivery energy.

Rehearse extensively to make novel ideas and messages stick in your audience’s minds; they need to stick in yours first.

Focus delivery on the central ideas and topics of your story. The fewer the better, and you will probably leave a few nuggets out for stage performances for communication in papers or follow-ups at a later stage.

Once your point of view is out in the wild, leverage adjacent opportunities to help your ideas gain traction. Earned interviews, byline articles, podcasts, etc., are all part of the launch effort.

Bottom line: Your best thought leadership initiatives should come with a high-profile speaking opportunity for the lead thought leaders. It is a great way to secure the initiative, deliver on time, and elevate the quality. All great thought leaders grow with a stage in mind, together with focus as their recipe for success.