Posts Tagged ‘inspirational’

Last fall, we posted a blog “With a Name like Hogshead, She Better Be Good!”summarizing the specific importance and relevance the Financial and Insurance Conference has, in regards to, the professional speaking industry.

Recall, the FICP, (Financial & Insurance Conference Planners) has an executive membership of over 1,500 planner professionals and hospitality partners. With a history spanning over 60 years of leading experts, the FICP offers first-rate access to education experience and resources targeting the needs of financial services and insurance meeting planners from all across North America.

On November 9th, meeting industry leaders from key financial firms, such as Disney Destinations, DMC Network, 360 Destination Group, Hosts Global Alliance and Regent Seven Seas Cruises & Oceania Cruise, will gather at the Omni Nashville Hotel to attend the 2016 Financial and Insurance Conference Planners Annual Conference.

Why is this particular conference important to the professional speaking industry? Essentially, the firms that are represented by FICP members invest large amounts of money in motivational speakers, trainers and thought leaders. Therefore, the competition to speak to this important group of meeting industry leaders is fierce. It is advantageous for a speaker to address this group because it builds their speaking credibility and reputation. It is no surprise that last year’s keynote speaker, Sally Hogshead, was one of the most “booked” and sought after speakers in the financial services sector.

Following this year’s meeting, The Speaker Experts believe that the chosen General Session speakers for the upcoming 2016 conference will benefit similar success and demand.

For the Opening General Session FICP stages:

Thomas Koulopoulos 

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Tom Koulopoulos is the author of nine books and founder of Delphi Group, a 20-year-old Boston-based think tank, which was named one of the fastest growing private companies in the US by Inc. Magazine. Delphi provides advice on innovation practices and methods to Global 2000 organizations and government agencies.Click here to view his website.

For the Closing General Session FICP stages:

Captain Scott Kelly

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On stage, Scott speaks on the themes of teamwork, crisis management, accountability, and leadership. Scott’s book, Endurance, will be published in 2017 and the movie rights to his life story have been acquired by Sony Pictures with a tentative release date in 2018. Click here to view his website.

Currently, Koulopoulos and Kelly are high demand speakers. Without hesitation, their speaking talents will increase following their General Session presentations. You can gather background information on both speakers and view streaming video of their presentations by clicking on the links provided above.

For those who may be interested, The Speaker Experts have acquired a limited number of Tom’s best-selling book Gen Z Effect: The Six Forces Shaping the Future of Business In his book, Tom delves into a vision of the future where disruptive invention and reinvention is the acknowledged norm, touching almost every aspect of how we work, live and play.

Please contact us in the event that you would like to recieve a complimentary copy of this quick read.  

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Gary McManis & Jay Conklin

In his bestselling book, The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Daniel James Brown examines the conundrum of competitive rowing with this quote:

Another paradox lies in the physics of the sport. The object of the endeavor is, of course, to make the boat move through the water as quickly as possible. But the faster the boat goes, the harder it is to row well. The enormously complicated sequence of movements, each of which an oarsman must execute with exquisite precision, becomes exponentially more difficult to perform as the stroke rate increases.

A correlation can be found in the challenges facing competitive rowers and a meeting professional who has scheduled motivational speakers for years. Many times during the speaker needs analysis phase of the scheduling process, The Speaker Experts hear “….we have had tremendous success with astronauts, Everest Speakers, and professional athletes and want a high impact inspirational speaker but we need to draw from new topic areas….” So where do you take your audience when they have been to the top of the world, the bottom of the ocean, the surface of the moon and to the Super Bowl in search of stories of accountability, overcoming adversity, toughness and achievement? Like the challenges faced by The Boys in the Boat, the meeting professional’s speaker selection job becomes tougher when trying to top past podium success while faced with a smaller pool of thematic topic areas from which to choose.

One oft-overlooked genre of speakers in the motivational and inspirational space is that of extreme sports and adventure. There are many neat speaker options and topics in this area that can help the meeting professional leap over the high attendee expectation bar set by past speakers. Here are ten popular “Extreme Sports” general session speakers who will share the secrets of sustained peak performance, achievement and overcoming the toughest of odds with your audience.

Diana Nyad
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Record Breaking Endurance Swimmer


Ben Saunders
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World Record-Breaking Polar Explorer

Robyn Benincasa
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World Champion Eco-Challenge Adventurer

Shaun Tomson
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World Champion Surfer

Mark Allen
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Six Time Ironman Triathlon World Champion
Amy Purdy
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Paralympic Snowboarder & Dancing with the Stars Finalist

Stephen Koch
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Extreme Snowboarder

Mark Schultz
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Mixed Martial Arts Champion

Felix Baumgartner
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Record-Breaking Skydiver & BASE Jumper

David Breashears
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High-Altitude Filmmaker
















































































What these speakers have attempted and achieved is not for the faint of heart, and neither is selecting and scheduling a speaker from this genre. These types of speakers are tremendously popular but finding the right style, story and fit for your audience and meeting theme can be tricky as it is a high risk, high reward subject area. You can contact these speakers directly or through their exclusive representatives by clicking on the provided hyperlinks above, but we strongly suggest you discuss your desired session outcome with a trusted IASB-member speaker bureau before scheduling one of these world class athletes.

Gary McManis & Jay Conklin