Top Professional Speakers in 2017

Top professional speakers are they experts in their field who have decades of industry experience, but they have also mastered the fine (and often terrifying) art of public speaking.

With so many professional speakers on the “speaking circuit,” how do you know which is the best professional speakers for your event?  

Below is our list of the top professional speakers in 2017:

Mike Walsh

Mike Walsh is a renowned futurist, bestselling author, and the CEO of Tomorrow, a global consultancy on designing business for the 21st century and consumer innovation research lab.  As a global nomad, professional speaker and consumer trend scout, Mike Walsh brings a truly global perspective to every event.  Rather than focusing on the distant future, Mike focuses on the next five years – scanning the near horizon for disruptive technologies and consumer innovations on the verge of hitting critical mass – then translating these into usable business strategies. Mike Walsh has advised the CEOs and senior management teams at multinational companies including: the BBC, Fujifilm, Richemont, MSN, Star TV, Televisa, Philips, and HSBC.

Barbara Corcoran

Best known as a panelist on ABC’s Shark Tank, Barbara Corcoran is a self-made real estate mogul, entrepreneur, and author.  Corcoran’s business keynote tells her inspirational story of turning a $1,000 loan into a $5 billion dollar real estate company.  As a business speaker, Barbara Corcoran brings her front-line business experience and infectious energy to every group she addresses. Motivational, inspirational, and sometimes outrageous, Barbara Corcoran’s tell-it-like-it-is attitude is a refreshing approach to business success.

Simon T. Bailey

Simon Bailey is one of America’s top 10 most-booked professional speakers on change, leadership, and customer experience. Simon is the CEO of Simon T. Bailey International, a premium education company specializing in creating learning and development content for individuals and organizations. His keynotes focus on bringing out your brilliance and will teach you how to make something happen instead of just playing it safe. A Simon T. Bailey keynote will inspire and invigorate your team with his brilliant message.

Peter Sheahan

Peter Sheahan is the founder & group CEO of Karrikins Group. Peter is known internationally for his innovative customized professional keynotes and thought leadership and has advised leaders from companies as diverse as Apple, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Hyundai, IBM, Pfizer, Wells Fargo, and Cardinal Health. As a professional speaker at a corporate meeting Peter will advise your company on matter such as, finding opportunity in disruption to create more value, how to turn a challenge into opportunity and disruption into competitive an advantage, and building organizations and teams capable of sustaining growth through a culture of innovation, courageous leadership, and aligned individuals.

Peter Diamandis

In 2014 Fortune Magazine named Peter Diamandis as one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders. Diamandis is the Founder & Executive Chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation, which leads the world in designing and operating large-scale incentive competitions. Diamandis is also New York Times bestselling author of two books: Abundance and BOLD. As an entrepreneur and futurist speaker, Peter is also a sought after professional speaker. This year he spoke at ThoughtWorks’s ParadigmShift, an executive conference that brings together business and tech’s most influential thinkers. Peter often speaks on the topics of technology, future tech and global trends, and innovation.

Peyton Manning

This year football living legend, Peyton Manning, spoke at Entrarta Summit, a four-day corporate conference that offered training courses, breakout sessions, and an impressive roster of keynote speakers, about personal branding and negotiation skills. When the scheduling and budget work out, a celebrity speaker can be a great addition to a conference. Peyton spoke on the importance of leadership, as well as teamwork skills in accomplishing any project. Having a celebrity as your keynote speaker can add some buzz around your event and provide attendees with chance to hear from beloved public figure about how they made it big.

Sallie Krawcheck

As the Chair of a major investing fund, the former CEO of Citi Global Wealth Management, and former President of Global Wealth & Investment Management for Bank of America, Krawcheck knows a thing or two about business and finance.  She has been listed as one of Forbes’ and Fortune’s “Most Powerful Women” in business and U.S. Banker’s top “Woman to Watch.” She is a past recipient of CNBC’s “Business Leader of the Future Award,” was one of Time magazine’s “Global Business Influentials,” Fortune’s “Most Influential Person Under the Age of 40” and an “Institutional Investor” top CFO in financial services.  She was recognized by the World Economic Forum as one of its Young Global Leaders and has been lauded as an exceptional top female business speaker for businesses and associations. Krawcheck’s business speaker keynotes include a refreshing mix of humor, passion, and invaluable learnings from her extensive business experience.

To bring one of the best professional speakers to your next conference or event, contact us here.

Top Keynote Business Speakers

Now, more than ever, businesses are turning to keynote business speakers to gain valuable insights on industry best practices. Keynote speakers are proven experts who can energize an audience, have a story to tell, and are the best of the best in their respective topics, such as, leadership, customer service, sales, business strategy and innovation. They’re also a valuable way to educate and inspire your business’s employees and emerging leaders to dream big and achieve their goals. Here are some of the top business speakers that event planners should know about when booking their next keynote event.

  Bert Jacobs and John Jacobs

Motivational business speakers, Bert and John Jacobs have an inspirational story of turning their dream into a socially conscious business. Bert and his brother John launched their business, Life is Good, with $78 in their pockets, selling T-shirts in the streets of Boston. Today, Life is Good is a $100 million positive lifestyle brand sold by over 2,000 retailers across the US and Canada.    

Ben Casnocha

Ben is a successful entrepreneur and executive who developed an e-government software company, Comcate. He has co-authored several books, including #1 New York Times bestseller The Start-Up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career (with Reid Hoffman). He is has appeared on Charlie Rose, CNN and served as a business keynote speaker and an entrepreneur speaker across the world.     

Jeff DeGraff

Dubbed “The Dean of Innovation,” Jeff is a world-renowned innovation keynote speaker, business speaker, thought leader, author and professor. He is Founder of the consulting services center, Innovatrium; and Clinical Professor of Management and Organization for the University of Michigan. He has authored successful books on innovation, including Creativity at Work, Leading Innovation, and Innovation You: Four Steps to Becoming New and Improved.

 Marc Randolph

Marc Randolph is a veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur, advisor and investor perhaps best known as the co-founder of Netflix. His message is a blend of inspiration, stories drawn from the starting and growing of Netflix, plus dozens of concrete suggestions taken from his 4 decades as an entrepreneur on how people can bring innovation back to THEIR companies. Marc is a sought after innovation speaker, CEO speaker, and business speaker.

Thomas Kolditz

Brigadier General (Ret.) Tom Kolditz is an expert on crisis leadership and serves as Professor in the Practice of Leadership and Management and Director of the Leadership Development Program at the Yale School of Management. He is a sought after keynote speaker and leadership speaker. He has presented leadership insights to 150+ organizations worldwide. He has been featured on various media outlets, including ABC 20-20, NPR and the New York Times.   

 

Matthew Luhn

Matthew Luhn, one of the original story creators at Pixar, has heard thousands of great ideas while working at Pixar, The Simpsons, and ILM, but how is it that some of these ideas make great movies and TV shows, while others don’t make the cut? The answer: the best innovators and directors have developed a process that focuses their team’s creativity into not only creating great ideas but also fleshing them out – something Matthew has experienced firsthand. He has gained much recognition this year as a marketing speaker, innovation and creativity speaker, and for his storyselling for business workshops.