The Leading Speakers Bureau

Cricketing Legend, Media Personality and Pundit

Matthew Hoggard MBE is one of the most successful international cricketers to have played for England. In 2013, he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, bringing a hugely successful 17-year career to an end. Matthew is now a rising star in the media, featuring across the national press and on a range of popular TV programmes. He is increasingly sought-after for his expertise and humour on cricketing coverage across a variety of networks including the BBC, Sky Sports and BT Sport.

“He became the fast bowling stalwart of one of the most successful England Cricket Teams of all times”

[expand title=”In detail”] Matthew played for and captained, Leicestershire County Cricket Club where, after leaving his home county of Yorkshire at the end of the 2009 season. He took his 700th first-class wicket during the 2010 campaign and continues to be an asset on the field as an opening bowler, and off the field as a mentor to the teams’ younger professionals. He was a vital member of the inspirational England side that won the epic 2005 Ashes series and has been a model of consistency throughout his test and ODI career, representing his country on 93 occasions. [/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]One of the world’s greatest bowlers, Matthew’s ultimate determination to succeed at the highest level has afforded him many fans in the cricketing world. With a unique take on life, the Yorkshire born cricketer is the ideal choice for any event and is a huge draw for audiences of all ages. Playing a pivotal role in one of the most successful periods in English cricket, Matthew has a remarkable story to tell and is a great asset to the after dinner circuit. [/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Delivering his speeches with great enthusiasm, he is sure to make any event a resounding success, entertaining with tales from over a decade competing against some of the greatest cricketers in history.[/expand]

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Communications Consultant, Presentation Coach & Keynote Speaker

Mark Jeffries is a former stockbroker who has become a much sought-after executive coach, keynote speaker and leading event moderator and MC across USA, Canada and Europe. He is a consultant to some of the world’s largest corporations, organizations and professional service firms. As a leader in the field of Strategic Communication and Soft Skills, Mark’s advice is widely sought in the corporate world as well as on TV and Radio. He is a regular contributor on NBC’s Today Show, CNBC, BBC News, Sky News and Fox Business.

“Communication excellence
leads to increased success, profits and connections”

[expand title=”In detail”] A former economist, Mark regularly appears as an image and communications expert on network TV news, finance and lifestyle programmes. Leading figures in business and politics turn to Mark to ensure that their messages are truly heard and that perceptions are positively controlled. Mark is retained by senior political figures from Congressmen in Washington to MPs in London as a key adviser on Presentation and Soft Skills. His clients include IBM, Ernst & Young, SAS, HP, Zurich Insurance, Gartner, Microsoft, Royal Bank of Canada, Deltek & Bank of America amongst others.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Mark brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the events he speaks at and facilitates. He offers a valuable tool box of innovative communication ideas designed to give audiences many new approaches to growing relationships with their clients and importantly the bottom line. Mark also helps focus the minds of people and gets them thinking more about their interactions with others both internally and externally. In his strategic executive coaching sessions, Mark specialises in perfecting the content, message and delivery of keynote speeches, major addresses and media appearances. [/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Sharp and incisive, Mark has an impressive talent for truly capturing, inspiring, challenging and entertaining audiences. You can guarantee a session that will feel absolutely dedicated to your people, targets and objectives. [/expand]

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Som Mittal is the former Chairman and President of NASSCOM, the premier trade body for the IT-BPM Industry in India. He held the position of President, NASSCOM from 2008-13. Under his leadership, the industry crossed the USD 100 billion milestone and significantly expanded its value offerings.Som has worked and influenced governments of various countries in creating synergies and shaping their policies. He engaged with US policymakers convincing them of the competitive edge that Indian IT companies bring to their economy.

“An accomplished expert on technology trends and global business”

[expand title=”In detail”] Having completed his graduation and post-graduation from India’s most prestigious institutes IIT Kanpur and IIM, Ahmedabad, Som held senior corporate leadership roles for over three decades in the IT industry at companies such as Wipro, Digital, Compaq and HP. He has been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding dedication to the growth of the global ICT Industry by the World Information Technology and Services Alliance. He is also a Distinguished Alumni from IIT Kanpur. He was also awarded Business Leader of the Year by Rotary International and has been called “unarguably successful” by The Financial Express for his term leading NASSCOM. [/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Som Mittal advises companies, CEOs, trade bodies and senior business leaders on business, management, government and global policies. He motivates and mentors entrepreneurs to help succeed in growing and managing business ventures. In his presentations, he shares experiences and learnings gained with the next generation executives/entrepreneurs.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Preparing each presentation to ideally match the brief, Som motivates and inspires audiences with his tailored high-content speeches. [/expand]

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Executive & Leadership Consultant, Advisor & Bestselling Author

Liz Wiseman teaches leadership to executives and emerging leaders around the world. She is the President of The Wiseman Group, a leadership research and development firm headquartered in Silicon Valley. Liz has conducted significant research in the field of leadership and collective intelligence and writes for Harvard Business Review and Fortune, and her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, Inc. and Time magazines.

“Liz has been listed on the Thinkers50 ranking and named as one of the top 10 leadership thinkers in the world”

[expand title=”In detail”] A former executive at Oracle Corporation, Liz worked for over 17 years as the Vice President of Oracle University and as the global leader for Human Resource Development. During her tenure at Oracle, she led several major global initiatives and has worked and travelled in over 40 countries. Liz holds a Bachelors degree in Business Management and a Masters of Organisational Behaviour from Brigham Young University. She is a frequent guest lecturer at BYU, the Naval Postgraduate Academy, and Stanford University.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]In her presentations Liz offers decision makers from a wide range of businesses an exceptional guide to staying vital in the changing marketplace. She gives practical advice of how to remain curious, creative and to develop talent within organisations.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Her expertise and thought provoking remarks make Liz Wiseman a highly sought after commentator at conferences around the globe.[/expand]

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Olympic and Performance Coach

Keith Antoine is a performance coach working in both business and sport. He divides his time between enhancing the performance management / people development skills of business leaders and preparing another batch of athletes for the Rio 2016 Paralympics. In business he works across all sectors. For Rio 2016 his challenge is to build on the 1 gold and 2 silver medals of his athletes in London 2012.

“He has the ability to change people’s mindset”

[expand title=”In detail”] Keith’s distinctive approach is derived from combining his operations, project management and training background in I.T./Comms, with 20 years coaching in business, with 30 years elite athletics coaching experience. More than 10 years in I.T./Comms has given Keith practical experience of the real difficulties of sustaining organisational performance through changes and challenges. He now draws on that experience to help leaders across all business sectors to work with their people more effectively. Keith’s athletics background includes time as Great Britain sprints and relays coach on the Olympic (1990-95) and Paralympic (2000-06) programmes. His return was requested in 2009 to help prepare for the London 2012 Paralympics where 3 of his personal athletes won 1 gold and 2 silver medals.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Keith combines business pragmatism with sporting inspiration. He is both realistic and engaging. More than motivational, Keith generates thinking. His coaching skills and questioning style challenges each person to think through the pertinent issues for themselves, to generate ideas they are willing to implement to make a difference to their performance. [/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Keith starts from your current context then creates the content that will support your meeting outcomes. He has a practical style which is engaging and interactive, thought provoking and humorous.[/expand]

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Former Grand Prix Winner

Johnny Herbert is widely recognised as one of the greatest all-round racing drivers in the history of motorsport. Throughout his incredible career in F1, he was at the forefront of the sport, testing himself against some true greats. In his decade in F1, one of his most successful results was winning the 1995 British Grand Prix. He competed for a number of different teams and was a popular face on the circuit.

“One of the most illustrious names in motor sports”

[expand title=”In detail”] Johnny has always been involved in all types of motor racing. He enjoyed particular success at LeMans 24 Hours, winning the title in 1991 and the LeMans Series Championship in 2004. Even after his F1 career ended, Johnny has kept racing in various disciplines including karting. Having won the 1987 British Formula Three Championship, disaster struck him the following year in an International Formula 3000 Championship race at Brands Hatch, an accident resulting in Johnny badly breaking his legs. It was an act of huge bravery that saw him back in a racing car at the beginning of 1989, despite the fact he could barely walk. [/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Johnny is one of the most cheerful and bouncy characters in motorsport and is an exceedingly entertaining speaker and accomplished presenter. He regularly makes guest appearances on racing shows and speaks at corporate events, sharing his years of wisdom from inside the sport.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Johnny entertains his audiences with charming and humorous stories of his adoration of Formula 1 and motorsport. [/expand]

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Behavioural Expert: Communicating Change, Inspiring Impact

Jez Rose is a leading authority on changing mind-set, achieving sensational results and concluding in the level of excellence in customer service. The founder of the International Superhero Association, his passion for customer service was born from having worked for the Walt Disney Company.

“Recognised as a key force in understanding human behaviour, achieving sensational results through his unique training presentations”

[expand title=”In detail”] Started his career at the NHS as a psychologist and shortly after leaving the NHS, Jez began working as a Psychological Consultant for businesses, which confirmed his suspicions of the challenges businesses face in raising the bar and maintaining energised and passionate staff teams. On returning to the UK, Jez realised how low the bar was and discovered that many businesses struggled to raise and maintain service levels. He spent five years researching customer service and developing systems to achieve the level of excellence, culminating in him founding the International Superhero Association as a metaphor for the Service Superhero that is in us all![/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]With a career spanning more than 10 years advising, consulting and working with some of the World’s largest businesses, Jez Rose’s combination of hard fact and light-hearted presentation, brought together in his unique way is reflected in the glowing testimonials from a wide range of businesses in many sectors of commerce.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]His blend of humour, professionalism, in-depth understanding of sales psychology and unique content, delivered with the passion and energy for which he is now so well renowned make every event a roaring success.[/expand]

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BBC Middle East Editor

Jeremy Bowen is a journalist with a vast knowledge and experience of the Middle East. He provides reportage, commentary and analysis on events in the region. He has reported from more than 70 countries, covering conflicts in the Gulf, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya and Rwanda for almost 30 years. He’s been shot at by tanks, robbed at gunpoint by bandits, and been at the scene of explosions and natural disasters. He has interviewed civilian and military leaders from all over the Middle East and is widely recognised as one of the leading authorities on the region.

“BBC’s long-serving and widely respected Middle East Editor”

[expand title=”In detail”] Previously a special correspondent for BBC News, Jeremy reported on the death of Pope John Paul II from Rome, and covered the devastation caused by the tsunami in Sri Lanka. Prior to that he took a break from conflicts and disasters and was the face of BBC Breakfast at its launch. Jeremy was the first British journalist to interview Muammar Gaddafi after the start of the Libyan civil war. He has received several awards, including the New York Television Festival’s Best News Correspondent and Best Breaking News Report for his coverage of Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Jeremy Bowen provides riveting anecdotes from a life reporting on the front line at some of the most fraught conflicts of the past twenty years. Jeremy has covered hostilities from over 70 countries ranging from El Salvador, Somalia to the West Bank and his current role as the BBC’s Middle East Editor enables him to cast a welcome light onto one of the most complex areas of the world.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Used to the pressure of reporting on live television, Jeremy is a relaxed and confident presenter and is equally at home whether hosting an event or speaking about his own personal experiences.[/expand]

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Director of the Earth Institute

Jeffrey Sachs is the Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is also Director of the UN Millennium Project and is Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the Millennium Development Goals, the internationally agreed goals to reduce extreme poverty, disease, and hunger by the year 2015. In 2015, Professor Sachs was awarded the Blue Planet Prize, a prize presented each year to two individuals or organizations worldwide to recognize major efforts to solve global environmental problems.

“One of the 100 most influential people in the world” Time Magazine

[expand title=”In detail”] Jeffrey is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He has been an advisor to the IMF, the World Bank, the OECD, the World Health Organization and the UN Development Program. During 2000-2001, he was Chairman of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health of the World Health Organization and was a member of the International Financial Institutions Advisory Commission.
[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Professor Sachs is widely considered to be the leading international economic advisor of his generation. For more than 20 years he has been at the forefront of the challenges of economic development, poverty alleviation and enlightened globalization, promoting policies to help all parts of the world to benefit from expanding economic opportunities and wellbeing. [/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]An enlightening and engaging speaker, Prof Sachs’ presentations are well researched and filled with a wealth of useful actionable information.[/expand]

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Former MD of Gü Chocolate Puds

James Averdieck is the founder and former Managing Director of Gü Chocolate Puds, the fastest growing food company in UK and a brand credited with revolutionising the quality of desserts. He is an entrepreneur in the truest sense of the word. Since indulging the masses in chocolate heaven, James has developed his media interests and acts as a business güru to various companies. After selling Gü he enjoyed a brief stint as a TV presenter on the show Cooks to Market. He has recently cofounded a new company The Coconut Collaborative, selling luxury yoghurt made from the milk of the coconut, free from dairy, soya and gluten.

“A master entrepreneur”

[expand title=”In detail”] James spent 9 years in the Food industry working for Safeway and St Ivel and learnt about Sales and Marketing and running businesses. With St Ivel he moved to Belgium and became a convert to Belgian gastronomy and, as he says, ‘went native on the chocolate front’. It was in Brussels James came up with the idea for a top-notch chocolate pud brand. After a year back in London, James left to pursue his chocolate dream. He pitched his idea to a specialist supplier of handmade patisserie, and Gü was born – with a mission to use superior raw materials to deliver uncompromisingly good products.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]James is a compelling and unique keynote speaker who delivers the message that at the heart of entrepreneurialism lies the idea, the journey, not the exit strategy and not the final sale price. He speaks about true entrepreneurship, how to simplify ideas with an innovative approach, and how to make your dreams achievable. He shares the ups and downs of running a business. [/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]James’ enormous success lends him credibility combining with his transparency makes a charismatic, intelligent and thoughtful speaker from who important lessons can be learnt. [/expand]

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