A post late in coming. What is a keynote address? What should it be?
Recent experiences at a conference make me think that this practice isn’t one at all. It’s just “give a long time to someone whose work everyone is familiar with or should be.” It’s no different than a conference paper presentation except the person giving it is famous in the field.
Perhaps a keynote should be totally different from a conference paper or panel. Here are some thoughts about what a keynote needs to be in order to be a keynote – that is, something plenary, that opens or anchors a conference, that everyone expects to attend.
A Sense of Purpose
A good keynote address should consistently be arguing for the purpose of the field, organization, or the topic of the conference. We are gathered here to share our ideas because we share a sense of purpose. This need not be the thesis or an established point in the address, but should flow throughout. It should be the undercurrent of the entire presentation. Reinforced and reminding through the talk, it makes sure to invigorate and give some connection to the other things the participants will say, hear, and do throughout the rest of the conference.
Double Vision
A good keynote shows the audience simultaneously where we’ve been and what’s next. This could be thought of either as a more spiritual metaphor – the idea of visions; a harbinger of some kind on the horizon, or the more boring metaphor of the GPS – cold and efficient, telling us what’s ahead and what we need to do as an organization to get there. The point is that there must be a display of the past, present, and the desirable future at once. The speaker who is good at this will be someone who can take easily recognizable moments in organization/field history and connect them with a vision for and of the future where they seem in concert. What appears blurry at the start of the keynote becomes a perfect palimpsest where the letters on the older text below become necessary to the words of the document on top, the one still being written now by the members and participants in the conference.
Acknowledgement
A good keynote will be humble and risk-averse. It will not call attention to the speaker and the speaker’s work, unless that work is established in the keynote as a tipping of the hat to the greats. The opportunity here to give praise to the major work in the field, the big moments of accomplishment and advancement to the field. Of course, one can share one’s insights and work (we’ll get to that) but it’s much more important that this work be seen as a continuation of the accomplishments of the great ones or the great organization – those things everyone can identify. The keynote weaves them together to provide a sense of living history – we are all a part of these accomplishments, but they require maintenance and we cannot stop here. We are appreciative for the basis for future and current work. This is sort of like inheriting a garden.
The arc of interesting work
This is where the speaker can discuss their current or future work, but it should not be presented in a state of completeness. To use a baking metaphor the ingredients, the rising, the oven should be the focus. There should be recognition and discussion of recent work – hopefully from younger members – that is the right way to go and of great interest. There can also be discussion of a perplexing issue – maybe one a few people have tried to study but nothing definite yet, or a giant topic that we should study, that we are obligated to study, but nobody can seem to find the way in (or haven’t noticed it yet). This is less the presentation of research and more the presentation of inquiry, or that excited moment when one recognizes something that can really open up and become interesting in scholarship. This is the part of the keynote that is the rudder and puts the boat on the course the speaker wishes. This can also be done very creatively, making the entire thesis of the keynote this point – a big issue to investigate; a huge controversy; something going on all around us that begs for scholarly attention; and then the speaker can do the rest of the elements as they go through and discuss the various elements at play in the issue.
There are no doubt more things that a good keynote should do, and I’d be interested in seeing what readers think. I would say the ones I’ve listed here are essential – meaning whatever else you do, don’t fail to do these things. If you miss one the keynote evaporates, becoming just another dry conference paper. You can’t have a conference of just presentations – there must be someone, something to remind everyone how valuable and important the work that brings us all together ultimately is. This is never given, it must be created, sustained, and most importantly, communicated to others and must be convincing.