With the 26th anniversary of World Book Day coming up in March, for this month’s feature I thought I would highlight some amazing authors who are on the speaking circuit.
Given World Book Day typically highlights the best in children’s literature, and there aren’t a huge number of speakers on the circuit who write children’s books, this list really focuses on non-fiction authors. Unless there are some children out there who can appreciate and enjoy the intricacies of the gender data bias gap or want to hear more about a prince that may or not sweat – then read on!
Sam McAlister
Sam’s brilliant book ‘Scoops’, which covers amongst other things the backstory about how the infamous Prince Andrew interview came about, has been picked up by Netflix and the film detailing the whole affair is due to be released with an A-list cast soon.
Alongside being an amazing storyteller, Sam is also a brilliant conference speaker and talks around a huge range of topics such as trust, communication and leadership.
View Sam McAlister‘s speaker profile here.
Tim Harford
In the intro I made a point to say how everyone here is really a non-fiction author, and that’s still very much the case with Tim as he has written some incredibly influential pieces of investigative journalism and economics books, but his latest book ‘The Truth Detective’ is squarely aimed at inquisitive young children who are interested in learning more about how the world works.
More relevant to us in the corporate world though, Tim is second to none in his storytelling ability, and gets his message across in an incredibly natural and easy way – at the end of his speech you will have learned a lot without even realising it!
‘The Truth Detective’ is due out on the 16th March, keep an eye out for it!
View Tim Harford‘s speaker profile here.
Matthew Syed
There aren’t many speakers on the circuit who have changed their careers quite so drastically as Matthew. From an Olympic and Commonwealth competitor in Table Tennis, to one of the UKs leading thought leaders it really is quite the shift and gives him a unique perspective of “performance” in general.
The lessons in his books ‘Bounce’ and ‘Black Box Thinking’ are quoted by execs all over the country and are great examples of how to attract, foster and retain exciting young talent and how to learn from mistakes. In his latest book ‘Rebel Ideas’, Matthew looks at cognitive diversity and how employers need to have more of an open mind when it comes to hiring, to ensure that everyone isn’t simply singing off the same hymn sheet and brings fresh ideas to an organisation. All lessons which any company would massively benefit from hearing about.
Matthew also has also written a range of children’s books to help young readers find their voice, and speak up with kindness and confidence. The latest of these ‘What Do YOU Think?’ was released last year.
View Matthew Syed‘s speaker profile here.
Caroline Criado Perez
A list talking about authors who speak wouldn’t be complete without Caroline. Her book ‘Invisible Women’ has genuinely changed scientific discourse around the way data and statistics have always typically discriminated and ignored women, and will hopefully lead to some major changes in the way that data is gathered.
As the book covers so many different real life examples of the gender data bias, she can draw on a massive range of stories in her speeches which makes her an absolute must have at any International Women’s day event, or any other event which looks at diversity and/or women’s issues.
View Caroline Criado Perez‘s speaker profile here.
Caitlin Moran
Caitlin is one of the UKs most prolific and best loved feminist authors, and is able to talk about incredibly serious topics in an approachable and humorous way.
With corporates, she typically prefers the Q&A format rather than a standard keynote – sometimes I personally think that can be a bit of a copout, but with Caitlyn it allows her (and whoever is interviewing) to get into such a huge range of topics in a more natural way and works so well.
View Caitlin Moran‘s speaker profile here.
Obviously this is just a small sample of some of the top authors that are on the speaking circuit. If you’d like to enquire about any of the names above, or would like some more examples please contact your JLA Account Manager.