Zero to Keynote
The honest field guide to conference speaking, from your first nervous talk to a keynote you actually enjoy giving.
Maybe you’ve been asked to give a talk and felt your stomach drop. Maybe you’ve sat in an audience thinking, “I could do that, and I’d do it differently.” Either way, the gap between you and the stage is smaller than it looks.
My first presentation at a conference was awful. A year and eight talks later, I gave my first keynote.
The difference wasn't talent.
It was a handful of foundations I knew from studying communication but hadn't applied to a talk: having something worth saying, knowing who it's for, refining the thread, understanding the context, crafting for audience value and building the talk so it lands.
Zero to Keynote is the field guide I wish I'd been handed before that first talk. It's 195 pages, built to be carried to a conference and dipped into as you submit, build and deliver.
No. 04 in the seeing series. Written, designed and published in Great Britain by Cultivated.
The honest guide, not the arm-waving one
Most speaking advice is about where to put your hands and how many words to allow on a slide. That stuff matters a little. What matters a lot is having something worth saying, and making it land with the people in the room.
This book starts there. It's for first-timers, nervous presenters, and experienced speakers who want to step up to listed keynotes.
The same foundations work in business meetings, sales pitches and community events. If you have to stand up and say something, it's for you.
Why get on the stage at all
Four reasons
Open doors in your career
Speaking was the single most important move I ever made. It brings invitations, work and people you'd never otherwise meet.
Get past the fear
Nerves are a sign you care. The book shows you how to turn them into energy, and how to prepare so well that the talk carries you.
Actually get accepted
Finding the right conferences, reading a call for papers, and writing a submission reviewers want to say yes to.
Make every talk a keynote
The idea at the heart of the book. Design every talk as if it were the main event, and the real keynotes start coming to you.
Inside the book
Twelve chapters
- 01Why speak from the stage
- 02A hot mess: how it started
- 03Make every talk a keynote
- 04What kind of talk to give: experience reports, how-tos, theories, keynotes
- 05Generating talk ideas
- 06Ten communication principles: the heart of the book
- 07Submitting to a conference
- 08Creating the presentation
- 09The subtle art of being prepared
- 10Delivering with calm presence
- 11Questions, and when there be dragons: Q&A, hecklers, tech that gives up
- 12For supporters and attendees
The ten principles
- 01Purpose, audience and context
- 02Enthusiasm: belief the audience can feel
- 03Your words need decoding
- 04Stories go where facts cannot
- 05Don’t waste the audience’s time
- 06Practice makes permanent
- 07People remember how you make them feel
- 08The body speaks first: non-verbal communication
- 09Sound like your audience
- 10You can hack your body
Choose your edition
Same book, two ways
Digital
£8.99
- 195 pages, full colour PDF
- Download straight away, keep it for life
- Read it on any device, anywhere in the world Not useful? Email me within 30 days of buying the digital edition and I'll refund it
£12.99
- A5, full colour, gloss paper, durable binding
- Posted with a handwritten thank-you note
- Dispatched within 3–5 working days Printed in Great Britain
UK shipping only.
A good present for someone with a talk coming up.
What readers say
I've been speaking at events for years and there's still so much to learn from this book. — Amy – seasoned conference speaker.
Beautiful book, powerful advice. The conference submission piece is worth it alone. — Ranjesh – first time speaker.
About Rob
I've spoken at conferences for twenty years, across several industries, and picked up a few best-of-conference awards along the way. I've run the Everyday Communication workshop more than 250 times. Presenting my ideas at a conference used to be my worst nightmare. Now it's the part of the work that brings me the most joy.
If you'd like me at your event, here's how I give talks and keynotes. Or read more about the wider practice.
Questions people ask
Digital or print?
The same book, same pages, same diagrams. Digital arrives straight away and goes anywhere you do. Print is A5, made to be scribbled in and carried to the conference, and comes with a handwritten note.
Can I get the print edition outside the UK?
Not at the moment: print ships within the UK only. The digital edition works anywhere.
How is it different from Before the Stage and the workshop?
The masterclass and the public workshop teach one method in depth: finding the idea for your talk and shaping it into something that lands. The book is the wider field guide, covering why to speak, what kind of talk to give, getting accepted, preparing, delivering, and handling Q&A. They work together, in any order.
I have Effective Workplace Communication. Is there overlap?
A little, on purpose. The book's ten principles come from the same roots as the workbook's ten elements. Here they're applied to one voice, one room and an audience that chose to be there. If you teach rather than present, Workshop Mastery is the companion for that.
Can I buy copies for a team or a conference?
Yes. Email info@cultivatednotes.com for ten or more print copies, or to give speakers at your event a copy. A discount will be available for bulk orders.
Three ways in
Zero to Keynote
01 · Start free
Before the Stage
Free video masterclass
Five masterclass videos on finding the idea for your talk and shaping it into something that lands, with five guides to keep. Comes with Meeting Notes.
Watch free →02 · On your own
Zero to Keynote, the book
Field guide · digital or print
The complete field guide to conference speaking: what to say, getting accepted, preparing, and delivering with calm presence, nerves and all.
Get the book →03 · Together
The workshop
A day in Winchester · or in-house
Eight people, index cards and no laptops. Bring an idea and leave with the first draft of a talk. Also runs for teams.
Book a place →The masterclass and the workshop teach my method for shaping an idea into a talk. The book is the wider field guide to getting on stage and doing it well. They work together, in any order.
Images from the book
Zero to Keynote print edition, chapter 6 spread: the ten communication principles
Make every talk a keynote
Every industry needs fresh voices. There’s room for you. This is the field guide to getting there.
Get Zero to Keynote →Digital £8.99 · Print £12.99