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James May
James May helps organisations make complex ideas easy to follow. A broadcaster and speaker known worldwide from Top Gear and The Grand Tour, he's written books on engineering and motoring and still presents his own documentary series.
James May is a broadcaster and writer best known as one of the three presenters of Top Gear and The Grand Tour. He speaks on engineering, innovation, and how things work, making technical subjects clear and entertaining for audiences of any background.
James co-presented Top Gear and then Amazon's The Grand Tour, which ended its original run in 2024. His own series include James May's Man Lab, The Reassembler, and The Great Explorers with James May. He wrote a weekly Telegraph motoring column for eight years and was named Journalist of the Year by the Guild of Motoring Writers.
James has a knack for taking subjects that seem niche, from gearboxes to the history of exploration, and showing why they matter to everyone. He's written books including Notes from the Hard Shoulder and How to Land an A330 Airbus, and in 2021 he launched James May Gin, giving him first-hand experience of building a consumer brand.
Audiences leave with a fresh way of thinking about innovation and how things are made, practical lessons in explaining complicated ideas to people who aren't experts, and plenty of stories from two decades of filming some of the world's most-watched motoring television.
For conferences, awards dinners, and innovation events, James brings dry wit and real engineering knowledge from one of television's best-known presenters.
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frequently asked questions
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James May explains engineering by taking things apart, an approach he made his own on The Reassembler, walking audiences through how everyday machines work and why their design choices matter.
James May speaks on engineering and how things work, innovation, and explaining complex ideas to non-experts. He co-presented Top Gear and The Grand Tour and has written books including Notes from the Hard Shoulder and How to Land an A330 Airbus.
No. PepTalk adds no booking fee, so you pay the speaker's fee and nothing beyond it. The service, from shortlist through to contracts and event-day logistics, is included. For repeat or multi-event bookings, PepTalk can agree preferential rates with your procurement team.
Share your event date, audience, format, objectives and budget, and PepTalk sends a hand-picked shortlist within 24 hours. Each suggestion comes with a profile, a fee and a recommendation on the strongest fit. Once you choose, PepTalk handles contracts, travel and logistics through to event day.
The typical fee range is the speaker's standard in-person fee in their home market, shown in their local currency. It moves with format, location, date and session length: virtual sessions and shorter slots usually cost less, while international travel and peak dates cost more. Send your brief to PepTalk and the team will confirm the exact fee in your currency.
Not all of them, and it makes no difference to your booking. PepTalk's network of 15,000+ speakers covers talent the team works with directly alongside speakers represented by agents and agencies worldwide. PepTalk approaches the speaker, negotiates the fee and handles contracting either way.
Three to six months ahead is comfortable for most events, and 12 months is better for large conferences, peak-season dates or one specific in-demand speaker. Shorter timelines are workable, and PepTalk regularly fills last-minute and replacement bookings within days. Availability is the constraint, so get in touch as soon as you have a date.
