Why I Bespoke Every Talk - And What That Means for Your Audience
- Dr Pretty Basra
- Jun 7
- 4 min read
I get asked this question fairly regularly by event organisers: Do you have a standard talk?
And my honest answer is no. Not really.
I have topics. I have frameworks. I have material I've developed over years of research, clinical practice, and lived experience that I draw from. But the talk I deliver to a room of independent optometrists navigating ICB changes and the pressures of running a small business is not the same talk I deliver to a corporate leadership team in a hotel conference room. It shouldn't be.
Here's why this matters, and what it means if you're considering bringing me in to speak.
The Generic Keynote Problem
The speaking industry has a version of what I'd call the off-the-shelf problem. A speaker develops a talk that works well once, records the standing ovation, and then delivers that same talk, word for word, story for story, to every audience that books them for the next three years.
I understand why this happens. Preparation takes time. A talk that has landed well feels like a safe bet. Why rebuild something that works?
But here's the thing: it stops working. Not immediately, but gradually. The speaker stops feeling it, because they've said those words so many times they've lost their original truth. The audience senses the distance. And the talk that used to shift something in the room starts to simply pass through it.
The best talks are alive. They have to be.
What Bespoke Actually Means
When I work with an event organiser to prepare a keynote, I start with questions, not a content list.
Who is in the room? What is the context of their work right now — what are the pressures, the opportunities, the conversations they're not quite having? What has happened in the profession or the organisation recently that will be sitting in the room with them whether we name it or not?
What do you want them to feel? Not just take away intellectually, but feel. What would shift if this talk landed exactly right?
The answers to those questions shape everything. The entry point of the talk — the opening story or provocation. The specific examples and references I draw on. The language I use. The moments I build in for reflection. The call to action at the end.
A talk on burnout for a room of optometrists in the NHS looks and sounds different from a talk on burnout for a room of female entrepreneurs. The underlying neuroscience is the same. The lived experience I draw on is the same. But the emotional entry point, the specific language, the things I name directly, those are calibrated to the people in front of me.
That calibration is the difference between a talk that informs and a talk that transforms.
Why This Is Worth the Preparation Time
I won't pretend that bespoke preparation is quick. It requires a proper brief, often a call with the organiser, time to research the specific context and audience, and a genuine rebuild of the material rather than a cosmetic rework.
But the return is measurable.
When the people in your room feel seen, when the talk references something true about their experience without them having told the speaker anything, the trust that creates is immediate and profound. It opens a door in the listener. They lean in differently. They receive the material differently.
And the outcomes you care about as an event organiser, engagement, feedback scores, lasting behavioural change, the sense that the investment was worth it, those outcomes are a direct product of that trust.
What to Expect If We Work Together
If you enquire about a keynote, workshop or panel with me, the process starts with a conversation. Not a pitch, a proper discussion about your audience, your event, your goals.
I'll ask you things other speakers might not ask. I'll want to understand the specific context your people are operating in. I'll want to know what's happened recently that will be alive in the room. I'll want to understand what success looks like for you at the end of the day.
And then I'll build something for your people specifically. Grounded in neuroscience, drawn from lived experience, designed to create a moment in the room that lasts beyond the applause.
That's what bespoke means to me. And it's the only way I know how to do this work properly.
To enquire about a keynote, workshop or panel session, visit drprettybasra.com/speaking-workshops
About Dr Pretty Basra
Dr Pretty Basra is a TEDx speaker, international keynote speaker and award-winning healthcare entrepreneur with over 20 years in optometry and 10 years in leadership. She delivers neuroscience-informed keynotes on mental fitness, burnout, the female advantage, and confidence, wealth and freedom, for organisations across the UK and internationally.
She is Head of Events for the Optical Women's Association, Chair of the ICB Optometry Forum, a WOPEC assessor, and a member of the General Optical Council's fitness to practise panel. She is also the first UK optometrist to integrate medical aesthetics and ocular wellness into clinical practice.
Pretty hosts the The Women Money Business podcast and runs the Inner Circle membership community for women in optometry and healthcare.
📍 Based in the UK · Available for keynotes, workshops and panels worldwide
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