How Conference Producers Tell Researchers from Repackagers
Does the speaker reference data they personally analyzed, or quotes from McKinsey/Gartner reports? Repackagers can't answer "what's a finding you've personally produced?"
Will they answer questions outside their slides? Researchers can; performers can't. Test: "what's a question your slides don't cover?"
Watch a 5-min YouTube clip. Count specifics per minute (numbers, named companies, dated events). Less than 3 = signal.
Compare their last 3-4 talks. AI moves fast. A speaker whose framework hasn't shifted in 18 months either isn't researching or doesn't update.
Does the deck visibly change for different audiences? A great speaker delivers a different talk to CMOs than to developers.
If AV breaks, the speaker who actually knows their material recovers. The repackager freezes.
Counterintuitive. Speakers worth booking decline wrong-fit events. Acceptance rate of 100% signals quality issues.
The best AI keynote speakers are not the ones with the longest LinkedIn bio. They are the ones who can answer a question their slides don't cover.