If you want to check out availability, talk about content, or ask about prices… it all starts with an email. My job isn’t just to deliver astonishing content, it’s to make your job easier, so you can worry about the other stuff… you know, like whether your attendees will find the car park 😉
It might not be me that gets back to you (if I’m away, for example) and we’ll do our absolute best to make sure we reply within a couple of hours. If you’ve not heard back within one working day something’s gone wrong and it’s probably worth checking your spam folder.
To give you a quick start, I’ve put some of the questions we get asked most often just below. If you’re in any doubt though, drop us a line.
FAQ
You can download these FAQs and more details as part of my speaker pack, right here.
If anything isn’t clear, just email. It’s my job to be clear, not your job to be telepathic, so don’t worry about asking whatever’s on your mind.
How long do you speak for?I’ll do the best I can with whatever time you give me, but anything over about 45 minute is more “training” than speaking. A better timeframe is between 30 and 50 minutes. Content is customisable and some things sit less comfortably in different durations.
By default I’m semi-formal, because that’s what suits most content and most audiences. If you give me a clear briefing however, I’ll talk to you about adapting to suit your needs. I’ve delivered in anything from jeans and a shirt to a classy, formal suit.
No… well not totally 😉 I’m a subject-matter expert, and I take fidelity to my topics very seriously. What you can do however, is heavily influence the style in which I deliver it (see the FAQ about formality, for example) and the sorts of examples I use. You can even customise the slides, up to a point, and I’ll even use your organisation’s template if you need, but only if it’s not too far from best practice. You’re paying me to deliver well, not to keep your PR team happy. 😉
I’m assuming you’ve got a venue with good audiovisual equipment available. I’ll plug my laptop into that. One of the things I check very carefully is how the system works at the venue, so be assured I’ll speak to the technical team at the venue myself to make sure things work!
No. I’m an expert in what I talk about, with a huge body of knowledge and experience in and around that. I won’t compromise my integrity by talking about stuff where I’m not absolutely qualified.
Having said that, you’d be surprised about what matches with what. Two and two sometimes makes five, so I won’t be offended if you ask! For example, while I’m not a “marketing speaker” I’m sometimes provide a good fit to marketing conferences because of my expertise in storytelling!
Nope. I don’t need you to provide a bowl full of Smarties – with the blue ones taken out – or Jack Daniels on the bedside table in my hotel. There are a couple of things I might insist on, depending on where you are and how I’m travelling but I’ll be totally clear about those when you talk to me and it won’t be anything unreasonable. For example, if you need me to take a long plane journey to get to you I’ll need to be fresh and rested, so Economy class is is a mistake.
Actually I do have some needs, thinking about it… that your organisation isn’t doing anything immoral or illegal, and we’ll talk about how to work in a way that’s environmentally responsible. Oh, and I’m allergic to fish, so try to not poison me…
Yes, if there’s no other way – but it’s never as good as the real thing. What’s more, by the time you’ve hired studio space and so on it’s usually not that much cheaper, either! We can talk about it though, if you’re team is scattered accross the world for example.
I’ll do what I can to be helpful and easy to work with. I’ve got a full set of head-shots in various styles, to suit your feel, and I’m more than happy to record a couple of customised, short videos for you, explaining what I’m going to be doing, so that people get to know me beforehand. I can also point you at the (huge amounts of) online material I’ve got so you can help your audiences arrive “warm”. If there’s anything in particular you’ve go in mind, just ask.
Of course. And it goes like this. If people aren’t happy with what I’ve done because of anything I had control over, I’ll just charge you for expenses, not my time. In other words, if I mess up, I’m free – but if things don’t work because the fire alarm goes off…? Well that’s on you! 🙂
My team and I don’t bite – so if you’ve got a questions, just ask. If it helps, I’ve got a sane wife, two awesome, badass daughters and hobbies that include reading, playing the cajon, bread-making, and cycling.
I don’t count things like going to the gym or yoga as a hobbies. They’re things I do to stay fit, so I can be at my best.
Favourite book: Dune, by Frank Herbert.
Favourite Cartoon Character: Batman. (Obviously)
Favourite Food: Italian
Favourite Wine: Malbec. And thanks for asking 🙂