How to Pitch the value of a speaker to your leadership team

A Practical Guide for HR, L&D, and Internal Event Champions

You already know the value a powerful speaker can bring to your team: a boost in morale, renewed energy, shared purpose, and real progress toward your company’s goals. But getting leadership to approve the budget? That’s often the hardest part.

If you’re in HR, Learning & Development, or the person responsible for internal events, you’re likely facing the classic disconnect: you’re focused on people, engagement, and culture, while leadership is focused on cost, risk, and ROI.

This guide is here to help you bridge that gap, speak leadership’s language, and build a business case that gets a “yes.”

You’ve probably heard objections like these before:

• “There’s no room in the budget.”
• “How does this actually help the business?”
• “What if it doesn’t land well with the team?”

And we get it. You’re stuck between wanting to bring value to your people and needing to prove that value in financial terms. The key is to stop selling a “nice idea” and start pitching a strategic investment.

Align the Speaker’s Topic to Business Goals

Start by identifying your company’s current priorities. Is leadership concerned about high turnover? Is innovation falling flat? Are you working toward DEI goals or building leadership resilience?

Now connect the dots. A great speaker is a practical solution to a business challenge. Show how a talk on wellbeing can reduce burnout, how a DEI speaker can support inclusion targets, or how a leadership speaker can improve decision-making under pressure.

Use Data to Back It Up

Leaders trust numbers. So give them the stats. For example:

• Highly engaged teams deliver 21% more profitability (Gallup).
• Strong workplace cultures result in 40% lower employee turnover.
• Targeted talks from the right speaker have been shown to increase morale and engagement for weeks afterward.

You can also bring in your own data from engagement surveys, performance reviews, or even anecdotal feedback to show where a speaker could make a real difference.

Frame It in Terms of Risk, Cost, and Outcomes

Speak their language. For example:

• A speaker on mental health awareness can reduce absenteeism and therefore the costs that come with it.
• A leadership expert can help your managers navigate crises more effectively, avoiding costly mistakes.
• Offer to run a feedback survey post-event so you can measure success and reduce perceived risk.

Let’s talk about something powerful: the 1% Rule.

You might’ve heard of James Clear’s Atomic Habits, where he shows how improving by just 1% every day leads to being twice as effective in just over two months. 

Now imagine this: what if everyone in your company took away one idea, one new perspective, or one mindset shift from a single speaker session? One small improvement, across every individual, every day. The compound effect of those micro-changes can completely transform team performance, engagement, and morale.

That’s the real ROI of a great speaker: the spark that sets long-term change in motion.

Here’s how to structure your proposal so it speaks directly to leadership:

• Objective: What business issue is this speaker solving?
• Solution: Who’s the speaker, and why are they the right choice? The Speakers Agency can help with this!
• Benefits: Link their message to measurable business goals (retention, wellbeing, innovation, DEI).
• Cost vs Value: Lay out the investment vs. the potential gain i.e. saving thousands on staff turnover or boosting team performance.
• Measurement: Explain how you’ll track success (employee feedback, KPI shifts, event surveys).

And don’t forget to point out: replacing just one employee can cost the business 6–9 months of their salary. That makes a speaker who increases engagement a very smart investment.

If you want examples to strengthen your case, consider how different types of speakers deliver specific outcomes:

• Motivational speakers to energise teams during change
• Mental health experts to improve wellbeing and reduce absenteeism
• Leadership coaches to build manager confidence and crisis readiness
• DEI speakers to support inclusion and culture transformation

You can browse our categories, such as motivational speakers and corporate speakers, to find your perfect fit.

Let’s handle those common objections you might hear and think about how to respond:

“We don’t have the budget.”
Propose a scaled approach: start with a virtual talk or combine a speaker session with an existing event. Emphasise the long-term savings from improved retention, reduced sick days, and greater productivity.

“How does this benefit the business?”
Connect the speaker’s message to an immediate challenge. Use data. 

“What if it’s not well received?”
Share video clips, testimonials, and tailor the session to your audience. At The Speakers Agency, we also offer support with our tailored matching service meaning we can suggest speakers specific to your brief.