Greg Bennick - Keynote Entertainer

AVAILABLE PRESENTATIONS

CHANGE: Managing the Unexpected - Change is an inevitability, and as long as we are in the right mindset, we will be ready for anything and prepared to take action. As a juggler for almost thirty years, Greg is an expert at change: every ball flies in a different direction. How do we manage change? What perspectives to we need? Using laughter and entertainment as a vehicle, Greg delivers answers to these important questions in his incredible keynote. Learning points include new perspectives on dropping the ball and failure; how to continue even in the midst of setbacks; and perspectives on the creative process itself and the peaks and valleys it brings.

CUSTOMER SERVICE: A Juggling Act - Gone are the days when we could just SELL to people and think we could get away with it, marketing anything at anytime to consumers. This is a new era. We need to listen to people, and be willing to adapt to their whims. Consumers have learned to choose the colors of their products, and now people are trained to want that way in all areas of the customer experience. Greg offers insight into how creating relationships with the people you serve, developing a sense of community on a larger scale, and adapting to sudden change can lead to new levels of success...and a different kind of success than simply profit.

TEAMWORK: An Individual Experience - The success of any organization is dependent on how its people work together. In this keynote, Greg uses his proven techniques of audience participation to demonstrate how effective we can be when we work together. but from the perspective of knowing ourselves. How can we transform being let down by others in the past to being inspired to try again in order to work together effectively? Teamwork demands vigilance, patience, commitment, and determination. Most importantly, its teamwork WITH the people we serve not in opposition to them that yields truly sustainable alliances. Learning points: self esteem and its role in our interactions; from where do interpersonal conflicts emerge; and how to resolve those conflicts when they flare up.

COMMUNICATION: The Foundation of Any Team - For any team to succeed, clear communication is at the core of their success. Greg brings two decades of research into communication styles along with comedy and entertainment to share insights about communicating with your group. Everyone will learn something by the end of the keynote, and everyone takes part. People who have felt disempowered will gain a greater sense of their value as individuals. And those who have disempowered them will have shifts in perspective that will bring new clarity.

LEADERSHIP: To Listen is to Lead - We often think of leaders as having powerful voices, but the best and brightest leaders are actually the greatest listeners. We explore, through audience participation and laughter, the core concepts of being an effective listener as part of a team and how that leads to outstanding leadership. Greg's real life experience with leadership includes the World Leaders Project, an initiative Greg started that had him meeting face to face with world leaders to discuss dynamics of power, control, and effective balance. You need a speaker who talks the talk and walks the walk. And one who can be funny in the midst of important ideas. Greg is all of those in one.

GREG BENNICK: Global virtual keynote speaker, interactive comedian, event emcee & host!

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Team-building keynote speaker Greg Bennick helps teams focus, get inspired together for action, and grow stronger through keynote presentations and trainings at conferences and association meetings worldwide. He reminds people that they matter and that the work they do is meaningful.

Greg Bennick knows about what it means to focus on what matters most, though reading about his life, you wouldn’t know that. He is a best-selling author, a keynote thought leader, a noted rare coin expert, a TEDx speaker and speaking coach, a humanitarian philanthropist, and an influencer devoted to transforming the world by inspiring personal and social change. How's that for a resumé?
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For the last three decades Greg has traveled the world studying what people want most. He's come to know that people need to matter and to feel that they are part of something meaningful. When you start from that foundation, you create the base necessary for increased performance, and powerful motivation.

Here’s a little about Greg, and ideas about how he helps organizations like yours find renewed inspiration.

When Greg traces back his own focus and teamwork journey, he realizes that learning to juggle for the first time at twelve years old changed everything for him. It was awesome. It was amazing. And it was a metaphor. He saw that it was a juggler's ability to FOCUS and keep multiple balls aloft, amidst a world of distractions, that was key to navigating our day-to-day reality. He realized that he gained confidence and learned more with the support of those around him. Those realizations transformed his life, and reminded him that without teamwork, individuals end up adrift and lost.

Greg started thinking about what gets us back on track. The object in the air is the one that matters most. What is the object for you and your organization? What do we need to focus upon most? When we have a shared sense of meaning from what we do, and when we know that our work matters, it is like high octane fuel for teamwork.

Greg launched his career as a presenter at age thirteen (yes you read that correctly) and saw that capturing the attention of audiences brings people together. He has been known to balance a chair on his face to do just that. Just watch his promo video for proof!

Greg's new book Reclaim the Moment: 7 Strategies to Build a Better Now is a tool that you can use to inspire your people. Greg trains and consults based off a model of seven strategies. This is an exploration of how to get back on track with what matters most to us and to our team.

Praise has been high for the book and the ideas in it:

“A practical guide to getting your ‘now’ back on track, while staying true to yourself. My favorite chapters dealt with creativity and cultivating a revolutionary mindset, but all seven key strategies provide significant value.”
- Adam Cheyer, co-founder of Siri

“Greg gives you seven strategies but I’m just giving you one: get his book! He’s creative, insightful, and refreshingly honest. You’re welcome.”
- Larry Wilmore, TV writer/producer

“This book is a nonstop life lesson in the business of being human. Greg has a philosopher’s mind and writes with punk rock energy. Every chapter inspires reflection, inspiration, and action.”
- Andy Hurley, drummer, Fall Out Boy

For the last three decades Greg has traveled the world studying what people want most, and looking at what makes solid teams work together most effectively. He’s come to know that people need to matter and to feel that they are part of something meaningful.

He can bring that feeling of inspiration to your group so that you can reduce turnover, guard against disruption, and inspire action - all of which translates to success.

SPEECH TOPICS:

Build A Better Now: An Inspired Look at Team Building, Leadership, and Focus

Team building keynote speaker Greg Bennick helps teams focus and grow stronger through keynote presentations and trainings at conferences and association meetings worldwide. He inspires action by reminding people that they matter and that the work they do is meaningful.

To help teams work more effectively and thrive creatively Greg explores the idea that the future of work comes down to the future and potential of dynamic teams and the leaders who support them. Leadership styles that are uplifting and encouraging are the way of the future.

Greg’s keynotes are customized to your group and its goals. There are no cookie-cutter keynotes here. Greg works with you through Zoom and phone meetings in advance of your event to delve into your specific goals and to apply his ideas around inspiring action to your group.

His keynotes are interactive and engaging, and his followup trainings infused with takeaways. As one client recently said, "Greg turns gravity into life lessons." We like that.

Greg shares insights about the power of reminding people that they matter. We can reduce turnover, guard against disruption, and inspire action. He explores the benefits of getting on track. With focus, we strengthen organizational culture and create space for possibilities to emerge. This is a keynote about the team, and how when people focus and come together, they amplify their output.

For the last three decades Greg has traveled the world studying what people want most. He’s come to know that people need to matter and to feel that they are part of something meaningful.

When we have a shared sense of purpose and meaning from what we do, and when we know that our work matters, it is like high octane fuel for teamwork.

Some key takeaways from the Build a Better Now® keynote:

· Reconnecting to our purpose and reason for doing the work we do
· Appreciating the team we’re a part of and celebrating a feeling of shared vision
· Realizing that the work we do is meaningful and our contribution to it matters.

When we focus on team building, opportunities are everywhere.

FAIL BETTER: Don't Be Afraid to Drop the Ball!
An exploration of confidence, leadership, and motivation

Greg is a juggler who is fascinated by gravity as a metaphor: by dropping objects he learns constantly to manage failure. What do we learn about success from seemingly constant failures? The Seattle Times called him “A juggler of objects and concepts” and went on to say, “A juggler and inspirational speaker: it'd be hard for anybody to balance such extremes, but Bennick seems to do it with grace.”

What do you learn about success from a path where the journey is filled with mistakes? For a juggler, there is no escaping gravity. Along the way Greg has learned about focus and creative courage, facing picking objects up and continuing on even when the path doesn’t seem clear. “Fail better,” a phrase often taken from Samuel Beckett’s writings about failing again and again and again, is a great image to use when connected with juggling.

This is an interactive keynote designed for teams who would love to explore their potential and how their confidence (or lack thereof!) impacts productivity. In this keynote, designed for groups looking to enhance positive mental attitude and confidence among their team members, Greg explores not just juggling for entertainment sake but for the metaphors and life lessons it offers us about confidence, how to push forward into the goals we want to achieve, and how we can do that together.

As is true with all of Greg’s keynotes, he works with you in advance to explore your specific goals, and then customizes what he offers in his keynote to your group. He explores ideas rooted in his book, Reclaim the Moment: 7 Strategies to Build a Better Now and makes sure that the takeaways around effective leadership and confidence are solid.

EMCEE:
Your event needs a great professional emcee! BE SURE TO WATCH GREG'S EMCEE VIDEO REEL!
Get ready for an incredible interactive experience: Greg Bennick is an all-in-one event solution.

You’ve worked so hard to plan your event, and now you can place your trust in Greg to make sure it all goes perfectly. As an emcee, Greg brings fun and audience engagement to your event while focusing on Ideas. Interaction and Inspiration. He works with meeting planners like you to create brilliance.

Greg was trusted by a branch of the federal government to emcee and host an event which his client referred to as: “the most complex virtual multi-day event that we’ve ever put on, or that’s ever been done at the level of the federal government." - No pressure!

Greg knocked it out of the park as you can see from the quote above. Imagine what he can do for you as an emcee, whether live or virtual. Greg will keep your event flowing and infuse it with the highest level of professionalism and fun.

GREG BENNICK - Comedy Keynote Speaker & Emcee/Host
TECH RIDER

The good news: Greg’s tech needs are very basic, simple, and typically are met already by what’s on hand and available for any well-planned event. Give these a read. If you have any questions, please let him know!

SOUND REQUIREMENTS
Being heard is so important. The good news: it’s easy to make sure everything sounds great.
• Greg brings his own wireless microphone that he will plug into your sound board. Voilà. Done.
• His microphone uses an XLR cable, which is a standard mic cable for a standard sound board. He carries adapters with him in case your particular sound board was made in 1940 or was purchased at a street fair in a far-off land.
• Please make sure there is a three prong plug nearby that Greg can use to plug in his wireless microphone.
• If someone is introducing Greg onstage, please have a microphone for them. Greg won’t share his. Not because he is selfish, because he’s actually very friendly and nice. But he would love for them to have their own microphone.

LIGHTING AND STAGING REQUIREMENTS
• Its always a good idea to have solid amount of light onstage. You’d be surprised how often people forget this. A general wash of the stage, meaning white light everywhere onstage so everyone can see easily, is ideal.
• Keep the audience in the dark. We don’t mean don’t tell them about the show. Just keep them unlit, or in dim light.
• A performance space of 10 feet deep by 15 feet wide is ideal. Greg can make do with less if necessary but please let him know beforehand. He once arrived at an event to find a 4’ x 4’ performance space. No lie. It was a challenge!
• Its great to have stairs leading up to the stage for people so they don’t have to climb or jump up onstage in their evening attire and special gowns/tuxedos/etc. It would look awkward and weird. Stairs for the win.
• One thing to think about: ceiling height. Do you have 10’ ceilings? If so, YAY. If not, let Greg know and he will work with whatever you have. Or if he’s feeling ambitious he will rent you a new venue with taller ceilings as a present. Unlikely, but stranger things have happened.

SEATING AND LOGISTICAL REQUIREMENTS
• Want to make Greg happy? Have the audience facing him. If people are at round tables, have the chairs be set so that no one has their back to the stage. He will be happy. You know, it’s odd that this rider is being written in the third-person tense when its Greg who is writing it. Greg is happy that he is referring to himself as “Greg.”
• Ok now that you know it’s me, I will tell you that having me perform or speak while people are eating is a terrible idea. I wouldn’t want my spaghetti interrupted, and neither would you, no matter how funny the performer is. Wait until desserts are served, placed on the tables and THEN let’s start. You’ll be glad you did and so will the audience!
• Let’s go over the order of events for the show before the date, and that way I can advise on getting my gear onto and off of the stage in a way that is simple, quick, and not disruptive to whatever might come after me onstage.

BEFORE THE SHOW, A COUPLE MORE LOGISITCAL POINTS, AND MY INTRODUCTION
• Its important for everyone in the audience to be excited for the show. Have whoever is introducing me read my intro multiple times out loud beforehand to practice. My introduction is on page two of this rider. If you didn’t get a page two, well, don’t get upset, or scream and yell. It’s totally ok. Just ask for one and it shall be yours.
• Its only happened once, but please have whoever introduces not mention or touch my onstage gear before introducing me. Someone once gave away a show secret beforehand by playing with my props and equipment and it wasn’t my favorite experience. I’m not upset about it anymore. They’re totally forgiven. But still.
• Let’s talk before the show about anything that needs to be cleared off the stage before the show starts.

I think that’s it! Let’s have an incredible event. I am excited you chose me, and I will – I mean – Greg will do everything to ensure the success of your event! It will be great!

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GREG BENNICK
Comedy Keynote Speaker & Emcee/Host INTRODUCTION

Notes to presenter:

--> Do not read this section out loud.

--> Please get everyone’s full attention before reading this introduction. If they don’t listen, try a couple times. It’s important to have people paying attention.

--> Please read this introduction with ENERGY and EXCITEMENT especially the last line with Greg’s name.

--> Please practice reading this introduction aloud, at least twice, all the way through before reading it before an audience. THANK YOU!

INTRODUCTION:

This is going to be fun! I am excited.

Our performer tonight has a life that is entirely up in the air. The Seattle Times called him “a juggler of objects and concepts” and he makes people laugh everywhere he is onstage.

In the last few decades, he has presented in over twenty-five countries for tens of thousands of people at events ranging from corporate functions to theatres and more. In 2020 he performed virtually from such virtual exotic locations as his home in Seattle, his home in Seattle, and his home in Seattle. But now that that’s over, he is excited to be with us tonight.

A humorous speaking champion two times over, Greg’s words and ideas have been shared on all seven continents, a claim that few performers or speakers can make.

Please get ready to laugh and have a great time as we welcome from Seattle Washington...
GREG BENNICK!