Start with the room
Most speaker bookings go wrong before anyone sends an email. The organiser picks a name they've heard of, then tries to fit the event around that person. Do it the other way round.
Write down who will be sitting in the chairs. Are they business owners who sign the cheques, or managers who report to someone else? Do they run shops, trades, online stores or professional firms? How many will there be, and what's worrying them this year?
A room of 40 franchisees in Parramatta wants something different from 400 delegates at a trade show in Singapore. The first group wants ideas they can use on Monday. The second may want a bigger picture of where their industry is heading. Both are fair asks. They just need different speakers.
Decide what people should do afterwards
A keynote isn't there to fill 45 minutes. It should change something. Before you look at a single speaker, finish this sentence: after this session, I want people to...
Maybe you want them to try an AI tool before the end of the month. Maybe you want them to stop wasting money on ads that don't pay their way, or to look after the customers they already have. Once you know the outcome, the topic picks itself and the shortlist gets much shorter.
This is also the line you'll give the speaker in your briefing. So it's worth getting right now.
Pick the topic, then the speaker
Business keynotes fall into a handful of broad groups. We've split this directory into four: marketing, ecommerce, AI in business and small business growth. Plenty of speakers cross over, so you'll see some names on more than one list.
Inside each topic, look for a speaker whose day job matches your audience. For a room of business owners, someone who still runs a business has an edge. They're dealing with the same staff, cash flow and platform headaches this year, and the audience can tell. A futurist or researcher can be the better pick when you want a wide view of change across an industry.
Ask one blunt question about each name on your list. Would my audience trust this person's advice about their own business? If you hesitate, keep looking.
Set a budget that covers the whole booking
Keynote fees vary a lot, and most speakers don't publish them. They quote each event on its own because the date, city, travel and format all change the cost. That's normal, so don't read anything into a missing price.
Where a fee is published, use it as a guide. David Caruso, one of the two featured speakers here, lists his keynote fee at $3,500 to $5,000 AUD, quoted per event. Other speakers will sit above or below that, depending on demand and profile.
Your budget needs to cover more than the fee. Flights and a hotel night if the speaker is travelling. Transfers. AV for slides and a lapel mic. And GST, if the speaker is registered for it in Australia and the quote doesn't say whether it's included.
One thing surprises first-time organisers. A 20 minute slot rarely costs much less than a full hour, because the speaker still prepares, travels and gives up the day. David says his fee is generally the same for a 25 or a 90 minute session for exactly that reason. Book the length that suits your programme, not the one you think will save money.
Direct or through an agency
You can book most business speakers in two ways. You contact them yourself, or you go through a speaker bureau that takes a cut.
Booking direct is usually cheaper. David Caruso's published materials say an agency typically costs two to three times the direct fee. Whatever the gap is for a given speaker, the agency's share comes out of your budget.
Agencies do earn their money in some cases. If you need ten speakers for a three-day conference, one contract and one point of contact saves a lot of admin. Some well-known names only take bookings through a bureau. And if you have no idea where to start, a good agent can hand you a shortlist by tomorrow.
For a single keynote at a chamber lunch, an association conference or a franchise meeting, going direct makes sense. You talk to the person who'll be on stage, and your questions get answered by the person who knows the talk best. That's why every listing in this directory links straight to the speaker, and why we don't charge a booking fee.
Check them before you book
Don't book from a highlight reel. Two minutes of applause tells you nothing about how someone holds a room for 45. Ask for a full recording of a recent talk, and watch at least the opening and the close.
Then check the claims. Does the speaker's own site say what they've actually done, with names, dates and places? Do the testimonials come from people with real names attached? Can you find press coverage yourself? If something on a profile can't be checked, treat it with care. We apply the same rule to our own listings.
Finally, ask another organiser. If the speaker has addressed a chamber or association like yours, ask them to put you in touch. One honest five minute phone call is worth more than a page of quotes.
In person, virtual or hybrid
An in-person keynote is still the strongest option when you want energy in the room and conversations at the break. People remember a speaker who stood in front of them.
Virtual keynotes make sense for audiences spread across several countries. They also open up speakers you couldn't afford to fly in. If your members are in Sydney, Kuala Lumpur and Manila, one live online session can reach all of them on the same morning.
Watch the time zones. Sydney is two hours ahead of Singapore for much of the year, and three hours ahead during Australian daylight saving. A 9am start in Sydney in summer is 6am in Singapore, which nobody enjoys. Pick a time that suits your biggest group, and record the session for everyone else if the speaker agrees.
Hybrid sits in the middle: a live room plus an online audience. It works well, but only with a host whose job is to bring online questions into the room. Without one, the people at home turn into an afterthought.
Your first enquiry email
Speakers get a lot of vague enquiries. A clear one gets a faster reply and a more accurate quote. Put these in the first email:
The date and city, or say it's online. The audience: how many people, what they do, and why they're coming. The slot: keynote, workshop, panel or MC, and how long. The outcome you wrote down earlier. Your budget range, even a rough one, because it saves both sides a round of emails.
For the featured speakers, David Caruso takes enquiries at davidcaruso.com.au/speak and replies within 24 hours. For Alex Tran, ask about availability, format and fees through IntellextAI. For everyone else, use the link on their listing.
Put the agreement in writing
Even a small booking deserves a short written agreement. It doesn't need a lawyer. It needs the details both sides will argue about later if nobody writes them down.
Cover the date and session times, the fee, and when the deposit and balance are due. Say who books and pays for travel. Agree whether you can record the talk and share the video, and for how long. Spell out what happens if the event is cancelled, postponed or moved online.
If you're paying a speaker based in another country, agree on the currency as well. A quote in AUD, SGD or USD can look quite different by the time the invoice arrives.
Brief the speaker properly
A good speaker will ask for a briefing call. Give them 30 minutes and come prepared.
Tell them who's in the room and what's keeping those people up at night. Tell them who speaks before and after, so they don't repeat the same points. Mention any words or subjects that are sensitive for your members. And give them your one-sentence outcome, so they can shape the talk around it.
The best keynotes feel like they were written for that room. That only happens when the speaker knows the room. Speakers who run businesses often ask for a couple of real examples from your members, so have some ready.
On the day
Send a run sheet a week out with the arrival time, the room, the AV contact and the name of whoever is introducing them. Test the slides and the microphone before the doors open, not during the first coffee break.
Keep the introduction short. Thirty seconds on who the speaker is and why they're here is plenty, and most speakers will send you one to read out.
And protect the time. If the session before runs long, don't take the minutes out of the keynote you paid for.
After the event
A few days later, ask attendees one question: what will you do differently because of this session? Their answers tell you more than a star rating.
Send the speaker the feedback, good and bad. If they offered a follow-up resource or a recording, get it to your members while the talk is still fresh. And if it went well, tell other organisers. That's how good speakers get found.
Where our featured speakers fit
This directory is published by David Caruso's business, so David and Alex Tran are placed first on the topic lists where they fit. We'd rather say that plainly than bury it in the small print.
David suits rooms full of business owners: chambers of commerce, franchise networks, industry associations and small business conferences. He has 36+ years in business and about 16 years on stage, and he still runs BuyFactory.direct, so his examples come from this year. His most requested talk, Your Next Hire Isn't Human, is about treating AI like a staff member rather than another app.
Alex suits ecommerce and online seller audiences who want to see AI working inside a real store. He spent about ten years running his own ecommerce businesses, which reached seven-figure revenue, before co-founding IntellextAI.
If neither one fits your audience, use the topic lists, find the speaker who matches your room, and contact them direct.
