The Challenge Of Booking A Futurist Keynote Speaker In An Unregulated Industry
Futurism is unregulated, although there are a number of professional(ish) associations and communities of practice.
Futurism, unlike other unregulated adjacent areas like strategy consulting or coaching, is far easier to fake without having to show specific expertise or project and client experience.
Therefore, like the enormous wellbeing and persuasion industries, futurism can attract the chancers, the con artists, and the simply crap.
How To Tell If A Futurist Keynote Speaker Is Authentic & Legit
As well as working out whether the futurist you are looking at has the requisite skills and capabilities to be a futurist keynote speaker, here are some signs they may be a true professional and expert:
Significant past or present role in a strategy, innovation, marketing, foresight, or customer insight firm, internal corporate function, or entrepreneurial endeavor
Experience working on major (not freebie) projects within blue-chip firms, multinationals, and Fortune 500s or building their own innovations as a founder
Able to use quantitative and qualitative data to unlock insights and ideas that are original yet also actionable
Imaginative, even visionary, thinking or approaches
Focuses on deep drivers of change and distinguishes these from mere trends or fads
Use their intelligence to engage, empathize, and influence
Display nuance, depth, reflection, and an appreciation of complexity
Always and clearly attribute the ideas and insights of others
Know the limits of futurism and their own "genius"
Craft a compelling narrative of the future supported by data and insight/foresight
Acknowledge their own biases, agenda, and fallibility
Know that predictions are at best, limited and at worse, useless
Appreciate the role of intuition as much as intellect in futurism
Demonstrate that they care deeply about the future, and that it occupies their mind
Have been committed to the role of a futurist for many years (for example, have blogs that go back or have published a book)
Signs A Futurist May Be A Fake, Fraud Or Charlatan
Offer oversimplified solutions and memes that fail to reflect the complexity of our age: E.g., it's all about X this year; Y is the new Z
Claim to be able to predict the future of a sector
Ignore or pretend not to have biases or an agenda
Focus on trends as opposed to deep drivers of change
Bamboozle people with technical talk and jargon
Focuses on trends and fads
Use their intelligence to look good, show off, or gain status
Hit audiences over the head with a load of stats or new technologies rather than doing the hard work of making sense of it all for their audience
Have produced little or no original thinking and rehash the ideas of others
Do not attribute ideas to others
Need to look smart, always have the last word, or respond to questions quickly to appear brilliant without thorough and thoughtful reflection
Speak very quickly when asked hard questions or are disagreed with (c.f. the Gish Gallop)
Are attracted to being a futurist because they think it is impressive
Have come to futurism recently/opportunistically
Present as overly cocky, self-congratulatory, or charming (all can be signals of con artistry)
Are trying to sell you something else or some version of the future that suits them
You may also want to read my other posts about professional futurism and futurist keynote speakers:
If you'd like to find out more about how I might help your audience grapple with the future and wrestle breakthroughs from the jaws of chaos, send my team a message through the inquire now form.
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