Bernard Salt AM
Keynote Speaker

 
 

Bernard Salt AM is widely regarded as one of Australia’s leading social commentators, writers and thinkers. For more than 20 years he has been a popular choice on the Australian corporate speaking circuit. His views on the implications of demographic and social change are regularly by business, government and the media.

 

Bernard Salt AM is a futurist who uses demographic and social data to interpret how society and business is changing. He believes that Middle Australia is on the move… morphing in a new post-pandemic direction which is having an impact on consumer spending and on the way we work.

He draws on a range of data sets to interpret social change both now and into the future. He argues that social and cultural change are powerful forces that are reshaping the way we live, the way we work and even how we form relationships.

Bernard is a corporate cpeaker, columnist, business advisor, media commentator who is perhaps best known to the wider community for identifying and tagging new tribes and social behaviours such as the “Seachange Shift”, the “Man Drought”, the “Goats Cheese Curtain” as well as the “PUMCINS” and the “VESPAs”.

Bernard popularised the seachange shift in the 2000s. This morphed into the treechange shift later in the decade. Then came the rise of the Millennial-inspired inner-city-based hipsters. The common theme was the pursuit of lifestyle.

More recently the pandemic has spawned trends like work-from-home and quiet-quitting. In the coming decade the Millennials will move into the peak-family early-40s stage of the lifecycle while downshifting baby boomers will enjoy “the great contentment”.

Bernard delivers keynotes at conferences, conducts workshops, speaks at corporate retreats and delivers boardroom briefings throughout Australia & New Zealand. 

He writes two weekly columns for The Australian newspaper that deal with social, generational and demographic trends.

Bernard has popularised demographics through his books, columns and media appearances over 20+ years. He appears regularly as a guest on various radio and television programs. He has hosted a popular business podcast called “What Happens Next” and a business TV chat show called “The Next Five Years” broadcast on SkyNews.

Bernard heads The Demographics Group which provides specialist advice on demographic, consumer and social trends for business. Prior to that he founded KPMG Demographics In Australia.

He was an adjunct professor at Curtin University Business School between 2010 and 2020 and he holds a Master of Arts degree from Monash University. Bernard was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2017.

Bernard Salt cuts, slices and dices contemporary Australia with a precision no other social commentator can match

The Australian

  • Presentations

    Bernard tailors presentations to the audience and to the event.

    A presentation can range from 20 minutes as an after-dinner speech (plus Q&A) to 50 minutes for a conference keynote.

    Bernard supports presentations with a slide deck that provides the evidence to his insights.

    Bernard speaks without notes in an energetic style using all parts of an open stage. Delegates are later given access to the slide deck with data and graphics.

    All presentations conclude with key take-outs slide.

    Bernard is happy to take Q&A which can range from a few minutes to an hour.

    Speaking topics

  • Clients

    Bernard has spoken to all levels of business and government in every Australian state and territory.

    Generally his clients include the property, retail, health, education, technology, local government and financial services industries.

    Bernard is asked to speak to local, state and federal government departments.  He has addressed business groups in tourism, various industry associations, banking & insurance, private equity, infrastructure, manufacturing, real estate, all levels of education, information technology, agribusiness, media, logistics and others.

    Bernard has delivered presentations to audiences in world cities and locations including Buenos Aires, Dublin, Barcelona, Cape Town, New Delhi, Beijing, Monaco, Luxembourg, NYC, the Cayman Islands, Madrid, Costa Rica and Ho Chi Minh City.

    Bernard has spoken at breakfasts, lunches and dinners, at boardroom briefings and at senior management retreats. He has delivered the keynote address at conferences in front of 5,000 delegates and to corporate boards of 12 members. 

    He has presented to foreign language audiences through translators and to local and global audiences via Zoom and other platforms.

    Within Australia Bernard has spoken to local audiences in every capital city but also to audiences in regional areas such as Longreach (Qld), Merredin (WA), Uluru (NT), Port Fairy (Vic), Port Lincoln (SA), Dubbo (NSW), Devonport (Tas) and many others.

    Bernard has spoken to politicians in parliament house, to business leaders at CHOGM, to the indigenous community in Townsville, and to school groups in Alice Springs.

    In terms of charitable works and presentations Bernard has spoken to Anglicare, to the Salavtion Army, to the Red Cross, to the Anti-Cancer Council as well as to church, youth, sporting and volunteer groups more generally.

 
 

Bernard made the “LinkedIn Top Voices Australia in 2018 and 2020”