How do I book Dessa to speak at my event?

Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like Dessa for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page to check availability for Dessa, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get speaking fee information and check availability for Dessa or any other speaker of your choice.

What are the speaker fees for Dessa

Speaking fees for Dessa, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fees to book Dessa are $10,000 - $20,000 for live events and available upon request for virtual events. For the most current speaking fee to hire Dessa, click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent.

What topics does Dessa speak about?

Dessa is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Authors, Music, Poetry

Who is Dessa's agent?

AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully booked keynote speakers like Dessa for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Please click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Dessa for your next private or corporate function.

What is a full-service speaker booking agency?

AAE Speakers Bureau is a full-service speaker booking agency, meaning we can completely manage the speaker's or celebrity's engagement with your organization from the time of booking your speaker through the event's completion. We provide all of the services you need to host Dessa or any other speaker of your choice, including offer negotiation, contractual assistance, accounting and billing, and event speaker travel and logistics services. When you book a speaker with us, we manage the process of hosting a speaker for you as an extension of your team. Our goal is to give our clients peace of mind and a best-in-class service experience when booking a speaker with us.

Why is AAE Speakers Bureau different from other booking agencies?

If you're looking for the best, unbiased speaker recommendations, paired with a top-notch customer service experience, you're in the right place. At AAE Speakers Bureau, we exclusively represent the interests of our clients - professional organizations, companies, universities, and associations. We intentionally do not represent the speakers we feature or book. That is so we can present our clients with the broadest and best performing set of speaker options in the market today, and we can make these recommendations without any obligation to promote a specific speaker over another. This is why when our agents suggest a speaker for your event, you can be assured that they are of the highest quality with a history of proven success with our other clients.

Dessa | Speaking Fee | Booking Agent

Dessa Biography

As a writer, Dessa has contributed to the New York Times, National Geographic Traveler and literary journals across the United States. As a musician, she's recorded critically acclaimed studio albums, co-composed for a 100-voice choir, collaborated with full orchestras and contributed to The Hamilton Mixtape on the invitation of Lin-Manuel Miranda.

On stage and on the page, Dessa's work is driven by an interest in finding unexpected connections -- between heartache and neuroscience, aerodynamics and grief, or simply between two people who live far away and in disparate circumstances. Her delivery is crafted to balance wit and tenderness, intellectual rigor and a poetic sensibility.

Dessa started out in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a member of the Doomtree hip-hop crew, a tight-knit group known for their explosive live shows, innovative sound and fiercely independent business model. For years, the seven-member crew shared stages, hotel rooms and head colds building an international following one sweaty show at a time. Dessa's work within the collective and as a solo artist earned several entries on the Billboard Top 200 charts (Chime, Parts of Speech and All Hands). Alone or with Doomtree, she's performed at Lollapalooza, Glastonbury, SXSW, velvet-lined theaters in LA and New York, punk venues in Central Europe, black box rooms from Tijuana to Beijing and once while standing on a wooden chair in South Africa. According to the LA Times, Dessa "sounds like no one else" and was called "a national treasure" by NPR's All Songs Considered.

Since her teenage years, however, Dessa wanted to become a published writer. So while recording and touring as a musician, she continued to write poetry, essays and short stories. Under the Doomtree banner, she began printing short books, some barely larger than a matchbook. In 2013, Doomtree Press published Spiral Bound, a collection of poetry and prose. In 2015, Dessa partnered with Rain Taxi on a poetry chapbook titled A Pound of Steam. On the strength of that collection, a New York literary agent telephoned; within a few years, Dutton Books (Penguin Random House) published her first book-length collection of essays, My Own Devices: True Stories from the Road on Music, Science, and Senseless Love, named one of the best books of 2018 by both NPR and Amazon. She also became a frequent radio contributor: on behalf of Minnesota Public Radio, she's interviewed best-selling authors in front of live audiences (most recently talking with Michael Pollan about his exploration into psychedelic drugs). At WNYC's The Greene Space, she served as Artist in Residence, designing a series called HEARTBREAKERS that investigated research on love, sex and determinism with both scientists and musicians.

In recent years, Dessa partnered with the Grammy-winning Minnesota Orchestra to stage six sold-out performances at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall (all arranged by composer/musician Andy Thompson and conducted by Sarah Hicks). The Minnesota Orchestra and Dessa cut a live record together in March of 2019, Sound the Bells: Recorded Live at Orchestra Hall, slated for release in November of 2019.

Dessa has presented on art, ethics, and communication for Fortune 500 companies, educational institutions, charitable organizations, and creative communities around the country. In the past few years, she’s lectured at Georgetown; presented a TEDx in Hong Kong; and facilitated discussions with artists in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Her audiences include architects, physicians, art programmers, students, environmentalists, and curious passersby.

Dessa is available in partnership with Collective Speakers.

Contact a speaker booking agent to check availability on Dessa and other top speakers and celebrities.

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Speaker profile last updated by AAE Talent Team on 05/21/2024.

Dessa Videos

Can we choose to fall out of love? | Dessa

What's the best way to get over heartbreak? Rapper and writer Dessa came up with an unconventional approach after a chance viewing of Helen Fisher's...
Dessa: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert - YouTube

Part of the Twin Cities hip-hop collective Doomtree, rapper, singer, poet and songwriter Dessa divides her time between singing and rapping, ...
Dessa Deconstructed: Breaking down "Parts of Speech" - YouTube

Watch as Dessa walks you through the song writing process of the lyrics and music of several songs from her new album, sharing demos and ...

See All Videos »

Dessa Books

My Own Devices: True Stories from the Road on Music, Science, and Senseless Love

FAQs on booking Dessa

How do I book Dessa to speak at my event?

Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like Dessa for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page to check availability for Dessa, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get speaking fee information and check availability for Dessa or any other speaker of your choice.
What are the speaker fees for Dessa

Speaking fees for Dessa, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fees to book Dessa are for live events and for virtual events. For the most current speaking fee to hire Dessa, click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent.
What topics does Dessa speak about?

Dessa is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Authors, Music, Poetry.
Where does Dessa travel from?

Dessa generally travels from New York, NY, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent.
Who is Dessa’s agent?

AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully booked keynote speakers like Dessa for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Please click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Dessa for your next private or corporate function.
What is a full-service speaker booking agency?

AAE Speakers Bureau is a full-service speaker booking agency, meaning we can completely manage the speaker’s or celebrity’s engagement with your organization from the time of booking your speaker through the event’s completion. We provide all of the services you need to host Dessa or any other speaker of your choice, including offer negotiation, contractual assistance, accounting and billing, and event speaker travel and logistics services. When you book a speaker with us, we manage the process of hosting a speaker for you as an extension of your team. Our goal is to give our clients peace of mind and a best-in-class service experience when booking a speaker with us.
Why is AAE Speakers Bureau different from other booking agencies?

If you’re looking for the best, unbiased speaker recommendations, paired with a top-notch customer service experience, you’re in the right place. At AAE Speakers Bureau, we exclusively represent the interests of our clients - professional organizations, companies, universities, and associations. We intentionally do not represent the speakers we feature or book. That is so we can present our clients with the broadest and best performing set of speaker options in the market today, and we can make these recommendations without any obligation to promote a specific speaker over another. This is why when our agents suggest a speaker for your event, you can be assured that they are of the highest quality with a history of proven success with our other clients.

Dessa is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics . The estimated speaking fee range to book Dessa for your event is $10,000 - $20,000. Dessa generally travels from New York, NY, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Rapsody, Tulani, Aisha Fukushima, George Watsky and Malcolm London. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Dessa for an upcoming live or virtual event.

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