The Power of Female Inspirational Speakers: Transforming Audiences Through Authentic Leadership
Here’s some good news: we’ve seen an uptick in searches for female inspirational speakers and similar search terms. It’s no global mega trend. It won’t register on Google Trends. But it’s there.
This is pleasing for us in two ways. First because we’re glad to see that more people are looking for women speakers. As our research shows, women remain under-represented on conference and event stages. Inspirational and motivational speakers are two of the biggest categories of keynote speaker, certainly when measured by internet searches. So it’s good to see more people specifying that they’re looking for women.
While all speakers are different and each has their own unique style, women inevitably bring something different to the stage. Our female expert speakers bring their professional expertise, knowledge and story-telling abilities just like all our speakers. But they have inevitably faced challenges unique to their sex in reaching their position. Not all will make it part of their talks. But other women in the room know it’s there, recognise it, and respond to it.
That experience can sometimes shape women’s speaking style. We find a lot of our women speakers are highly rated by audiences for their personal authenticity. They frequently share vulnerabilities alongside victories, making their success stories more relatable and their advice more actionable. Companies are recognising that female speakers bring essential perspectives on topics ranging from resilience and adaptability to innovation and collaborative leadership. Issues like parenting, where women still see the greatest career impact and carry the greatest personal burden, through to menopause, which frequently further disrupts women’s careers, ae now being much more openly discussed and addressed.
Leading with Women
The second reason that we’re pleased to see this uptick in searches for female speakers is much more selfish. From the day we launched, Pomona Partners has prioritised ensuring that women are properly represented on our roster. More than 50% of the speakers on our books are women, and that will always be the case. Do we benefit from more searches for female speakers? Absolutely!
There are a couple of notes of caution here though. First, an uptick in searches doesn’t always translate into an uptick in bookings. And though we’re seeing more traffic to our pages on women speakers, we’re not yet seeing a related increase in the number of contracts. We suspect it’s a matter of time - there’s always a lag between search and booking that can range from a few days to a few months.
And second, we suspect searches for women speakers specifically remain seasonal. What’s coming up in five months? International Women’s Day. Maybe the most organised bookers are already searching for their speakers for events around the 8th March?
We’re always delighted to see our speakers booked. But we would like to see more evidence that organisers are seeking women for their perspectives and to balance their on-stage presence, rather than just in the service of particular events.
Every Subject, Every Sector
This is because there are female expert and inspirational speakers coming now from every sector and every subject. We don’t have complete coverage on our books (yet), but we can offer pilots and politicians, powerful business leaders and inspiring charity founders, entrepreneurs and environmentalists, thinkers, writers and coaches.
We have female speakers from tech and retail, music and media, law and more. Faces off the telly, voices from the radio. Founders, changemakers, and people who have endured.
In short, whatever event you’re planning, there is a woman who can speak to the topic you’re targeting. We’re always happy to book our women event hosts. But often women are picked for that role to balance an overwhelmingly male panel of keynote speakers. And these days, there’s just no reason for that to be the case.
For organisations seeking to create lasting change and inspire their teams to achieve greater success, female inspirational speakers offer unique value through their combination of authentic storytelling, practical wisdom, and proven ability to motivate audiences toward meaningful action and sustainable success.