Standing ovation for my Louisville keynote on team building and remembering that the work we do matters

Jason Soejoto trusted me to be the keynote speaker at the 2025 Gift Sales Manager Association convention in Louisville KY and I realize what that means: when everything is on the line you have to make the right choice. 

When you have an event that your boss has tasked you with, and when choosing the right keynote speaker is part of that equation, making the right choice is more than a logistical decision. This can be a defining moment for your career trajectory....no pressure!

The right speaker for the right audience at the right time can elevate and ignite a room. That presenter doesn’t just open the event with a smile, or greet humans randomly, or repeat corporate slogans like an automaton. The best meeting and event planners know that the right conference keynote speaker sets the tone for an entire conference. They deliver real impact, and they do so while aligning with the event’s message and goals.

When people ask how to choose a keynote speaker, I tell them that chemistry along with relevance (and of course the ability to truly move an audience) are key indicators of the best possible keynote speaking event solution for what they are looking for. Choose wisely," I tell them, "because a solid keynote speaker, like the people watching, matters."

In Louisville, Jason and I made the choice to have me speak based on that chemistry - which often comes down to this equation:

Resume + past experience + gut feel after connecting via Zoom = the right choice

Jason chose wisely! I delivered. The presentation, for the morning session on opening day received a standing ovation. I delivered a keynote presentation with ideas about team building and leadership through focusing on our people and reminding them that the work they do matters, and that what we do is meaningful.  

I will be clear about this here in the same way I was clear to the audience: reminding people that they matter and that the work we do is meaningful is like high octane fuel for teamwork. Here is a bit about why that is true. Reminding people that they matter is essential because at the core of the human experience is a desire to be seen, feel valued, and know that we are connected to something significant beyond the immediacy of our lives. When we feel connected to something greater than ourselves, we feel the empowerment of that collective, group, or organization.

Ernest Becker, Pulitzer Prize winning cultural anthropologist, wrote about this by describing one's engagement with culture and the illusions it offers as, "a heroic dimension" from which people gain vital life enhancement. We find meaning in the engagement with others that culture and inclusion provide.

Connection with other people and engagement with them counters isolation (and idea I write about in my book), and it also reinforces self-worth (another idea I write about in my book) and strengthens relationships (yes, you guessed it...its in the book).

In addition, the concept (mhmm...from my book) about The Reverberation Effect, or a system of communication and leadership combined with teamwork that yields reinforcement and validation...all through people connecting. It results from people sharing effectively as relays for one another's ideas, and has far reaching implications for effective teams.

After the keynote in Louisville, Jason offered this quote:

Put your trust in Greg Bennick as your keynote speaker. He made me look like a rock star.  

(Jason Soejoto, Executive Board, GSMA)

Invite me to speak to your group! Take the ideas in this room and we can inspire your people to not just get elevated, but to take the ideas back to their teams. As I have been saying repeatedly since the last century, when we take what we learn and feel inside of this particular room and break away, we will affect people in waves and droves, and that leads to not just us feeling inspired and empowered, but everyone we encounter after the fact as well.

Be in touch. I will make you look like a rockstar too.