# Speaker bureaus and speaking agencies in United States Source: https://speakersbureaus.directory/united-states/ Last verified: 2026-10-07 Organisations: 18 Publisher: Speakers Bureaus Directory, an independent directory. Nobody pays to appear and a listing is not an endorsement. The United States has the deepest speaker market in the world, the highest fees, and the widest gap between the bureaus that tell you what things cost and the ones that won't. At the top sit two very different operations. The Harry Walker Agency has been going since 1946, works from Park Avenue South, is now part of WME, and represents presidents, Nobel laureates and household names exclusively. Washington Speakers Bureau calls itself the world's largest talent agency for corporate speaking and has been at it more than 45 years. Neither publishes a price, and at that level you wouldn't expect one. Five bureaus break ranks on fees. All American Speakers lets you filter by budget band, with separate ranges for live and virtual. Executive Speakers Bureau goes further and shows a fee range on every profile, again splitting live from virtual. Gotham Artists publishes a fee guide and curates a browsable list of speakers at $15,000 and under. Eagles Talent filters by in-person fee band, from $3,001 up to $75,001 and above, and The Speaker Exchange Agency's fee filter starts at an under $5,000 band. If you're planning to a number rather than a name, start with those five. The rest of the field is unusually spread out for a market this size. Boston, Brooklyn, Santa Barbara, Annapolis, Memphis, Franklin in Tennessee, Minneapolis. American Program Bureau alone runs offices in six cities and is 60 years old. This isn't a one-city industry the way London or Auckland is. That spread matters for your travel budget. Eagles Talent lets you search by the state a speaker lives in, so you can look close to your venue first. And if you've ever wondered who pays the bureau, Brooks International is one of the few to say outright that its service costs the buyer nothing. One piece of plumbing is worth knowing about. eSpeakers, founded in 1999, runs the directories for both the American and British speaking associations and syndicates a single profile out to many bureau sites. It's why the same speaker can turn up on several sites at once. ## Listings ### Washington Speakers Bureau - Website: https://www.wsb.com/ - Type: speaker bureau - Based: Not published on its own site - Coverage: national and international - Roster: Not published - Publishes fees: No - Topics: Keynote Speakers; Motivational Speakers; Business; Leadership; Politics & Policy; Athletes Calls itself the world's largest talent agency specialising in corporate speaking events, and has been booking for more than 45 years. ### The Harry Walker Agency - Website: https://www.harrywalker.com/ - Type: speaker management (exclusive roster) - Based: New York, NY - Coverage: national and international - Roster: Not published - Publishes fees: No - Topics: Politics & World Affairs; Business Leaders; Media; Sports; Authors; Economists; Health & Wellness; Nobel Laureates Operating since 1946 from Park Avenue South and now part of WME, representing presidents, Nobel laureates and household names on an exclusive basis. ### All American Speakers Bureau - Website: https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/ - Type: speaker bureau - Based: Not published on its own site - Coverage: national and international - Roster: Not published - Publishes fees: Yes - Topics: Keynote Speakers; Motivational; Business; Celebrity; Entertainment; Sports; Hosts Booking since 2002 with more than $500 million of talent placed, and a search that filters by budget band for both live and virtual fees. ### Executive Speakers Bureau - Website: https://www.executivespeakers.com/ - Type: speaker bureau - Based: Memphis, TN - Coverage: national and international - Roster: Not published - Publishes fees: Yes - Topics: Keynote Speakers; Business; Leadership; Workplace Culture; Motivational; Healthcare; Technology More than 30 years in the business, and unusually open about money: each profile shows a speaker fee range and a separate virtual fee range. ### Gotham Artists - Website: https://gothamartists.com/ - Type: speaker bureau - Based: Brooklyn, New York, NY - Coverage: national, with affiliates in Boston, Washington DC, Florida and Los Angeles - Roster: Not published - Publishes fees: Yes - Topics: Keynote Speakers; Technology; Futurists; Innovation; Motivational; Corporate Entertainment New York bureau that publishes a speaker fee guide and curates a browsable list of speakers at $15,000 and under, which is rare at any size. ### BigSpeak Speakers Bureau - Website: https://www.bigspeak.com/ - Type: speaker bureau - Based: Santa Barbara, CA - Coverage: national and international - Roster: Not published - Publishes fees: No - Topics: Business Speakers; AI Speakers; Business Growth; Change Management; Entrepreneur; Motivational; Host/Emcee A business-focused bureau from Santa Barbara, booking speakers on AI, business growth, change management and entrepreneurship, plus event hosts. ### American Program Bureau - Website: https://www.apbspeakers.com/ - Type: speaker + entertainment agency - Based: Boston, MA - Coverage: national and international - Roster: Not published - Publishes fees: No - Topics: Keynote Speakers; Celebrity; Entertainment; Higher Education; Community & Nonprofit; Diversity Sixty years old, working from Boston with offices in New York, Washington DC, Kansas City, Dallas and San Diego, and strong in the college market. ### Leading Authorities - Website: https://www.leadingauthorities.com/ - Type: speaker bureau - Based: Not published on its own site - Coverage: United States and United Kingdom - Roster: Not published - Publishes fees: No - Topics: Keynote Speakers; Motivational Speakers; Global Affairs; Leadership; Artificial Intelligence; Futurists; Economy More than 30 years old, running its own video marketing and event production arms alongside the bureau. Visitors outside the US are routed to its UK site. ### Keppler Speakers - Website: https://www.kepplerspeakers.com/ - Type: speaker bureau - Based: Not published on its own site - Coverage: national and international - Roster: Not published - Publishes fees: No - Topics: Global Affairs & Security; Economy & Finance; Leadership & Achievement; Inspirational & Motivational; Women of Influence; Business Aimed squarely at business events, with a roster weighted to ambassadors, former national security officials, astronauts and senior journalists. ### Premiere Speakers Bureau - Website: https://premierespeakers.com/ - Type: speaker bureau - Based: Franklin, TN - Coverage: national and international - Roster: Not published - Publishes fees: No - Topics: Keynote Speakers; Motivational; Business; Leadership; Faith-Based; Celebrity; Authors Thirty years and 40,000 events from a base in Franklin, Tennessee, with a noticeably strong faith-based and author roster. ### Speakers.com - Website: https://speakers.com/ - Type: speaker bureau - Based: Annapolis, MD - Coverage: international - Roster: Not published - Publishes fees: No - Topics: Keynote Speakers; Business Thought Leaders; Motivational Speakers; Corporate Entertainment A full-service booking agency of more than 30 years, working from Annapolis, Maryland. ### National Speakers Association - Website: https://nsaspeaker.org/ - Type: industry body - Based: Minneapolis, MN - Coverage: national - Roster: Not published - Publishes fees: No - Topics: Find-a-Speaker Directory; Certified Speaking Professional accreditation; Chapters; Events; Member Education The US industry body, nearly fifty years old, with a public member directory that bookers can search by designation and expertise. It also awards the Certified Speaking Professional designation. ### eSpeakers Marketplace - Website: https://www.espeakers.com/ - Type: online directory/marketplace - Based: Not published on its own site - Coverage: international - Roster: Not published - Publishes fees: No - Topics: Speaker Profiles; Directory Syndication; Booking Software; Job Board Founded in 1999, this is the software behind the directories of both the American and British speaking associations, and it runs a public marketplace where organisers can search for and book speakers. ### Eagles Talent Speakers Bureau - Website: https://www.eaglestalent.com/ - Type: speaker bureau - Based: Not published on its own site - Coverage: national and international - Roster: Not published - Publishes fees: Yes - Topics: Motivational Speakers; Leadership; Healthcare; Sales Strategies; Entertainers; Keynote Speakers Forty years old and one of the most searchable bureaus anywhere: filter by in-person fee band from $3,001 through to $75,001 and above, and by the state the speaker lives in. ### The Speaker Exchange Agency - Website: https://speakerexchangeagency.com/ - Type: speaker bureau - Based: Not published on its own site - Coverage: national - Roster: Not published - Publishes fees: Yes - Topics: Artificial Intelligence; Cyber Security; Social Media; TED Speakers; Virtual Presentations; Women Speakers; Leadership A boutique bureau of more than ten years aimed squarely at meeting planners, with fee filtering that starts at an under $5,000 band. ### Brooks International Speakers Bureau - Website: https://www.brooksinternational.com/ - Type: speaker bureau - Based: Not published on its own site - Coverage: national and international - Roster: Not published - Publishes fees: No - Topics: World Leaders; Business; Motivational; Sports; Keynote Speakers Twenty-five years matching talent to events, and one of the few bureaus anywhere stating outright that its service comes at no cost to the buyer. ### AEI Speakers Bureau - Website: https://www.aeispeakers.com/ - Type: speaker bureau - Based: Not published on its own site - Coverage: national - Roster: Not published - Publishes fees: No - Topics: Leadership; Military & Veterans; Performance Under Pressure; Business; Media Personalities Carries broadcast personalities and bestselling authors alongside business and military speakers, and publishes an industry terms glossary. ### Goodman Speakers - Website: https://www.goodmanspeakers.com/ - Type: speaker bureau - Based: Not published on its own site - Coverage: national - Roster: Not published - Publishes fees: No - Topics: Business Keynote Speakers; Thought Leaders; Motivational; Financial; Insurance; TED Speakers; Futurists; C-Suite Leadership Long-running bureau with an unusually specific niche in financial and insurance-sector speakers alongside the general business roster. ## Questions ### Which US bureaus publish speaker fees? Five of the eighteen here. All American Speakers filters its search by budget band, separately for live and virtual events. Executive Speakers Bureau shows a fee range on every speaker profile, again splitting live and virtual. Gotham Artists publishes a fee guide plus a curated list of speakers at $15,000 and under. Eagles Talent filters by in-person fee band, and The Speaker Exchange Agency filters from an under $5,000 band. Everyone else quotes on request. ### What do keynote speakers charge in the United States? The budget bands that All American Speakers uses give the clearest public picture: $5,000 to $10,000, $10,000 to $20,000, $20,000 to $30,000, $30,000 to $50,000, and $50,000 to $100,000, with more above that. Virtual sessions run materially cheaper. Executive Speakers Bureau lists them separately, and a speaker at $20,000 to $30,000 in the room may be $10,000 to $15,000 online. ### Can I find a speaker who lives near my event? Yes, and in a country this size it's worth trying. Eagles Talent lets you filter by the state the speaker lives in. With any other bureau, tell them where the event is and ask for a shortlist of people who won't need a long flight. Wherever you search, ask whether travel is in the quote or added on top. A cross-country flight and a hotel night can add a lot to the total. ### Can I find a speaker through the National Speakers Association? Yes, as a directory. The NSA is the US industry body, based in Minneapolis and nearly fifty years old. It isn't a booking agency, so you'll contact the speaker yourself. Members who complete an eSpeakers profile appear automatically in its Find-a-Speaker directory, which event organisers do search. Look out for CSP after a name. That's the Certified Speaking Professional designation the NSA awards, and it's the recognised credential in the American market. ### What is eSpeakers and why does it keep coming up? It's infrastructure rather than a bureau. Founded in 1999, eSpeakers runs the member directories for both the National Speakers Association in the US and the Professional Speaking Association in the UK and Ireland. It syndicates one speaker profile out to many directory and bureau sites. That's why you can find the same person in several places, sometimes on sites they never signed up to one by one. If it matters who you deal with, ask who actually handles the speaker's bookings. ### Is the US market all in New York? No, and that sets it apart. Harry Walker and Gotham Artists are New York, but Executive Speakers Bureau is in Memphis, Premiere is in Franklin, Tennessee, BigSpeak is in Santa Barbara, Speakers.com is in Annapolis, American Program Bureau is in Boston and the NSA is in Minneapolis. American Program Bureau alone runs offices across six cities. Compare that with the UK, where nearly everything is in London. ### What's the difference between a bureau and an exclusive agency here? A bureau represents many speakers non-exclusively and sells them to event organisers. Most American speakers sit on several rosters at once, so you can often get the same name from more than one bureau. The Harry Walker Agency works the other way. It represents its people exclusively, which is how it holds a roster of former heads of state and Nobel laureates. If you want one of those names, Harry Walker is who you'll be dealing with. ### Do virtual speaking fees really cost less? Yes, and the American bureaus are the only ones in this directory that show it publicly. All American Speakers runs separate live and virtual budget filters, and Executive Speakers Bureau publishes both figures on each profile. The pattern is consistent: virtual sits well below the in-room fee, because there's no travel and less of the speaker's day is gone. ### Which bureaus work with colleges and nonprofits? American Program Bureau is the clearest fit. Its site breaks out higher education and community and nonprofit as distinct markets, and it's been serving the college circuit for much of its sixty years. Gotham Artists also names college and nonprofit events alongside corporate work. ### How far ahead should I book a speaker? Six to twelve months for a conference keynote, and a year or more for a high-profile name. American conference season is crowded and the recognisable people commit early. The depth of the market helps at short notice more than anywhere else in this directory. There are simply more people available. ### Can a US bureau book a speaker for my event outside the United States? Yes. The large ones all book internationally. Leading Authorities is the interesting case: it runs both US and UK operations, and routes visitors outside the US to its UK site. For any cross-border booking, check which currency the quote is in and what travel it covers. A long-haul flight, and sometimes a visa, adds time as well as cost, so start early. ### How do I get a listing on this page corrected or added? Email us. Every organisation here was checked on its own website on the date at the bottom of this page. The US market is the biggest in this directory and this is the first pass at it, so if we've missed a bureau you rate, tell us. Nobody pays to appear, and nobody can pay to be removed or moved up. See [how we verify](https://speakersbureaus.directory/methodology/). --- Data as JSON: https://speakersbureaus.directory/api/united-states.json Method: https://speakersbureaus.directory/methodology/ Free to use and cite with attribution to speakersbureaus.directory.