Before the Stage
A free five-part masterclass on turning a good idea into a talk that lands.
You’ve got something worth saying. Most people do.
The craft is shaping it into a talk that lands with the people in the room, and nearly all of that happens long before you walk on stage, with an idea, a pen and a stack of index cards.
Before the Stage is a free video masterclass about that part: finding an idea worth talking about, testing it against the people in the room, and shaping it into a talk you can stand behind. It’s the 90% of a good talk that happens before you’re anywhere near a stage.
It's for anyone with a talk to give: a keynote, a meetup session, a conference track talk, or a presentation at work on a wet Tuesday afternoon.
Free · five videos · five guides
Get the masterclass
It’s free when you join Meeting Notes, my Sunday letter: one good idea a week. Enter your email, click the link I send you, and you’ll land straight back here with everything ready to watch.
Already a member? Sign in and the videos appear below. Unsubscribe from the letter any time and you keep the masterclass.
What's inside
Five short videos, filmed in the studio with visual companions. Watch them in order, at your own pace. Everything is here the moment you sign up.
- From idea to value. What a good talk really is, and the whole journey on one board.
- Finding ideas. The hopper, three places to look, and why the best talks are several ideas mashed together.
- The value lens. Five tests for choosing an idea worth your audience's time.
- Building the arc. Index cards, one throughline and the shape of your talk.
- Write it, learn it, ship it. From script to stage, and a way of learning a talk so you can't forget it.
Plus five free guides to download and keep: Finding ideas for talks, The value lens, the Conference speaking checklist, Getting your talk accepted and Ten principles of communication.
Who's teaching it
I'm Rob Lambert. My first conference talk was a hot mess. A year and eight talks later, I gave my first keynote, and I've been speaking at conferences and company events ever since.
I wrote Zero to Keynote, the book this masterclass comes from, and I teach the same method in person at the Zero to Keynote workshop: a room of eight, index cards, no laptops. Before the Stage is the free version of that day.