The theme for the 2026 Grand Slam: Inspirational Speaking Finals is Catalyst.
Every summer, Speaker Slam® co-founders Dan Shaikh and Rina Rovinelli step away for a few days to think about what the year's biggest event should hold. The theme has to carry completely different stories and still connect everyone in the room. This one clicked right away.
Why Catalyst
A catalyst can be anything. A person, a moment, a loss, a decision, a sentence you never forgot. Something that changes you.
The second half of the theme is the part that matters most. It asks not only what changed you, but how that change made you someone who changes things for other people.
That is what Speaker Slam® has always been about: stories that shift something. In you, in the room, in the way you see the world.
The Night
On November 21st, 2026, fourteen of the year's best speakers take the stage at the CBC Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto. Ten earned their place by finishing in the top two at one of this season's five qualifiers. Four more are decided in the Wild Card Race, with public voting September 22nd to 24th.
They compete for the title of Inspirational Speaker of the Year and a prize package valued up to $50,000, including $5,000 cash.
Catalyst follows Legacy (2025) and Joy (2023) as the Grand Slam theme, each one chosen to give a room full of very different speakers a single question to answer.
Tickets
Tickets are live, and the Grand Slam sells out every year. If you want to be in the room, do not wait.
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One speech can change your life.