The Hottest Event Keynote Speakers
By: Ashley Bohnenkamp
The right keynote speaker adds something special to your event. They take your message, repackage it and deliver it back to your people with an unmatched power and vigor.
Bringing in an outside voice creates a nonreplicable spark and authority. Not only can they help you get your message across but they can help boost motivation, change their way of thinking and leave your people feeling energized and inspired.
But how do we know clients want? Years of experience and leveraging industry relationships. ITA Group is constantly searching and evaluating content to bring our clients the very best. Our partner, Angela Cox-Weston, with Midwest Speakers Bureau, Inc., shared her expertise on what keynote speakers are trending this year.
Below is a list of thought-provoking, motivational event speaker suggestions that are guaranteed to get your team motivated at your next event and beyond.
Leave Feeling: Inspired
Inspirational speakers draw out emotions in your audience and leave them feeling like they are capable of accomplishing anything. They energize listeners with stories that inspire peak performance, move your audience to action, and create a sense of camaraderie and shared purpose.
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Kindra Hall is President and Chief Storytelling Officer at Steller Collective, a consulting firm focused on the strategic application of storytelling to today’s communication challenges. Kindra is one of the most sought after keynote speakers trusted by global brands to deliver presentations and trainings that inspire teams and individuals to better communicate the value of their company, their products and their individuality through strategic storytelling.
Donald Miller is the CEO of StoryBrand and every year helps more than 3,000 business leaders clarify their brand message. Combined, Don’s books have spent more than a year on the New York Times Bestsellers list. His books include: Blue Like Jazz, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, and Scary Close. He co-wrote the major motion picture “Blue Like Jazz,” which debuted at the SXSW Film Festival and was listed as one of the top four movies to get you through freshman year by USA Today. He has served on The Presidential Task Force for Fatherhood and Healthy Families, a joint effort between government and the private sector to rewrite the story of fatherlessness in America.
David Goggins is a retired Navy SEAL and is the only member of the U.S. Armed Forces to complete SEAL training (including two Hell Weeks), the U.S. Army Ranger School (where he graduated as Enlisted Honor Man) and Air Force Tactical Air Controller training. He has spent the past two decades exploring the outer limits of human performance, both as an elite Special Operations member and an accomplished ultra-endurance athlete. David has completed more than 50 endurance races, including multiple ultra-marathons, ultra-triathlons, bike races and arduous mountain ascents. David's incredible story will motivate and inspire anybody striving to become their best self.
A former combat decorated fighter pilot and sales manager, Waldo is an inspirational sales and leadership keynote speaker on building cultures of excellence, collaboration and courage. Waldo demonstrates how individuals and organizations can break performance barriers and achieve success in highly competitive environments through disciplined training, dedicated teamwork, and passionate leadership. When you combine these elements with an attitude and corporate culture that embraces unwavering trust and commitment, then performance will sky-rocket!
Leave Feeling: Empowered
These keynote speakers understand the obstacles you face, the powerlessness you feel, and the journey you must travel because they have traveled the same road also. They can provide you with the inspiration and the skills to take control of your life, no matter if these obstacles are at your job, in your community, or in your personal life, and empower yourself to greater things.
Col. Nicole Malachowski, USAF (Ret.) defies stereotypes. Yes, she was a jet fighter pilot, but if you think you know her based on that, you’d be wrong. A leader, a combat veteran, the first woman pilot on the Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Squadron, a White House Fellow and an inductee into both the National Women's Hall of Fame and the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame, Nicole's distinguished 21-year Air Force career exceeded her wildest dreams. But the dream came to an end when a devastating tick-borne illness left her struggling greatly to speak or walk for almost nine months.
An indomitable spirit, Nicole fought back against overwhelming odds and prevailed. Drawing on stories from her career and personal life, Nicole inspires audiences to rethink the challenges they face every day. She urges them to go beyond resilience and become resurgent. Nicole's empowers people with three key beliefs: failure and risk is the price of entry for achieving something great; sometimes you need to yield to overcome; and her personal mantra – “Nobody wants to lead a scripted life.”
Molly Fletcher is a trailblazer in every sense of the word—a rare talent of business wisdom, relationship brilliance and unwavering optimism. A popular keynote speaker, she shares the unconventional techniques that helped her thrive as one of the first female sports agents in the high stakes, big ego world of professional sports and now a successful entrepreneur.