Aug 31, 2021
Business Keynote Speakers: Who Are They and Why Your Business Needs One
You’ve heard of guest speakers, commencement speakers, and keynote speakers. Guest speakers come from outside your company, commencement speakers speak at graduations, and keynote speakers deliver the key talk at a conference. So what are business keynote speakers and what do they do? Business keynote speakers are professional speakers who specialize in business topics, teach workshops and keynote business conferences.
Companies and conventions hire business keynote speakers because they are experts in their field, thought leaders in the industry, bestselling authors, or CEOs of successful companies. These professional keynote speakers have been successful in their field and can help you and your business become successful in yours.
In this article, you will learn about the four benefits of hiring a business keynote speaker, the most popular business keynote topics, and the typical fees charged by professional business keynote speakers.
Benefits of Hiring a Business Keynote Speaker
There are 4 benefits to hiring a business keynote speaker: inspiration, path alignment, employee performance, and employee engagement.
Inspiration
According to a 2018 Gallup study, companies with highly motivated employees have “substantially better customer engagement, higher productivity, better retention, fewer accidents, and 21% higher profitability.” Hiring a business keynote consultant can provide the spark to inspire your employees and leaders. Business speakers can deliver keynotes, perform consultations, or host workshops to provide valuable takeaways and insights on how to change obstacles into opportunities in order to motivate and inspire your employees and leaders.
Path Alignment
Some of the biggest reasons for employee dissatisfaction stem from company policies and administration that isn’t working. Issues can usually be traced back to simple misunderstandings or miscommunications concerning the overall goals of a company. Moreover, inconsistencies in an organization’s messaging to its employees can stifle motivation and lead to stagnation.
After identifying goals and establishing a clear trajectory, hiring a business keynote speaker who directly aligns with those new objectives will quickly calibrate an organization across all levels. They can host workshops and get everyone on the same page again.
Employee Performance
Successful companies constantly strive to improve their workforce through training and education. Not only do companies who invest in learning perform better, they have happier employees who stay with the company. According to LinkedIn’s 2018 Workforce Learning Report, 93% of employees claim they will stay longer at a company that invests in their development.
One way to increase employee performance is to hire a top-notch business speaker who can use their experience to educate and inspire your top employees or industry partners at one time. Business keynote speakers can deliver practicable insights into how your employees can effectively change their habits to improve their professional and personal lives.
Employee Engagement
Disengaged employees account for much of the inefficiency and low morale within companies. Happy and engaged employees, on the other hand, are better for your company. According to the Workforce Institute 2021 Engagement and Retention Report, companies with highly engaged employees experience a 25 to 59% decrease in turnover and have 41% lower absentee rates.
Companies that learn to build a supportive culture, show employee recognition and frequently solicit and act on employee feedback have the most engaged employees. You can learn how to build a more engaging company culture from a one-of-a-kind business keynote speaker. The best business speakers not only inspire and motivate but also offer concrete lessons and tools to fuel employee growth, from the executive suite down.
Most Popular Business Keynote Speaker Topics
Business keynote speakers can provide insight into a range of topics to help your business, employees, and leaders learn and grow. Here are some of the most popular business keynote speaking topics.
1) Motivation
Hear stories and takeaways from company founders, championship athletes, and extraordinary individuals who have overcome setbacks and adversity to reach their goals.
2) Innovation
Learn how to innovate from successful startup CEOs, creative artists, and innovation researchers who can provide insights on how to construct teams and reframe problems to find new solutions.
3) Leadership
Get leadership insights from former CEOs, company founders, and top thought-leaders on how to inspire your teams and empower your employees.
4) Team Building
Learn the secrets of great teamwork, communication, and collaboration from top athletes, company founders, and former military leaders.
5) Storytelling
Learn tips and tricks from the best storytellers on how to pitch a business, communicate with a customer, or move a colleague to action.
6) Technology
Hear from engineers and futurists how your industry will be affected by developments in machine learning, robotics, artificial intelligence, and more.
7) Customer Experience
Learn from customer experience experts how to provide customers with a great experience through every step of the customer journey in order to develop customer loyalty.
8) Resilience
Discover how to bounce back from disaster and adversity with tips from championship athletes, CEOs of successful businesses, and bestselling authors on performance.
9) Sales
Get tips from successful salespeople on how to establish rapport, build credibility, and ask questions to provide a customer solution that increases the bottom line.
10) Cybersecurity
Learn from former hackers and data experts how to protect your data and all the cultural and technical changes necessary to keep your information secure.
11) Emotional Intelligence
Discover how to communicate and empathize with co-workers and clients to form better and more satisfying relationships.
12) Remote Work
Hear from experts on how to negotiate the technical and personal challenges associated when managing or working with a remote or hybrid workforce.
Why Business Keynote Speakers Charge Different Fees
One of the more confusing things about hiring business keynote speakers can be the different fees. Why does one speaker charge $7,500 to speak on innovation while another charges $65,000 for the same topic? The difference lies not in the topic takeaways but rather in the speaking experience and popularity of the keynote speaker.
Here’s what you can expect from business keynote speakers at different fee levels.
Up-and-Coming Business Keynote Speakers: $15,000 And Under
With up-and-coming business keynote speakers, performance quality is not as consistent with professional business keynote speakers. Some of these up-and-coming business speakers are excellent — up-and-comers, who are actively building their speaking brands and thought leadership in their fields. You can get a great experience at a great price.
On the other hand, some up-and-coming business speakers may lack experience or polish in one area or another. The speaker may have less speaking experience (fewer talks), be less polished (an expert, but dull), have fewer impressive credentials (CEO of a small company compared to a Fortune 500 company), or have no polished marketing assets (headshots, AV term sheet, demo videos or one sheet).
Professional Business Keynote Speakers: $15,000-$25,000
Professional business keynote speakers are typically well-spoken, prepared, and composed speakers. These business keynote speakers can handle all audiences from five CEOs in a boardroom to hosting a thousand people in a conference hall in Vegas.
Professional speakers actively tailor content, speak frequently, and rely on their talent and expertise for their industry brands. The only reason they aren’t charging more for their services is they are not popular brand names.
Popular Business Keynote Speakers: $25,000-$50,000
Popular business keynote speakers often have all the qualities of a professional business keynote speaker but have done something to build a brand name. This popularity could be a reputation as an excellent speaker, having a highly relevant topic such as habit building or remote work, or being a well-known thought leader in their industry — like Seth Godin.
Famous Business Keynote Speakers: $50,000 And Above
Famous business keynote speakers are usually getting paid for their brand name awareness. Their name can drive ticket sales and build excitement for the event. These keynote speakers have New York Times best-selling business books or Netflix specials (like Brene Brown, for instance), or are well-known politicians, A-list actors, or championship athletes. While they can bring attention and excitement to an event, often these speakers do not tailor their talks to their audiences or have specific knowledge of your industry.
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