Q&A with Peter Baines

Tell us about your background and what led you to become a keynote speaker?

For 20 years I worked with NSW Police as a forensic specialist which involved the investigation of serious and major crime. I was fortunate to deploy internationally in response to crisis and disaster in the Asian region leading international teams in the forensic identification of those who died. In Thailand after the Boxing Day tsunami we would recover 5395 bodies that required forensic identification. It was and remains the world’s largest identification effort. During my time in Australia in between my deployments to Thailand in 2005, I met a keynote speaker who shared with me knowledge of the speaking industry of which I had no previous exposure. He suggested I may have a story worth sharing – if I could indeed tell the story. I left our lunch meeting and discarded his business card and any thought of it, after all, I was just a forensic police specialist, what value did I have for those in business or outside policing for that matter? It was only when I returned to Thailand for a subsequent tour to continue my forensic work that I met a group of children who had all lost their parents. They were living in a tent and there didn’t appear to be anything happening that would change the situation for them. I thought about raising money to build them a home and provide for their future. There were 32 kids. But I had no idea of raising money or what to do. My mind returned to the lunch conversation I had previously had around speaking and the opportunity. My thought was “even if half of what he said is true, that is how I will raise money to build the kids a home”. SO with that I started telling stories and the speaking fees I was paid were used in the early days to support the start of the fundraising and the building of the home for the kids.

What do you love most about being a Speaker?

It is a deep privilege to be invited to share my story and no matter who the client or the enthusiasm of the audience, that privilege is never lost on me. It has quite literally taken me around the world and afforded me so many wonderful opportunities to share my personal story and the work that Hands Across the Water does in Thailand, which is the charity I formed all those years ago to support the kids. It is always humbling to receive feedback and indeed to stand on stage and see the emotion and attention of the audience. But one of the things I love the most is when I will have an interaction with someone years after they saw me present and they comment on the impact it had on their life and the learnings they took from it. I have had people ten years after seeing me speak connect at another conference and almost word for word, recount a story I told. It is amazing and so humbling.

How do you prepare mentally and emotionally before stepping onto the stage to deliver a keynote? Any rituals or routines you follow?

I like to find some quiet time to reflect on the opportunity that is presenting and allow me to remove the noise in my head of whatever else is going on so that for the next 45-60 minutes I can be the absolute best version of myself as a speaker.

What speaking topics are you most passionate about, and why?

I am traditionally engaged to speak on leadership, but increasingly so these days I am also engaged to speak on personal leadership and the value of finding balance in our lives and growth through adversity. I stand on stage as a very ordinary person that the audience can relate to and through a series of events have brought change to lives of others. I think audiences can resonate and connect with the “ordinariness” of who I am, and I like that a lot.

How do you tailor your message to different audiences or industries?

A client will connect based on what they have heard, referrals they have been given or some other source of information. So they come to me with I reckon 70% of the story that they want told locked in. It is the remaining 30% where we work together to build a keynote that hits the key points they are looking for and highly relevant to their audience.

Can you share a specific moment where you felt a deep connection with your audience during a keynote?

There is always a point in the keynote when you have the attention of the audience. I mean REALLY have it. At the beginning there will be parts of the audience who are tuned in. There will be those who are on their phone, there will be those on their laptops or writing in a book, there will be those chatting with the person sitting next to them, there will be some fidgeting around and others sitting there arms crossed sitting back in their seat yet to be convinced that what I have to say is of any remote interest or value to them. Then there will be a change, phones will go away, laptops close, chatter ceases and people are leaning forward in their seats. From the stage I can look into their eyes and you know that for that moment in time, there is a deep connection. You have them. They have surrendered to you and right there, right then whatever else is going on in their life has taken a back seat. The power and energy in the room at that time is like a drug for me. It is a special shared moment in time.

How important do you think it is to continuously grow and evolve as a speaker?

Depending on your topic and story it can be a bit like your favourite musician you go to see in concert. You want to hear the songs you love and know the words to, you want some of the new stuff as well but you don’t want to go to a concert and only hear songs from the latest released album, where is the fun in that, you want to be able to sing along. But of course without evolution and growth you risk becoming a one hit wonder!!

In your opinion, what makes an amazing speaker?

Integrity in the message and the authenticity of who you are on stage and off stage. The value of storytelling is so important and powerful so if your topic lends to good stories then that is a must.

What can an audience expect to take away when they hear you on stage?

I want the audience to walk away “feeling” something. I believe that if you make your audience feel then they will remember. I hope that they find something that provides value to them either in a business or personal capacity and encourages them to do something they long wanted to do but for a variety of reasons haven’t.

Tell us about yourself outside of your speaking. What other projects/businesses do you have on the go?

Since finishing my forensic work which ended with my time in Interpol in Lyon working on Counter Terrorism, every day since has been occupied to various degrees with my work on leading the international operations of Hands Across the Water, the charity that I started to support kids in Thailand and the very reason I got into the speaking in the first place. 2024 has a single minded focus on a 1400km run that I will do in Thailand to mark the 20th anniversary of the Boxing Day tsunami. I will complete the run in 26 days which will necessitate me running an average of 60kms a day in the heat and humidity of Thailand. Apart from Hands, Claire, my wife and I, operate Wildnest, a high end Glamping business on our farm in the Central West of NSW which is described as rugged and refined. It is a stunning part of the world and offers me a deep connection to the land when I am there.