5 Crucial Ingredients to Consider When Hiring a Motivational Speaker

If you’re considering hiring a motivational keynote speaker for your event, there are a few key things to look for to ensure that you get a speaker who will inspire and engage your audience.

Relevance:

The speaker’s message should be relevant to your audience. This means that it should be tailored to their needs, interests, and challenges. Consider what you want your audience to get out of the keynote and look for a speaker who can deliver on that.

Experience:

Look for a speaker who has a track record of delivering successful keynote speeches. This can be demonstrated through testimonials from previous clients, media appearances, or published books or articles.

Engaging delivery:

The speaker should be able to engage and connect with the audience, whether through storytelling, humor, or interactive activities.

Professionalism:

The speaker should be professional in their communication and interaction with you and your team. This includes being prompt in responding to emails and meeting deadlines.

Flexibility:

The speaker should be flexible and able to adapt their message to fit your specific needs and goals for the event.

By considering these factors, you can ensure that you hire a motivational keynote speaker who will inspire and engage your audience and help your event be a success.

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Who’s the Coach?

I’m Chris Dessi.

Tech entrepreneur. Author. Talking head.
But before any of that—I’m a builder.

I’ve spent the last 20+ years helping companies grow:
From dot-com chaos to SaaS scale-ups to AI-powered everything.
I’ve sold software across continents. Closed $32M in deals using AI.
Built and exited businesses. Bombed a few too. All of it made me sharper.

Today, I run Torque AI, a marketing automation platform built for the 99%.
Small business owners. Solopreneurs. Operators with too much to do and not enough support.
We give them AI superpowers—without the hype, the jargon, or the BS.

I’m also the founder of AI Summit NYC, where real business owners come to learn how to actually use AI to drive revenue.

When I’m not building, I’m writing books, speaking on national TV, and coaching execs through reinvention—with a baseball bat in one hand and a meditation app in the other.

I believe reinvention is our greatest asset.
I believe AI isn’t the threat—it’s the test.
And I believe if you’re not adapting, you’re eroding.

Let’s build something that matters.

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