Premiere Speakers Bureau

Reviews

ONLY (!) very positive feedback. The best talk ever. She attracted the audience's attention for the whole length of the speech.

Alexandra Blicke, Marketing Project Manager UBS Global Asset Management

This is the first time we had a speaker who is not a "traditional business" speaker and I am happy to say that it was one of our biggest successes. For the first time the comments from our audience... were unanimously positive. Excerpts of the feedback we received included: - "Best Speaker ever" - "riveting, inspirational" - "Hugely motivating" - "Excellent way to approach leadership theme" - "won't ever forget"

Nancy McKinstry, Chairman Executive Board Wolters Kluwer

The combination of teamwork ideas and Everest stories was spellbinding - your presentation style is electric ... the Monday keynote (i.e. you) received the highest rankings of all the 100+ sessions through the week.

Phil Grainger, advisor to planning committee IDUG (International DB2 Users Group)

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Reach for the Heights!

Cathy O’Dowd is the first woman to climb Everest from both south and north sides. She has stood on the slopes of the world’s highest mountain four times, reaching its summit twice.

She has been on the mountain as the last minute ‘token woman’ team-member, and as an expedition leader. She has worked in partnership with a wide range of international teams forced to co-operate on popular routes, and has climbed on a team attempting a new route, the only expedition on the entire east face. She has faced the ‘worst storm in the history of Everest’ and the giant avalanches of the Kangshung face, and she has faced warring team members as ego ran rampant. She has experienced both the thrill of the summit and the reality of failure, and has paid the ultimate price with the loss of fellow climbers.

Cathy draws on this wide-ranging experience of teams under acute pressure attempting overwhelming challenges to create her corporate presentations. Her stories touch on themes of importance to anyone trying to get the best out of people:

Leadership
Team dynamics
Creating effective teams
Risk-assessment
Overcoming obstacles
Motivation of self and others
Facing new challenges
Goal-setting
Creating effective partnerships

Cathy is a natural story-teller and her passionate delivery produces an inspirational tale - dramatic, memorable and packed with metaphors pertinent to business. All presentations are generously illustrated with dramatic photographs from the mountain.