Open Forum

Hi everyone!

I have noticed across many of the conferences that I've attended that the keynote speakers that I find most engaging and memorable tend to be speakers who are only loosely related to the topic/purpose for the event.  This might be coincidence, but I find it interesting!

For those of your who are responsible for bringing in keynote speakers for your events, I'm curious... How do you go about finding just the right speaker for your event?  Are you focused on finding someone who is related to your industry and inviting them to speak at your event, or are you looking for someone with name recognition in order to pull in more attendees?  Are you looking for speakers who are local to your event location?  How do you even begin your search?

Thanks!

#Creating/ManagingEvents

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Jess Olcott
Training Program Coordinator
ETC, Inc.
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Someimes polling the guests the year in advance on what speakers they want to hear from, finding relevant speakers, also just finding good speakers who can talk to anything -- we tend to lead a lot into sports speakers as they can talk about building business/brands but also teamwork, getting through tough times, overcoming adversity. If you work with AV or full event production companies, we usually ask them who others have used that have been great to work with and motivating/inspiring. Also helps to lean into people who have books as then you can incorporate a signing or toss the book in as an attendee gift. Most speakers need to go through speaker bureaus so you can always start with reaching out to them and telling them the scope of your event, topics, attendee types and budgets and they can make recommendations. We also turn a lot to youtube and watch tedx or find speakers on topics that are relevant to our event that way.

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Rachel
NJ
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There's really no hard-and-fast rule for finding a keynote speaker.  Some of the best speakers I've seen at events I've attended were people I felt were going to have little to offer as on paper they didn't relate to me or the conference's industry.  That said, name recognition can bring a lot to the table in terms of generating interest.  A focus should be made on attempting to find a person who can speak well on a topic that ties into the event's theme or a timely industry topic.  Speaker bureaus can be a great option for finding a needle in a haystack. 

I've had a keynote speaker who spoke on the topic of safety in the construction industry.  The presentation was at a safety conference in front of safety managers for large contractors.  Because the speaker had years of industry experience, he was viewed highly.  When he brought up the fact that both of his legs were amputated because of an injury sustained while reviewing safety at a facility, it drove home the fact that complacency is not a good thing for safety.

I attended an event industry conference where a speaker was Jade Simmons - a classical pianist.  I didn't think there would be much relevance in her presentation, but was very much mistaken.  She was extremely captivating and felt relatable to a degree.  She talked about having big ideas (such as playing at SXSW by selling the promoters on the idea that she was classical pianist who intertwined beatbox types of music - even though she didn't at the time).  She was incredible about breaking through stereotypes and competing against the best of the best.  

Definitely get feedback from attendees or stakeholders on what they're looking for and who've they've found to be captive and relevant.  Work with speaker bureaus to find some hidden gems - they're often more cost-effective as well.  Sometimes going outside of the industry works out better as they tend to offer a fresh perspective that can actually help break through barriers holding back attendees.  Also, keep in mind that representation matters - if the event is for an industry dominated by old, white men, consider finding a young POC to offer a new perspective and generate excitement amongst younger minorities in the industry.  

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Julie-Michelle Davis, CMP
Meetings Manager
Amex GBT - USA
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Start with your budget. What are you willing to spend on a speaker? Then, go from there. There are many speakers bureaus you can reach out to, and many authors have a website with a form to fill out for speaking engagements. I have brought in a healthy cooking expert - who we even had do a cooking demo, where the audience got a sample of what she cooked (she had to have the kitchen pre-make enough for the audience), and a business humorist (aka Comedian), who I highly recommend. He's reasonable, and he tailors the content to your industry, job/position, or however you want him to tailor it. His name is Greg Schwem and here's his website: https://www.gregschwem.com/ Tell him I recommended him!

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Lori Wildman
Marketing Director
DuCharme, McMillen & Associates, Inc.United States
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I will typically start by reaching out to my 4 - 5 speaker agencies with a general description of the event, my budget range, date, etc. I like to look at both name speakers and ones directly tied to the topic and present both directions to leadership. I seem to frequently land on Gotham Artists quite a bit. Just hired Shola Richards, who was AMAZING. I have also hired Jade Simmons. Sometimes I'll do both: Name speaker for the Opening Keynote and topical speaker for the Closing Keynote (or vice versa) - if the budget allows for two.

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Erica Vasquez
Senior Manager, Events & Experiences
BusinessolverUnited States
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Hi Jess, 

The way we went to identify new key note speakers was by reaching out to our alumni or previous relationships with partners that we have worked with in the past. 

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Josue Estrada Murillo
Office Coordinator
Boettcher FoundationUnited States
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How do you go about finding just the right speaker for your event? Staying within the scope of the main idea for the event and knowing the industry.

Are you focused on finding someone who is related to your industry and inviting them to speak at your event, or are you looking for someone with name recognition in order to pull in more attendees?  Related to the topic.

Are you looking for speakers who are local to your event location?  Most of the time are local.

How do you even begin your search? through an outreach team.

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Mary Ann Hall
Event Specialist
Federal Reserve System
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Generally what we do it speak with our advisory board that consists of industry experts on topics that are important to the industry at this time. Whether it be technology, mergers & acquisitions, employee retention, etc. From there we will generally reach out to our preferred Speakers Bureau with the topic we are interested in and our budget. From there they generally send us a list of prospectus and we hold discovery calls with the ones we feel would be a good fit and narrow our choices from there.

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Kim Tabor
Conference Systems Manager
GIE MediaUnited States
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As others have mentioned, I too had great luck utilizing speakers bureaus, but I've also gone direct sometimes, especially when I knew exactly who I wanted to work with and didn't need recommendations. The most popular speakers we had at my last company were never directly related to our industry - our attendees' favorite was a gentleman who discussed how to use humor in everyday situations to manage stress. 

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Tori Martinez
Event Technology Specialist
Direct Travel
United States
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What a great question!

We've found that the best keynote speakers are people who can inspire, regardless of how they're connected to the topic at hand.  Our events usually have a theme, and we look for someone who can inspire on that theme, even if they come from a different background than might be obvious. 

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Elena PEREZ
Communications Coordinator
SEIU - UHWUnited States
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I completely agree that some of the strongest keynote experiences come from unexpected voices. A speaker doesn't necessarily need to work directly in the industry to understand the human challenges, leadership questions, or mindset shifts that matter to the audience.

I think the sweet spot is finding someone whose story and perspective connect with the purpose of the event while still bringing something the audience hasn't heard before. Authenticity and the ability to make people think can be much more memorable than name recognition alone.

Sometimes, the best keynote is the person who makes you see a familiar challenge through a completely different lens.

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Rashmi Airan
Leadership Keynote Speaker
Rashmi AiranUnited States
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A great example of this is my husband, who spoke at a conference put on by a real estate company. Their theme was the story around their clients buying or selling their homes. That it was more than just a transaction, and to encourage the agents to connect in a more impactful way with their clients. My husband is an independent musician who weaves storytelling into his shows. So he spoke about the craft of building those stories through relationships with the people in them. He also performed as well. Feedback was incredible, and he met with several agents that requested a continuation of the conversation afterward. 

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Kimberly Loomis
Development Administrative Assistant
United South & Eastern TribesUnited States
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-18-2026 04:22
From: Rashmi Airan
Subject: Finding Keynote Speakers

I completely agree that some of the strongest keynote experiences come from unexpected voices. A speaker doesn't necessarily need to work directly in the industry to understand the human challenges, leadership questions, or mindset shifts that matter to the audience.

I think the sweet spot is finding someone whose story and perspective connect with the purpose of the event while still bringing something the audience hasn't heard before. Authenticity and the ability to make people think can be much more memorable than name recognition alone.

Sometimes, the best keynote is the person who makes you see a familiar challenge through a completely different lens.

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Rashmi Airan
Leadership Keynote Speaker
Rashmi AiranUnited States
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