Self Leadership and
The New Leadership Playbook
Blog by Andrew Bryant

Event Professionals and Conference Organizers are some of the most self-disciplined people on the planet. Unfortunately, that focus can also cost self-care.

Choosing the right Keynote Speaker for an event can be a headache, but it doesn’t have to be.

Conference audiences want to be inspired, informed, and have a laugh.
Companies need their target audience to learn, change, and take action. 

For 25 years, I have spoken on stages about driving results with self-leadership in 35 countries on 5 continents.

If you need a Global Speaker for one of your events, I promise I am a true professional and ridiculously easy to work with.

Please view the 2-minute showreel and visit the meeting professional resources page. I am happy to take your call at any time.

A great speech is memorable, think Martin Luther King, "I Have a Dream", or Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you?" but if you are not a King or a Kennedy, what can you do to make a great speech?

"Not everyone wants to be a professional speaker,
but everyone needs to speak professionally."

 The opportunity to speak and share with an audience is a great honor, regardless of whether you are paid or not, and in my opinion, should be approached with reverence.

Having been speaking on stages around the world for nearly 25 years and being the President of two professional speaking associations, Singapore, and Spain, let me share some insights from the client's perspective.

Being a Great Speaker from the Client's Perspective

Every speech has an audience, and most speeches have a client. The client varies depending on the context, it might be a senior executive who wants you to land a message, or it's the company that booked you, but if you are paid to speak,...

Whether in a one-to-one conversation or giving a presentation, you owe it to yourself and to your audience not to be boring.

The number one reason for boring your listeners is being too focused on yourself and or your topic. This could be because you are nervous and shy, or because you have not yet realized a fundamental truth that is attributed to Theodore Roosevelt:

"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care"

3 Strategies for How Not to Be Boring

1. Be Curious

A great maxim for connecting with people and not boring them to death is, "if you want to be interesting, be interested." Be interested in the people you are speaking with, ask questions, and listen carefully to what they say. When you do this, you can connect what you want to say with their worldview.

Curiosity and open-mindedness will also mean that you can talk on multiple topics and have interesting perspectives.

2. Be Passionate

A guaranteed way to not be boring is to be...

Organizations of all sizes can keep employees motivated and engaged by hiring an experienced virtual keynote speaker. Virtual events are no longer unique, but done well they are an engaging way to provide employees with valuable insights, tips, and tools to be more efficient and effective. Here are some of the key benefits of hiring a virtual keynote speaker.

1. Cost-effective

During the 2020-22 Global disruption, virtual keynote speakers quickly became the go-to option for organizations, however, even though travel has opened up virtual or hybrid events still have benefits. First among these benefits are the savings from travel, accommodation, and other associated costs. Many global, inspiring, and motivating speakers have adapted their presentations with digital technology, allowing organizations to access top-tier speakers that they couldn’t previously access or afford.

2. Convenience

Virtual keynote speakers with a studio are flexible and so organizations can easily...

Are you looking for the perfect motivational speaker to boost energy and motivation for your event in London? Keep reading for advice on how to find qualified, professional motivational speakers and ensure that your event is a success!

Begin with the End in Mind

Regardless of your industry or conference theme, when engaging a motivational speaker, you want to ask yourself, what will the audience takeaway be?

• What will they think differently?
• What will they feel differently?
• What will they do differently?

An inspirational story is essential, but unless your speaker has an impact on the audience, it's not motivation, it's entertainment. So, define your objectives and then research the speaker's style to your event theme and outcomes.

Match Speaker Style to Your Event Theme

Motivational speakers come in different styles and with different specialties or subject matter expertise. Think about what type of energy or style you would like to influence the event – do you need an...

"Oh No, Not another Leadership Seminar!"  is the punchline of a story I share when I speak at conferences or events.

The incident happened 20 years ago when I was on my way to conduct a 2-day leadership development program for an international client and I overheard two managers talking before it started.

As humbling as the experience was, it was also a wake-up call to make leadership education relevant and practical. Everyone you talk to will likely agree that effective leadership is essential but few will agree that they lack the skill.

Twenty years after that incident, I have coached hundreds of C-level leaders and facilitated countless leadership sessions. I am the author of two books on self-leadership as well as The New Leadership Playbook: Being Human Whilst Successfully Delivering Accelerated Results. My conclusion from this experience is:

"𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏"

 

The Leadership Accelerator

Leadership is a...

Would you take free advice from a man worth more than $86 billion?

If that advice would increase your worth by at least 50 percent, would you act on it?

Do I have your attention?

Legendary investor and billionaire, Warren Buffet freely gives advice to improve your communication skills. He says,

“If you can’t communicate, it’s like winking at a girl in the dark — nothing happens”.

Billionaire entrepreneur, Richard Branson agrees.

“Today, if you want to succeed as an entrepreneur, you also have to be a storyteller”

The Benefit of Audience Engagement

Buffet and Branson clearly understand that even if you have the best ideas and, or the best product, to be successful, you must confidently communicate in ways that engage your audience.

Consider the success of Steve Jobs’s Apple product launches. Books have been written about Job’s presentation style, and many CEOs have emulated his stagecraft.

The good news is that communication,...

You hear the MC say, “Please welcome to the stage, our Keynote Speaker”.

Is your heart racing? Are your palms sweaty? Are you wondering what you are going to say?

Public speaking is purported to be the number 1, fear or phobia, beating out the fear of death, so why would you want to be a Keynote Speaker, and if you do, how can you be good at it?

I have been a Global Conference Speaker for over 20 years, and I have coached and mentored hundreds of executives and upcoming speakers to present with poise and confidence, to leave a lasting impact on their audiences.

Keynote Speaker – or Main-Stage Talk?

Sometimes the term ‘Keynote Speaker’ gets misused; it’s like someone who has posted a blog on HBR calling themselves a ‘Harvard Business Review’ columnist.

A keynote speech is a presentation, usually of 20 to 60 minutes, that establishes a main underlying theme, framework, or ‘big idea’ of the conference or...