What Makes a Great Big Idea Night Speaker?

At Big Idea Night, we're not necessarily looking for the "best," most accomplished, or most polished speakers.

We're looking for people with meaningful ideas, genuine curiosity, and a desire to contribute to the community.

Some of our speakers have spent decades becoming experts in their field. Others have simply lived through an experience that changed the way they see the world. Both can make for incredible discussions.

Here are some insights that we’ve encountered for what makes a great Big Idea Night speaker.

1) Start with Something You've Earned

The strongest talks come from people who have earned their perspective.

Maybe it's through years of professional experience. Maybe it's through research. Maybe it's through building something, overcoming something, or asking questions that others haven't thought to ask.

Expertise comes in many forms.

One way or another, we're looking for ideas that are grounded in something real.

2) Community Over Ego

Big Idea Night isn't a platform for self-promotion.

It's a community built around thoughtful conversations and meaningful ideas.

The speakers who resonate most with our audience are the ones who genuinely want to contribute. They show up curious, generous, and excited to be part of something bigger than themselves.

If your goal is simply to build your personal brand, there are probably better stages for that.

If your goal is to help people think differently, facilitate connection, genuinely engage with the community, and make a positive difference in the world, you'll fit in great!

3) Be Curious, Not Certain

You don't have to have all the answers.

In fact, we'd argue that the most interesting conversations begin when someone is willing to explore complexity rather than oversimplify it.

What are the conflicts and tensions inherent in your idea? What is still ‘unknown’ that can be explored? What’s a path to something better, even if it’s a bit hypothetical? How do your own personal struggles factor into what you want to share? 

Often the best discussions invite people into an question rather than trying to win them over with an answer. And that’s totally fine.

4) Create the Conversation

We believe some of the most meaningful learning happens when people have a chance to wrestle with ideas together.

That is why EVERY Big Idea Night talk includes a discussion AS PART OF the talk. 

Not a Q&A. Not some parting questions. But a moment (or moments) where your talk stops, you present the audience with a question or idea, and you ask them to discuss it amongst themselves. 

This is important.

It’s what makes our events different. 

We're looking for speakers who are excited to facilitate such conversations.

It helps people connect with the ideas more.

It helps build community and connection amongst attendees.

It also helps to create an evening that people continue talking about on the drive home, with friends the next day, and rekindle when they see familiar faces at the next event. 

Trust us. It’ll make you look smarter and be more memorable too. 

5) Collaboration Makes Better Talks

Great talks are rarely created alone.

We expect that every speaker will be open to receive coaching and feedback before stepping onto our stage.

Some people have spoken hundreds of times. Others are giving their very first public talk.

Either way, we're looking for people who are excited to collaborate, experiment, and make their ideas as engaging and impactful as possible.

6) Have a Vision (and a Plan)

Ultimately, your ‘big idea’ should tie to a vision you have for what would make our world a better place. 

Knowledge, experience, and expertise are great, but the real question is… what are we going to do with it? 

How can the world become a better place by sharing what you know?

What vision do you have for a new world that would be improved by your ideas? 

And (assuming you had the resources), what would be our plan for carrying that vision forward? 

I know we said earlier that you don’t have to have it all figured out, but we’re also in the business of elevating future leaders, especially the kinds of leaders we like. 

Having a vision and a plan are important for leadership.

So think of it this way… 

What is the movement that you want to lead? 

7) Give Us Something New

You know that great keynote speech you’ve got that you’ve delivered 100 times? 

We’re not interested. 

It’s not that it’s not good. It’s just not what we’re into. 

Our community doesn’t want to see something rehearsed. 

We want an actual human in front of us that’s willing to be open and vulnerable. 

You can still take the subject matter from your keynote, but try to use this as an opportunity to expand upon it, explore the topic deeper, or take it in a new direction.

We want to hear about the edge of your expertise, the edge of your leadership, and the edge of the world view you wrestle with. 

Think: what are the big questions you have that we can all explore together? 

In the End...

We're not looking for perfect speakers.

We're looking for people who care deeply about an idea and want to share it in a way that creates connection.

If your talk helps strangers become conversation partners, encourages someone to see the world differently, or inspires an idea that continues growing long after the event is over, then you’ll be contributing to exactly what Big Idea Night is all about.