Lessons from ‘Bohemian Gravity’: Think Outside the Box with Keynote Speakers

A few days ago, Tim Blais of A Capella Science posted a video on YouTube called Bohemian Gravity! It’s an a capella version of Bohemian Rhapsody (originally done by Queen — Wayne’s World, anyone?). Tim created a parody, with lyrics focused on the popular subject we all remember … Physics. I don’t know about you, but physics is not even in the wheelhouse of things I understand.

What Tim did was take a super-smart subject and make it accessible with a song. He took a familiar song, with traditional information and mashed it together. The result: In under a week, there have been over 600,000 hits (it will surely grow by the time you read this blog). It’s entertaining and it’s teaching you at the same time. Oooooh.

So, what’s the teaching moment meeting planners use for booking keynote speakers? (time for my non-physics lesson) … feel free to play the video while reading the rest of this blog … unless you understand physics.

1. Take a traditional message and turn it upside down. Use a keynote speaker who can deliver a traditional message in an unusual way. (Erik Wahl: discovering untapped potential, or the Passing Zone: jugglers who really are experts on teamwork).

2. Think of speakers who have turned their industry upside down. Was a computer a computer before Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak designed the Apple computer? Or, how about former Southwest Airline CEO Howard Putnam who helped to change the airline industry.

3. Creativity Sparks Creativity. When we open our minds up and allow ourselves to be creative, we realize that ANYTHING is possible (now that’s how a business grows). That includes magic (Marco Tempest: magician who mixes magic and technology) and Music (Boris Brott: who knew how closely related an orchestra is to a business?).

Flip it around, shake it up, and let creativity be your guide. Who knows, maybe something your marketing department creates will be the next viral video.