What if the most complex financial problems can be solved with a simple sketch?
Carl Richards is a keynote speaker, author, and visual artist who helps people talk about money in a radically human way.
For over a decade, Carl was the creator of the Sketch Guy column in The New York Times, where his hand-drawn sketches made financial complexity surprisingly simple and deeply emotional. His work has been featured everywhere from NPR and Morningstar to Harvard Business Review, and his sketches have been shared millions of times and used by financial professionals around the world. The New York Times once said, “No one gets money and emotion better than Carl Richards”.
With more than 25 years of experience in the financial world and hundreds of keynote presentations delivered globally, Carl is known for his rare ability to make audiences laugh, cry, and rethink their relationship with money - all in the same hour. His talks blend storytelling, vulnerability, and live sketching into an experience that’s both entertaining and transformative.
Carl’s goal isn’t to make you slightly better with money. It’s to completely change how you see it and give you the tools to have conversations that actually matter.
Talking Points
Your Money: Reimaging Wealth Through Simple Sketches
In this keynote, Carl Richards—creator of The New York Times “Sketch Guy” column and a trusted voice in the financial planning world for over 25 years—delivers a transformational experience. Drawing on hundreds of keynote events, thousands of conversations with real people, and the most powerful insights from his new book, Carl weaves live sketching, storytelling, and human truth into an unforgettable session. This isn’t about performance or products…it’s about the emotional side of money, and the real work of advice. The audience will walk away not just inspired, but equipped with language, metaphors, and frameworks to help clients make better decisions and have the conversations that truly matter.
Your Money: Reimaging Wealth Through Simple Sketches
Video
Carl Richards | The Financial Illustrator with a Sharpie - Keynote Speaker | Saxton Speakers
Carl Richards is known globally as The Financial Illustrator, helping audiences make better decisions in the face of uncertainty. Through simple sketches and clear language, he reframes money as a human issue, shaped by values, fears and priorities, not predictions or spreadsheets. Carl shares why certainty is impossible, why plans are always evolving, and why the most valuable work leaders and advisers do is helping people clarify what matters. His Keynotes bring clarity to complex decisions and resonate well beyond finance. Carl Richards is available to book for Keynotes and corporate events through Saxton Speakers.Your sketches are absolutely brilliant. Beautifully simple and thought provoking. ... keep reading Wired Advisor
Carl's presentation at our annual Managing Directors meeting was a needle moving event for our company. His straightforward and no-nonsense approach to our business and how he perceives our rapidly changing industry fundamentally changed how our advisors and management team see our value proposition to our clients.
Your sketch in this issue really made an impact on me due to several of my clients who have this 'sentimentality' problem with certain stocks they own.
So much fun witnessing Carl Richard’s brilliance! He is such a great speaker. Too three takeaways. 1. No slides, draw everything live. 2. Humour makes strong connections. And even better laugh at your own jokes. 3. Prove you are listening to your audience by tailoring everything. Masterclass!
I am being completely honest when I say they were the most impactful sessions I have ever attended as an advisor.
