By Kirsten Goodwin
Ironically, the more polished a CEO’s performance at an event, the less likely it is to deliver what you really want from it: belief.
Most leaders still default to broadcast mode. And the problem with this is that the script swallows up the person, working against what that slot is supposed to achieve.
So if belief is what you need – and it usually is – your CEO should never give a speech.
Instead, for senior appearances, the crucial test is: do the audience feel like there’s an unscripted human in the room?
And that’s where a high-quality event host can help.
What a corporate event host adds: The Hosting Impact Scale
I measure the benefits of an event host using my Hosting Impact Scale.
At Level 1: Competence, the leader is introduced clearly, maybe a Q&A is delivered successfully, and the planned timings hold. All of this matters – but the leader’s message is quietly discounted, because nobody met the person behind it.
At Level 2: Presence, the host holds the room with warmth and energy, so the leader feels supported and the session flows. This is better – but the host is the only unscripted human on stage, and the leader is still performing.
That’s where Level 3 comes in.
At Level 3: Resonance, the leader is in the room as themselves, responding and thinking out loud in a real conversation. The host asks the questions the room actually wants answered, and the audience believes the leader because they can see nobody is managing the moment.
The event still needs to be polished. But the polish belongs to the organisation and the host, so the leader doesn’t have to carry it. (I hold the room, so they don’t have to.)
The wrong question most organisers ask
When organisers plan a senior appearance, the question they usually ask is:
will our CEO get through this without anything going wrong?
That’s Level 1 thinking. A better question is:
will the room believe them when they’ve finished?
A speechwriter, a comms team and a rehearsal can answer the first question. The second depends on the format – and the second is what really matters.
If you’re not sure which level your last senior appearance reached, that’s a good place to start on an Event Hosting Discovery Call – get in touch through my Expert Services Directory listing.
How I host CEO and senior leadership appearances: before, during and after
Everything I do around a senior appearance has one aim: getting an unscripted human into the room, with the least risk to the organisation and the least friction for the leader.
Before. I start with the organisers, to understand what this senior time needs to achieve – whether that’s belief, information, or a bit of both. The answer shapes everything else.
Then we design the format. Often that’s a hosted fireside chat or leadership Q&A, the kind Noel Quinn chose, with questions agreed in advance and answers that belong to the leader. The organisation keeps control of the shape of the session, and the audience gets the real person.
I then meet the leader to find the stories and views they’re comfortable sharing, so they arrive ready for a conversation rather than word-perfect on a script. The preparation moves from them to me – which is why this format usually takes far less of a busy leader’s diary.
During. On the day, I host the conversation live. I ask the follow-up the room actually wants answered and respond to what the leader says in the moment. And if something goes off course, my job is to protect them.
After. I deliver a debrief with any recommendations for follow-up, to make sure the moment is leveraged and future appearances have even more impact.
A fireside chat in practice
I chaired a fireside chat with two very senior partners at an international law firm, broadcast live across the firm’s global offices. The subject was Imposter Syndrome – about as far from broadcast mode as senior lawyers are ever likely to go.
People talked about how inspiring it was to know that leaders so senior had experienced it too.
I don’t believe the partners would have been that open from behind a lectern. But in this format, they could be, because we’d shaped the questions together in advance, and they knew I was there to manage the conversation on the day.
The event created a real sense of trust and belonging throughout the organisation – which is exactly what a senior appearance is for. That’s Level 3 hosting in practice.
Getting this right gives you a leader who’s glad they did it and a room that believes them. For you as the organiser, it also means a CEO who’ll want to do it again.
Conclusion
When Noel Quinn turned down a keynote, he chose the format that would work best for him – and for his purpose at the event.
A Level 3 host makes that possible for any leader. They get to show up as themselves, and the host carries the risk. That’s what I do, before, during and after the event.
Your CEO can make the same choice. Senior appearances at events are there to create belief, which is crucial to an organisation’s success. And belief needs a human in the room.
If your CEO or senior team is appearing at an event in the coming months and you want a corporate event host who’ll help the room leave believing, get in touch through my Expert Services Directory listing.
Here’s to events that land,
Kirsten
