Speakers
Ten speakers, one page, and some honest notes on who suits which room. Anyone sorting through the top women’s event speakers right now knows the shortlisting is harder than the booking. With luck it saves you an afternoon.
Key Takeaways
- Six months of lead time is normal for the best female motivational speakers, sometimes more.
- Fame is a poor guide to fit.
- Full talk footage tells you more than any sizzle reel will.
- Nobody publishes fees, though a bureau will narrow the range after one phone call.
A committee can sign a venue in a week, then spend two months stuck on the speaker line. It happens a lot. The budget argument wraps up fast by comparison, and the speaker question drags on until somebody panics near the deadline.
There is a shortcut of sorts. Rosters of women’s event speakers exist for this exact reason, and starting from one beats typing hopeful phrases into a search bar at midnight. People on a roster have stood in front of rooms a lot like yours before. That alone filters out plenty.
All ten names here sit on that roster. They run A to Z, so read nothing into the order. Further down there is some advice on picking between them, and a booking advisor can handle whatever is left after that.
Why Every Organization Should Host Women’s Empowerment Events
A fair number of companies run one session each March, tick the box, and move on. The ones that get something out of it treat the event as part of how the place runs. Women in the audience come away with words for things they had half noticed about their own careers. Management comes away with a reading no survey would have given them.
Then there is the part nobody budgets for. The hallway conversations keep going for days, some at desks, some in a group chat somewhere. The best motivational speakers for International Women’s Day events seem to aim at that stretch, not at the applause itself.
Top 10 Best Female Motivational Speakers to Book for Your Next Women’s Event
Here they are. Any of the ten will rework her material once she hears who will be sitting in the chairs, or most will anyway.
1. Amanda Gore
Thirty years on stage and still going. Amanda Gore spent her early working life as a physical therapist, a psychology major tucked alongside, and the habit of citing science stayed with her. Joy at work is her subject. Neuroscience does the heavy lifting in her talks, not cheer. Hall of Fame speaker. Google and Disney have both had her in.
2. Captain Sandy Yawn
Television found Captain Sandy Yawn on Below Deck Mediterranean, the Bravo series. Her crews met her earlier, usually at sea, sometimes at three in the morning with something going wrong. She talks about leading under that kind of pressure, and about women pushing into fields that never planned for them. JP Morgan booked her for its leadership teams. So did Amazon.
3. Caroline Adams Miller
Goal setting sounds dry until Caroline Adams Miller gets hold of it. Her master’s in applied positive psychology came from the University of Pennsylvania. Her book Creating Your Best Life put goal research and happiness research on the same page back when nobody thought to. People walk out with a method, something to try the following Monday.
4. Catriona Le May Doan
Two Olympic golds in speed skating, first at Nagano and then at Salt Lake City four years later. Before Catriona Le May Doan, no Canadian woman had ever defended a gold. None has managed it since either. Pressure is her subject, the kind that arrives when a whole country tunes in, and she delivers in English or French as the event needs.
5. Cheryl Bernard
Cheryl Bernard had already grown an insurance brokerage, started at age 23, into a multi-million dollar agency when curling took over her life. At 43 she skipped Canada to Olympic silver in Vancouver. TSN keeps her busy in the broadcast booth now. Both careers feed the talks. People warm to her quickly.
6. Colette Carlson
Straight commission sales will teach a person about human behavior fast. Colette Carlson started there, added a master’s degree in the subject, and built her programs around connection at work. Women’s leadership sits near the top of her topic list. Boeing has had her in. Procter & Gamble as well.
7. Jeanne Martinson
A diversity strategist with a Master of Arts in Leadership from Royal Roads University, Jeanne Martinson has a talent for rooms that arrive skeptical. Her sessions on developing women leaders fit this list naturally. Among her honors sits a YWCA Women of Distinction Award. There are others on the shelf beside it.
8. Joan Brock
Joan Brock was teaching at a school for blind children when she lost her own sight. A few years on, cancer took her young husband. HarperCollins took her autobiography, and Lifetime later made the movie. The story has carried her across stages for over 20 years. Rooms go quiet for her.
9. Jody Urquhart
Stand-up comedy came first for Jody Urquhart, and the timing stuck. All Work and No Say, her bestseller, picks a fight with joyless workplaces. The talks push back on hustle culture and ask for something more human in its place. She reckons she does up to 100 events a year. Many would place her among Canada’s leading women motivational speakers.
10. Judy Carter
Seventeen years headlining Las Vegas comedy clubs. Three cable specials and a TED Talk came out of that run, along with a book called The Comedy Bible. Oprah interviewed her. These days Judy Carter aims the stagecraft at stress and burnout. Healthcare crowds keep asking her back.
How to Choose the Right Female Keynote Speaker for Your Next Corporate Event
Begin from the audience and work backward to the speaker. Senior managers hear a story one way. Early-career staff hear it another. Ask any of the truly inspirational female speakers about process and the first question comes back about your attendees, usually before money gets mentioned. Silence on that front says a lot.
Watch a full talk if the speaker will share one. Sizzle reels hide a lot, by design. Dates deserve early attention as well. In-demand female keynote speakers can be spoken for six months out, nine for the busy ones, and the money conversation softens once two or three workable names exist.
Popular Topics Female Speakers Can Cover at Women’s Events
Most briefs circle the same ground. Corporate events lean toward women’s leadership speakers. Where the brief cares more about confidence than strategy, female empowerment speakers get the call instead. A few requests come up over and over:
- Leading a room where yours is the only female name on the invite.
- A setback, told firsthand by the person who climbed out of it.
- Humor as a survival skill at work.
- Goals that are still alive in February.
- Why women stay at some workplaces and quietly leave others.
Why Book Your Next Women’s Event Speaker Through MCP Talent Agency?
Guesswork is the expensive part of booking, and removing it is what an agency is for. MCP Talent Agency started matching speakers with events in 1972, and the same family still runs it. Names come up only after questions about your audience and your budget, and even then you get two or three real fits, never a directory dump.
A date and a rough audience profile is all it takes to start the conversation. Visit https://www.mcptalent.com/speakers/society/womens-events/
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How far in advance should you book women conference speakers?
Most planners settle this six to nine months ahead, and the bigger names can want a year. Leave it inside 90 days and the list shrinks, though something workable usually remains.
How much does a female keynote speaker cost?
There is no honest single number. Profile moves the fee, and travel moves it again. Share a date and a budget with a booking advisor and a realistic range comes back fast.
What is the difference between a keynote speaker and a motivational speaker?
The keynote carries the event’s theme and anchors the agenda. Motivational talks slot in anywhere and trade mostly in energy. Catriona Le May Doan is one of several on this list who handle both.
Can women’s event speakers present virtually?
Many do. A few even built the screen version first instead of squeezing a stage talk into a webcam. Worth confirming speaker by speaker. Online delivery varies more than anyone admits.