Introduction: Some people think that great motivational speakers are all about having the right look or a well rehearsed speech. But really, all the image and cliches in the world won't make a difference if your audience isn't engaged. When you work with someone who cares about connecting and focuses on the results you want to create, you'll give your group an experience to remember that they will be talking about for years to come.
My talks are filled with original ideas and relatable anecdotes. Using the power of metaphor and analogy, my skills as a professional wordsmith come to life in front of a group. Meet with me on Skype before you make up your mind and discover how the magic of contributor culture can make a difference for your group.
I love speaking to groups and sharing my story. When I see the spark of recognition and the light of inspiration in someone's eye, I know that they are being transformed and motivated in a special way.
The best part is when an organizer sighs with relief that the talk has went well, and congratulates me on a job well done!
I got started with public speaking in a roundabout way, as an outgrowth from my role as publisher and founder of Conscious Dancer magazine. I was invited to give a keynote at a publishing conference in Manhattan, and spent weeks buckling down on my slides and preparing my presentation. In spite of the butterflies in my stomach, I was totally surprised and delighted by how much fun it was, I’d never received an ovation for speaking before.
The audience was very impressed, my slides and topics went over well, and when a couple of folks from Condé Nast buttonholed me afterwards to say how much they enjoyed it, I was hooked. I’d presented an original idea about the evolution of publishing in the digital age that was a totally new concept to everyone there.
I’ve always been the one who’s happy to grab the mic and emcee at events, being a loud guy with a deep booming voice has its advantages. And every since my high school and college days I’ve had a knack for synthesizing trends and current events into novel and unique ideas, so much so that I began calling myself a “cultural engineer” back in the 90’s.
The most well-known term that I can take credit for coining is “conscious dance.” I’d been deeply involved in the DJ culture of the early 90’s, and my clothing and music store Ameba on Haight Street in San Francisco was widely recognized as one of the main hubs of the rave scene. (That’s also where I started to pay attention to why vinyl records were somehow more enriching than the new digital formats that were appearing at the time, which has led to my current work in the field of analog awareness.)
After Ameba closed and the rave scene lost its appeal to me, I began to make connections and bring my vinyl DJ gear to various retreat centers around California, including Harbin Hot Springs and the Esalen Institute. I began to see how much more energetic the dancers were when they had been meditating, doing yoga, and soaking in hot water all day.
This led to me actually making tongue-in-cheek business cards in 2005 where I billed myself as a “Conscious Dance Facilitator.” A few years later, after traveling around the West Coast and Hawaii with my girlfriend at the time and seeing the variety and growth of different barefoot-freestyle-boogie type dances and witnessing the growth of modalities such as 5Rhythms and Soul Motion, we decided to launch a magazine for the field and call it Conscious Dancer.
Fast-forward a decade or so, and you’ll see the term “conscious dance” used widely all over the globe. We published a quarterly print edition and sprinkled it far and wide to retreat centers and hot spots around the world, and before long this loose and undefined field was a movement with a name to umbrella itself under.
In 2012, after many personal and professional adjustments, I launched the Dance First Association, to change the business model for Conscious Dancer and provide a membership organization for the field. This provides a greater level of service to the teachers and training organizations, and provides a stronger publishing platform. Conscious Dancer is now online, with a weekly blog/newsletter series called Monday Love and the MoveMap, a comprehensive clearinghouse for member events.
All of these developments and initiatives have provided me with more opportunities for public speaking. I’ve been invited to Bali twice to address an international group of movement facilitators on the topics of marketing, practice building, and analog awareness. I’ve been brought to Boulder by a non-profit outreach organization to teach similar subjects in schools. Recently I gave a motivational speech to a large group of advanced placement at a Preparatory Academy in San Francisco covering the topics of contribution vs entitlement, the double-edged sword of digital culture, and actionable time-management techniques.
Due to my extensive experience in both the entrepreneurial and somatic fields, I’m also in demand for creating great results with small groups and one-on-one coaching clients. Working via video chat with clients all over the world, (Australia, Canada, New York, Florida, Indonesia, etc), I’ve been instrumental in helping folks launch new programs, develop new trainings, and build existing practices.
I’m very eager to reach new audiences, and speak in front of different groups such as corporate events and conferences. Meeting planners, event organizers, and educational administrators all love working with me, they can count on memorable presentations that create lasting results. I have a stellar track record, and am often invited back for repeat engagements.
The most shocking and surprising part of my story is how far I’ve come. Before I discovered the value of contribution in my mid-20’s and learned the meaning of work, I had hit rock bottom in a sea of entitlement, a doomed disaster of bad habits and trouble. The arc of my journey from homeless-punk-rocker to globe-trotting-public-speaker-and-personal-development-expert is inspiring, and I thank my lucky star every day because I know the best is yet to come.
Thanks for reading and let me know how I can be in service to you!
