Amplify Speakers
Insights and Research
We track the workplace research that actually changes what a room needs to hear. Engagement data, sales and revenue benchmarks, AI adoption reporting, and the numbers behind the problems event planners are being asked to solve with a keynote.
Everything here is sourced and dated. Alongside the research we publish the stories behind the speakers on our roster, because what someone has actually lived through usually explains more about how they will land in a room than a topic list does.
Manager Engagement Series
A three-part read on the same Gallup data: what is happening to the management layer, why it happened, and what the organizations getting the opposite result are doing differently.
Part 2 · The ShiftManagers Used to Be More Engaged Than Their Teams. That Premium Just Disappeared.The buffer between leadership and burnout has collapsed.
Part 3 · What WorksManager Engagement Fell to 22% Globally. A Small Group of Companies Hit 79%.Same conditions, 57-point spread. The difference is not budget.
Workplace & Culture Research
What the engagement, wellbeing, and communication data says about the rooms you are programming for.
61% of US Workers Are Languishing at Work, Not FlourishingA national study on the space between thriving and burning out.
Managers Without Mental Health Resources Burn Out at Nearly Double the RateThe support gap inside the management layer.
62% of Associates Say Burnout Cut Their Engagement. Among the C-Suite It Is 38%.Burnout is bottom-heavy, and most wellbeing programming is designed by the least affected group.
Leaders Expect 3-4 Major Changes a Year. Employees Can Absorb 1-2.The change absorption gap and what it costs.
People Are Speaking 28% Fewer Words Than in 2005Why a communication trend became a leadership problem.
Disengagement Costs the Average S&P 500 Company Up to $355 Million a YearPutting a number on the culture conversation.
California Forced 90,000 Workers Back to the OfficeIts own audit said remote work was delivering better results.
Nurse Turnover Went Back Up. First-Year Nurses Are 29% of It.RN turnover rose to 17.6% at $60,090 per nurse. The decisive window is month one.
For the First Time in Eleven Years, Women Want Promotion Less Than Men80% against 86%. Among women with equal sponsorship, the gap disappears entirely.
Sales & Revenue Research
Useful if you are building a sales kickoff agenda or trying to work out what a revenue team actually needs from a general session.
Quota Attainment Fell to 42%. What the Best SKO Speakers Ask Before They Say Yes.Why the distribution matters more than the average.
Sales Rep Turnover Jumped From 22% to 36% in a Single YearThe retention side of the revenue problem.
AI & the Workforce
Where AI has actually changed the job, where it has not, and what that means for the room you are booking an AI speaker into.
Big Tech Confirmed $720 Billion in AI Spending for 2026The part of the announcement that got missed.
AI Was Supposed to Freeze Hiring. Alphabet, CSX and Booz Allen Are Staffing Up.What the hiring data actually shows.
Only 12% of Workers Say AI Has Transformed Their Work. Gallup Points at the Manager.Employees with manager support are 8.7x more likely to say work changed. Fewer than one in three have it.
Industry & Profession
Reporting on the speaking industry itself, and what credentials actually mean when you are evaluating someone.
Planner Guides
Practical guides for choosing, briefing, and programming a keynote speaker.
How to Choose a Keynote SpeakerJudging platform skill from video, when a big name is worth it, and what to ask a finalist.
10 Questions to Ask Before BookingThe questions that separate a great speaker from an expensive mistake.
10 Signs You Booked the Wrong SpeakerNine of the ten warning signs are visible before anyone takes a stage.
How to Write a Speaker BriefEight elements and a copyable template. The document almost nobody writes.
Building an Agenda Around a KeynoteTreating the keynote as the spine of the program rather than a slot to fill.
How to Introduce a SpeakerThe four jobs of an introduction, what to avoid, and a script template.
Keynote vs. Motivational SpeakerWhether your event needs intellectual substance or emotional energy.
What Types of Events We CoverEvery event type we book into, and what format each one actually needs.
How Bureau Networks Actually WorkWhy a published roster is a showcase rather than a ceiling.
Great Healthcare Conference SpeakersWhat it takes to earn one of the most demanding rooms in the business.
The Rise of the Culture SpeakerHow culture went from HR talking point to boardroom priority.
Speaker Stories
What a speaker has actually lived through usually explains more about how they will land in a room than a topic list does. A selection below; the full roster has the rest.
He Lost Nearly $2 Million in 90 Days, Then Took a Custodial Job at $8.25 an HourMarques Ogden, former NFL lineman
She Spent Years Undercover in Drug Enforcement, Where Trust Was SurvivalPamela Barnum, trust and body language expert
Simon Cowell Called Him a Genius. Andy Reid Called Him the Ultimate Pro.Jon Dorenbos, NFL Pro Bowler and magician
He Was Cut and Sent Back to the Minors 26 Times, Then Won a World SeriesRyan Lavarnway, World Series champion
It Took 34 Surgeries to Save Her Leg. What She Built Afterward Became a Method.Amberly Lago, resilience speaker
He Ran Out of Oxygen Descending EverestMark Pattison, first former NFL player to climb the Seven Summits
She Was Blindsided by Burnout, Then Literally Blindsided by a Pickup TruckRachel Druckenmiller, founder of Unmuted
He Started at an Alligator Attraction and Ran Training for Hard Rock for 21 YearsJim Knight, culture and training
Every Other Olympic Hurdler Took 15 Strides. She Built a Career on 16.Sarah Wells, Olympian
Doctors Said He Might Never Walk Again. He Went Back to Coaching a World Champion.Chet Fortune, strength and conditioning
She Was Given a Two Percent Chance of Survival at 19. Three Months After a Kidney Transplant, She Was Back on a Snowboard.Amy Purdy, three-time Paralympic medalist
She Was Held Hostage in Somalia for 460 Days. At a Conference of 6,000, She Was Voted the Best of More Than 40 Speakers.Amanda Lindhout, New York Times bestselling author
She Researches Burnout at Northeastern. She Also Treats It Clinically on Monday.Dr. Kristen Lee, behavioral scientist and psychotherapist
He Finished in North Korea at 25, the Youngest Person Ever to Visit All 195 CountriesCameron Mofid, founder of Humanity Effect
His Team Skydived Onto Seven Continents in Seven Days. The Number He Talks About Is 3.0 to 4.9.Mike Sarraille, retired Navy SEAL
He Walked 240 Miles Across Ohio to Keep One Promise. Every Dollar of His Fee Goes to Charity.Alex Sheen, founder of because I said I would
David Copperfield Asked What Great Ideas He Would Bring. He Promised Zero.Blake Vogt, magic creator and inventor
She Built a Construction Company Where No Employee Has Ever Voluntarily QuitChelsea Husum, founder and CEO
Most Sales Kickoff Speakers Have Never Carried a Quota. He Led Sales at ServiceTitan Through Its IPO.Jason Ferguson, international bestselling author of Nobody’s Legend
Most Keynotes Hand a Room Another Framework. Hers Asks Them to Say the Thing They Have Been Avoiding.Anne Gillaspie, creator of SHARE YOUR FEAR
He Woke From Surgery Unable to Add Two Plus Two. Still in Recovery, He Walked Onstage and Did Stand-Up.Steve Boorstein, author of Different Strokes
Most Networking Keynotes Tell a Room to Go Meet More People. He Has Recorded More Than 100 Episodes on What Happens After the Handshake.Michael Forman, author of Networking Unleashed
Most De-escalation Training Teaches You to Manage the Other Person. He Starts With You.Drew Moldenhauer, 17 years in law enforcement
Browse the Full RosterSpeakers with full bios, topics, video, and available formats.
Why We Publish This
Most bureau content is a roster with adjectives attached. That is not much help when you are trying to work out what your people actually need to hear this year.
These pieces exist to make the booking decision better, not to sell a specific speaker. If the research tells you your problem is quota design rather than motivation, or role clarity rather than recognition, that is worth knowing before you spend the budget. Several of these articles say so directly.
Everything is sourced
Every figure carries a source line naming the study, the sample size, and the scope. Where two studies appear to contradict each other, we say so and explain why rather than picking whichever number is more dramatic.
Related
Speakers by Industry | All Speaking Topics | For Event Planners | Speaker Fees Guide | Amplify Speakers Podcast | Full Roster
Building an agenda around one of these?
Tell us what the data looks like inside your organization and who is in the room. We will match you with a speaker who addresses the real cause rather than a general talk on the theme.