I know you have a lot of choices when it comes to speakers. Below are 7 reasons why I am the best choice for you.
1. Expertise
I have over 25 years of business experience, including 12 with UPS and 8 with a top 20 accounting firm. My work with UPS gives me a unique perspective in terms of the struggles of a Fortune 500 organization with many layers and political complexities. The accounting firm I worked for grew very rapidly while I was there, mostly through acquisitions, so I know what it takes to integrate distinct cultures into an organization. UPS is very blue collar, and accounting is very white collar. My experience with both allows me to understand the unique complexities of business in both areas.
2. Currency
To stay relevant in any field, you must stay up to date with today’s headlines. Business changes extremely fast and yes, it’s important to make sure I have my required CPEs and stay up-to date on various laws and best practices. But what I find offers me the most value is studying general business case studies of why some companies grow and why others don’t, and that is reflected in my presentations. That makes me a much better professional than someone who simply stays up to date on HR alone.
Today’s professional has to be a business partner. Because I’ve run my own business for many years, I bring that business perspective. It’s not just about HR, it truly is about how HR impacts the business. As a business owner and HR professional I’m uniquely positioned to speak to this.
3. Relevance
Whenever I speak to a group, I relate the topic to terms the group can identify with. Many talks I give have a communication component where I talk about the fact that in order to achieve anything in a business environment, you have to talk to people in terms that are relevant to them.
I apply that to my speaking, too. I look at the topic, how it’s relevant for this specific group and why they want to hear it, and weave these types of discussion points into my talk. There are certain nuances within each industry that I like to address. I also make sure to speak in a way that will most interest the group. For example, when addressing finance people, I make sure to talk more numbers because that’s what they relate to.
4. Easy to work with
I’m not a crazy celebrity that needs you to make sure you take all the green M&Ms out of the bowl. I’m a pretty laid-back guy and I like to go with the flow. Within reason, I’m willing to meet the demands of a session or conference. To me, being easy to work with also means not going into an event with preconceived notions about exactly how things are going to go. I like to leave flexibility to go with the flow if I need to, and sometimes based on the discussion happening or questions asked I’ll modify on the fly and spend more time in what’s relevant for that group and less on what I might have originally planned.
5. Interaction
I’m not a podium style speaker. I like to get into the crowd. It helps me identify with them and adjust on the fly. My style is very interactive and I’m pretty good at making people feel comfortable enough to get a discussion going, even in a large group setting where it’s difficult for some people to raise their hand and ask questions.
Sometimes that means that I turn from a speaker into a bit of a facilitator. People are there to listen to me as an expert, but there are so many people doing so many cool things that maybe I can learn while I’m on stage, too. It lends relevance to what I’m talking about when someone says, “I’m dealing with this, tell me how I can fix it.” I find that my answer will start to resonate with other people, too, and it can spark a great discussion. It may not be on my list of bullet points to hit, but I’ll go down that path with them.
I love to use examples, so I’ll weave in my own experiences working with hundreds clients in different industries. I love when attendees have those same types of war stories to share. I’m most proud of the feedback I get from audiences saying they love the interaction and ability to get customized answers. I would much rather go off script every now and then to really help attendees, than be a stodgy professor for an hour and a half.
6. Experience
I’ve been speaking since 2008 and I’ve easily done well over a hundred talks. I’ve spoken at diverse kinds of conferences, from small groups of 50 at local meetings to state conferences of several hundred people.
I’ve spoken at many state level events and national conferences to a variety of audiences on a variety of topics. I’ve done conferences for not-for-profits, conferences specific to small business leaders, and numerous industry-specific conferences. This wide variety of experience speaks to how I tailor my talks to make them relevant for attendees, no matter who they are.
7. Authenticity
With me, what you see is what you get. If you’re looking for a speaker who can easily relate to the group and pick up on the nuances of the group quickly to create interesting, relevant, interactive sessions, I’m your guy.
I pride myself on delivering talks that are very practical. I don’t stay in theory, I get to the nuts and bolts of how to really do what I’m talking about. I believe in leaving my audience with a list of things they can take back with them and work on right away to benefit the business. There’s a place for fluffy high-level thinking, but that’s not me. My talks are authentic, honest, and have a lot of meat to them in hopes that attendees will use that knowledge to go back and better their business.
I also really enjoy spending time with participants after a session. Often, they’ll come up and ask questions they were afraid to ask in the group or want feedback. When I hear these questions, that tells me that I’ve resonated with them.
I truly enjoy giving presentations, and that shows when I speak. I derive a lot of professional satisfaction by getting people to think about things they’re dealing with in a unique way, and I get an energy from sharing with a crowd.
I want to bring my expertise, authenticity, experience, and more to your next event. To book me, please shoot me an email at ed@edkrow.com.
