great business speakers

MARK SCHULMAN is a monster drummer who has toured the world with some of the greatest rock and pop performers. He has played before crowds as big as 225,000 and has shared the stage with artists like P!NK, Billy Idol, Cher, Stevie Nicks, Foreigner, Simple Minds, and others over his 32-year touring career.

PREFACE Before I tell you about those happy smiles, I need to provide a bit of background. The magician BILL HERZ and his wife Gwenn are treasured friends.

KEYNOTE MAGIC Ask Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour for her secret to delivering consistently great call-to-action, high-impact keynotes and she’ll tell you without hesitation -- “intense preparation!” Click above to peek behind the curtain and watch FlyGirl when she's on-site for a keynote. You'll glimpse the final preparation, the speech, and the extraordinary impact of FlyGirl’s remarks. 

BILL WALTON is a wonder of modern medical science. He should not be standing, but 39 – yes, you read that right, 39! – orthopedic surgeries have made it possible.   Bill’s physical health problems began in college when an undiagnosed foot abnormality led first to stress fractures and then more serious issues – culminating in a complete collapse of his spine in 2008.

NOTHING IS CERTAIN EXCEPT CONSTANT CHANGE So much is changing in our professional and personal lives that it’s almost impossible to keep up. We’re all facing new challenges, working and competing in new ways, and encountering new problems that we’ve never faced before.

THE BILL WALTON ZOOM INTERVIEW - A POSITIVE FORCE OF NATURE Basketball legend BILL WALTON is no stranger to spending time in front of the camera. Lately, though, his on-camera work has been for appearances at virtual events for companies and organizations looking for a message on resilience, overcoming the odds, and finding a way to win.  If you are feeling down…if you’re feeling like you just can’t face one more curve ball life has to throw at you…you need to spend some time with basketball legend Bill Walton. And if you need to get something done…anything done…BILL WALTON is the guy you want on your team.

“Learning to speak without a stutter is without a doubt my greatest accomplishment in life…and your biggest nightmare,” said basketball legend BILL WALTON to an audience of financial professionals recently. The crowd laughed because it was 30 minutes into his 60-minute talk and they'd already discovered what Walton fans everywhere already know -- the man can talk!

A GUTSY MOVE KATTY KAY made a brave career decision in 2019. She took time off from broadcasting – taking a work sabbatical from the BBC and MSNBC. Katty's husband Tom, who runs the Washington, D.C. office for Africaworks, was setting up a non-profit in Senegal and it represented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go and help out and also do research for her next book. Katty also brought her 13-year-old daughter Poppy, who attended school there. “She had an amazing cultural experience...and I think we’ve given our daughter the best education we could give her,” Katty said.

NATIONAL WOMEN'S HALL OF FAME INDUCTS NICOLE MALACHOWSKI They all came! For some reason, I didn’t think they all would – I imagined someone would have had an overriding obligation of some sort. But no: Every living inductee into the National Women’s Hall of Fame for 2019 was there. The inductees included women I instantly recognized: Jane Fonda, Sonia Sotomayor, Angela Davis, Diane von Furstenberg, and Gloria Allred. Then there were others who, though I didn't recognize them, were equally exceptional and accomplished women. And then there was my friend, COL. NICOLE MALACHOWSKI, USAF (Ret.)

As entertaining in the broadcast booth as he is a keynote speaker "Bill Walton is a national treasure," read one headline. "Walton was tapped for color commentary in Friday night’s White Sox broadcast and it was a treat for the senses," it went on to say. The Chicago White Sox tried an experiment in the broadcast booth last weekend. Regular announcer Steve Stone was taking the weekend off and the team paired Jason Benetti with four guest broadcasters, one of which was basketball legend BILL WALTON. The decision was inspired because Bill Walton lit up the online universe - becoming the #1 trending topic on Twitter that evening. Walton preceded his trip (no pun intended) to the broadcast booth with a pre-game talk to the team about the challenges of playing professional sports. It was uplifting advice from an icon who knows a thing or two on the ups and downs of a pro sports career. Bill then ambled up to the White Sox booth on the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, wearing extremely bright Sox branded tie dyed t-shirts with a mindset to match. Benetti knew the kind of evening he was in for, having worked with Walton at the Maui Invitational Basketball Tournament for ESPN in the past. He gave Bill lots of room to be Bill.  With that the evening began and the headlines after the game said it all: