Top Business Speakers
What is a top business speaker?
How do you find a great business speaker for your team’s leadership development?
Having a top business speaker is like having a resident guest expert on your speed dial.
But, in a field where anyone can call themselves a “keynote speaker” or “top business trainer,” finding the right speaker can be tricky. The right speaker will be able to build your team up, work with their real in-the-moment questions, and leave you and your team better off after the experience.
So how do you know if a business speaker is the top? Look for a CSP.
CSP® – Certified Speaking Professional
If you want to have a top experience for your business, team, or event, a speaker who will actually bring results, look for a CSP® – a Certified Speaking Professional.
Hiring a CSP is like getting event insurance. CSP’s have undergone the most rigorous testing and performance evaluation undertaken by the National Speakers Association (NSA). The NSA verifies that each CSP has delivered value to audiences hundreds of times, spot checks customer satisfaction even ten year later, and reviews talks.
Less than 17% of NSA members earn the Certified Speaking Professional. So this means that fewer than 5% of speakers around the world qualify for this elite designation.
Why choose a CSP? Because the NSA does the vetting work so you don’t have to.
A list of Top business speakers
If you don’t know where to look to find a business coach, here is a list of some of the top speakers in the world. They aren’t listed in any particular order. But we offer them up as a great place to find a speaker for your business or team.
Dr. Janel Anderson, CSP®
Best for: Leaders looking for direction in the future of work, and how to make their teams ready for both today and that future.
About: Dr. Janel Anderson is a highly respected keynote speaker who has captivated and educated audiences across the United States. In her presentations, Dr. Anderson combines her knowledge of technology, leadership, and human communication to provide valuable insights. She conducted extensive research on how organizations use technology to establish, expand, and maintain social networks in global organizations. Dr. Anderson works with organizations seeking to enhance their communication and leadership skills in the face of evolving technology and leverage the changes in the tech industry to better serve their clients and employees.
Dr. Anderson has appeared in numerous publications and is the author of the book Head On: How to Approach Difficult Conversations Directly.
Hilary Blair, CSP®
Best for: Leaders who want to develop teams that communicate clearly with each other and your clients
About: Hilary Blair, CEO, CSP, Speaker, Leadership Coach, and Group Facilitator, weaves her professional acting experience into programs for corporate teams and individuals to elevate presence, communication, and connection. She’s certified in Conversational Intelligence™ (CIQ) and CultureTalk and trained in ORSC (Organizational Relationship Systems Coach) and approaches coaching from a wholistic systems perspective.
She holds a BA from Yale University in Psychology and an MFA in Acting from the National Theatre Conservatory.
Website: https://articulaterc.com/
Linda Swindling, CSP®
Best for: Leadership teams wanting to enhance their negotiation skills and improve their skill with deals
About: Negotiation speaker, author and expert Linda Swindling, JD, CSP, helps leaders negotiate everything from big deals to workplace drama using proven strategies that drive results without driving others away.
Linda helps leaders enhance business relationships; improve sales opportunities; communicate more effectively so they are heard and understood; and to have the courage and confidence to ask outrageously to get what they really want.
Linda learned first-hand how to negotiate results from her experiences in the courtroom and the boardroom. During her 10 years practicing law, Linda became a partner, had several successes negotiating multimillion-dollar deals, and resolved cases that “couldn’t be settled.” She also became a respected mediator in the Texas legal community. In addition to earning her law degree, Linda received advanced negotiation training through the Attorney-Mediators Institute, Harvard/MIT’s Program on Negotiation, and The University of Houston’s A.A. White Dispute Resolution Center. Linda also spent five years with Vistage, the world’s largest CEO development organization. During her role as a Chair at Vistage, she advised and coached CEOs and key executives both in one-to-one settings and in peer groups.
Linda is an engaging keynote speaker and facilitator who delivers take-home strategies which work in the real work environment. Her material is innovative, based on original research and more than 20 years of experience. You won’t hear anecdotal or intangible theories based on books she read. Instead, you get strategies that produce breakthrough outcomes and lasting results.
Linda is certified in the COREMAP assessment, the RAMP method and as a ToPS facilitator. Chosen as one of the Top 30 Global Gurus in Negotiation for 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, she is also a Board Certified Coach and Certified Speaking Professional.
Linda’s clients include the Fortune 500, companies from a wide variety of industries, governmental entities and many international associations. Linda has worked with Ericsson, Texas Instruments, AstraZeneca, Pepsico, ThyssenKrupp, Marriott, UT Southwestern, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, and more.
Linda is the author/co-author of more than 20 books, including her best-selling Ask Outrageously! The Secret to Getting What You Really Want and Stop Complainers and Energy Drainers: How to Negotiate Work Drama to Get More Done. She is a TEDx speaker and frequent media guest who has appeared on or been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, Business Insider, Entrepreneur Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Fox Business, The Huffington Post, and more.
Marc A. Pitman, CSP®
Best for: Founders, particularly founders who’ve started nonprofits or CEOs who’ve started tech companies
About: Marc A. Pitman’s leadership development sweet spot is helping founders who love growing a business but now find they’re more stressed by providing business management. Through one-on-one executive coaching CEO advising, and group trainings, his Quadrant 3 Leadership framework gives leaders a map for leadership development and tools to use for their own growth and with their teams for years to come. His approach is so effective, the International Coaching Federation (ICF) has accredited a leadership coach certification based on his system.
Website: https://marcpitman.com/
