Zero to Keynote Workshop
You arrive with an idea. You leave with a talk.
Zero to Keynote is a day for building a talk. You bring an idea, or the start of one, and by half past four you've shaped it, built it, rehearsed it, rewritten it and given it to the room.
It isn't a presentation skills course. It's a production day. You'll learn plenty along the way, but the talk is what you take home. It runs as a small public day in Winchester, and in-house for teams.
Public day · Winchester
Take a seat
Eight people, one talk each. Central Winchester, an hour from London Waterloo.
£300a seat · lunch, materials and the book included
See the next date ↓New dates go to the waiting list first
In-house · for your team
Bring it to your people
The same day, built around the talks your people need to give: at conferences, to customers, across the business. Add a second day on delivery if you'd like.
Book a 20-minute call →How in-house works · At your place, here or abroad
A day of making
The day runs on index cards and pens, with no laptops and no slides.
Cards let you move ideas around, drop what isn't working and see the shape of a talk on the table. (Why I build talks on index cards.) The method is the one from the free masterclass: start from what the talk should leave with the room, and build back from there.
Feedback comes all day, from me and from each other in rehearsal, and it's the useful kind: "This was the bit I remembered." "I got lost here."
The day
9am to 5:30pm
How it runs
- 09:00Arrive. Coffee, and meet the room
- 09:30The idea. Find it, and test it against the audience
- 10:15The shape. The arc of the talk, on index cards
- 11:30First edit. Keep what earns its place
- 12:30Lunch
- 13:30Elements of communication. What helps a talk land
- 14:00Build the talk. The content, card by card
- 15:00Rehearsal. In fours, with feedback
- 15:45Rewrite. Act on what you heard
- 16:30Ship. Give your talk to the room
- 17:15What next. From first version to the stage
What you leave with
- A title for your talk
- A central idea, in a sentence
- A structure you can see on the table
- The content, card by card
- A rehearsed first version, given to the room
- Feedback from seven listeners and me
- A plan to take it to the stage
- A printed copy of Zero to Keynote
Who it's for
Anyone with an idea they'd like to turn into a talk: someone asked to speak at a conference, a business owner explaining what they do, or someone with a talk that's been in their head for years. You don't need any speaking experience.
A mixed room helps, because you hear your idea land on people who don't share your job, just like a real audience. Eight is deliberate: enough for an audience, few enough that every talk gets proper time.
About Rob
I've given talks for twenty years, on conference stages and in boardrooms, and I've led teams as VP of Engineering, VP of HR and Head of Communication. I've taught hundreds of people to speak, and run the Everyday Communication workshop more than 250 times.
A few years ago I ran this day for four people in my own team, all preparing talks for an industry conference. All four of us got on the agenda. All four of us finished in the top four, as ranked by the audience.
I also wrote Zero to Keynote, the wider field guide to getting on stage. Everyone on the public day takes a printed copy home. More about Rob →
Book a place
Public day · Winchester
- When
- Tuesday 27 October 2026, 9am to 5:30pm The next date is being set. Join the list below to hear first. Booking open Sold out
- Where
- Central Winchester, a short walk from the station and about an hour from London Waterloo. I'll send the venue when you book.
- Price
- £300 a seat
- Included
- Lunch, coffee, all the materials and a printed copy of Zero to Keynote
- Before the day
- Three short questions when you book: your idea, your audience, and what would make the day worth it
The day goes ahead once six places are booked, and I'll confirm two weeks before. If it doesn't run, you get a full refund and I'll post you the book.
Can't make this date? Hear about the next one first.
Join the waiting list.
Be first to hear the next date.
New dates, and any seat that comes free, go to the list a couple of days before anyone else. Eight seats a day, so it's worth being early.
For teams and organisations
Bring Zero to Keynote to your team
Engineers heading to conferences, leaders with a story to tell, teams who present to customers. In-house, it's the same day and the same method, built around your people and the talks they actually need to give. I come to you, in the UK or abroad. In-house days start from £3,500 for the group.
Day one
From idea to talk
Find the right idea, test it against the audience, then build it into a clear talk on index cards. Laptops stay closed.
Everyone leaves with the first draft of a real talk.
Day two · optional
From draft to delivery
Bring the talk to life: presence, voice, nerves, slides, openings and closings, and questions.
Everyone presents, more than once, with specific feedback.
We'll agree dates, group size and the shape of the day. No pitch.
Or email info@cultivatednotes.com. I usually reply within 24 hours.
For whoever holds the budget
Zero to Keynote is a hands-on workshop that helps people turn an idea into a talk worth the audience's time, run in person by Rob Lambert of Cultivated, former VP of Engineering, VP of HR and Head of Communication. Day one takes each person from an idea to the first draft of a real talk they need to give. An optional second day works on delivery. It starts with a 20-minute call to agree dates, group size and focus.
Three ways in
Zero to Keynote
01 · Start free
Before the Stage
Free video masterclass
Five short 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.