Who Are the Hot Speakers?

These are confusing and confounding times,” says Bernie Swain, chairman of the Washington Speakers Bureau. And during times of adversity, people are looking to make positive changes to adapt to the changing environment. That, says Swain and other experts, is what’s behind the current shift to weightier, more relevant themes on the speakers’ circuit.

wain says organizations are gravitating toward keynote speakers in three broad areas: world affairs, current events, and business. About 85 percent of his speakers are being booked in those areas, up at least 20 percent from a few years ago.