Keith Tan does well to promote wellness

Delivering a scripted speech is much harder than it looks. It's too easy to focus so much on the written word that what your audience hears sounds mechanical, staged, even contrived.

But Keith Tan, CEO of the Singapore Tourism Board, delivered his speech so naturally, despite presenting from a script. He made sure to keep eye contact with his audience while keeping his delivery natural.

That is why we have nominated him for the Hong Bao Media Savvy Awards 2021.

Watch and read below for my assessment.

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We launched the Hong Bao Media Savvy Awards in 2018 to recognise local business leaders for their communications skills, and to showcase authentic and credible home-grown communicators.

Supported by the Asia Pacific Association of Communications Directors and joining us this year – the Investor Relations Professionals Association Singapore and the Public Relations and Communications Association – we highlight shining examples for other local business leaders to follow, and to build a culture of excellence in communication, to maximise the potential of Asian companies in the Asian Century.

Nominations close October 31, 2021 at www.mediasavvy.asia.<... the special guest speaker at the APAC Health, Fitness & Wellness Leadership Summit, Tan brings up numbers to give his speech credibility, saying that the Global Wellness Institute estimated in 2017 the value of wellness tourism at US$640 billion. In fine oratory fashion, he repeats the figure to drive home his point.

Definitions

When he brings up medical tourism, Tan is careful to separate medical tourism from his main topic, wellness tourism. He does this by defining medical tourism as bringing people to a country for clinical or physical treatment at the hospitals.

Eye contact

Despite speaking off a script, Tan takes the effort to look up and make eye contact. He connects with the audience members this way, even when speaking from behind a podium. This makes his presentation feel conversational instead of overly formal.

Flagging

At 03:23, Tan says he will give three examples of how Singapore can claim a space in wellness tourism. He makes good with his promise of his three points. Can you identify these three points?

• Corporate wellness
• Complementary health offerings
• Mental and emotional wellness

Messaging

Speaking to an audience of wellness industry players, Tan’s message is clear – that he wants them to do things differently and claim a space in wellness tourism in Singapore. We love that his presentation is so focused, that we quickly forgot about the glaring Exit sign behind him!

If you know Tan, share this article with him and congratulate him on being nominated for the Hong Bao Media Savvy Awards 2021.