Riaz Meghji

Keynote Speaker

Human Connection Expert; Author, Every Conversation Counts: The 5 Habits of Human Connection that Build Extraordinary Relationships; Moderator

A sought-after keynote speaker on human connection, leadership and culture, Riaz has been featured in Fast Company, Harvard Business Review and the Financial Post, brings 17 years of experience as a television host and interviewer for brands like MTV Canada, CityTV, and the Toronto international Film Festival, and is a two-time TEDx speaker.

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Riaz Meghji's speaking fee: $25K - $40K

Riaz helps leaders and organizations create meaningful human connections when change is constant, pressure is high, and performance can’t afford to slip. Riaz’s keynotes are deeply human without being soft, practical without being prescriptive, inspiring without hype.

Audiences leave with clarity, language, and tools they can use immediately with their teams. Through powerful storytelling and evidence-based insights, Riaz helps people reconnect to what drives lasting change: trust, clarity, and intentional conversations. Whether speaking to executives, managers, or frontline teams, he designs each session to meet the reality of their work and deliver impact that lasts long after the event ends.

Featured Videos

Riaz Meghji – Speaker Reel

Riaz Meghji – The Starting Point For Connection

Riaz Meghji – Human Connection Clip

Riaz Meghji – Emcee – Rogers Leadership Conference

Riaz Meghji’s Speech Topics

Human Connection & Leadership: Every Conversation Counts: How to Build Extraordinary Relationships

In an age of polarization, disconnection, and shallow substitutes for real relationships, every leader needs to know how to build and maintain meaningful relationships with clients and teams alike in our changing world of work.

Drawing from Riaz’s years of broadcast experience interviewing established leaders in business, entertainment, and innovation, audiences will gain the following insights:
- Spark real, authentic conversations to make meaningful connections, personally and professionally
- Earn trust and build inclusive cultures, as you listen without distraction and make your small talk bigger
- De-escalate conflict and collaborate effectively by leading with assertive empathy
- Craft and tell compelling stories that will motivate your audience to take action
- Explore the questions that create breakthrough moments in any conversation
Human Connection: Your Competitive Advantage in Customer Service

Customer service isn’t just about fixing problems. It’s about forging relationships with your customers that go beyond an initial transaction. Great products help launch companies. Great customer service sustains them for long-term success.

Discover Riaz’s secrets to customer service that forge lasting passion, loyalty, and engagement with your brand.
- Learn how every customer interaction is an opportunity for connection
- Teach customer service leaders how to listen without distraction, banish directionless small talk, and more
- De-escalate customer conflict and drive effective collaborations
- Lead with assertive empathy in every customer service exchange
This authentic experience will inspire your teams to lead with empathetic curiosity and ultimately out-care the competition.
Sales: Relationships First, How to Use Authentic Connection to Grow Sales

It’s no wonder that sales often get a bad rap. In a world of dwindling authentic connections, it’s easy to see sales as the least authentic interaction of all. But this doesn’t have to be the case.
By transforming the way they and their teams interact with customers, sales leaders can forge more human connections that lead to dramatically improved sales outcomes.
- Start from a place of empathy to develop a deeper understanding of your customer base
- Earn trust by listening without distraction, making more meaningful small talk, and practicing assertive empathy
- Craft compelling stories that activate passion in your customers—and tell those stories in a compelling way
- Explore the key questions that lead to breakthrough conversations with customers
This captivating talk goes beyond sales tactics to explore Riaz’s lifetime of work creating authentic connections and sharing key principles to turn sales into an art and discipline of crafting real relationships and experiences —not just transactions.
The Connected Leader Workshop Keynote Add-On – Empathetic curiosity is a trust accelerator

This workshop is an immersive experience, giving leaders and teams permission to get connected in a safe space. Drawing from the communication tools delivered in the keynote, attendees are given prompts to practice empathetic curiosity, active listening and are inspired to get vulnerable as they discover who their teammates really are outside of work.

The reflections shared by audiences are inspiring, moving, and ignite stronger collaborations that break through silos, allowing organizations to win as one unified team.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
- Deepen workplace relationships with openness and vulnerability
- Learn key questions to ask to lead with empathetic curiosity
- Observe the non-verbal’s that convey the meaning behind personal messages
- Share personal discoveries, victories, and breakthroughs by holding space for your peers
- Create an unforgettable team-building experience that will inspire a more collaborative culture

What other organizations say about Riaz Meghji

Practical. Meaningful. Moving. Riaz’s thought-provoking keynote at our conference was one of our highest-rated sessions. He brought to life the realities of loneliness and the power we each have to create authentic human connection, especially in the exhausting and distracted world we live in. His vulnerability motivated our leaders to explore how we can cultivate collaborative relationships and build a more connected culture. I really appreciated Riaz’s care in crafting the session based around the needs of our people and his skill in embedding insights about our specific team/business. He made our team feel heard & seen and it was exactly what our people needed as we close out a busy year and look forward to forging deeper connections in the new year.
Technology

What other organizations say about Riaz Meghji

Riaz’s presentation was fantastic. He shared effective habits that motivated us to achieve the goals of being intentional about human connection at work and building meaningful relationships. Riaz took the time to adapt his presentation to our organizational context, interviewing firm leaders before the presentation and incorporating their perspectives in his talk. The audience was inspired, engaged, and moved by his passionate delivery. Highly recommend.
Legal

What other organizations say about Riaz Meghji

RIAZ WAS A SUPERB CHOICE AS KEYNOTE SPEAKER FOR OUR LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE! His message about authentic connection was timely and meaningful, and our attendees raved about his session. The hospitality business, and really every business, is about people! Riaz’s tips for transcending small talk to get to extraordinary relationships were inspiring and practical for our attendees, both at work and in their personal lives. Riaz customized the message for our audience, even using specific hotel examples to make his points. He was invested in the mindset of the attendees, and he took time before and during the conference to connect with the producers and attendees alike. Highly recommend!
Hospitality

What other organizations say about Riaz Meghji

Riaz was one of the best speakers we have had the pleasure of working with. From our first call with him, you could tell he was heavily invested in making this session a valuable experience for our organization and spent an incredible amount of time prior to the event learning about the team, our culture, and our challenges. Riaz cleverly weaved this information into his presentation, which made it feel very personal and highly relevant. His storytelling, compassion, and honesty resonated tremendously well with the audience, and the feedback from the team was extremely positive.
Technology

What other organizations say about Riaz Meghji

Riaz provided dedicated and customized coaching to our hosts. He played to each of their strengths and provided these leaders with a simple framework to be able to fulfill their role of hosts in a way that was authentic to them. The result was tremendous. All our hosts were able to effectively tell their stories and connect to the audience in a way that was impactful. They delivered as hosts seamlessly – with real confidence while showcasing a level of vulnerability that truly resonated with the audience. Thank you again, Riaz, for partnering with us.
Hospitality

Works by Riaz Meghji

Riaz Meghji
Every Conversation Counts: The 5 Habits of Human Connection that Build Extraordinary Relationships

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Riaz Meghji Topics & Types

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