Package that experience

“Experience is the brand.” C.K. Prahalad
To stand out from the crowd and catch (and hold) your customer’s over-stimulated attention you have to attach a memorable experience to your product or service.
Adidas stores provide running tracks where people can have a real experience of the shoes before buying them. Their 3000 sq ft signature store in Beijing pushes the brand boundaries and is the first to pioneer fully integrated sports and lifestyle solutions via experiential options like different virtual features centred around the core skills which will help upskill customers in their favourite disciplines,. The store also features a wide menu of services targeted at providing an holistic platform for sports and sport lifestyle such as professional running clinics, in-house fitness coaches, style advisors etc.
Being comparable to the rest doesn’t register in the customer’s memory in today’s busy, noisy and demanding world.
As a motivational speaker my own training style acknowledges the fact that we are living in an Attention Deficit Society and that the average listening span is approximately 15 minutes. So, in any presentation that lasts for 60 minutes I will engage the audience in various exercises at least 4 times. I would also ensure that everyone was getting the full experience by using different styles of presentation: visual, auditory and kinaesthetic.
Remember people buy into and remember emotion, but are rarely moved by cold facts.

Find out why so many have recruited him as a keynote speaker in Europe, Asia and the US.

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March madness!

Just after a hectic March that saw me keynote in three venues – Hong Kong for KPMG, Korea for MDRT and Macau for PMG.
A superb experience that reaffirmed in me the strong belief that at our core, though we may have 10BN brain cells; we are indeed very predictable.
Furthermore, the key prerequisite for success as a motivational speaker is congruence ie that you truly live your philosophies and this is apparent from your presence and energy.
On other fronts, though most commentators would agree that getting that job is a challenge thus you have to make a monumental effort to get in the door; I received a batch of CV’s for review from a client to find that not one of the applicants had gone further than sending a generic cover letter for the job and indeed none of them had contacted the office for further information about the post before formulating their communications strategy! I find this simply incredible – however it represents a great opportunity for any of my site visitors or their contacts.
Tailor your cover letter to the job and already you are in the first group for consideration.
Of course companies are also fighting hard for market share – well not all! I could fill the page with more examples of poor customer service since we last spoke including the person who left me waiting three days to come back to me about a significant contract!
It has taught me the value of the advice shared with me twenty years ago – ” Never Assume because it makes an ASS of U and ME!”
And finally I am starting to wonder is the key qualification for becoming a journalist – the ability to moan or maybe the ability to renounce positive action! When you consider the fact that there is an absence of political and spiritual leadership at the moment, I believe it is incumbent on the media to raise their game and project some light – not of the fluffy variety – constructive advice on what we can do to transcend current circumstances.

Find out why so many have recruited him as a keynote speaker in Europe, Asia and the US.

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Non Profit Unemployment Initiative – Lessons learned

Based on my non profit unemployment initiative experience around the country, I believe that three areas need addressing in the context of bringing the country to the next level.

1. Attitude shift amongst some of the unemployed. Unfortunately, I believe that there are too many people out there waiting for the apple to fall off the tree. The reality is that the paradigm has shifted from “instant gratification” to “ongoing graft;” if a person wants to find their dream job. Note “dream job/industry” – at this moment it is equally as difficult to find any job, as it is to find a post in your chosen discipline. The unemployed need to work smarter in addition to harder. Target your industry of choice and build a compelling case that this is your area of bliss embracing Web 2.0, to prove beyond all reason doubt that you really want that job.
2. The media needs to up it’s game in the context of providing it’s audience with balanced coverage of the days events. Currently the proliferation of doom and gloom is strangling creativity, enthusiasm and vision and making the dark hole even deeper. Many journalists told me off the record that “positivity and how to” weren’t exactly the most compelling news pieces. This was reflected in the absence of coverage with the exception of one show on the National Airwaves and papers. To reiterate, the media need to realise that people’s minds work similar to computers – Garbage in, Garbage out.

How can you expect an enthusiastic, visionary, creative population if all they are being feed with is doom and gloom, which unfortunately is then being recycled within their daily conversations. You dont have to be a motivational speaker to have worked that one out.
3. Greater cohesion amongst all the agencies and social entrepreneurs who are trying to make a difference.

The experience was very rewarding on a personal level. Considering that the average course rating was 9/10 from course attendees, it obviously gave real value to our target audience.
One piece of feedback will always stay with me: “It was the first time since I became unemployed that I didn’t feel invisible.”
As a motivational speaker, it is that type of feedback on its own that makes the journey worthwhile.

Find out why so many have recruited him as a keynote speaker in Europe, Asia and the US.

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