2023 The Speaking Year Ahead

Happy New Year and we hope you all had a restful Christmas.

With 2023 just beginning we wanted to provide some insight into what speaking topics we think could prove to be popular this year.

From Mental Health, Diversity, Leadership, and the Future of work these are some areas and speakers we can help provide if you starting to plan your event this year.

Mental Health & Wellbeing

Both Mental Health and Wellbeing have been consistently asked for subjects for the last 2 years and we imagine will continue to be a requested topic in 2023. We work with speakers who talk about their own experiences with their mental health, as well as those who speak from the more academic point of view on managing stress or burnout and these are a few speakers to bear in mind if you looking for a speaker on the topic

Dan Keeley is one of the UK’s leading mental health activists, thought leaders, and keynote speakers on a mission to empower the UK to speak up when they are suffering. In 2017, after a 5 year battle with bipolar disorder and coming close to taking his own life, Dan ran 1250 miles from the Colosseum in Rome back to the London Eye to share his story on a national scale – raising over £15,000 for The Campaign Against Living Miserably and inspiring hundreds of others to speak up about their own personal battles.

Andrew Pain is a Mental Health and TEDx speaker, talking about; men’s mental health, burnout, imposter syndrome, decision making and domestic abuse (as a lived-experience survivor)

Sue Firth is a business psychologist, stress expert, and a leading authority on ‘stress and managing change. She is also a specialist in helping CEOs and senior executives manage stress, from an individual and group perspective. As an international speaker and presenter Sue regularly appears in the media and has featured as a guest expert on ITV’s This Morning and BBC Panorama.

We have also been asked to help supply some speakers with more specialist knowledge in certain areas – such as Kathryn Colas who is a leading speaker on the menopause.

Disability Awareness

A number of clients have held events around disability awareness – both hidden and physical disabilities and with a number of different awareness weeks in the year these might be some speakers to consider.

Dr. Amit Patel is an author, disability rights campaigner, motivational speaker, and independent accessibility consultant. He is registered severely sight impaired (blind) having lost his sight to keratoconus in 2013.

Ian Hawkins is a writer, speaker, and presenter who tackles the big questions about how people and businesses can adapt in a world that is changing faster than ever before.Born with a debilitating heart condition, Ian spent a lot of his early life in hospitals, witnessing first-hand how innovation and technology impacted the world. The experience left him with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder which he believes has given as much as it has taken, not least an understanding that everything we want to achieve in life lies on the other side of that which frightens us the most.

Anne Wafula Strike, MBE, is an inspirational and motivational speaker who draws on her own life experiences and achievements to inspire her audiences. Born in Mihu, Kenya, to Nekesa Ruth and Athumani Wafula, Anne was a fit and healthy child before polio struck when she was two years old. After completing A-levels and graduating from Moi University with a Bachelor of Education degree, Anne taught at Machakos Technical College in Kenya before meeting the man she would marry – which lead her to Britain, motherhood, wheelchair racing, disability advocacy, and charity work.

Finance and the Cost of Living.

With almost all of us being impacted by the rising cost of living, companies have been asking for speakers who can offer insights into what the financial future may look like. Speakers include –

David Smith is the Economics Editor of The Sunday Times and is a regular speaker at conferences and business events on the UK and global economy, the business outlook, and the property market.

Paul Johnson is Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the UK’s leading economic research institute, since January 2011 and is in demand as a speaker on subjects such as the economy, public finances, tax, and climate change.

Diversity and Inclusion

Again a very popular subject we have had requests for and we work with a number of speakers who talk on the benefits of having a multigenerational and diverse workplace. Some frequently booked speakers include

Anj Handa is the Founder of Inspiring Women Changemakers, an inclusive community of changemakers who stand for fairness and safety for women. Named as one of Grant Thornton’s 100 Faces of a Vibrant Economy in 2018, described by i-news as ‘a bloody brilliant woman’ and winner of the AFSA Positive Action Award, Anj was recently recognised in Forbes as one of the ‘10 Diversity & Inclusion Trailblazers You Need to Get Familiar With’.

Donna Fraser has become a leader in equality diversity and inclusion with over 10 years of corporate experience within business, sport, leadership, well-being, and PMA for both start-ups and established companies. In 2021 she was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for services to equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace and has served as a Trustee, advisor, and Board member for multiple organisations such as the London Marathon Charitable Trust, Women’s Sports Trust, British Athletes Commission, International Women’s Group and Her Spirit to name a few.

Jackie Handy is a leading keynote speaker on diversity and inclusion in business leadership.From selling antiques on her parent’s market stall as a 12-year-old, traveling the world working as a holiday rep in her early 20s to spending a 15-year career as a recruiter and senior leader, before moving to Learning and Development in 2011, her skills and knowledge are extremely varied! In 2018, Jackie Handy made the brave decision to share her personal story of bullying and exclusion in her TEDx talk, ‘The exclusive nature of inclusion’. This became the catalyst for her to become a leading authority in diversity, equity, and inclusion in business leadership.

Future of work

From creating a culture of innovation to the impact of technology, what does the future of work look like. These speakers all offer their insights into how the workplace will change.

James Poulter is the founder and CEO of Vixen Labs one of the UK’s leading Voice Technology companies and is a thought leader and speaker on Innovation Culture, the Future of Work, and Emerging Technologies (including the metaverse). James runs Vixen Labs one of Europe’s leading strategy consultancy and app development studio for voice assistants and conversational ai. Starting with a team of two people, in the space of three years, even during a pandemic, the team has now grown into over 20 staff and continues to grow from strength to strength.

Cris Beswick is a global thought leader and strategic advisor on innovation and the bestselling author of ‘Building a Culture of Innovation’.Originally trained as an industrial designer, Cris Beswick spent over a decade as a successful entrepreneur building an award-winning strategy & design group. He is now recognised globally as a thought leader in innovation strategy, leadership, and culture

Ben Sauer is a product and design leader, speaker, and author on the potential of design, possible futures, voice technology, and team culture.From 2018 to 2020, Ben worked at Babylon Health, first as a Director of Design, and then as Director of Product where he led a large team of 100 designers, clinicians, data scientists, and engineers on AI-based products worth $100m+.

Resilience

There are many speakers who have overcome challenges in their lives, all offering their views on how to be resilient in the face of adversity. Some of the most booked speakers we have who cover this include –

Anthony Bennett is an inspirational speaker and motivational speaker & fundraiser who learned how to walk, talk and speak again after contracting three virus infections at the same time. After what many would consider a miracle, Anthony was given only a 10%chance of survival, but has made a full recovery and is inspiring businesses, schools, and organisations with his optimism and bubbly personality.

Darren Edwards is a former mountaineer and Army Reservist who sustained a life-changing injury in the summer of 2016. The near-fatal climbing accident would leave Darren permanently paralysed from the chest down. With determination, grit, and positivity, Darren has overcome adversity by becoming a Disabled Adventurer, Expedition Leader, and Motivational Speaker.

Winston Ben Clements is an Inclusion Speaker & Advocate with expertise in the areas of disability awareness, anti-racism, and resilience. He was predicted to live a life of isolation and pain due to a rare bone disorder known as Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI). This condition caused his bones to be extremely fragile, suffering over 200 fractures in his lifetime.

Sustainability & Climate Change

We have seen a growth in the number of speaking enquiries about sustainability, climate change or what can companies do to improve their own carbon footprint. Some speaker ideas for these areas would be

Trewin Restorick was the founding CEO of Hubbub, a charity that makes environmental issues fun. Launching creative campaigns and collaborating with companies of all sizes, Hubbub is a visionary charity that works to bring issues of climate change, carbon footprints, and global warming into the public eye in a fun and light-hearted way. By focusing on people’s passions like food, sport, and fashion, the charity aims to communicate environmental issues through a fresh and exciting perspective.

Lucy Houliston is a Zoologist, digital content producer, and National Geographic Young Explorer and speaker with a passion for weird wildlife and conservation. An experienced speaker, Lucy Houliston has delivered school talks internationally; presented at numerous conferences and festivals; and moderated and hosted live and digital events for the likes of Reserva: The Youth Land Trust, the British Ecological Society, and National Geographic.

Performance

From building high-performance teams, creating growth or winning mindsets to help achieve peak performance (especially now as many teams work remotely or from home) has again been a popular request for speakers, and here are a few speakers who would be a good fit for this

Sophie Bennett is an expert and speaker on motivation and performance. She has helped champions to win medals, leaders to transform business performance, salespeople to win deals worth millions, and individuals perform beyond their wildest expectations.

Her book, “Find Your Flame – Why Motivation Matters More Than Talent”, features interviews with 50 exceptional performers and uncovers what motivates them, how they discovered their genius and the qualities and practices that result in sustainable world-class achievement. Sophie Bennett has uncovered five powerful principles of success that ignite ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things. Her 5 Flames of Motivation provide insight into what sparks lasting positive change and better teamwork.

Phil Olley is a sought-after inspirational speaker and international author, who works with companies and individuals throughout the world to help them dramatically enhance performance, improve results, and achieve their goals. Over twenty-plus years, Phil has distilled the ingredients of success into The NEXUS Code, a suite of practical concepts and tools he uses with individuals, teams, and businesses, to create breakthroughs in results whilst at the same time increasing personal and professional fulfillment.

If we can help with any enquiries this year please drop me a line on enquiries@scampspeakers.co.uk