Mark Schultz | The Speaker Experts

Posts Tagged ‘Mark Schultz’

Solving the Successful Speaker Paradox

Posted: August 18, 2015 in Speaker Ideas
Tags: adventurer, Amy Purdy, astronauts, Ben Saunders, Dancing With The Stars, Daniel James Brown, David Breashears, Diana Nyad, Everest Speakers, explorer, extreme sports, Felix Baumgartner, filmmaker, inspirational, Mark Allen, Mark Schultz, motivational, Robyn Benincasa, Shaun Tomson, skydiver, snowboarder, Stephen Koch, The Boys in the Boat

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

Record Breaking Endurance Swimmer

Ben Saunders

World Record-Breaking Polar Explorer

Robyn Benincasa

World Champion Eco-Challenge Adventurer

Shaun Tomson

World Champion Surfer

Mark Allen

Six Time Ironman Triathlon World Champion

Amy Purdy

Paralympic Snowboarder & Dancing with the Stars Finalist

Stephen Koch

Extreme Snowboarder

Mark Schultz

Mixed Martial Arts Champion

Felix Baumgartner

Record-Breaking Skydiver & BASE Jumper

David Breashears

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

The Next Hot Speaker-Coming Soon to a Theater Near You?

Posted: October 10, 2014 in Be In The Know, Speaker Ideas
Tags: American Can, Brain Game, Dr. Bennet Omalu, Fox Catcher, Fredi Lajvardi, JB Bernstein, Jeannette Walls, John Keller, Ken Adelman, Mark Schultz, Million Dollar Arm, Reykjavik, Spare Parts, The Glass Castle

The great hockey player Wayne Gretzky once said, “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been”. That quote is applicable within any industry, but has particular relevance in the world of professional speaking. Forward-thinking speaker bureaus are constantly trying to identify the next big speaker, and Hollywood traditionally has been a great place to turn to when an agent is looking for the next big thing.

History has shown that movies like Apollo 13 (Captain Jim Lovell), The Blind Side (Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy), The Pursuit of Happyness (Chris Gardner), and 127 Hours (Aron Ralston) have helped launch and sustain the careers of some of the speaking circuit’s most in-demand speakers.

The Speaker Experts have identified a number of upcoming movies that could be the launching pad for the next superstar speaker. Of course, past performance is never a guarantee of future results. Just because you are the protagonist in a blockbuster movie does not mean you know your way around the speaking stage – and there is never a guarantee the film will even make it to the big screen.

Listed below are a number of films to keep an eye on over the months ahead. Some are completed and scheduled for release, while others are merely projects that merit monitoring.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

Million Dollar Arm
Film based on JB Bernstein’s book “Million Dollar Arm”;
Jon Hamm reprises the role of JB Bernstein.
DVD Release Date: October 7, 2014

Foxcatcher
Film based on Olympic gold medalist Mark Schultz’s autobiography “Foxcatcher”;
Channing Tatum playing the role of Mark Schultz.
Scheduled Release Date: November 14, 2014

Spare Parts
George Lopez to reprise the role based on Fredi Lajvardi, high school educator
Scheduled Release Date: January 16, 2015

Reykjavik
Film based on Ken Adelman’s book “Reagan at Reykjavik”
Scheduled Release Date: In pre-production

The Glass Castle
Film based on Jeannette Walls’ memoir “The Glass Castle”;
Jennifer Lawrence to star in and produce the film.
Scheduled Release Date: In pre-production

Brain Game
Film based on Dr. Bennet Omalu’s work “Play Hard, Die Young”;
Will Smith rumored as the top contender to play Dr. Omalu.
Release Date: In pre-production

American Can
Film based on true events during Hurricane Katrina;
Will Smith signed on as the protagonist, decorated Marine John Keller.
Release Date: In pre-production

The risk and the reward can be high when considering a speaker from an upcoming movie. If you get the right person, you may be able to secure them at a fraction of what their potential fee will be if the movie becomes a success. An IASB-member speaker bureau can help you navigate the risk and determine whether this type of a speaker makes sense for your next meeting.

Gary McManis & Jay Conklin

“Buy Low, Sell High”: 3 Speakers Going Up In Value

Posted: July 3, 2014 in Be In The Know
Tags: 127 Hours, Apollo 13, Aron Ralston, Captain Phillips, Chris Gardner, Dr. Beck Weathers, Foxcatcher, Gene Kranz, Into Thin Air, JB Bernstein, Jeanette Walls, Jim Lovell, Jim Morris, Leigh Anne Tuohy, Lone Survivor, Marcus Lutrell, Mark Schultz, Million Dollar Arm, Richard Phillips, The Blind Side, The Glass Castle, The Pursuit of Happyness, The Rookie

“Buy Low, Sell High” is a term you often hear in the investment world. In looking over my stock portfolio last week, I have come to the realization that it is a very tricky and risky outcome to achieve.

While past performance is never a guarantee of future performance in the speaker world either, there are certain indicators that that will signal a speaker fee increase. One key indicator is an announcement and release of a major motion picture about a speaker’s life. Over the years we have seen speakers’ fees go up dramatically when such a film is made. A few examples are as follows:

Captain Jim Lovell and Former Flight Director Gene Kranz – Apollo 13

Captain Richard Phillips – Captain Phillips

Aron Ralston – 127 Hours

Leigh Anne Tuohy – The Blind Side

Marcus Lutrell – Lone Survivor

JB Bernstein – Million Dollar Arm

Chris Gardner – The Pursuit of Happyness

Jim Morris – The Rookie

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The key to buying low in the speaker world is to book these speakers before the film is released. Here are three speakers who will be going up in fee in 2015:

Jeannette Walls – The Glass Castle (starring Jennifer Lawrence), based on Jeannette Walls’s memoir published in 2005 that lived for a resounding 261 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List, is being brought to life by Lionsgate after seven years of practically stagnant development at Paramount.

Mark Schultz – Foxcatcher (starring Channing Tatum) is based on Mark Schultz’s autobiography detailing his and his brother’s lives as Olympic Wrestling Champions, all of which came to a grinding halt when one commits a harrowing murder. Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, its set release is in November 2014.

Dr. Beck Weathers – Into Thin Air, a book written by Jon Krakauer and currently being adapted into a major motion picture, stars Josh Brolin as Dr. Beck Weathers and retells the harrowing story of one team’s ill-fated attempt at scaling Mount Everest. Backed by the production company Working Title, the film has no set release date.

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Keep an eye on these three speakers. Today’s “unknowns” are speaker superstars of tomorrow!

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Posts Tagged ‘Mark Schultz’

Solving the Successful Speaker Paradox

The Next Hot Speaker-Coming Soon to a Theater Near You?

“Buy Low, Sell High”: 3 Speakers Going Up In Value

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