The Speakers Blog

New Location for Speaker News, Reviews and Info

There will be no further updates to TheSpeakersBlog.com. Instead, please visit our new TSG Speakers Bureau Blog at www.thespeakersgroup.com/blog. We'll be updating that site on a much more frequent basis with news, reviews and more info about motivational keynote speakers and personal and professional development authorities. Thank you for visiting.

Marcus Buckingham Does "I Hate My Job" Interventions on Oprah

Marcus Buckingham, best-selling author, popular conference keynote speaker, and leader of the Strengths Movement, will be on The Oprah Winfrey Show on Friday, April 18. How did this come about?

Last year The Oprah Winfrey Show called The Marcus Buckingham Company and asked what the "Strength Movement" was all about. To demonstrate, Marcus and his team went to Chicago, filmed a three hour Workshop and then coached the participants - talented women from all walks of life - over the following five months.

On The Oprah Winfrey Show on Friday, April 18, these workshop participants will share their stories of how they've been able to significantly increase their performance, at work and in life.

Here's a preview of the show from Oprah.com:

Are you unhappy in your job? You're not alone. Four out of five people quizzed in a CareerBuilder.com survey are unhappy at work—that's 84 percent of the nation's workforce!

Business expert and best-selling author Marcus Buckingham has helped millions of people reach new levels of success and happiness at work—including employees at Coca-Cola, Gap and Microsoft—with his radical "strengths training" approach. His key to success is simple: Stop spending so much time trying to fix your weaknesses. Instead, focus on what makes you special and unique. "A strength is an activity that makes you feel strong," he says. "If you want to know what your strength is, you've got to pay attention to how you feel. It feels like focus. It feels like concentration. You feel invigorated. Energized."

Another way to think of strengths training is to look at it as a report card. When a child comes home with a report card, Marcus says most parents would focus more on an F than an A. Really, they should give more attention to the A. "You grow the most in the area where you already show some natural advantage, some natural area of talent or strength or passion. That's where you start," Marcus says.

Marcus says being dissatisfied with work can filter into other areas of your life. "Your family [and] people that are the most important to you in your life are the ones that hurt," he says. "If you're going to win at life—if any of you or any of us are going to win at life—we've got to flip that switch."

A YouTube video clip highlighting the show is available on the Marcus Buckinham on Oprah page on Squidoo.

The Speakers Blog to Return Soon...

Hello, and thank you for visiting The Speakers Blog. The Speakers Blog has been on hiatus for some time now, but it is still alive! We will be reviving the blog about motivational keynote speakers in the weeks ahead. Please stay tuned. In the meantime, feel free to visit The Speakers Group speakers bureau site for speaker profiles as well as a reference guide, article library, and more information to help you in your quest for information about scheduling speakers for your events.

The Professor of Professional Selling

Neil Rackham first became a household name in the professional selling world with the release of SPIN Selling, a revolutionary work based on a study of more than 35,000 sales calls in 23 countries over a 12-year period. He has since written follow-up bestsellers, including Major Account Sales Strategy and Rethinking the Sales Force. Now, he spends much of his time consulting the world's top sales forces, speaking at corporate sales meetings, and teaching at leading universities. He is truly the world's "Professor of Professional Selling."

Over the last three weeks, Neil addressed more than 3,000 business leaders in New York, Brazil and Mexico. I had the privilege of traveling with him in Brazil and Mexico, where he shared the platform with noted authorities such as General Colin Powell, Tom Peters, Terry Jones and others. What an awesome experience! I'm always reminded of just how powerful Neil's presentation is when I watch audience members come up to him afterward. While there are many great sales motivators, there are few sales educators who can impart such practical, yet astounding insights -- in a dynamic, engaging style -- that are proven to boost sales performance. Today's sales pros are hungry for solid food.

To anyone who plans sales meetings, I strongly recommend that you take a look at Neil Rackham's available programs -- and check out the July/August issue of Harvard Business Review which features an article co-written between Neil and Philip Kotler, titled "Ending the War Between Sales and Marketing."

Great Fun and a Great Message

Completing my weekend tour of client visits, I spent yesterday at a leading healthcare company's physicians meeting in Dallas, Texas... what a great group of people! Joel Zeff was their featured speaker, and it was his fourth engagement with this particular organization in 2006. Needless to say, they like him a lot! This was my first chance to see him in person, though, and now I know why they keep bringing him back... what an amazing speaker! He easily ranks as one of my favorites, out of hundreds whom I've worked with over the past seven years.

What makes Joel so great? Think of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Chocolate? Good. Peanut butter? Good. Together? Yummy! Joel's presentation is sort of like that. The peanut butter inside is a dynamic, relevant business message that could stand very well on its own. The chocolate coating outside is hilarious, unpredictable improv comedy entertainment. (If you've ever seen Whose Line Is It Anyway? on ABC, or on Comedy Central, you have some idea of what I'm talking about.)

By combining years of business experience with years of improv comedy training, Joel has truly created the perfect program. There are many outstanding speakers available and many outstanding entertainers, but I haver never seen someone combine a message with entertainment so effectively.

And another bonus with Joel: improv comedy is always tailored to the audience, because they submit ideas and play along throughout the program... making for an even more memorable program for your attendees.

An Authentic Story

This morning, I joined one of my clients in Miami, Florida, for an incentive meeting honoring their top sales professionals. I don't get as many opportunities to meet clients face-to-face as I would like, but it is always such a joy when I do.

Speaking at this meeting was Rachael Scdoris, a 21-year old young woman who is the first legally blind athlete to compete in -- and finish -- the famed Iditarod sled dog race in Alaska. Rachael was born with a rare vision disorder, so she has never known what most of us call "normal" vision. As a result, Rachael will tell you that what she sees is normal to her! As a matter of fact, after talking to her, and hearing her speak, you quickly realize that her "weakness" is a bigger issue for everyone else than it is for her. Hearing the story of her life is quite a lesson for those of us who always seem to find time to complain about this or that rather than just "deal with it" and keep pressing on.

Rachael has only served as a keynote speaker about a dozen times so far, because:

1. She is a professional sled dog racer, not a professional speaker, and
2. Her pursuit of being the best she can be as a sled dog racer doesn't allow her much extra time for speaking engagements at this stage in her career.

For meeting planners who are seeking a dynamic, polished presentation, Rachael may not be the best option. Instead, one of the many Everest climbers and other "achievers" who have spent years on the speaking circuit perfecting their presentation skills is probably a better fit.

But for planners (and audiences) who want to hear a raw, authentic story of overcoming obstacles, Rachael is wonderful. And in addition to learning about her life, Rachael's audiences are also treated to some powerful imagery from her Iditarod run this year.

Actually, if you don't know much about the Iditarod -- as I didn't -- I encourage you to visit this page on the official Iditarod web site. You'll learn that it is a very long and very cold race! And also, did you know that fewer people have completed the treacherous Iditarod than have been to space or summitted Mt. Everest? Finishing the Iditarod is one of the greatest accomplishments on Earth, and knowing that Rachael did it while legally blind is truly amazing.

Speaker Recommendation for Administrative Professionals Week

Administrative Professionals Week and Administrative Professionals Day are just around the corner (April 23-29 and April 26, respectively). If your organization plans to utilize an outside speaker in recognition of this observance, here's someone to consider: Judy Carter.

The theme for this year's APW/APD is "Creating Excellence." Judy's presentation, "Laughing Your Way to Excellence," is a great match thematically, and it's a lot of fun! Well known as a corporate comedian and inspirational speaker, having been featured on CNN, ABC and Oprah, Judy knows the importance of laughter when it comes to lifting spirits and restoring productivity that is lost due to burnout over time. She has been featured as an APD speaker for organizations such as Genentech and Roche Pharmaceuticals, and she has spoken at the national conference of the International Association of Administrative Professionals.

She is available for booking through The Speakers Group or virtually any speakers bureau of your choice.

Optimizing the Speaker-Planner Partnership

As a speakers bureau, we hear from numerous speakers throughout the year who are seeking representation and ultimately, bookings! Last Friday, I personally received calls from three speakers. Some of the speakers I hear from are speakers who are just trying to get into "the business," but many of the speakers who call or email have proven track records. They are great speakers. So, we have great speakers looking for events, and there are thousands of planners looking for great speakers. That inspired this question: how can speakers and planners better find one another? I know for a fact that most planners receive more unsolicited calls and emails from speakers than they desire, so that's not the best practice. So what is? Planners, how would you like to find out about speakers? Does your current system work well? If so, what is that system? Is there a better way that would make your life easier? For all the bureaus and speakers out there, how can we better serve you?

FOR PLANNERS: Open Comments

What's on your mind as it relates to booking/working with speakers? Feel free to use this thread to ask questions and make comments about topics not otherwise mentioned on the site. Is there a topic you would like to open up for discussion? Let me know. I want to maximize the effectiveness of this resource for you.

FOR PLANNERS: Who are some of your favorite speakers?

As you hold events year after year, there will undoubtedly be some speakers who emerge as your "favorites" -- speakers you would work with again and again, if you could, and who you would recommend in a heartbeat to other planners. I invite you to post comments about some of those speakers here... it's a great way to support those speakers, and it can be a big help to other planners looking for the next "home run" speaker for their programs. Thanks!