Negotiation skills help teams close deals, maximize value, and resolve differences before they escalate
Harvard Business School Online’s Negotiation Mastery program explains that negotiation is essential for working with customers, suppliers, and colleagues, helping professionals close deadlocked deals, maximize value creation, and resolve differences before they become costly conflicts. That makes negotiation a practical business skill: teams need to align stakeholders, protect relationships, and reach stronger outcomes across clients, partners, vendors, and internal teams.
Negotiation speakers cover communication, conflict resolution, influence, sales strategy, leadership, and stakeholder alignment
The topics negotiation keynote speakers cover help organizations improve how teams prepare for high-stakes conversations, manage disagreement, and create better agreements. The speakers featured in this article cover topics such as persuasive communication, deal strategy, emotional intelligence, conflict management, client relationships, leadership influence, collaboration, sales negotiations, and decision-making under pressure.
Checklist: how to choose an effective negotiation speaker
When choosing a negotiation speaker, evaluate them on these criteria:
- Have they negotiated major deals, advised executives, trained sales teams, or taught negotiation frameworks?
- Do they offer practical tools for preparation, influence, conflict resolution, and agreement-building?
- Do they have strong testimonials and a proven track record with business audiences?
- Do they provide useful speaking materials for event promotion and planning?
- Do they tailor their message to your audience, industry, and event goals?
The negotiation speakers in this article check all of these boxes, giving planners credible, prepared, and relevant options for 2026 events.
Negotiation speakers typically cost $16,500 to $70,000+
Negotiation speaker fees can vary widely based on the speaker’s experience, demand, travel requirements, event format, and level of customization. In this article, we note general fee ranges for each negotiation speaker section so planners can compare options more easily. For a more specific breakdown, you can inquire directly with Mollie Plotkin Group based on your event goals, location, and budget.
Top Trending Negotiations Speakers
Scott Tillema
Scott Tillema is an FBI-trained hostage negotiator who teaches trust-building tools for high-pressure conversations.
- Nationally recognized FBI-trained hostage negotiator and SWAT crisis negotiator.
- Communication and Connection gives leaders practical tools for influence, trust, and conflict resolution.
- Speaking Fee Info: keynote fee starts at $16,500. Travels From: Chicago, IL.
Hostage negotiation experience makes the communication lessons concrete. Active listening gives teams a practical tool for earning trust. Business audiences can apply the framework to sales conversations, leadership challenges, and conflict resolution.
Jia Jiang
Jia Jiang is a rejection expert who helps sales teams turn fear, resistance, and no into growth opportunities.
- Known for 100 Days of Rejection.
- Bestselling author of Rejection Proof.
- Speaking Fee Info: in-person keynote fee range is $20,000 to $30,000.
Rejection training helps teams recover faster after a difficult answer. The message gives sales audiences a practical way to keep momentum after a prospect says no. Entrepreneur events and revenue meetings can connect the keynote to persistence, confidence, and customer conversations.
Rachel DeAlto
Rachel DeAlto is a connection expert who helps leaders, sales teams, and customer-facing groups build trust through relatability.
- Connection catalyst, expert, researcher, and author.
- Relatability programs support leadership, connection, customer experience, sales, and communication.
- Speaking Fee Info: keynote fee starts at $22,500.
Relatability gives customer-facing teams a practical path to trust. The keynote helps audiences strengthen rapport before asking for agreement. Sales conferences and customer experience meetings can use the content to improve conversations that drive decisions.
David Burkus
David Burkus is a bestselling author and business thought leader who helps organizations build high-performing teams.
- Bestselling author and globally recognized business thought leader.
- Best Team Ever explains the science of high-performing teams.
- Speaking Fee Info: keynote fee starts at $27,500.
High-performing teams need trust before they can negotiate well. The keynote gives managers a research-backed model for collaboration and team habits. Leadership development audiences can apply the ideas to internal alignment, customer discussions, and cross-functional agreement-building.
Dr. Marcus Collins
Dr. Marcus Collins is a marketing scholar and strategist who helps audiences understand the culture that drives influence and action.
- Bestselling author and award-winning marketer.
- Clinical professor at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
- Speaking Fee Info: keynote fee starts at $27,500.
Culture shapes what people believe, choose, and agree to. The keynote gives leaders a deeper influence framework before they try to persuade an audience. Marketing conferences and sales meetings can use the message to strengthen customer understanding and decision-making.
Tiffani Bova
Tiffani Bova is a former Salesforce executive and bestselling growth author who helps leaders connect customer experience to revenue growth.
- Former Salesforce executive and globally recognized business growth strategist.
- Advised Fortune 500 companies through complex go-to-market challenges at Gartner.
- Speaking Fee Info: keynote fee starts at $28,000.
Growth conversations require alignment between employee experience, customer experience, and revenue strategy. The keynote gives leaders a framework for diagnosing friction before it reaches the buyer. Sales kickoffs and executive meetings can connect the content to customer outcomes and better business conversations.
Alex Banayan
Alex Banayan is a bestselling business author who teaches sales teams how to use persistence, storytelling, and rejection recovery to grow.
- Youngest bestselling business author in American history.
- Overcoming Fear to Accelerate Growth gives sales audiences tools for rejection, fear, and deal momentum.
- Speaking Fee Info: keynote fee starts at $32,500.
The Third Door framework helps teams find another path when the obvious path is blocked. The message gives audiences practical language for persistence, access, and opportunity creation. Sales teams and growth audiences can apply the keynote to prospecting, relationship-building, and long deal cycles.
Diana Kander
Diana Kander is a bestselling author and innovation consultant who helps teams ask better questions before making decisions.
- New York Times bestselling author, innovation consultant, and entrepreneur.
- The Curiosity Muscle helps teams ask better questions and spot missed opportunities.
- Speaking Fee Info: keynote fee starts at $32,500.
Curiosity improves preparation before teams enter important business conversations. The keynote gives audiences a practical way to challenge assumptions and uncover better questions. Innovation summits and sales meetings can use the content to improve discovery, strategy, and agreement-building.
Top Female Negotiation Speakers for Business Audiences
These female negotiation speakers bring deal-making, influence, communication, leadership, and conflict-resolution experience to business audiences.
Best for: women’s leadership conferences, sales meetings, executive offsites, and client-facing business events.
Molly Fletcher
Molly Fletcher is a former sports agent who teaches negotiation lessons from representing elite athletes and coaches.
- Negotiated more than $500 million in contracts as a sports agent.
- Represented clients including John Smoltz, Matt Kuchar, Erin Andrews, Tom Izzo, and Doc Rivers.
- Known as “The Female Jerry Maguire.”
Contract negotiation experience gives the keynote direct business relevance. The message connects preparation, confidence, and relationship-building to better outcomes. Sales teams, leadership audiences, and women’s business conferences can use the lessons to improve high-stakes conversations.
Barbara Corcoran
Barbara Corcoran is a Shark Tank investor and entrepreneur who brings deal-making lessons from real estate, business growth, and venture investment.
- Shark on ABC’s Shark Tank.
- Founder of The Corcoran Group.
- Keynote speaker, author, podcast host, and business personality.
Entrepreneurial deal-making gives the message broad relevance for business audiences. Investor experience gives planners a recognizable voice on confidence, timing, and opportunity. Client events and entrepreneur conferences can use the keynote to connect negotiation with growth and risk-taking.
Amy Cuddy
Amy Cuddy is a social psychologist who helps audiences use presence, power, and behavior science in high-pressure interactions.
- Social psychologist, New York Times-bestselling author, and award-winning Harvard lecturer.
- Presence gives audiences evidence-based tools for power, confidence, and stressful interactions.
- Tailors each keynote to audience challenges, energy, concerns, and goals.
Presence helps people stay calm when the stakes are high. The keynote gives leaders tools for confidence, body language, and influence. Women’s leadership programs and executive events can apply the message to difficult conversations, career advancement, and authority-building.
Priya Parker
Priya Parker is a bestselling author and negotiation facilitator who helps leaders design better conversations and gatherings.
- Worked for 15 years as a facilitator of negotiations and communications.
- Author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters.
- Worked with peace processes in the Arab world, southern Africa, and India.
Facilitation experience gives leaders a practical lens for better group conversations. The keynote helps audiences use structure, purpose, and communication to improve outcomes. Executive offsites and culture events can apply the message to meetings, conflict, and agreement-building.
Vanessa Van Edwards
Vanessa Van Edwards is a behavioral researcher who teaches the science of communication, trust, and influence at work.
- Bestselling author and behavioral researcher.
- Science of People decodes human behavior, first impressions, and charismatic communication.
- Programs support professional relationships, meetings, networking, and sales conversations.
Behavioral science gives audiences practical tools for reading people and communicating clearly. The keynote makes influence more visible and easier to practice. Sales teams, leadership programs, and customer-facing groups can apply the tools to meetings, pitches, and negotiations.
Sally Hogshead
Sally Hogshead is a brand consultant who helps audiences communicate their value with clarity, differentiation, and persuasive language.
- Bestselling author, world-renowned brand consultant, and Hall of Fame keynote speaker.
- The Fascination Advantage helps professionals understand how others perceive their highest value.
- Handcrafts each keynote for the group, event, and goals.
Differentiation helps teams make their value easier to recognize and remember. The keynote gives audiences a communication system for persuasion, positioning, and brand clarity. Sales meetings, marketing conferences, and leadership events can use the framework to improve how teams present ideas and win buy-in.
Debra Searle
Debra Searle is a professional adventurer and entrepreneur who gives audiences practical tools for resilience, choice, and pressure.
- Rowed across the Atlantic after her rowing partner had to be rescued.
- Launched five companies, published three books, and hosted on the BBC.
- Tailors speeches to audience goals and corporate event formats.
Resilience helps teams stay steady when a conversation or deal changes direction. The keynote gives audiences tools for pressure, choice, and decision-making. Leadership retreats and women’s business events can connect the story to uncertainty, negotiation readiness, and team performance.
Executive Negotiation Speakers for Deals, Conflict, and Team Performance
These negotiation speakers help executive audiences improve preparation, leverage, dialogue, trust, coaching, and performance under pressure.
Best for: executive offsites, leadership development programs, professional services conferences, and high-stakes business meetings.
Stuart Diamond
Stuart Diamond is a bestselling author and negotiation professor who gives business audiences practical tools for reaching better agreements.
- Best-selling author, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, attorney, entrepreneur, and negotiation professor.
- Getting More teaches audiences how to create value through preparation, communication, and emotional intelligence.
- Exclusively represented by the Mollie Plotkin Group.
Negotiation frameworks give executives a repeatable process for preparing goals and understanding the other side. The keynote turns agreement-building into a practical business skill. Leadership teams and sales audiences can apply the content to customer, partner, labor, and internal negotiations.
Rich Nichols
Rich Nichols is an attorney and negotiation keynote speaker who helps leaders understand leverage, commitment, and execution.
- Over 30 years of experience in sports, politics, finance, venture capital, and technology.
- Negotiations: No Filler teaches leverage, guts, nuclear options, execution, and commitment.
- Attorney-level deal experience supports corporate and leadership audiences.
Leverage gives leaders a clearer view of what they can ask for and what they can risk. The keynote gives audiences a direct framework for high-value negotiations. Executive groups, sports business audiences, and professional services firms can apply the content to complex deal environments.
Daryl Davis
Daryl Davis is a civil conversation speaker who shows audiences how dialogue can reduce conflict and change entrenched beliefs.
- Persuaded 200 members of the Ku Klux Klan to give up their robes.
- Hate Undone teaches preparation, listening, and dialogue tools for conflict or disagreement.
- Real-world bridge-building experience supports leadership and DEI audiences.
Dialogue skills help leaders move difficult conversations away from defensiveness. The keynote gives audiences a real-world model for listening across disagreement. Public sector events, leadership retreats, and culture programs can use the message to improve trust, conflict resolution, and change readiness.
Rich Diviney
Rich Diviney is a retired Navy SEAL commander who teaches teams how trust, attributes, and uncertainty affect performance.
- Retired Navy SEAL commander, leadership expert, human performance expert, and bestselling author.
- Served as Officer in Charge of Training and Selection for an elite SEAL command.
- Teaches leaders how to build trust and navigate uncertainty under pressure.
Trust affects whether teams can make decisions when the situation changes. The keynote gives audiences a language for hidden attributes, uncertainty, and performance. Executive retreats and leadership events can apply the message to difficult conversations, team readiness, and pressure-tested collaboration.
Peter Bregman
Peter Bregman is an executive coach and leadership trainer who helps managers handle behavior change through practical conversations.
- CEO of Bregman Partners and top-ranked executive coach.
- You Can Change Other People gives leaders a four-step method for helping others improve.
- Over 30 years of experience coaching senior leaders and their teams.
Difficult conversations need structure before they can produce change. The keynote gives managers a practical coaching process for improving behavior and reducing friction. Executive development programs and manager training events can apply the framework to feedback, coaching, and internal agreement-building.
