Cas believes that a gifted Keynote Speaker should go beyond mere entertainment and bland corporate presentations to combine powerful storytelling with practical methodology. James is himself an elite exponent of this approach which, in his own words, “is designed to inspire and transform leaders and their teams.”
In this way, an effective Keynote can turn a conference from a collection of good ideas into a moment of real and lasting change.
As an international speaker himself however, Cas understands the challenges in finding a great keynote speaker for Australian audiences differ greatly from overseas contexts. In Australia speakers need to be:
As a passionate champion of the transformational Keynote Speaker, Cas would like to bring you this insiders’ view of some of the very best Australian speakers that he has worked alongside and observed first hand.
As Seen In:
The following people make the list because they genuinely tick the right boxes
I have known Mark for the past 8 years and, like all the speakers I am about to introduce to you, he is just a “great bloke”, a man of exceptional integrity and a talented motivational speaker. As a former big-wave surfer, Mark is very good at inspiring audiences to overcome the fears that can so easily limit their futures.
As Australia’s first Winter Olympics Gold Medalist, Steve has both an inspiring and motivating story to tell and in addition he is a very funny and engaging speaker. Steve is your quintessential “down-to-earth Aussie” and his delivery style resonates particularly strongly with Australian audiences.
Mat Bowtell
Mat is a true Social Entrepreneur and I think, one of the most underrated speakers in the country. I have personally observed Mat to be a very humble man and the story of his founding of the Free 3 Hands charity is very powerful indeed.
Richard is an Australian anaesthetist and cave diver who played a crucial role in the Tham Luang cave rescue. He tells an amazing story about the power of humanity to achieve the seemingly impossible.
Paralympian Marathoner. Kurt is a three time Paralympic gold medalist and two time Commonwealth Games gold medalist. He has won over 40 marathons, and in 2009 Kurt crawled the Kokoda track, in Papua New Guinea, to raise awareness of men’s health. If you have the pleasure of sharing an event with Kurt you will always see him chatting with people before and after he speaks. Kurt is a genuine people person and he knows how to connect with them.
Is an Ultra-marathon runner. While competing in a 100km ultra marathon in the Australian outback in 2011, she encountered an out of control grassfire. Trapped by the flames, Turia suffered burns to 65% of her body.
Surviving against overwhelming odds, she rebuilt her life and now has an emotionally powerful story about the possibility of personal transformation.
Paralympian Marathoner. Kurt is a three time Paralympic gold medalist and two time Commonwealth Games gold medalist. He has won over 40 marathons, and in 2009 Kurt crawled the Kokoda track, in Papua New Guinea, to raise awareness of men’s health. If you have the pleasure of sharing an event with Kurt you will always see him chatting with people before and after he speaks. Kurt is a genuine people person and he knows how to connect with them.
You probably know Li best as Mao’s Last Dancer, and if you’ve seen the movie about his life or read his autobiography, you already know the story. What you may not know is what a warm and engaging Keynote Speaker Li really is. He doesn’t do many engagements these days but if he is available, he is well worth consideration if you are looking for a great inspirational storyteller.
I hope you have enjoyed my personal insights on Australia’s best motivational keynote speakers.
They have been gleaned from both my own experiences of working at events with these fine people and from talking to the various event organisers.