NSB Logo Bobby Umar Bobby Umar

Bobby Umar

Speaker Featured

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Personal Brand Builder & Digital Influencer

Bobby Umar is a 5x TEDx speaker, an Inc. Magazine Top 100 Leadership Speaker (named alongside Richard Branson, Brene Brown, and John Maxwell), and 2x LinkedIn Top Voice. Over 25 years he has delivered more than 1,000 keynotes and workshops across 4 continents, from Toronto to Tunisia, Poland, India, and Abu Dhabi, and has shared the stage with Gary Vaynerchuk and Justin Trudeau. His work helps executives and teams become more human, more connected, and more trusted, using vulnerable storytelling and personal branding as the mechanism. Audiences don’t just listen to Bobby. They leave with something they built.

5x TEDx Speaker | Inc. Magazine Top 100 Leadership Speaker | 2x LinkedIn Top Voice | 1,000+ talks across 4 continents | 25 years on stage

Keynote Speeches

Vulnerable Storytelling: How Authentic Leaders Create Loyalty and Lasting Impact

Great leaders do not just inform, they connect. This keynote shows leaders how to turn lived experience into trust, presence and influence, and every audience member leaves with a drafted 90-second signature story.

Keynote (45-60 min)
Executive Personal Branding: Help Your Team (and You!) Deliver on the Promise

Clarify your strengths, communicate your value, and become known for what matters most: onstage, in the boardroom and online. Audiences leave with a written leadership brand promise.

Keynote or half-day workshop
Connection, Community & Culture: The Human Advantage

The human skills AI cannot replace: the trust, culture and connection that drive retention, engagement and results. Built on the 5 Keys of Connection and the Connection, Community, Change framework from Bobby’s TEDx work.

Keynote (45-60 min)
Digital Thought Leadership: Build Authority, Influence and Trust

How leaders build genuine authority online: a clear point of view, consistent visibility, and content that earns trust rather than chasing attention. Drawn from Bobby’s 2x LinkedIn Top Voice recognition and a community of 750,000+ across platforms.

Keynote or workshop
Learn to Leverage (and Love!) LinkedIn

Grow visibility, attract the right leads, and build real relationships without feeling salesy. Practical, current and hands-on, from a 2x LinkedIn Top Voice.

2-hour virtual or half-day workshop
Present Like a TEDx Speaker: Own the Boardroom, the Pitch and the Big Stage

The delivery skills that make any message land: structure, story, presence and command, whether the room holds 8 people or 2,000. Taught by a 5x TEDx speaker trained at Second City. Audiences leave with a 3-5 minute talk draft.

Keynote, half-day, or 2×90-min virtual training
How to Stay Human in the Age of AI & Tech

As work automates, connection, trust and story become the un-automatable edge. A grounded, practical talk on leading, working and parenting well in a world of accelerating technology.

Keynote (45-60 min)

Platform Plus Presentations

Unique formats and ways to connect with audiences.
Host/MC
Bobby brings an engaging presence and endless exuberance to his role as host/MC. A top five leadership influencer on social media via Kred, with over 750,000 followers, Bobby’s social media influence can help your event gain traction both online and in person.

At your event, he will quickly encapsulate concise takeaways and learnings for the audience to remember. As a Second City trained improvisor, his quick wit and adaptability will ensure your event is entertaining and smooth.

Bobby has over 25 years experience emceeing and hosting leveraging his charm, humour and dynamic energy to enhance every event that he hosts.

High-energy, seamless hosting for conferences, galas and award nights, drawing on Second City performance training. 5x host of the OSPE Engineering Awards Gala, most recently in 2025.
Social Influencer | Twitter
With over 750,000 followers, Bobby is a social media influencer on thought leadership, personal branding and networking. Bobby has also been named one of the top five business coaches to follow on Twitter and a top 75 LinkedIn influencer in the world.

Audience reviews:

  • Bobby did a phenomenal job as keynote speaker. He was really engaging and the topic completely resonated with the conference delegates. The interactive exercises were very useful and a great way to get the room to connect with one another. He was a wonderful start to the whole conference day. Bobby has amazing energy and really connected with the audience which can be really challenging but he did it so effortlessly.

    - Ontario Home Economics Association
  • I was incredibly impressed with his ability to capture the fresh audience and connect with them immediately. Having known Bobby for a few years now, one of his outstanding Leadership qualities is his ability to connect with others. He is authentic and genuine in developing both meaningful relationships and leadership in everyone.

    - Founder, GameOn Leadership
  • Bobby’s insights into our business and the way we operate were bang on. Can't wait to have him back!

    - Marketing Director, PepsiCo
  • Bobby's energy and encouragement are a catalyst for student action.

    - Shad McMaster participant
  • A fantastic speaker, Bobby is very effective in his communication style, respectful, enthusiastic and a great listener.

    - Category Manager, Starbucks
 

Speaker Biography

Bobby Umar is recognized by Inc Magazine as one of the Top 100 Leadership Speakers in North America. He is also a 5x TEDx speaker, and a social media influencer with over half a million followers and counting. An authority on authentic networking, personal branding and digital connection, Bobby is an author of two books, including a #1 Best Seller, as well as a Huffington Post contributor.

Bobby is an inspirational speaker, coach, and one of the most prolific advocates of heart-based leadership in North America. Inc Magazine named him one of the Top 100 Leadership Speakers, alongside such noteworthy giants as Richard Branson, Brené Brown and John Maxwell. Bobby is a 5x TEDx speaker, and one of the top social media influencers in the world, with over half a million followers. He has been named the “2nd Best Business Coach to Follow” on Twitter and the “4th Best Leadership Influencer” according to Kred. Bobby is an author of three international books, including a #1 Best Seller. He is also a frequent Huffington Post contributor and he is the host of a weekly tweetchat called “The Power of Connection” that has reached over 65 million impressions weekly. To date, his social media influence has garnered over 1 billion impressions. Bobby has also been named to “Speaker to Watch” and “Top 7 Networking Guru to Follow” lists.

In 2024, Bobby was recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice, awarded to top LinkedIn professionals for their noteworthy content contributions and expertise on the platform.

A social media advocate, who champions authentic connection and leadership, Bobby has appeared on dozens of podcasts, TV and radio shows. With a background in brand marketing (Kraft and Unilever), engineering (Bombardier) and the performing arts (Second City), Bobby has led Raeallan for over a decade and is now a recognized thought leader in networking, social media and personal branding. He founded the DYPB – Discover Your Personal Brand movement, which hosted the largest event in North America dedicated solely to personal branding, featuring 60 experts and over 300 delegates. 250,000+ people from across the world have experienced Bobby’s high-energy keynotes, interactive team-building activities, and engaging workshops.