Popular Topics & Speakers for Motivational Conferences in 2025
After a year shaped by global upheaval and significant change, 2025 stands as a pivotal time for reflection, recovery, and renewed momentum. The challenges of 2024 have sparked vital conversations around resilience, adaptability, and growth - both personal and professional - that are sure to dominate the motivational speaking circuit in the year ahead.
In this post, we explore the key themes expected to take center stage at upcoming conferences and highlight some of the most compelling speakers poised to inspire audiences in 2025.
5 Trending Topics for 2025 Conferences
Check out our predictions of the most popular speaking topics for 2025:
Diversity & Inclusion
Discussions around equality, diversity, and inclusion will remain among the most prominent speaking topics in 2025. Companies are increasingly being held accountable for their biases, often reflected in the makeup of their workforce. Hiring a diverse team is just the beginning; organisations must also foster an inclusive environment where individuals from all backgrounds feel respected, supported, and valued.
Mental Resilience
In recent years, major global and economic crises have sparked significant turmoil. These challenges frequently spill over into the workplace, contributing to a 24% increase in symptoms of employee burnout. In 2025, business leaders are expected to prioritise strengthening their teams' mental resilience, equipping employees with the tools they need to face adversity and remain motivated.
Related:
Teamwork
Many businesses have adopted home working permanently. Teamwork will be a key topic of 2025 conferences, as business owners will be eager to ensure team cohesion despite this new way of working, ultimately improving employee performance. In a world reeling from separation, team-building speakers will spark unity and community.
Change Management
No one could have predicted the unprecedented events of the previous years. Looking to the future, business owners and conference organisers will certainly value the topic of change management to better prepare audiences for the challenges of 2025. With workplaces adapting to a post-lockdown world, this topic will help staff adjust to the “new norm”, including remote working and virtual operations.
Marginal Gains
If 2022 has taught the world anything, it is to value the small victories in life. From landing another sale to earning a positive testimonial, businesses will employ the marginal gains philosophy to remotivate their employees. A valuable factor in overcoming adversity, future conferences will empower audiences and celebrate how far they have come.
Related:
Top Motivational Speakers for 2025
Below, we explore our top conference speakers for 2025, who we predict will be in high demand from clients and event organisers.
Jake & Hannah Graf
Diversity & Inclusion Speakers
Widely considered to be the UK’s transgender power couple, Jake and Hannah Graf are rewriting the rule book on love, marriage and parenthood. In 2015, they publicly shared their gender transitions to normalise transgender experiences and improve representation. The pair tour the speaking circuit with their important message and 2025 mission - to increase inclusion in the workplace.
“Not only are Jake and Hannah charismatic, passionate, and informed speakers, but Jake's films generated a lot of important discussion and questions from our audience. Their honesty around transition and candid answers to questions was endearing, and we have had only positive feedback from our event.”
- Alexandra D’Sa, Business Analyst, Citi
Mandy Hickson
Mental Resilience Speaker
Mandy Hickson’s career is a story of two halves. To begin with, she faced great disappointment when she failed her flying RAF flying aptitude test multiple times, but with determination, Mandy later became the second female pilot to fly a Tornado GR4 on the frontline. As discussed in her 2020 book, An Officer, Not a Gentleman, Mandy fought to succeed in a male-dominated environment, a feat that shaped her as a mental resilience speaker.
“Mandy is a fantastic public speaker. She is both inspirational and extremely well prepared. Her ability to relate her own experience working under extreme pressure and in highly performing teams to everyday situations is most impressive. She tops it all with a wonderful sense of humour and great modesty. Listening to her talking about the many challenges that she has successfully overcome should be compulsory for all girls!”
- Miriam Gonzalez, Partner Dechert LLP, International Law Firm
Ollie Ollerton
Teamwork Speaker
Star of SAS: Who Dares Wins and former UK Special Forces serviceperson Ollie Ollerton has witnessed first-hand the importance of teamwork during periods of stress. While fighting on the frontlines, he survived thanks to the strength and support of his team, a sentiment that he now communicates to audiences. At events, Ollie teaches guests how to harness the power of a team unit to manage stress and pressure.
“Just a quick note to say many thanks to you and to Ollie for helping us out with last night’s Business Awards. Ollie was great and very well received. I bought him a large glass of red afterwards and then didn’t see him again as he was very popular with those who’d attended! I’ll assume he survived! Cheers and thanks again.”
- Neil Hodgkinson, Hull Daily Mail
Yuval Dvir
Change Management Speaker
Yuval Dvir is credited with turning some of the most recognisable global brands around by transforming their workplace culture. Notably, he was called upon by Skype to streamline their service and utilise emerging technologies. Yuval successfully transformed Skype into the dominant communications service it is today. Hand in hand with corporate turnaround is change management, which prepares employees for new processes and unexpected hardships in business.
Speaking Topics:
- Transformational Leadership
- Customer Experience
- Business Transformation
Dave Brailsford
Marginal Gains Speaker
Best known as the coach and performance director of British Cycling, Dave Brailsford is the mastermind behind the marginal gains theory. Dave successfully transformed the team into the multiple Gold medal winners we recognise today, taking them from last to first place. His secret? The ideology is that small improvements lead to big rewards. Dave applies this philosophy to conferences and business teams to instil a winning mindset in audiences.
Speaking Topics:
- British Cycling
- Marginal Gains Philosophy
- Performance Psychology
Bonus: Webinar Speakers
Accessible and cost-effective, online events bridge the geographical gap to bring audiences of all backgrounds together. This makes them essential for businesses whose employees work from home and wish to maintain motivation and team cohesion.
Some of our favourite webinar speakers for 2025 include Ken Segall, Akala and Ruby Wax, who have each adapted their speeches to suit the online format. Our virtual speakers truly are the best in the business. Engaging and educational in equal measure, they leave audiences with a better understanding of their potential.
Never organised a webinar before? Make sure to read our ultimate guide to hiring a webinar speaker to learn more!
How to Book a Speaker in 2025
To book a speaker for your conference, please call us on 0207 0787 876 or fill in our contact form.
You can also browse our impressive selection of motivational speakers and keynote speakers for hire in 2025 to read their testimonials, watch videos of them speaking and discover their career highlights.
