
Neal Petersen
CEO, adventurer, award winning author and solo around the world racing sailor. Engaging, Interactive
Reviews
Neal's presentation was absolutely outstanding both from a content perspective & his ability to relate numerous inspirational messages to our conference themes.
Harry , DeLoitte & Touche
Neal,
On behalf of the CIT Organization within Genentech, we want to thank you for delivering a very motivational, passionate, phenomenal keynote message. It was my personal pleasure to work directly with you from preparation through your final keynote delivery. Thank you for customizing your keynote messages to parallel with our business opportunities and challenges.
Amanda Battle , Genentech - March 2007
I met Neal in San Diego two years ago, when I was at the lowest point in my professional career. His story left more than a lasting impression on me; it changed my life.
(After Neal's keynote Vikram resigned and started Blade Network Technologies!)
I?ve had the opportunity to hear this great man and friend tell his story three times; and I?ve read his autobiography twice. On every one of these occasions I?ve walked away with many valuable messages.
Vikram Mehta, CEO, Blade Network Technology
Neal and Darlene:
It is rare that I am asked by my senior management at IBM to immediately hire a keynote speaker when he is barely off the stage to give another keynote speech the following week - but that is in fact what happened with you Neal. And I want to take this opportunity to thank you not only for the extraordinary presentation you gave in San Diego but for the follow up presentation you gave in Barcelona with virtually no prep time as well.
- I can tell you that you generated some of the highest ratings and most positive feedback I have seen in many years of running events in this division.
I was particularly impressed with the amount of time you put into your presentation to customize it to the audience and make your points valid within their line of business and the context of the attendees overall job
scope. As any event person can tell you we always go into show day with a
great deal of trepidation with any outside keynote we hire - particularly with a sales audience who can be one of the most skeptical audiences I have
- but I truly was in awe of the spirit you drove into the audience and how you made your own journey so very relevant to every person in both locations. You were nothing short of a genius by utilizing our event theme and messaging within the context of your presentation and it was exactly
what we needed to reinforce our theme. I particularly admire this given
that you spoke to over thirteen thousand attendees ranging from America to Canada to Europe to Latin America to Asia Pacific - the feedback across all the geographies was equally compelling - which is again unusual given that the backgrounds of the attendees are in fact so varied.
When we first discussed your selling and autographing your books in our solution center - I anticipated a good turnout but happened was absolutely extraordinary and a testament to the success you received at this event. I don't know what the total number is that you sold but I can tell you our security team advised me that we had to shut it down with well over 200 people still in line after your inventory ran out which I believe was well over a thousand books. That is just a record at our events - even with some famous athletes we have used in the past.
So in closing Neal I owe you a great deal of gratitude - you truly provided the inspiration and motivation for this team that I was looking for externally and the success of this presentation has been heard throughout the IBM Corporation.
Thank you for your professionalism and commitment throughout this project.
You are also an inspiration to work with!
L Benway , IBM - World Wide Events
Neal is a masterful storyteller. He was able to weave humor with inspiration into a very powerful message. The audience was engaged for the entire presentation. Prior to the event, Neal and I talked about our company and current marketplace dynamics which he then customized into this message. It made his message even more impactful and meaningful to my audience when he talked about local market issues and obstacles. He was by far the most talked about speaker of the day. I highly recommend Neal to any organization that is looking for a impactful speaker.
Chris Mollet, Edina Realty