Your keynote speaker cancels at the last minute? No worries! First, stay calm. Now’s the time to pivot smart. Look through your roster—there’s always someone else who can step in, maybe even surprise the audience with a fresh perspective. If not, turn it into an interactive session. A panel discussion or a live Q&A with the audience can work wonders. The goal? Keep the energy high and the audience engaged. Remember, sometimes these unexpected moments lead to the best experiences. Stay flexible, and trust—it’ll work out!

Easy! Step up to the stage and be the speaker! #nbo The organizer like a good CEO, head coach, or leader should always have a backup plan. #vision

Lovely suggestions already here- invite an alternative speaker from the audience, step up yourself if you are a subject matter expert, or have a panel discussion. One more-make it a game session: either have a speed dating session, where everyone gets to talk to one other person, for five minutes and moves on. Or have this done in groups, where people of similar levels/subject expertise/ common interest gather together. This increases the networking factor exponentially, and your participants may have to be dragged back for the next event. So schedule this before lunch or tea-anyway your absent keynote speaker would have sent your schedule for a toss.

He tenido la oportunidad de asistir a varias conferencias y semenarios. En dos de ellas el orador principal cancelo su participación y hubo dos soluciones distintas. En ambas los temas principales eran relacionados con la educación. En la primera el organizador tenia listo a otro ponente con un tema relacionado y en la segunda el organizador planteo un problema e invitó a los asistentes a compartir sus experiencias ante tal situación. Fue muy interesante.