Speakers / Types: Motivational Speakers
Motivational Speaker
Do you or your staff need someone to encourage you to work better help you achieve your goals? Our motivating and inspiring speakers share their experiences when overcoming some of life’s most difficult obstacles, and how you can, too.
Yassmin Abdel-Magied
Leadership and Diversity Expert | Social Advocate
Yassmin Abdel-Magied is an engineer, author, broadcaster, and award-winning social advocate. Her powerful TED talk, “What Does My Headscarf Mean to You” has more than 2.5 million views and was selected as one of TED’s top 10 ideas. An internationally ren...
Michael Abrashoff
Former Navy Commander | Bestselling Author
Michael Abrashoff is at the center of one of the most remarkable modern-day stories of organizational transformation. Abrashoff took command of the worst-performing navy ship and crew in the Pacific Fleet, plagued with low morale, high turnover, and abysmal pe...
Shawn Achor
Harvard Researcher | New York Times Bestselling Author
Is there a connection between happiness and success? Having spent over a decade at Harvard University as the Head Teaching Fellow in Positive Psychology, Shawn Achor is the world’s leading expert on the topic. His acclaimed TED Talk, “The Happy Secret to B...
Jeff Adams
Paralympian and World Champion
This three-time Paralympic Champion and six-time World Champion in wheelchair racing is living proof that focus, determination, and spirit are the keys to achieving “gold medal” dreams. Combining his unique understanding of life’s challenges with his exp...
Susan Aglukark, O.C., LL.B
Award-Winning Inuk Singer/Songwriter
Award-winning Inuk singer-songwriter Susan Aglukark is one of Canada’s most unique artists, who blends the Inuktitut and English languages with contemporary pop music arrangements to tell the stories of her people, the Inuit of Arctic Canada. Aglukark’s ta...
Zahra Al-Harazi
Award-Winning Entrepreneur | Purpose-Driven Leadership Expert
The road to real leadership is rarely a straight one. Among Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs, few have faced more obstacles than Zahra Al-Harazi. With a no-holds-barred attitude, Al-Harazi helps people and organizations realize their potential for succ...
Dr. Kimberley Amirault-Ryan
Performance Consultant to the NHL, NBA, and Olympians | Executive Coach
Dr. Kimberley Amirault-Ryan lives by her philosophy of embracing challenges and pushing boundaries to achieve our highest potential. She’s worked in professional sport since 2001, becoming the first and only woman to be the Performance Consultant with th...
Julie Angus
Explorer | Scientist | Bestselling Author
Julie Angus is a leading adventurer, bestselling author, scientist, and entrepreneur. She was awarded National Geographic’s “Adventurer of the Year” award when she became the first woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean from mainland to mainland. She has...
Rasmus Ankersen
The High Performance Anthropologist
Rasmus Ankersen has trained with the planet’s best athletes to translate their secrets of high performance into usable strategies for leaders and businesses. Known for his bestselling book The Goldmine Effect: Crack the Secrets of High Performance, he is...
Trey Anthony
Award-Winning Canadian Playwright | Diversity Expert
Trey Anthony is a visionary creator, comedian, television writer, and award-winning playwright of international significance. The first African Canadian woman to have her own program on a primetime Canadian network, she is the writer of the critically acclaime...
Jann Arden
Renowned Musician | Bestselling Author
Jann Arden can bring a hall full of people to tears through song, only to have them, moments later, rolling in the aisles from her off-the-cuff comedy. Whether she’s performing her music, hosting an event, or telling her deeply personal and affecting stories...
Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour
America’s First Black Female Combat Pilot | Author | Business Consultant
Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour is a gutsy trailblazer, whose resume is an impressive collection of firsts—including being the first Black woman combat pilot in the US Armed Forces. Prior to that she worked as a police officer, served two tours of duty ...
Jack Armstrong
Award Winning Broadcaster | Toronto Raptors Game Analyst | TSN’s Basketball Insider
Best known as the colourful and entertaining voice of the 2019 NBA Championship winning team, the Toronto Raptors, Jack Armstrong has spent more than two decades covering basketball for TSN and NBA TV. Prior to this, he spent a decade as the head basketball co...
Sally Armstrong
Human Rights Activist | Journalist | Author
Sally Armstrong has covered stories in zones of conflict all over the world. From Bosnia and Somalia to Congo and Afghanistan, her eyewitness reports have earned her the Amnesty International Media Award four times over, as well as acclaim all over the world. ...
Tim Arnold
Leadership Development and Teambuilding Expert
Leaders and teams are often in a tug-of-war, facing competing demands such as planning vs. action, structure vs. flexibility, change vs. stability, and work vs. home. In order to thrive, they must tackle these tensions head on. Tim Arnold provides his audience...
Jennifer Barroll
Corporate Leadership and Communications Consultant
Jennifer Barroll is a passionate communicator. With a background as an actor, media personality, and stand-up comedian, she uses her quick wit and energetic personality to deliver practical leadership training and communication tools. Having worked with some o...
Chris Bashinelli
National Geographic Explorer | Executive Producer and Host, Bridge the Gap
After a 10-year acting career that included an appearance on HBO’s The Sopranos, Chris Bashinelli decided to follow his real passion and use media to build bridges between cultures. He now travels the world as the host of National Geographic’s Bridge the G...
Dr. Lisa Bélanger
Behavioural Change Expert | Researcher
An organization’s greatest asset is its people. Award-winning CEO Dr. Lisa Bélanger shows leaders and teams how insights from psychology, neuroscience, and behavioural science can be applied in the workplace to optimize performance, productivity, and innova...
David Ben
Creativity Expert | Master Magician
David Ben inspires people to strike the word “impossible” from their vocabulary. A master problem-solver, David uses his training as a former tax lawyer, a graduate of the London School of Economics, and a world-class magician to make perplexing problems i...
Robyn Benincasa
World Champion Adventure Racer | Bestselling Author
When the challenges are steep, and the competition fierce, Robyn Benincasa provides individuals and organizations the tools they need to inspire themselves and one another to their greatest heights and to cross their most challenging finish lines. As a two-tim...
Cheryl Bernard
Canadian Olympic Curler
At the age of 23, Cheryl Bernard started an insurance brokerage and propelled the agency to six million dollars in sales in just 11 years. At the age of 43, she helped Canada win a silver medal in curling at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. Passionate about i...
Dr. Susan Biali Haas
Expert in Burnout Prevention, Stress Management, and Resilience | Mental Health Advocate
An award-winning medical doctor, Dr. Susan Biali Haas’ life passion is to equip people with the knowledge, skills, and tools that will help them to enjoy optimal mental health, avoid burnout, and increase their resilience. Formerly clinically depressed and b...
Alexandre Bilodeau
Two-Time Gold Olympic Medalist, Freestyle Skiing
Alexandre Bilodeau captured the imagination of an entire nation when he became the first Olympian to win a gold medal on Canadian soil at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. He repeated his gold medal performance at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, and became ...
Eric Boles
Teamwork and Leadership Authority
What better way to learn the principles of leadership, team dynamics, and performance than with a former player of the New York Jets and Green Bay Packers? Eric Boles draws on his experiences with the National Football League and as a noted global expert in ta...
Roberta Bondar
Astronaut | Physician | Scientist | Photographer
The first Canadian woman and neurologist to fly in space, Dr. Roberta Bondar is globally recognized for her pioneering contributions to space medicine research, fine art photography, and environment education. She expanded the horizons of millions when she joi...
Dr. Nick Bontis
Leading Strategy and Management Expert
The “knowledge era” is here. Do you know how to survive? An internationally recognized intellectual-capital expert, Dr. Nick Bontis helps individuals and organizations navigate the new world of digital technology, industry disruption, and information bomba...
Jennifer Botterill
Three-Time Olympic Gold Medalist
Jennifer Botterill is one of Canada’s most successful athletes. A member of the Canadian Women’s Hockey Team for 14 years, she is a three-time Olympic champion, CEO of two companies, and an in-demand NHL analyst in both Canada and the US, regularly app...
Mark Bowden
Expert in Body Language, Human Behaviour, and Communication
Voted the #1 body language professional in the world for two years running, Mark Bowden is passionate about giving people the most influential and persuasive communication techniques to stand out, win trust, and gain credibility every time they speak. Inspirin...
Orlando Bowen
Game Changer and Motivational Speaker
When it comes to building teams, creating momentum, and employing winning strategies, Orlando Bowen is the real deal. A former professional football player and now high-performance coach, for the past fifteen years Bowen has used storytelling, fitness activiti...
Kevin Breel
Mental Health Activist | TED Sensation
Kevin Breel’s TEDx Talk, “Confessions of a Depressed Comic”, has garnered more than four million views, making it one of the most watched TED talks ever on mental health. In the years since he delivered it, Breel’s been called one of the “most ...
Scott Burrows
Expert on Vision, Mindset, and Pure Grit
A star athlete, Scott Burrows played college football at Florida State University and was a top-ranked kickboxing champion whose last fight was broadcast by ESPN. At the height of his athletic career, Burrows life changed dramatically — a horrific car crash ...
Cassie Campbell-Pascall
Former Captain of the Canadian Women's Hockey Team
Cassie Campbell-Pascall laced up her first pair of skates when she was five years old. Today, she is a heroine of Canadian sport. A passionate and dynamic speaker, Campbell-Pascall draws on her accomplishments as the captain of the gold-medal winning Canadian...
Candace Carnahan
Workplace Safety Advocate | Culture Change Agent | Inspirational Speaker
Candace Carnahan believes sharing stories saves lives. Lauded as one of the “faces of the future” by Maclean’s magazine, Carnahan relates her unique life lessons to the challenges, obstacles, and goals of the organizations she works with to inspire audie...
Bill Carr
Communication Expert | Award-Winning Humourist
For over twenty-five years, Bill Carr has been making people laugh at what’s trivial while helping them think deeply about what counts. His unique blend of humour and insight inspires laughter and helps people see their world with a fresh perspective. An awa...
Michel Chikwanine
Former Child Soldier | Inspirational Speaker on the Ability to Create Change
Michel Chikwanine has overcome unimaginable pain and struggle. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Michel grew up amid the terror of the Great War of Africa. Much of his childhood was ravaged by the death and decay of a war that claimed the lives of 5.8 ...
David Chilton
Former “Dragon”, CBC TV’s Dragons’ Den | Bestselling Author, The Wealthy Barber
Whether it’s helping millions of Canadians achieve personal financial success or investing in low-fat cookbooks, David Chilton has always had a knack for recognizing great ventures, a skill he proudly leveraged as a “dragon” on CBC television...
Choir! Choir! Choir!
International Singing Phenomenon
Choir! Choir! Choir! has sung with Tegan and Sara at the Junos, performed at a David Bowie tribute in New York, and have even taken to the Radio City Music Hall stage with Debbie Harry and The Flaming Lips. A collective led by creative directors Nobu Adilman ...
Scott Christopher
Co-Author of The Levity Effect: Why It Pays to Lighten Up
Scott Christopher travels the world entertaining and motivating thousands of people through his laugh-a-minute lectures, sharing how levity, humor, and becoming more of a “people person” can help you excel in business and at home. Practising what h...
Jamie Clarke
Extreme Adventurer | Entrepreneur | Performance Coach
Business is an adventure, and mountain-climber Jamie Clarke shows audiences how to strategize and succeed in their ventures. An acclaimed adventurer and entrepreneur, Clarke draws parallels between the dynamic environments found in business and nature to share...
Michael “Pinball” Clemons
Canadian Sports Hall-of-Famer | General Manager, CFL’s Toronto Argonauts
Few people exemplify the qualities of personal excellence, teamwork, community leadership, and overcoming the odds better than CFL legend Michael “Pinball” Clemons. With boundless energy, Clemon’s talks centre on the potential for each of us to a...
Jamie Mason Cohen
Leadership & Performance Expert
Referred to by some as the “personality x-ray machine”, Jamie Mason Cohen is a certified grapho-therapist and leadership strategist whose TEDx talk on how to spot a leader through their handwriting has been viewed more than two million times. His unique an...
Joey Coleman
Customer Experience Expert
When organizations like Whirlpool, NASA, Volkswagen Australia, the World Bank, and Zappos need to boost their customers’ experience, they call on Joey Coleman for assistance. For nearly twenty years, Coleman has helped organizations retain their best cus...
Donald Cooper
Business Management, Marketing, and Customer Service Expert
Drawing from his unique experience as both a world-class manufacturer and award-winning retailer, Donald Cooper delivers the “straight goods” on how to sell more, manage smarter, grow your bottom line…and have a life. With wisdom, humour, and...
Cheryl Cran
Future of Work Expert
Cheryl Cran helps leaders and their teams to build future workplaces, today. Recognized as the #1 Future of Work influencer by Onalytica, Cran’s research into the future of work, technology, and leadership, driven by her “people first” and digita...
Jessi Cruickshank
Television Personality
Renowned for her humour, quick wit, and authenticity, Jessi Cruickshank has been the host of some of television’s most popular programs, including MTV Canada’s The Hills After Show, CBC’s The Goods, and Canada’s Smartest Person. As a seasoned presenter...
Severn Cullis-Suzuki
Environmental Activist
At just 12 years old, Severn Cullis-Suzuki gained international attention when she delivered her famous speech at the Rio Earth Summit, pleading for the delegates to preserve the planet. Since then, Cullis-Suzuki has continued to advocate for intergenerational...
Johnny Cupcakes
CEO, Johnny Cupcakes | Award Winning Entrepreneur & Brand Hysteria Expert
If you dream of inspiring cult-like brand loyalty—the kind that involves mile-long queues and even permanent tattoos— then Johnny “Cupcakes” Earle is for you. The founder of the world-renowned tee-shirt brand Johnny Cupcakes, Johnny’s kno...
Kate Davis
Connectivity Expert | Humour in the Workplace | Work–Life Balance
Kate Davis has the unique ability to find humour in any situation and offers creative solutions to defuse frustrations in both the workplace and at home. A hit comedian, who has opened for the likes of Seth Meyers, Bill Clinton, and Barbara Walters, Davis’ g...
Wade Davis
Anthropologist | Explorer
Wade Davis’s presentations—illustrated by his exquisite photographs—are a wild and moving celebration of the wonder of humanity and the diversity of the human spirit, as expressed through the myriad of cultures he has encountered. A former Explorer-i...
Andre De Grasse
Olympic Champion Sprinter | Six-Time Olympic Medalist
Andre De Grasse made history at the 2016 Rio Olympics when he became the first Canadian to win Olympic medals in all three sprint events in a single Games, claiming the silver behind Usain Bolt in the 200m and bronze in both the 100m and 4x100m events. At the ...