350: The Most Impactful Keynotes in Early Childhood Conferences: Why They Matter

In this episode of Childcare Conversations, Carrie and Kate dive into a really fascinating topic: the role of keynote speakers at early childhood education conferences. They chat about how the term "keynote" has gotten a bit watered down lately, with some conferences featuring multiple keynotes that blur into workshops. 

They also uncover a surprising stat: despite the ECE workforce being 98% female, most keynote speakers have historically been men! Their big takeaway? A great keynote should inspire, connect emotionally, and truly reflect the audience it serves.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to Child Care Conversations, the podcast where early childhood leaders like you get real-world strategies, honest talk, and a whole lot of support. Whether you're running one center or many, we're here to help you lead with confidence and clarity. This episode is brought to you by Center IQ. If you've ever added a child to a classroom, adjusted staffing, or made a quick schedule change, and then spent the next two weeks fixing the ripple effects, you're not alone. Most leaders make decisions and then see what happens. CenterIQ's decision intelligence lets you see what happens before you decide. Start your free trial today at centeriq.io. Now, let's get into today's conversation. One we think you're really going to love.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

And so we have some thoughts about this, and we hope that you do too. Um, because this is one of those ones where I'd kind of like it to be conversation. So if you are listening in real time or if you are watching the recording, please use the comments on this one because I want to know if Kate and I are thinking the same way you guys are. We have been going to a few conferences over the last, you know, two years, actually, over the last 30 some odd years, but the last two years have been um a lot of conferences. And some conferences have one keynote, and some conferences seem like half of the conferences keynotes. They're calling everything a con a keynote. Um, we went to a conference with four keynotes, and it was a two and a half day event. Um, and we've gone to others where they have two keynotes and it's a two-day wait, wait, wait.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

Let's just, let's just get let's just jump straight into the conversation. What is your thoughts on Carrie? Why what are what's the goal of a keynote? I mean, uh to me, it's to kick off a conference, or maybe it's a special luncheon. Like, I don't know. I mean, why would why would a conference have four? Why does a conference have any?

SPEAKER_02 2:23

Well, I don't know why they have four. Um, because there used to be you would have a keynote speaker, and again, this is that we're old, right? We've been going to conferences for 30 years, and it used to be that you would have a keynote. Um, you might have an opening speaker, a keynote speaker, and a closing speaker. So the keynote was generally like lunch or dinner, right?

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Like it was usually like the big event. And I think what was really cool is that the keynote was special. It doesn't mean to me, like, so and they had different purposes. I mean, I think an opening speaker and a closing speaker kind of of a different feel than a keynote. And um, as somebody who planned conferences and paid for conferences, you know, keynotes they cost money. Uh, so I think that was kind of why we had the opening speaker and the closing speaker might be different than the keynote or the headliner, even maybe.

SPEAKER_02 3:24

Yeah, I mean, and I think part of what people are using the term keynote for now is hey, these are names you might know, or this is a topic that I really think we need to talk about. So, in they're not just having one thing that they think people should talk about, or one headliner, they're having multiple. And I hate to say this because it makes me and Kate and other speakers sound a little bit vain, but I think sometimes they're calling people keynotes when they are just opening or closing speakers because people like to think that they're the keynote. And so there's some vanity metrics to that. I know that I have said that I'm a keynote, even though I'm not listed as a keynote, because I was the opening or closing speaker. So I know that I am subject to that vanity. So part of it is the response to that vanity of the public speakers, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:28

So, okay, so here's the thing that I also so I guess my question to you really is what's the purpose? Like, so um, so part of the reason this has come up is that Carrie and I heard what we literally will tell you is probably the best keynote we've heard in the last 18 months. And if anybody who's watched any of our social media, if you started to do the math, I will tell you that that's probably close to 30 conferences.

SPEAKER_02 4:55

And which means it's close to 150 or more keynotes because of the number of conferences that have three or more keynotes, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:06

So, what we want to know, drop in the chat, or and even if you're watching this later, right? Even if it's not right now, drop in the chat what you think the purpose of the keynote is. Because I'm gonna try to get Carrie to tell me because she keeps dodging my question. It's not I want to know what the purpose of the keynote is from Carrie's perspective.

SPEAKER_02 5:29

I'm poking you with the whole chat because this isn't a webinar in the comments. Whatever down there. So I think that the purpose of the keynote is to make an emotional connection with the audience. We have the workshop sessions to feed our minds, right? To teach us things about how to do our job, how to help other people with their jobs. Like that's what the workshops are for, is to feed our mind. And to make Yeah, I got an answer when you're ready. Okay, what's your answer?

SPEAKER_01 6:11

No, it's it's it's it's the definition.

SPEAKER_02 6:15

Oh. And you're you're making weird sounds over there again.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Do you have a fan going or something? I mean, my computer fan is going, but it always goes.

SPEAKER_02 6:27

No, it it sounds like something's brushing up against the microphone. I don't know what it is. Okay. Okay, well, what does the dictionary say it is? Because I think it's about touching the spirit or the soul of the person in the audience.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

So, I mean, that was pretty close. So it's setting the tone and maybe the core message or the big idea for the entire event. So theoretically, a keynote speaker sets the overall tone, theme, and energy. They deliver high impact, expert presentation designed to inspire, educate, or motivate the audience.

SPEAKER_02 7:04

So I just don't, I don't think it's that much about educate. I really don't. Especially when our conferences are so much about education. Well, the rest of the conference is education. It was inspire, educate, motivate. So to me, it's probably one and three. I would just do one and three and skip number two.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

But I think the part that I guess got me compared to some of the ones we've heard in the last 18 months is setting the tone. And I think setting the tone is so on target, whether it's the opening, the lunch, the dinner, the closing, whether it's a keynote, whether it's a main speaker, because I think the energy you bring in a morning session or the energy you bring to wrap up an event, I think is really, really important. I also feel like you gotta have some, some, you gotta really do your homework on the audience. You know, um, we've seen so many things labeled as keynotes that are, and I mean this without saying, because I mean all keynoters on some levels are entertainers, but they're comedians or they're musicians, like they really are an entertainer. And I get that and I like that, but I feel like they've missed the mark when they've totally missed the audience. And we're paying the money. I mean, our ticket, I mean, if you think about it, right? The ticket you pay to go to a conference is your admission ticket to that entertainer. And if you're not entertained, I want my money back.

SPEAKER_02 8:45

Well, I mean, you know, I just not just, but yeah, I I watched the Hugh Jackman, Neil Diamond movie. Um, and so when you're saying entertainer, that's what's in my head right now. Is Hugh Jackman pretending to be Neil Diamond? And so if you have a Neil Diamond impersonator coming in as your keynote, does that connect with the early childhood audience? No, it doesn't.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

No, but if the theme, if you had something that was related to the theme, maybe, right? Like, if, you know, like, you know, we're going to a conference next month, Carrie, right? And that the their theme is kind of airplanes and takeoffs and pilots and stuff like that. So I think if they had an entertainer that was a pilot who was a comedian, who got a little bit at least and really understood the difference between um, say, a kindergarten teacher or a teacher and understanding preschool or early education educators, like if they got that differentiation and they weren't trying to lump all educators together, I think that would be enough. But it would be on brand. It would probably be funny, right? It would have some humor. Like, we've seen some that were really darn funny, and the ones that are coming at it from the perspective as a parent, I kind of find them, I find them funny and I'm okay with them, even if they're not a hundred percent on brand or something. It's when they go, oh, it's so funny, and they're trying to tell me as a middle school teacher. And I'm like, I'm not a middle school teacher, wrong audience.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

Well, and you know, some of those people that are on like the board teacher tour have experience with at least kindergarten or or early ed, and others don't. So I think an educator is an educator, and if they change their routine, their talk, to talk about the similarities and to stay funny, then I think it can work because an educator is an educator. But if you're saying if you're telling us stories about when you were, you know, having to deal with sexually inappropriate content in your high school class, then that doesn't really land because even the out-of-school time folks aren't dealing with that on a regular basis the way a high school teacher is. It's got to connect, like it has to connect. So if it was that high school teacher who was a comedian, and again, I haven't seen a high school comedian, high school teacher, comedian.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

So this is But we had but we've had some motivational speakers who were middle school and high school principals. Right, we have.

SPEAKER_02 11:34

And so, if they can tie it to the similarities, like parents who don't respond to reasonable concerns from the school, um, the difficulty with navigating multicultural environments, or, you know, all there are lots of similarities, but you've got to adjust.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

That trapuccino is not breakfast.

SPEAKER_02 12:00

And so, and some of them do it really well, and some of them don't. But I think if if a good keynote should touch the heart and give you something to think about as you move forward. That's what I think a really good keynote is, and that's what Erica Sicosio did really well at the Texas Licensed Childcare Association conference. She had her keynote had an arc, it had some parts where people were just crying, it had parts where people were cheering, and it had a lot of laughter, but people went away with the thoughts of even when I don't think I can, the kids think I can. And we can achieve a whole lot if we follow the children's uh, you know, their thought process, their interests. You know, we can do a lot more, we can accomplish a lot more if we believe in ourselves when we can't and when we can, and when we can't, we let the children believe in us. I mean, I think that was really great. That that was kind of what she left us with.

SPEAKER_01 13:14

I think it was absolutely wonderful. And she did her research into Texas, and she came from the industry, and she came with humor, and she came on conference message, and like she just nailed it every way um you can. And what I also really appreciated about the conference is the time zone, the time amount. Um, some of the like we've been seeing more and more of keynoters or people who are being given that title, who are given everywhere from 90 minutes to almost two hours. And as somebody who does keynotes, Carrie and I do keynotes, that is not a keynote. That is a workshop and a keynote. Like, that's two things. And respect your audience, respect your keynote, because I mean, I know you're probably doing it because you're like, I want to get the most out of my bang out for my buck for you know for the dollars that you're saying.

SPEAKER_02 14:13

Yeah, if you're paying, you know, if you're paying some number of thousands of dollars, you don't want them there for 32 minutes. You want them there longer than that because you paid to get them there. I get that. But I think it makes more sense to have them do a keynote and then do one or two workshops so that the people who are like impacted immediately after can go into a workshop and dig more deeply. And we had a pretty decent keynote at another conference that did exactly that. Um, and then there was a session right after that she was doing that, was in one of the biggest rooms, expecting people to want to continue that conversation. And I think that's a really smart thing to do.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

Yeah, and there's a keynote that we aren't we aren't actually going to that conference because we've got another conference that same weekend where the same kind of thing. He's coming in, he's delivering the keynote, and then he's doing the conference really kind of played it up, and he's doing some special VIP ticket session. Uh, so he's making it exclusive, right? They're rationalizing um the higher price point for that other ticket. So, I mean, if you're a conference planner, you've been on a conference committee, go back, rewind, listen to what we just said. Ask your audience. It, you know, sometimes people give you glowing feedback because they don't want to really maybe tell you the truth, because it may come across as sexist, racist. Like, you know, if you've heard somebody talk and you did they didn't connect with you as a participant, make sure you you tell people that person didn't connect with me and then tell them why. Tell them planners, don't tell the person. No, no, no, no. Yeah, but like almost every conference gives you an evaluation. One of the presenters at a conference that we've done recently used something that Carrie and I also use, which is called a talk a dot. And I will tell you, I'm actually pretty honest in the talk a dot. Um, one of the ones I've left in the last six months was, hey, I liked your topic, but I didn't like it for this audience, and I thought you were a little dry and too long. This is somebody who does a lot of presentations internationally. And if we don't leave the right review, just like on Google or Yelp or Facebook reviews, you gotta be honest and just telling them what you think you want they want to hear, especially if you get the ability to do it anonymous. The the conference planners don't know. And so, and if you are part of a an organization and you've noticed a trend, and we're gonna go just a tab longer than we normally do on a Sunday, but if you've noticed a trend, and maybe it's all the presenters seem to come from the business community, or as if we're not a business, as if we're not all running, you know, million-dollar or multi-million dollar businesses. Because we are most programs, yes. So, but if they're trying to introduce a new concept, and maybe this is where, as a conference planner, do some research into that concept. Just because just because it's a cool concept, if it's a concept meant for a widget, doesn't mean that that widget concept actually translates to early child care, which is a service business. And and that is one trend we've seen a lot of. And just because it's a name or that person is trained by a big name. So um, I don't think I've seen anybody, but you know, and I love myself some Zig Ziggler, but just because somebody is a Zig Ziggler speaker doesn't necessarily mean they're gonna bring you Zig Ziggler energy. So, um, and Carrie, can I go on my one tiny little soapbox? Do you think I can do it?

SPEAKER_02 18:04

It's not a tiny soapbox. Kate has done some math, and you're gonna be shocked, or at least I hope you're shocked. I was shocked. Um, on she was trying to find out who all is being hired to be a keynote across the country. And she's tracked it for a number of years. What, three years now? Three or four years?

SPEAKER_01 18:28

Three years is what I currently have the data. I've been challenged to go back into at least maybe even 2019 if I can find the data.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

Yep. So, what did you find out about who is being hired and given the thousands of dollars and given the title of a keynote speaker?

SPEAKER_01 18:45

So I'm gonna ask you this question first, Carrie. When you have done your research with the Department of Labor, what is the percentage of women and men in early childcare?

SPEAKER_02 18:56

So, in the industry as a whole, it is 98% female, 2% male or other. And in leadership in early childhood, it is 93% women and 7% male or other. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

So, as one of the things we hear all the time in any component of education is that whoever you're teaching wants to see themselves. So I find it interesting based on those numbers, Gary, because since 2003, 98% of the keynotes across every state and national association, which is on an average three state, three conferences per state. So if you look at their Head Start conferences, their family conferences, their licensed child care homes, their child care programs, their um AEYCs. If you take the the average, so there's roughly, I have about 150 organizations in my database, which includes all of the national organizations and state affiliates, regional affiliates. 98% of the keynotes since 2023 have been men.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

So that 3% of our industry or 7% of leadership is doing a lot of work.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

But yeah, what I haven't actually tracked, I mean, I would give you anecdotal, but I don't actually have the percentages, is the number of keynotes that have actually come from the industry. We have very few of those male keynotes. Um, I'm gonna tell you it's probably less than than than five people total. So there are less than five of those men that are doing those keynotes that actually come from early childhood as a whole.

SPEAKER_02 20:45

So working in early education. There are some that are from out of school time.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

And well, there's some that are coming from school age, school age. They're not even out of school time. They they just happen to be school age age. So they're still principals or teachers in elementary, middle, and high schools.

SPEAKER_02 21:05

Right. And and then, you know, a couple who who work adjacent. So whether they're therapists or something like that, we've got some of those or or providers of um out-of-school time activities. And so it it is a thing that we're concerned about because the other thing we're really noticing is that almost all of them are in their 50s or older. And that wasn't the case when we were coming up in the industry. There were keynotes in their 30s and 40s, and so it's skewing older and it's skewing more male, which means we are leaving out the people who are actually doing the work. We are leaving out the people who are, you know, directors.

SPEAKER_01 21:58

So people come into the contract. Conference. And the teachers, yeah. I mean, at the conference that we've been at, I would say it is not that there aren't uh men. I'm not saying there aren't men. I'm not saying that there aren't people in their 50s because we're there. Uh, but I am gonna absolutely agree with you on that statement that the majority of the people that are showing up to the conferences that were attended are between the ages of probably 22 and 40. And if I was sitting in those audiences, I would be like, I don't see me. And if I went to every conference and I'm in the industry and I'm going to conferences, I don't care if I'm paying or I'm going for free because my state paid for me to go, that state still is disconnected. And you know what? Just because somebody has a strong social media presence, just because somebody might be classified as an influencer, doesn't mean they're going to be an entertainer for me at a conference. I came to get inspired, maybe to become unoverwhelmed, to become, you know, maybe I'm on a borderline burnout. Um, and, you know, I want something that's gonna kick me a little bit in the butt, maybe, and get me excited to do my job.

SPEAKER_02 23:13

Yep. And it can be a new concept that you leave with thinking about, you know, but it shouldn't be the nuts and bolts of that new concept. It should be the broad outlines so that they can go, oh, that was a really interesting thought. The first time anybody at a conference talked to me about the three zones of the brain was at a keynote and it was a closing keynote. And so it was the last thing I thought about as I was leaving about the prefrontal cortex and the midbrain and and the reptilian brain. And I thought about that for days and days and days, and you know, obviously years, because it's years later and I'm still thinking about it. And it changed the way I functioned as an educator, which you can do in a keynote much, you know, in a much different way than in a workshop. So let us know what you want in a keynote. Maybe Kate and I are completely wrong, and that's not what people want from a keynote anymore. Let us know because we want to make sure that we're amplifying your voice as we are talking to the organizers of conferences, because they ask us as presenters and as vendors, what did you like about the conference and what did you not like? And up to this point, we've just been giving our feedback. And I'd kind of like to give yours because that's more important. Your feedback is much more important than my feedback when it comes to the conference organizers because there's a lot more of you, there's a lot more directors and owners than there are people who write courses for directors and owners. So I'd like your voice to be being amplified up to those conference organizers. What makes a great conference? What makes you want to go to a conference instead of getting your training through Zoom or through an online course? Why would you leave your house, put on, as they say, hard pants, and drive to go to a conference? What are those things? And maybe even spend a little money.

SPEAKER_01 25:22

And we know that our states are spending money because they want that quality training. Uh, we know that people, you know, fly, drive, they put themselves up in hotel rooms, they're they're eating. Um, it could be entirely about networking and connections. Um, because we get that. We absolutely love that, and we feel like that is incredibly big part of why we go. It is, it is. And so um give us your feedback. And you know what? We know we have a lot of conference organizers that actually watch and follow our channel, both our podcast channel and Texas Director. So, you know, feel free to be honest there because guess what? Those people are watching our channels and you can just talk to them directly. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

So we will talk to you next week. And I hope you are subscribed to our podcast so you can hear some more of this crazy stuff. And give us your feedback. We'd love to hear from you. Talk to you next week.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

Thanks for tuning in. We love bringing you real talk and fresh insight from the world of early childhood education. Be sure to follow us on social media to stay connected and catch all of the latest episodes. And if you're planning a conference, training, or special event, Kate and Carrie would love to speak to your audience. You can learn more about their keynote sessions and workshops at kateandcary.com. If you learned something today, share the show and leave us a review below. We'll see you next time on Childcare Conversations.