Top 5 Conference Keynote Speaking Topics for 2023

Getting the right keynote speaker on the right topic is key to a successful conference or event. Booking an Astronaut, TV Star, or Gold Medal Winner to speak, will almost certainly be inspirational, but will be expensive and not necessarily address some of the issues facing your company or your audience.

Mindset matters and so do insights and practical strategies that the audience can execute to make a tangible difference. The following list of topics and speakers was compiled to provide a balance of motivation, mission, and methodology. While no such list can be fully comprehensive and inclusive, we hope it triggers your critical thinking about selecting the right speaker and topic for your event.

1. Business Creativity, Change, and Innovation

Creativity is a critical business skill that will help us move forward. To manage change and be innovative we need ideas. Almost everyone agrees that creativity is important, but not everyone is confident that they are creative, and organizations can do much more to harness the creativity of their employees.

Fredrik Haren, the creativity explorer has interviewed some of the most creative people on the planet and speaks about how you can tap the power of creativity in your organization.

Jame Taylor started his career managing high-profile rock stars – is now an in-demand keynote speaker on business creativity and innovation.

2. Leadership and The Future of Work

Leadership is a perennial keynote topic, but audiences are craving fresh ideas about how to lead in a post-pandemic, hybrid, and digital world.

• How can managers adapt to technological advancements, market shifts, and evolving customer needs?
• What strategies can leaders use to manage remote work and flexible work arrangements?
• How can they create a culture of collaboration and productivity in virtual environments?

With a decentralized workforce, how can leaders empower employees to make decisions, innovate, and take risks?

Andrew Byant, Global expert on self-leadership and author of The New Leadership Playbook speaks about how to lead for accelerated results through self-leadership. His insight is that leadership is a conversation, a 1-to-1 or 1-to-many conversation, and his keynote speech shows how to have these conversations with yourself and with your teams.

Herdis Pala is a Human Resource leader who has held a variety of management and consulting roles helping organizations to adapt to a rapidly changing environment. She also endorses self-leadership as a methodology for the future of work.

3. Technology and its Impact on Society

Technology has been changing our lives since the first tools were invented but now with AI and machine learning, the rate of change and its impacts have multiplied at a mind-boggling rate.

• How will technology impact jobs, will they be displaced, replaced, or augmented?
• Privacy and security continue to be areas of concern, how can we safely harness the benefits of technology without encroaching on individual freedoms?
• Technology and social media have enhanced our ability to communicate, but how to manage the spread of misinformation and cyber bullying?

Greg Williams is an authority on technology trends and the ways they impact business and society. As editor at WIRED UK magazine, Greg meets the innovators, thinkers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and creatives who are changing the world and writes on a variety of subjects

Somi Arian is a Tech Philosopher and a ‘Transition Architect’. As humans merge with technology, and society enters a new phase of evolution, Somi works on frameworks to address the challenges ahead. 

4. Mental health and Well-being

Twelve billion working days are lost every year to depression and anxiety alone and so it makes an economic as well as moral sense for organizations to address mental health and well-being.

• How can companies create awareness and educate their employees on mental health issues and the importance of mental well-being?
• What can employers do to create a positive work environment by promoting a culture of respect, inclusion, and kindness?

Self-leadership can help to answer these questions, and there are many motivational speakers and subject matter experts who address these topics, from multiple perspectives. 

Global Politics and the Future

This is a hot topic for 2023, with the aftermath of the pandemic, a war in Europe, and early moves for the 2024 U.S Election. And that’s just in the West. Asia continues to be complex with all eyes on every move that China makes.

You, therefore, want to hear from someone who is either a world leader or who has been up close and personal with world leaders.

Christiane Amanpour is a British journalist and television host, she is the person whose Twitter account is followed by the most world leaders. Christiane has reported in many wars and hotspots across the world, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Israel, and Bosnia.

 In Conclusion

As mentioned in the introduction, this is the Top 5 Conference Keynote Speaking Topics for 2023, not a definitive list of speakers and topics, it was written to get you thinking and exploring. you may need the help of a speaker bureau such as the London Speaker Bureau, or Leading Authorities International to help you make the selection and book the speaker.

The blog, 'The Best Motivational Speaker? It depends...' has further insights on the question to ask when hiring a keynote speaker for your event.

Remember, the right speaker will encourage your audience to think differently, feel differently, and act differently.