Powerful Politicos
Old Guard: Bill Clinton weathered a sex scandal and still came out as one of the most popular politicians in recent history. Since he left the White House, he has been one of the most talked-about speakers, reputedly earning $100,000 and more, sometimes much more. (Contact Harry Walker Agency)

New Guard: Believe it or not, Clinton's former number-two, Al Gore, is making an equally astounding comeback: a return to cultural relevance after losing the presidency in 2000. Critics in the United States and at Cannes praised his environmental documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, saying Gore has finally found his voice. Now people are talking about his newly invigorated political possibilities. Some speculate his speaking fee is also in the six-figure range, but a spokesperson at his office says he employs a sliding scale, based on the nature of the group and the event. (Contact Harry Walker Agency)

Business Gurus
Old Guard: Twentieth-century captain of industry Jack Welch doles out business savvy gleaned from two decades at the helm of General Electric, reportedly charging more than $100,000 for a speech. (Contact IMG Speakers)

New Guard: Now, with the dot-bomb era over, consumer-generated content such as blogs and video clips are breathing new life into the digital marketplace. Twenty-first-century execs are learning from Shawn Gold, senior vice president of marketing at wildly popular social networking site MySpace, which gives its 50 million-plus users a chunk of the Web to call their own. As a keynote speaker at Ad:Tech San Francisco this spring, Gold told attendees what they need to know to be relevant in the new millennium. (Contact Rena Grant at Edelman, MySpace's PR agency, 323.202.1026)

Motivating Mayors
Old Guard: His response to September 11, 2001, turned Rudy Giuliani into "America's mayor"—and a popular speaker reported to make as much as $100,000 for a keynote. (Contact Washington Speakers Bureau)

New Guard: New Yorkers remember Giuliani's drive to clean up a city some found more gloomy than grand. Now, Cory Booker, newly elected mayor just across the Hudson in Newark, is also tackling head-on the promise as well as the problems of a city that awaits its own renaissance. During his tenure as a city councilman, Booker generated buzz in local media outlets for outspoken, sometimes outlandish, feats of social advocacy, including a 10-day hunger strike and a stint living in an RV. (Contact Greater Talent Network)

Business Thinkers
Old Guard: Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker writer and author of the wildly popular books The Tipping Point and Blink, has become such a prominent marketing guru that he found himself on the cover of Fast Company. Media reports have placed his speaking fee at $45,000. (Contact Leigh Bureau)

New Guard: Gladwell may have met his match in Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, co-authors of Freakonomics, a book that applies economic principles to explain everything from why certain names become popular to how gangs are structured. The duo recently spoke at the American Society of Training & Development's annual meeting. Levitt can command as much as $40,000 for a speech. (Contact Harry Walker Agency)

Political Hucksters
Old Guard: With The Daily Show more popular than some actual news broadcasts, host Jon Stewart has launched into the speaking stratosphere, taking on gigs like the Academy Awards. He charges as much as $250,000 for a speech. (Contact Total Access Speakers and others)

New Guard: Hot on Stewart's heels is Ana Marie Cox, the blogger-turned-novelist who rose to fame as the voice of Wonkette, an inside-the-Beltway, below-the-belt blog of D.C. deals and dish. Her roman à clef, Dog Days, debuted in the spring to favorable reviews from The New York Times and other media outlets. She charges between $15,000 and $20,000 for a keynote speech. (Contact Jacqueline Fischetti, director of the Penguin Speakers Bureau, 212.366.2271)

Inspiring Athletes
Old Guard: Athletes are a dime a dozen. What put the seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong in a league of his own was his very public battle with cancer. He charges as much as $275,000. (Contact Big Speak, Speakers Platform, and
others)

New Guard: For Aron Ralston, his moment of truth came not on the road, but in a mountain crevasse, where the avid climber was pinned underneath a fallen rock and had to amputate his own arm to free himself. Today, Ralston has returned to climbing and taken up speaking (for $25,000 a pop). Recent gigs have ranged from health care to financial groups, and he shares insights of survival that apply in the boardroom as well as on the side of a mountain. (Contact Everest Speakers Bureau, Premiere Speakers, and others)

—Martha C. White

Posted 08.16.06