A checklist for a thought leadership talk or article that covers clarifying your purpose and core insight and preparing for engagement.
Checklist For a Thought Leadership Talk or Article
The goal of creating a Thought Leadership talk or article is to demonstrate expertise by offering timely, actionable insight on important trends and challenges. Instead of just sharing knowledge, the aim is to help your audience make sense of what’s happening now, anticipate implications, and act with confidence. Effective thought leadership builds trust, credibility, and visibility, positioning you as a go-to resource. It attracts the right conversations, opens doors to new opportunities, and differentiates you from competitors. Ultimately, it’s about providing clarity and value that prompt others to engage, learn, and see you as a trusted advisor.
Thought leadership creates business value. Why does this work?
- You get called first.
- It enables you to compete on more than just price.
- It prompts current customers to bring new, tougher challenges.
- It can open up new opportunities and offerings.
Developing thought leadership elevates your content marketing and lead generation by making valuable and relevant information which is distinctive and insightful instead of generic.
The format I like is
- How is the world changing
- Current way of doing things will not continue to work for these major reasons
- New options (new world)
- Unique insight / point of view
- Share your perspective: what you see that others don’t
- Explain the significance and implications
- Actionable guidance
- Offer frameworks, checklists, or steps people can apply
- Use examples or case studies to illustrate
As you develop your talk or article, keep these points in mind:
- Who is your target audience?
- What are the key take-aways from the article for your target audience
- How will your target use this info in their job? How will they apply this to a particular problem or challenge they are facing?
- What actions would you like the target audience to take: what are you trying to sell them or what transactions are you hoping to spur, for example: (1) attend a workshop or class (2) bring you in to give a briefing; (3) explore whether using your product or services would give them a jump start on understanding for their particular problem.. (5) other…
Checklist for Planning a Thought Leadership Talk or Article
Clarify Your Purpose
- What’s the goal—educate, influence, inspire, or challenge assumptions?
- Who is the target audience, and what do they care about?
- What action or shift in thinking do you want them to take?
Define Your Core Insight
- What trend, issue, or change are you addressing right now?
- What unique perspective do you bring?
- How can you frame it so it’s memorable and relevant?
Develop Content Structure
- Hook or story to capture attention.
- Context: what’s happening and why it matters.
- Unique point of view and implications.
- Actionable advice, frameworks, or examples.
- Clear takeaways and closing call to action.
Prepare for Engagement
- What questions will you pose to spark dialogue?
- How will you encourage audience interaction or feedback?
- Do you have follow-up resources (articles, slides, checklists)?
Polish and Deliver
- Edit for clarity, brevity, and impact.
- Ensure stories, data, and visuals reinforce your message.
- Practice or test your narrative for flow and timing.
- Align publishing/distribution with the right channels (event, blog, LinkedIn, podcast).
What suggestions do you have for additions, deletions, or changes to this checklist for a thought leadership talk or article?
Related Blog Posts
- Thought Leadership: A Briefing For San Bruno Rotary
- Content Creation for Thought Leadership and Lead Generation
- A Conversation with Elzet Blaauw on Thought Leadership
- Elzet Blaauw Part 2: Human vs. Algorithmic Moderation
- Essentials of Selling Your Expertise In a Webinar
- Refine and Curate Your Thoughts as FAQs, Articles, and Talks
- Mary Sorber: SKMurphy Offers Practical Advice on Thought Leadership