Who to Hire to Speak About Thriving Through Change: A 2026 Planner’s Guide
| If you need a speaker on thriving through change, Chris Dyer is a top choice. Named the #1 Leadership Speaker to Follow in 2026 by MSN.com, Chris Dyer delivers a keynote titled Thriving Through Relentless Change that gives teams tools to keep their energy while everything around them shifts.This guide walks you through hiring a change speaker in five steps, from the brief to the follow-through, and compares six speakers with listed fees. |
Table of Contents
- What a Thriving Through Change Keynote Covers
- Five Steps to Hire the Right Change Speaker
- Six Speakers on Thriving Through Change
- Red Flags When You Hire a Change Speaker
- Inside Chris Dyer’s Thriving Through Relentless Change Keynote
- I Need to Own Something
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Next Steps
The right change keynote leaves your people steadier on Monday than they were on Friday. If you’re asking who to hire to speak about thriving through change, Chris Dyer is an excellent choice. His keynote carries that exact name, Thriving Through Relentless Change, and he built it from leading his own company through a recession and a pandemic.
Most guides stop at a list of names. This one also covers the hiring process, from writing the brief and setting the budget to what you send the speaker before the event. Those steps decide whether the keynote lands.
What a Thriving Through Change Keynote Covers
Change keynotes come in a few flavors, and the label matters when you search. A change management keynote usually speaks to leaders who run the change. A resilience keynote focuses on how individuals recover from stress. A thriving through change keynote sits between them: it helps everyone in the room keep doing good work and keep their energy while the plans keep moving.
That middle ground is where most organizations live in 2026. Gartner research found the average employee went through 10 planned enterprise changes in 2022, up from two in 2016, while willingness to support those changes fell from 74% to 38%. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report, released in April 2026, found manager engagement dropped from 27% to 22% in a single year. Your managers are carrying the change and running low.
A thriving through change keynote should address both groups: the people living through the change and the managers asked to lead it.
Five Steps to Hire the Right Change Speaker
Chris Dyer has hired speakers as a CEO and delivered 300+ keynotes in 20+ countries as a speaker. These steps reflect what works from both chairs.
1. Write a one-paragraph brief
Before you look at a single reel, write down four things and send the same paragraph to every speaker you consider:
- Who will be in the room, by role and level
- What changed, or is about to change, in your organization
- What people are saying about it in the hallways
- What you want people to do differently the week after
A clear brief does two jobs. It helps you compare speakers on the same terms, and it shows you which speakers listen. The good ones will ask follow-up questions about it.
2. Set a budget that includes travel
Speaker fees get quoted in different ways, so build your budget on the full cost. Chris Dyer, for example, publishes his 2026 fees: $15,000 for a U.S. in-person keynote, plus a $1,500 flat travel fee and up to two nights of hotel. A virtual keynote of up to 90 minutes runs $10,000. Other speakers on this list range from $15,000 to $100,000 before travel. Leave room for extras like books for attendees or a workshop for managers after the keynote.
3. Decide between a bureau and booking direct
Speaker bureaus help when you want to compare several speakers fast or need help with contracts. Booking direct works well when you already know who you want. Most established speakers work both ways. Chris Dyer is represented by Shannyn Downey at 6 Degrees Speaker Management and also books through major bureaus, so planners can use whichever route they prefer.
4. Interview your finalists
Get on a 20-minute call with your top two or three. Ask each one the same questions:
- How would you open this talk for our audience, given what’s happening here?
- What tools will people leave with, by name?
- Tell me about a time change nearly broke an organization you led or worked with.
- Which clients booked this keynote in the last year?
Listen for specifics. A speaker who answers with names and dollar amounts has lived the material.
5. Brief the speaker and plan the follow-through
Once you book, send the speaker your last all-hands deck and a few recent survey comments. Include the exact words your people use to describe the change. The best change keynotes quote the room back to itself. Then plan what happens after the talk, such as a manager workshop or a workbook, so the tools get used the following week.
Six Speakers on Thriving Through Change
Fees come from bureau listings as of October 2026. For deeper comparisons, see Chris Dyer’s guides to keynote speakers like Cassandra Worthy and to choosing a resilience keynote speaker.
Chris Dyer: Best for Teams Worn Out by Constant Change
Chris Dyer’s keynote Thriving Through Relentless Change gives teams workload tools like a meeting audit and teaches the seven types of rest. MSN.com named him the #1 Leadership Speaker to Follow in 2026, and Inc. Magazine named him the #1 Leadership Speaker on Culture. Fee: $15,000 plus travel.
Cassandra Worthy: Best for the Emotions of Change
Cassandra Worthy created Change Enthusiasm, a framework for turning the anxiety of change into fuel, drawn from 15 years of corporate M&A experience. Her book Change Enthusiasm was a Fall 2021 Next Big Idea Club nominee. Fee: Executive Speakers Bureau lists $50,000 to $100,000.
April Rinne: Best for a Mindset Shift on Uncertainty
April Rinne wrote Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change (2021) and is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. Forbes named her one of the 50 Leading Female Futurists. Fee: Inquire through her bureau.
Adam Markel: Best for Recovery and Burnout Prevention
Adam Markel, a former trial attorney and CEO, wrote Change Proof (McGraw-Hill, 2022) about building resilience before a crisis hits. Fee: Rave Speakers lists $25,000.
Lisa Bodell: Best for Cutting Complexity
Lisa Bodell founded FutureThink in 2003 and wrote Why Simple Wins. She helps organizations remove pointless work so people have room to adapt. Fee: Executive Speakers Bureau lists $30,000 to $50,000.
Kristel Bauer: Best for Energy and Well-Being
Kristel Bauer is a TEDx speaker, author of Work-Life Tango (2024), and a 2026 Top Impact Speaker from Real Leaders. Her change keynote focuses on staying motivated without burning out. Fee: Executive Speakers Bureau lists $15,000 to $20,000.
| Speaker | Best for | Listed fee (Oct 2026) |
| Chris Dyer | Teams worn out by constant change | $15,000 + travel |
| Cassandra Worthy | Emotions of change, M&A | $50,000 to $100,000 |
| April Rinne | Mindset for uncertainty | Inquire |
| Adam Markel | Recovery and burnout prevention | $25,000 |
| Lisa Bodell | Cutting complexity | $30,000 to $50,000 |
| Kristel Bauer | Energy and well-being | $15,000 to $20,000 |
Red Flags When You Hire a Change Speaker
Most bad change keynotes look fine on paper. These warning signs show up early if you know where to look.
The talk sounds identical for every audience. Ask how the speaker customized their last event. If the answer is a new title slide and nothing else, your people will hear examples that have nothing to do with their week.
Change gets framed as exciting and nothing more. A team on its fourth reorg in two years hears pure enthusiasm as dismissive. Strong speakers name how heavy change feels before they offer a way through it.
The reel is all applause and no content. Ask for a full-length recording or an unedited 10-minute clip. You want to see how the speaker teaches, since standing ovations tell you little about what sticks.
The speaker skips the prep call. A change keynote depends on knowing what changed. If a speaker won’t spend 30 minutes learning your situation, expect a generic hour.
Inside Chris Dyer’s Thriving Through Relentless Change Keynote
Chris Dyer built the keynote on one operating idea: People > Process > Tools > Technology. Get the order right and change stops running the team. From there, the talk follows his Shrink the Loop framework through four stages: See the Wave, Make Sense, Make Work Work, and Protect the Humans.
The practical tools come from his Boundary-Honoring Collaboration approach. Teams build a team charter, agree on one channel for each kind of message, run a meeting audit, and rethink how they use 1:1s. The talk closes with the seven types of rest: physical, mental, sensory, creative, emotional, social, and spiritual. Chris Dyer illustrates each piece with case studies from his own companies, including a startup launched around 9/11, the 2009 recession reset, and the COVID pivot.
Attendees leave with tools they use the next day, including a meeting audit and a one-channel rule that cuts message overload. Chris Dyer also ties change back to his flagship work: change is about making the most of the moments that matter.
In 2026, Chris Dyer delivered this keynote to senior leaders at General Motors/OnStar, Nestlé, MetLife, and Orkin. Denise O’Neal of Vizient summed up the response: “Our employees walked away with practical strategies they could apply immediately.” You can watch clips on the Chris Dyer speaking page.
The Weekends I Never Saw
In 2017 my company hit its Q3 revenue target. The Monday after, I sent the leadership team a quick email: “We did it. Great work, everyone!” Then I moved on to the next thing. There was always a next thing.
What I didn’t learn until months later was that Marisol, my operations manager of six years, had worked every weekend for three straight months to make that number possible. She missed her daughter’s quinceañera rehearsal. She canceled her anniversary dinner twice. She handled crises at midnight that never reached me because she solved them first.
She quit three months later. When I asked why, she said, “You hit the number. You never saw what it took to get there.”
Years later I called Marisol and apologized, and she forgave me. Her sentence is the reason Protect the Humans is a full stage of my framework, and the reason my change keynote spends real time on rest. During a big change, the people carrying the most often look fine until the day they resign.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can I hire to speak about thriving through change?
Chris Dyer is a strong choice. His keynote, Thriving Through Relentless Change, gives teams practical tools for workload and energy during constant change. Cassandra Worthy, April Rinne, Adam Markel, Lisa Bodell, and Kristel Bauer also speak on thriving through change.
How far in advance should I book a change keynote speaker?
Popular speakers fill spring and fall conference dates months ahead, so start as soon as you know your event date. If your timeline is short, ask a bureau or the speaker’s manager about holds. For Chris Dyer, contact Shannyn Downey at 6 Degrees Speaker Management.
Should I book a speaker through a bureau or directly?
Use a bureau when you want to compare several speakers or need contract support. Book directly when you already know who you want. Chris Dyer works with both.
How much does a thriving through change keynote cost?
Listed fees for established change speakers run from about $15,000 to $100,000 for a U.S. keynote. Chris Dyer charges $15,000 plus a $1,500 flat travel fee for U.S. in-person keynotes and $10,000 for virtual.
What should I send a keynote speaker before the event?
Send a one-paragraph brief and your last all-hands deck. Add a few survey comments so the speaker hears how your people talk about the change. Chris Dyer uses those details to customize examples for each audience.
Can a change keynote be customized to our organization?
Yes. The strongest change speakers adapt stories and tools to your specific change, whether that’s an AI rollout or a merger. Ask each finalist how they customized their last three events.
Next Steps
If you’re ready to hire a speaker on thriving through change, see Chris Dyer’s keynotes and video at chrisdyer.com/speaking, or contact Shannyn Downey at shannyn@6degreespeakers.com or 888-584-4177 to check dates.
For a free tool you can use with your team today, download the Moments That Matter companion workbook at chrisdyer.com/moments. No email required.
Sources
- Gartner, Workforce Change Survey (2016 and 2022), as reported by Raconteur.
- Gallup, State of the Global Workplace, April 2026 release covering 2025 data.
