The trusted corporate event talent partner organizations call first
Over 30 years of experience. Curated talent recommendations. End-to-end coordination — so your event lands without the risk of choosing the wrong speaker.
Since 1996 | KEYNOTES & SPEAKERS | FULL EVENT PROGRAMING
It only takes 1 minute to watch the video. It maybe worth your time.
No research marathon. No cold outreach. No guessing whether they'll be right for your room.
Trusted Since 1996
Selected clients
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
Michigan Gaming Control Board
LeadingAge Michigan
Spring Arbor University
Why organizations choose BSB 
You're not buying a booking. You're buying experience.
Anyone can send you a list. Our value is knowing which three names belong on it — and standing behind the recommendation from contract to closing applause.
01
Nearly 30 Years of Experience
We've watched these speakers work rooms like yours. Three decades of it is what keeps a well-reviewed name off your stage when it's the wrong fit.
02
Curated 3-Speaker Shortlists
Three considered options, each with a reason. Not a directory of hundreds you have to sort through yourself.
03
Enterprise Credibility
Trusted by health systems, regulators, corporations, associations and universities — organizations where a weak session becomes a reputation problem.
04
End-to-End Coordination
Contracts, travel, A/V requirements, run-of-show and day-of contact. You hold the agenda; we hold the logistics.
The real cost of doing it yourself
Six weeks of research, still you don't know if they'll land
Planning an important event shouldn't mean spending weeks watching sizzle reels, comparing fees, chasing contracts and hoping you made the right call in front of 400 people.
The speaker is the one line item everyone in the room evaluates in real time.
01 Dozens of hours lost to research that isn't your actual job.
02 Demo videos that reveal nothing about how someone performs for your audience.
03 Fee negotiations and riders you're handling without a benchmark.
04 Travel, tech and timing details that surface the week of the event.
05 No fallback plan when a flight is cancelled or a speaker withdraws.
06 Post-event survey scores that land on your name, either way.
Our event solutions
Four ways organizations work with us
Start with a single event or build a year of programming around one partner who already knows your audience.
FOR CONFERENCES & ANNUAL MEETINGS
Event Impact Partnership
Programming for a single high-stakes event — opening keynote through closing session — built around the outcome you're accountable for.
- Curated shortlist matched to theme and audience
- Fee negotiation and contracting handled
- Run-of-show and A/V coordination
- Named day-of contact
FOR TEAMS BOOKING THREE OR MORE EVENTS A YEAR
Annual Speaker & Event Program
One partner across your full calendar. We learn your audiences, your standards and your budget cycle — so each request gets faster and sharper.
- Annual talent calendar and budget planning
- Priority holds on high-demand dates
- Consistent quality bar across every event
- One relationship instead of six vendors
FOR HR & LEARNING LEADERS
Leadership Development Series
A sequenced set of sessions that builds on itself, rather than four unconnected speakers who happened to be available.
- Themed multi-session curriculum
- Speakers matched to development objectives
- Workshop and breakout facilitation
- Continuity across cohorts and quarters
FOR CELEBRATIONS & CUSTOMER EVENTS
Event Experience Package
Speaker, entertainment and production coordinated as one experience — with the tone shifts timed deliberately, not accidentally.
- Keynote plus entertainment programming
- Emcee and host selection
- Production and A/V partner coordination
- One point of contact for the whole evening
Three steps. Most of them ours.
Tell us your goals
A 15-minute call about your audience, objective, date and budget. No pitch, no directory to scroll.
15 minutes
Receive your curated shortlist
Three vetted options with fees, availability and the reasoning behind each recommendation.
15 minutes
We handle everything
Contracts, travel, tech requirements, run-of-show and day-of coordination through the final applause.
Through event day
Answer six questions. Get three names.
The same intake we'd run on a call, without the scheduling. Most planners finish it in under ninety seconds — and skip the weeks of research that usually come first.
It replaces the research phase
We do the comparing. You review three options instead of eighty.
It's matched, not generic
Recommendations are built from your objective, room size, budget and date.
Fees are the same either way
Speaker fees don't change when you book through a bureau. The coordination is included.
No obligation
Take the shortlist and book direct if you'd rather. Most people don't.
What kind of event is this?
A sample of who we place — not the whole catalog
We represent access to thousands of speakers and entertainers. Showing you all of them would defeat the purpose. Here's a sense of the range.
CORPORATE COMEDY
Clean comedians
Vetted for corporate rooms, mixed audiences and the topics your compliance team would rather avoid.
MUSIC & VARIETY
Bands and variety acts
Reception music, headline entertainment and interactive acts scaled to your venue and run-of-show.
EMCEES
Professional hosts
An emcee who holds the agenda together, keeps timing tight and makes the transitions feel intentional.
Rather than browse, tell us the assignment. We'll come back with three.
What it looks like when
the room gets it right
HEALTHCARE · ANNUAL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
The speaker understood our people before he walked on stage. That doesn't happen by accident.
EVENT LEAD, LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
CHALLENGE
A leadership audience that had heard every standard keynote, and a theme that needed more than motivation to carry the day.
SOLLUTION
A shortlist built around the internal message, not the topic label — with pre-event briefing calls so the content matched the room.
OUTCOME
A session referenced throughout the rest of the agenda, and a returning engagement the following planning cycle.
Association · Statewide annual conference
LeadingAge Michigan
We stopped researching speakers ourselves the year we started calling David first.
CONFERENCE DIRECTOR
CHALLENGE
Members expected a stronger program each year while the planning committee's time kept shrinking.
SOLLUTION
An annual program approach — talent planned across the full conference rather than booked session by session.
OUTCOME
A consistent quality bar across general sessions and breakouts, with committee hours redirected to member experience.
Public sector · Staff development day
Michigan Gaming Control Board
Everything was handled. We showed up and ran our agenda.
TRAINING COORDINATOR
CHALLENGE
A regulated environment with procurement requirements and a small internal team managing the entire day.
SOLLUTION
Talent matched to a compliance-conscious audience, with contracting and travel coordination handled end to end.
OUTCOME
A session that met both the development objective and the tone the organization required.
Nearly three decades of protecting important events
David Pace founded the Business Speakers Bureau in 1996 after seeing the same problem across Michigan organizations: capable teams spending weeks on talent decisions they had no way to evaluate — and carrying the risk alone when it went wrong.
He built the company around a different promise. Fewer options, better reasoning, and one person accountable for the outcome. That's why clients who booked their first speaker with David in the nineties still call him first today.
The business has grown through referrals, long-standing client relationships and involvement across Michigan, the US and internationally — the kind of growth that only happens when the recommendations hold up.
1996 Over 30yrs 1
FOUNDED OF EXPERIENCE POINT OF CONTACT
One trusted partner for every event you plan
Most organizations don't have a speaker problem once a year. They have five or six moments where the right voice matters — and a different scramble for each one.
An annual partnership replaces that. We hold your calendar, learn your audiences and standards, and get faster with every request. By the second year, a briefing that used to take a month takes a phone call.
For venues, planners and production teams
Your client asks for a speaker recommendation. You can send them searching — or hand them to a partner who makes you look prepared and sends them straight back to you.
Venues
Programming support that fills the agenda you're hosting
Hotels
Talent sourcing for the conferences on your books
A/V companies
Speaker tech requirements communicated early, not day-of
Production companies
Talent and run-of-show aligned before load-in
Event agencies
A white-glove bureau behind you, without adding headcount
Before you call
Questions planners ask first
How quickly can we get speaker recommendations?
Most curated shortlists go out within two business days of the planning call. If your date is inside 60 days, tell us on the call — availability moves fastest at that range and we'll prioritize accordingly.
What happens if the speaker cancels?
Contingency planning is part of every engagement. We hold vetted alternates for your topic and date, and we manage contracts, travel changes and replacement logistics so your program stays intact.
Does working with a bureau cost more than booking direct?
No. Speaker fees are the same whether you book direct or through us. Our role is paid within the existing fee structure, so vetting, negotiation and coordination don't come out of your talent budget.
Do you only book keynote speakers?
No. We program full events — keynotes, breakout facilitators, emcees, entertainment and production support — coordinated as one agenda rather than five separate bookings.
We already have a speaker in mind. Can you still help?
Yes, and it's common. We'll handle the contracting, fee negotiation, travel and technical coordination — and tell you honestly if we think there's a stronger fit for your audience.
Let's make your next event the one people remember
Fifteen minutes on the phone replaces six weeks of research. Bring your date, your audience and what the session needs to accomplish — we'll take it from there.
Call
616-455-9637