Experienced Project Management Keynote Speakers
Engaging, Interactive Keynotes with Practical Takeaways
Leadership and Communication Experts, Award Winning Authors, and Inc. Magazine Top Keynote Speaker
When projects stall, priorities clash, or silence slows progress, project managers need more than process—they need courage, clarity, and practical tools to move work forward.
Our interactive keynotes equip project managers and PMO leaders with practical tools to speak up, align quickly, and collaborate effectively.
Practical Tools: Clear, actionable strategies that stick
Courageous Focus: Helps project managers and PMO leaders speak up and lead with confidence
Engaging Delivery: Energizing, interactive programs with lasting impact
Inspiring Project Managers and PMO Leaders Worldwide
Popular Project Management Keynote Speakers,
Encouraging Courage and Collaboration with PMI Organizations and PMOs Around the World
Accelerate project team performance. Develop courageous project managers.
Build influential collaboration. Thrive in a changing world.
When you hire a project manager keynote speaker, you need an experienced leader who will transform your project managers or PMOs and give them practical tools to take action.
It’s not enough to leave everyone energized and feeling good—your project leaders and teams need inspiration that leads to lasting change.
Karin Hurt and David Dye have worked with the Project Management Institute (PMI) on many global conferences and Project Management Leadership Institute Events (LIM), many PMI chapter PDDs and Symposiums, and PMOs and project leaders of many international organizations, including Amazon and Caterpillar.
Karin Hurt will speak at the Arizona PMI Global Conference this November.
Most Popular Project Management Keynotes
Courageous Project Management
7 Practical Ways to be a Bit More Daring
This keynote is perfect for:
- Project managers looking to increase their confidence, influence, and impact.
- Project managers who want to develop a reputation for being open, innovative, reliable, and high-potential performers
- PMI meeting planners looking for a high-energy, interactive keynote that inspires their audience and leaves them with highly practical tools they can use right away.
Your audience will leave with:
- Inspiration to own their strengths and contribute at a deeper level
- Practical tools and techniques to present their ideas with confidence
- Techniques to prepare for and hold difficult conversations up, down, and sideways, including our I.N.S.P.I.R.E. approach to performance management
- Tools for gathering and responding to feedback
“Their delivery style, real-world stories, and innovative concepts kept this audience engaged. The feedback from the leaders is that they gained takeaways they could immediately apply in their volunteer and professional roles – including tools and templates. I would hire Karin and David again to improve the skills of people who manage in any capacity.”
–Linda Jones, PMI Leadership Institute
Courageous Cultures
How to build more innovative and courageous project teams
What would happen if every member of your project team came to work focused on finding solutions and creating better results?
Based on ground-breaking new research in innovation and problem-solving, you’ll learn what leaders like you are doing to build more creative and solutions-oriented teams.
You’ll explore the root causes of FOSU (fear of speaking up) and techniques to turn your team’s fears and frustrations into innovation.
You’ll learn techniques for navigating the elegant dance between clarity and curiosity and practical tools for helping your team discover micro-innovations and share best practices.
This program is perfect for:
- PMO leaders
- Project managers struggling to get their project teams to think more creatively and solve problems on their own
- Project teams looking to take their performance to the next level
Read a full review of a Courageous Cultures keynote from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Your audience will leave with:
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Easy-to-use tools and techniques to empower solutions-thinking and customer-focused problem solving
- A clear understanding of what’s blocking everyday innovation in their project teams
- Communication strategies to eliminate FOSU (Fear of Speaking Up) and encourage deeper dialogue up, down and sideways
- A plan they can apply right away
Karin or David will inspire your team with real examples of turnaround successes and powerful tools from their executive roles and their work with companies around the world. Your audience will leave with tools and techniques they can immediately apply with their teams from this project management keynote.
You can download the first few chapters of their book, Courageous Cultures here.
“Courageous Culture offers simple steps to nurture a bold organizational culture that encourages people to speak up, take smart risks, innovate, become problem-solvers, and seize competitive advantage in a fast-transforming business environment.”
–Sunil Prashara, President & Chief Executive Officer, Project Management Institute
Collaborate! Be the Project Manager Everyone Wants to Work With
Collaboration shouldn’t be the most challenging part of your job, but with remote teams, competing priorities, and misaligned stakeholders, it often is. If you are a project manager navigating silos, or dealing with unresponsive team members, this session is for you.
You’ll identify your biggest collaboration challenge, learn practical tools to improve trust and alignment, and walk away with a 30-day action plan to strengthen teamwork and keep projects moving forward.
This program is perfect for:
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Fast-growing or global PMOs
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PMI organizations serving highly disrupted, fast-changing industries
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Anyone navigating complex stakeholder relationships
Your audience will leave with:
- Confidence to build a more profound influence with complex stakeholder relationships
- Communication techniques to keep their project teams focused on what matters most
- Techniques and habits for strengthening influence and impact as a project manager.
“Dynamic and engaging…definitely one of the top 10 speakers that I’ve heard in my 40+ years. Highly recommended to speak at any event seeking interaction, practical knowledge and relevant application for any organization.”
–Roy Burton, Chief Financial Officer, PMIWDC, Ass’t Director, Treasury Inspector General
Can We Talk for Real?
Practical Tools and Techniques for Courageous Conversations
In every workplace, there are moments that matter—when you need to speak up, share feedback, or address a thorny issue with confidence and ease. Whether advocating for a game-changing proposal, navigating differing perspectives, or dealing with a challenging stakeholder or boss, courageous conversations are the key to greater success, influence, and joy at work. But let’s be real: these conversations can be tricky. No one is born knowing exactly how to handle the moments that make your palms sweat and your heart race.
This program is perfect for:
- Project managers and PMO leaders looking to strengthen their communication for more influence and impact
- PMI chapter leaders and members looking to strengthen their chapters and teams
- Anyone looking to accelerate team performance, reduce stress, and work better together
Your audience will leave with:
- Practical tools and techniques for courageous conversations
- A better understanding of the four dimensions of productive workplace conflict, and how to diagnose what’s needed most.
- A proven technique to inspire deeper accountability through better conversations, up, down and sideaways
David and Karin worked really well with our team. It was almost uncanny how relevant the content was – perfect for our team and the issues that we face on a day-to-day basis.”
–Sean Barrett, VP Product Management, Albertsons
PMI Chapter Leadership
Courageous Collaboration: When the Project Is People
As a PMI chapter leader, you’re not just managing project plans—you’re cultivating community, building momentum through people, and inspiring volunteers to do their best work. And that takes more than process. It takes courageous collaboration.
This energizing and inspirational keynote experience is designed specifically for chapter leadership, where influence often travels without authority, trust is earned daily, and conflict is part of the job. You’ll leave equipped and encouraged to lead even when it’s hard—with confidence, clarity, and heart.
Rooted in Karin Hurt and David Dye’s global Workplace Conflict and Collaboration research (5,000+ participants across 45 countries), this session weaves together powerful leadership insights, interactive moments, and real-life examples from fellow PMI chapter leaders.
You’ll Experience:
- The 4 Cs of Courageous Collaboration—Connection, Clarity, Curiosity, and Commitment—applied to the real-world complexities of chapter leadership: inspiring volunteers, navigating board dynamics, and bridging silos.
- Real wisdom from LIM leaders. In preparation for this keynote, we will interview several successful leaders from your chapter (past and present). You’ll hear inspiring, concise video soundbites from their experiences—highlighting what works when it comes to building trust and tackling tough conversations.
- Twelve Powerful Phrases that you can use immediately to calm tension, invite buy-in, and elevate collaboration in any conversation.
- Interactive moments to practice what you learn—not just theory, but tools you’ll try on in the room, with support, energy, and peer feedback.
This isn’t just a keynote—it’s a leadership catalyst. It’s your space to reflect, reset, and rise.
You’ll walk away inspired by what’s possible, empowered with a practical toolkit, and encouraged by the shared wisdom of people who know: when the project is people, how you lead matters most.
“Karin Hurt and David Dye are a dynamic duo. They are amazing speakers and their message is thought-provoking and real. The recently attended PMI Heartland’s Professional Development Day and delivered an inspiring keynote and 4 breakout sessions throughout the day and “exceeded expectations.” If you have the opportunity to hire speakers for any event, your first choice should be Karin Hurt and David Dye.”