Education Speaker for Conferences, INSET & Trust Events
An education speaker who has actually done the job: Justin Smith speaks at conferences, INSET days and trust events on school income generation, bid writing, marketing and school business leadership — practical, evidence-led sessions with 20+ years inside schools behind them.
Key takeaways
- Topics: income generation, bid writing, school marketing, partnerships and school business leadership.
- Formats: conference keynotes and breakouts, INSET days, trust and MAT events, panels and podcasts.
- ISBL Fellow and honorary thought leader for the School Business Managers (UK) community.
- "Consistently rated as the best trainer / presenter they have used" — Community Inspired.
- In person across the UK or online — sessions shaped to your audience, never off-the-shelf.
- Watch before you book: the ISBL masterclass clip on this page shows the style in two minutes.
What Justin Speaks About
Every session comes from the same place: two decades leading school business management, then years helping schools and trusts find money, tell their story and build capability. That means talks grounded in what actually happens in schools — the funding squeeze as it looks from the SBM's chair, the bids that won and the ones that didn't, and the marketing that moved pupil numbers rather than just refreshing a logo.
Audiences range from national conferences to a single trust's leadership away-day. The content flexes; the promise doesn't: practical, honest, and immediately usable — with delegates leaving carrying next steps, not just notes.
Justin is an ISBL Fellow, an honorary thought leader for the School Business Managers (UK) community, and a regular podcast guest (hear recent conversations on the podcasts page). He's equally at home delivering a keynote, running an interactive breakout, or sitting on a panel where someone needs to say what school leaders are actually thinking.
Sample session outlines
Three shapes bookers ask for most — all fully adaptable:
- 45-minute keynote — "The £1.5bn Nobody Claims": the state of school funding, where the unclaimed money sits, three schools who went and got it, and the one change every leader in the room can make this term.
- 90-minute workshop — "Your First Winning Bid": delegates bring a real project; the room leaves with a funder shortlist, a case-for-support skeleton and the five tests every bid must pass.
- Full INSET day — "The School That Tells Its Story": morning on marketing and reputation, afternoon on income and partnerships — staff finish with an owned, dated action plan.
Planning your slot — a quick organiser's checklist
- Purpose: what should delegates do differently the week after? Sessions are built backwards from that answer.
- Audience mix: SBMs, heads, governors or mixed — it changes the examples and the depth, so say so early.
- Timing: interactive sessions breathe best in 60–90 minutes; keynotes land in 30–45. Straight-after-lunch slots get extra interactivity on purpose.
- Room & tech: a screen, a clicker and delegates who can see each other. Requirements confirmed in writing well before the day.
- Materials: agree what delegates receive afterwards — slides, templates or a follow-up resource — so the session keeps working when the event ends.
Why practitioner speakers land differently
Education audiences have finely tuned filters for theory. A speaker who has personally chased a major funding deadline, sat in a governors' meeting defending a marketing budget, or rebuilt a school's lettings offer speaks a different language — the questions get more honest, and so do the answers. That's the real reason organisers rebook: not the polish, but the credibility that lets a room admit what isn't working.
It also changes the Q&A. With a practitioner in front of them, delegates ask the questions they actually have — "our head won't engage with this, what do I do?" — and get answers drawn from having navigated the same conversation from the inside. Several sessions have effectively become live consultancy for the whole room; organisers say those are the ones delegates cite in feedback months later.
And because Justin still works with schools every week through consultancy and training, the material never fossilises — this term's funder behaviour, this year's admissions patterns, the sector conversation as it stands now.
Current talking points
Themes audiences are asking for this year:
- The funding squeeze, honestly told — what flat real-terms budgets actually mean for school choices, and the income levers still available.
- Partnership culture — how a culture of partnership unlocks sustainable income, expanded into a session that reframes fundraising as relationship-building.
- Communication in the age of AI — keeping a school's voice human while the tools change, and where automation genuinely helps a stretched office team.
- From SBM to strategic leader — the profession's shift, and how business leaders earn (and use) a seat at the strategy table.
Popular Talks & Workshop Themes
Each theme works as a keynote, an interactive workshop or an INSET module — and can be combined for a full day.
Sustainable School Income
Beyond the bake sale: how schools build income strategies that survive budget cycles — grants, sponsorship, lettings and the mindset shift that makes them stick.
Winning Funding Bids
What funders actually reward, the mistakes that sink school bids, and the £8m+ of lessons learned the practical way.
Marketing Your School
Falling rolls, parental choice and reputation — how schools get chosen, told through real school stories.
Partnerships That Pay
How a culture of partnership unlocks sustainable income — community, business and cross-school collaboration that outlasts any single project.
School Business Leadership
The changing SBM role: influence, wellbeing and making the business voice heard at leadership tables.
What Event Organisers Get
Booking a speaker is a risk — a flat session is remembered for the wrong reasons. So the working relationship is deliberately organiser-friendly: a proper briefing call to understand your audience and what you need the session to achieve; content genuinely tailored (agenda, examples and language matched to your delegates); and reliable logistics — materials in advance, tech requirements confirmed early, and a speaker who arrives with time to spare.
Sessions work in person UK-wide or online. Slides and any referenced templates are shared with delegates afterwards where agreed — because the point is what your audience does next, not what they watched.
Make the slot pay twice: organisers increasingly pair a session with a short follow-up — a Q&A recording for delegates who missed it, a one-page takeaway for internal circulation, or a term-later check-in webinar. It costs little to arrange on the day and noticeably lifts what an event actually changes. Ask about it in the briefing call.
And if the event's real goal is behaviour change rather than inspiration, say so — the honest recommendation might be a workshop or INSET format instead of a keynote, even when that's the smaller booking. The right session beats the bigger one.
Where Justin Speaks
From 20-minute keynotes to full training days — the format follows your event, not the other way round.
Mixing formats works too: a conference keynote that seeds breakout workshops, or an INSET morning followed by leadership-team planning in the afternoon. Describe the day you're imagining and the format will find itself.
Conference Keynotes & Breakouts
National and regional education conferences — keynote slots, breakout workshops and repeat sessions. Recent audiences include ISBL events.
INSET & In-School Days
A speaker slot that becomes a working session: staff leave with actions, not just applause. Pairs naturally with training days.
Trust & MAT Events
Leadership conferences, business-team away-days and governor sessions — income and reputation at trust scale.
Panels & Podcasts
Panel seats, roundtables and podcast guest spots — recent appearances on the podcasts page.
Why Audiences Rate Him
The rare combination: sector credibility, practitioner stories and a naturally engaging delivery.
Credentials below are verifiable and current — and the best due diligence is simply watching him work: the clip above, or a podcast appearance, shows the style before you commit a slot.
Fellow of the Institute of School Business Leadership — and a familiar face at its events (watch the masterclass clip above).
Appointed honorary thought leader for the School Business Managers (UK) community — a peer-recognised voice for the profession.
"Consistently rated as the best trainer / presenter they have used… a natural, engaging presenter with practical first-hand experience of working in schools." — Richard Manville, MD
What Delegates Say
Unprompted feedback from conference and seminar audiences — verbatim, as delegates wrote it.
"We would love contact details for Justin. We have found his information very helpful!"
"A great motivational speaker, thank you!"
"Very engaging. We took a lot from Justin's talk. We have printed these up and put them on the wall for everyone to see!"
"Presentation was fun and enjoyable with some excellent tips and advice."
"Justin, I attended your excellent seminar yesterday – thank you for the 'shot in the arm' – you are a great motivational speaker!"
"Justin was inspiring, energetic and lively! He really helped motivate us with some practical advice, grounded in real life experience of working in schools."
No guarantees implied — outcomes vary by school, funder and project.
Booking Justin: FAQs
What does it cost to book an education speaker?
Fees depend on format, preparation and travel — a conference breakout is different from a tailored full-day INSET. Fees are flexible and agreed up front; get in touch with your date and brief for a quick, straightforward quote.
How far in advance should we book?
Conference season slots (autumn and spring) go earliest — a term ahead is comfortable, more for keynote dates. Short-notice INSET can sometimes be accommodated; it's always worth asking.
Can sessions run online?
Yes — keynotes, workshops and panels all work over video, and online delivery often suits trust-wide audiences spread across sites. Interactive elements are adapted rather than dropped.
Will the content be tailored to our audience?
Always. Every booking starts with a briefing call, and examples, tone and takeaways are matched to your delegates — SBMs, heads, governors, trustees or mixed rooms all need different sessions.
Can we record the session?
Usually yes for internal use, agreed in advance. Public distribution is handled case by case, depending on the material and audience questions involved.
Does a talk work as a taster for training?
Very well — many schools first hear Justin at a conference, then book a masterclass or INSET day to turn the ideas into skills. A keynote plus workshop on the same day is a popular combination.
What audience sizes work?
Anything from a twelve-person governor board to a several-hundred-delegate conference hall. Below thirty, sessions naturally become more workshop-like; in large rooms, interaction moves to structured Q&A and live polling if the venue supports it.
What does Justin need from us on the day?
Very little: screen and clicker, a microphone in larger rooms, and ten minutes with the running order on arrival. Slides are sent in advance in your template if needed — tech rehearsals available for online events.
Do you speak outside the schools sector?
Occasionally — for organisations serving schools (suppliers, charities, local authorities) who want their teams to understand how schools really make decisions. The insider-view session for education suppliers is a regular request.
Can Justin chair or facilitate rather than speak?
Yes — panel chairing, roundtable facilitation and away-day moderation all draw on the same skill set, and pair well with a short opening provocation to set the room's direction.
Where is Justin based — and how far will he travel?
Based in Suffolk and speaking UK-wide — most bookings are in-person across England, with online sessions covering the rest. Travel is simply costed into the quote, never a surprise line afterwards.
Put a Practitioner on Your Stage
Tell Justin about your event — date, audience and what you need the room to leave with — and you'll get a straight answer on fit, availability and fee. If it's not the right fit, Justin will say so and, where he can, point you to someone who is.