Would Your High School Athletes Like To “Train With Shane”?

Imagine bringing in an Olympian to train the high school athletes at your school? Olympic weightlifter and Pan Am Games Gold Medalist, Shane Hamman is considered the “Strongest Man in
America” and he is available for weightlifting training sessions with high school athletes in conjunction with his school speeches. Let Shane show your athletes how to make the most out of gym time, increasing speed and power in between sports seasons, or just before practice. This upgrade is available for $500 when a school books a standard school speech for $2,000 plus travel expenses.

How To Hire The Right Corporate Speaker

Hiring corporate speakers can be a gamble—it’s expensive, and you don’t always know whether it will work. But, the right speaker combined with the right corporate program is a powerful combination. Choose wisely and your employees will leave the speech inspired, not scratching their heads, wondering what you were thinking wasting their valuable time. Here are some tips to make sure you choose the right corporate speaker:

 

1.      Open the lines of communication between your audience (i.e., staff, management, consumers, etc.) and your event planner, as well as between your event planner and your corporate speaker. Often an audience will feel a speaker missed the mark when the speaker was simply a poor fit for the audience. This is an internal branding issue that can be avoided by listening to what your audience wants and what your speaker delivers.

a.       Does your audience need a motivational speaker to give a pep talk or a technical speaker to explain your latest product’s niche in the marketplace?

2.      Don’t work backwards from the date of the company’s annual meeting to find the first speaker within your budget who is available. Instead, plan ahead. Figure out what your company is doing right, what it’s doing wrong and what you want to improve on going into your function. Then, find an expert on your topic that meets those goals.

3.      Once you’ve identified your goals and found a speaker who can work within them, do your due diligence. Talk with the speaker (or their representative), ask whatever questions you have, request marketing materials and a sample speech DVD, ask for references and talk with them. Ask the speaker what their strong point is (they will know and they will tell you! If you look at any past customer testimonials, they will probably repeat the same things over and over as well.) As with any major purchase, this due diligence should separate the true professionals from the folks you will waste money on.

4.      Don’t dismiss a speaker simply because they don’t have a ton of experience! Everyone has to start somewhere, and speakers who are relatively new to the circuit often have discounted prices. As long as the speaker checks out when you do your due diligence, you should have nothing to worry about.

5.      Once you’ve selected a speaker, figure out approximately what their total cost will be. This may not be possible with all speakers, especially if your event is far in advance, but most should be able to give you a rough estimate. Do they require first class travel or coach? For one person or two? Where do they live? What happens if they’re going from your event to another? Do you split travel expenses with the other group?

6.      During your event, carefully monitor the reactions and impressions of the audience. Is the speaker engaging and including the audience? How is the audience reacting to the speaker? Are members of the audience nodding, giving responses to questions, laughing? Does the speaker span the audience and make eye contact with the group? Is the audience fully alert and attentive to the speaker? What do you personally think of the speaker? Is the speaker meeting the criteria you established? Is the discussion easy to follow and effective?

Environment Themed Assembly Tie-Ins (Lesson Plan Suggestions)

1. English: Read the speaker’s book on the subject about his adventures in various places around the world; Assign essay for students where they write about their own adventures (urban or in the wilderness) as a creative piece and also assign process type essay where students must write about HOW to do part of their adventure (i.e., how to rock climb) and a technical essay about an environmental concern discussed in science class, etc. Lead group discussion about how these three writing styles are different, who prefers and excels at which ones, why that is, etc.
2. Science: Watch “An Inconvenient Truth” with students and discuss the science discussed in the movie, how that relates to what has been learned thus far in class, etc. Have students research your town’s specific environmental issues, break into groups assigned to each issue, then have each group tackle explaining the “science” behind each issue to the average person as a means of persuasion, video each segment.
3. Math: Calculate the distance, wind speeds, etc. encountered while speaker was on various expeditions (i.e., sea kayaking, dog sledding, etc.)
4. Health: Discuss diets of top level athletes living in extreme environments while on expedition (how is this different from elite athletes under normal conditions? What role does it play to know you have to carry that food with you or obtain it en route)
5. History: Read speaker’s book about Kennewick Man and his beliefs on the theory surrounding wanderlust v. survival
6. Art: Work on technical drawings to illustrate local environmental problems studied in Science class, to illustrate own adventures worked on in English class.
7. Music: Listen to different music favored by athletes in athletic pursuits. Discuss why would choose some for more intense activities, others for more mentally challenging sports. What is it about each song that helps one way or the other? Why don’t some songs work? What would be your Ipod Playlist for your adventure written about in English class?
8. Physical Education: Put together supplies for own expedition and complete in class over the course of a month (include planning time, training time, packing time, expedition time)

 

Marquis Athletes client Jon Turk is a Ph.D in Chemistry who writes Earth Science and Environmental textbooks, adventure travel books and has also completed expeditions such as sea kayaking around Cape Horn, sea kayaking from Japan to Alaska, mountain biking across the Mongolian Gobi and Dog Sledding along Baffin Island, among others. Jon is available for school speeches about Fear Management and the fee is $2,000 plus travel. Jon also offers “add-ons” which include guest lectures in science and English classes (creative and technical writing), as well as retreats for students which include the fusion of Fear Management lectures, educational lectures and/or guided expeditions of varying skill levels.

Olympic Themed Assembly Tie-Ins (Lesson Plan Suggestions)

What follows is a list of ideas to use as “tie-ins” should you choose an Olympic themed assembly for your school. These ideas can be simplified or made more complicated, depending on your grade level(s). These ideas are meant to get your creativity flowing, when you come up with your own ideas, please share them in the comments so that others may benefit!

1. English Class: Read the Olympic speaker’s book as a class and organize a “book club” type discussion about what they’ve read when they’re done reading, OR, assign a book report or essay on the speaker’s book, OR, divide the students into groups and have them re-enact different chapters of the book for the rest of the class

2. Science Class: Present material on and discuss the physiological changes in the human body while competing at the Olympic level (i.e., how are the muscle fibers of sprinters different than the muscle fibers of long distance runners); Work on physics equations relating to athlete motion; Try to have your students explain through research and presentations how an athlete was able to survive a near death experience

3. Math Class: Give the students word problems or equations to complete that make math “real” by putting it in the context of athletes (i.e., what was the speed of the sprinter? How many calories would the athlete need to consume to gain/lose a specific amount of weight for a weight-class sport? etc.)

4. Health Class: Discuss the different types of diets athletes eat, and how they are nutritionally different based on the different goals (i.e., lose weight v. gain weight v. gain muscle)

5. History Class: Discuss the Greek origins of the Olympic Games, and compare that to the Games we have today (Is there still a political aspect? How so? How have countries “at war” interacted at various Olympic Games (if at all)? etc.)

6. Art Class: Discuss the art and architecture that has been an integral part of the Olympic Games since their inception; Have students complete projects that would be suitable for inclusion in modern Olympic Games (i.e., design Olympic fashions for athletes to wear that are functional and fashionable; design athletic facilities that are functional and uniquely beautiful; design athlete fine art, etc.)

7. Music Class: Explore music’s roll in Olympic Games past and present; Encourage students to perform instrumental and/or vocal pieces from past Olympic Games or to compose their own

8. Physical Education: Stage a mini-Olympics for students

Marquis Athletes’ Olympian clients available for school events include Olympic Gold and Bronze Medalist Rulon Gardner (Greco-Roman Wrestling) and Olympic Weightlifter Shane Hamman. Both clients are available for school speeches for elementary, middle and high school students. The fee is $2,000 plus travel expenses. Rulon books one school event per week, Monday through Thursday only, but Shane does not have restrictions on his school bookings.

Elementary, Middle and High School Assemblies: Some Advice

You’re a teacher or school administrator and someone just said to you, “It’s your turn to plan the school assembly.” You begin to sweat. You get a lump in your throat. All you can think about is how much you DO NOT want to do this. Relax! It can be fun, you can become the school hero and your students may (GASP!) actually get something out of YOUR assembly besides a free period in which they will pass notes and chit chat.

We all remember school assemblies from when we were kids. Mainly because they were so bad.  The only one I remember from K-12th Grade was in 4th Grade when this group came in and rapped about not doing drugs. They had lockers as part of their set and all I can remember thinking was, “OHMYGOODNESS! That set looks like High School. This must be an assembly for HIGHSCHOOLERSOHMYGOODNESS! They think we’re old enough for this so very adult message they are rapping about in front of lockers. ILOVETHIS.” I think I talked about that assembly for the next month to any adult who would listen. You know, because I was basically an adult for hearing their message. And, I think it worked. All that rapping about not smoking and doing drugs resulted in me marching over to my Granparent’s house and proclaiming to my Grandpa the smoker “You shouldn’t smoke anymore. It’s bad for you. You’ll die. I don’t want you to die.” And he quit. Right then and there. Years later, as an adult, he told me that no matter how many times my Grandmother and Dad had told him the same thing, hearing about the evils of smoking from his 10 year old granddaughter who had just seen an assembly was the only thing that ever made him want to quit. Wild. All of this family history mumbojumbo brings me to my point–school assemblies can be a complete waste of student and teacher time and a complete drain of school resources, OR, they can be great. They can be the type of event that inspires students to be better. To do better. The latter is the type of event you want for your students, right? Well, stop freaking out about planning your assembly and read on…

1. Plan Ahead. First, you will need to come up with an overarching theme for your assembly. This will dictate who you bring in, what you have the other teachers do with their students in advance, and any partner organizations or events that will work. It will also give you a starting point.

2. Develop Tie-Ins. Your assembly will automatically capture the student’s attention if they are ready for it. By developing tie-ins for teachers in other classes to do in anticipation of your assemly, you will be helping your co-workers out and priming the students for your event. For example, say you chose “The Olympics” as your theme. About 1 month before the assembly, distribute lesson plan suggestions to the teachers based on this theme and your chosen speaker.

3. Plan Student Participation. Now that your students are excited about your assembly, because they have been learning about it all month, plan to have them participate. You can do this by having students submit subject-related questions in each class (i.e., Student come up with science type questions while in science class), then having the teachers select a few questions for the students to ask the speaker during the Q&A portion of the assembly. This way the questions are pre-screened, well thought out and the speaker isn’t asked the same question over and over. You may also want to ask your speaker if they do any demonstrations during their presentation, and if so, what kind. This way you can pre-select students to be part of the assembly (i.e., say you have an Olympic Gold Medalist in Wrestling presenting at your Olympic-themed assembly. He tells you he uses a student to demonstrate some basic wrestling moves. You select the student from the school’s wrestling team with the highest average in school or the best record in wrestling to participate in the demo.).

4. Think Outside the Auditorium. Now that you have your theme and the students have been learning about your theme and speaker all month, you aren’t really planning to end it all with the assembly, are you?! You’ve paid money to get the speaker there and done lots of work, so you should add on additional events if you can. Many speakers have upgrade fees which are less than their base rate, which means you can get multiple events for not much more budget. For example, some speakers are experts in fields other than why you brought them into the school (i.e., the Olympic Gold Medalist who is also a licensed PE Teacher, the Adventurer who is a published author of novels and science textbooks, etc.). How cool would it be to have the speaker teach a class or two in addition to the assembly? Another option is to have them conduct a clinic for your school’s athletes in their sport if they are an athlete. The speaker may even be available to lead a retreat for your Seniors!

5. Partner With Others. Is your school in a remote area? Far from the nearest major aiport? If so, maybe there are other groups in your town that could benefit from your speaker’s services. Maybe a local charity or community group is planning a fundraiser and needs a speaker for their community event. Maybe the Elementary schools in town would be interested in hosting your speaker for additional events. Perhaps a local business is planning an event for their staff and would love to have your speaker stop by. The local bookstore may want the speaker to come in for a booksigning. Spread the word, you never know who might be available to split costs with you (and may be very excited to plan the speaker’s travel, etc. as a “thank you” for making their job easier!)

6. Find The Money. Let’s face it. Bringing in a speaker for your assembly is not going to be free. You’ll have to pay a speaking fee and travel expenses, and you may not have been given a large budget to plan this event. This is where you need to get creative! First, figure out how much (if any) money is in your budget for this assembly. Second, after you have selected a theme for your assembly, begin contacting various speakers to see what they charge. Be sure to ask for an estimate of travel expenses. Figure out exactly how much you’re short. Third, think about other budgets you can tap. Say your speaker happens to be a Ph.D. in Chemistry and your Science teachers are interested in having him guest lecture a class. See what the upgrade fee is to add another event, and see how much money the Science department has to contribute. Maybe your speaker has a sports background and can conduct a clinic for your school’s athletes. Talk to the coaches and see how much money they have in their budget. Talk to the booster clubs for the various sports and see if they’d be interested in sponsoring your speaker. Talk to parents. Maybe one of them is a fan and will contribute some money. Fourth, talk to local businesses. Maybe they’ll give you an outright sponsorship, maybe they’ll be interested in booking the speaker to come to their business and they can share the fee with you. And, finally, attempt to book multiple events with the speaker during the same trip. As I mentioned previously, many speakers charge significantly less to add an event than they charge for the first event. You can split the total cost of bringing the speaker to town between all the different events, and split travel costs as well.

I hope your assembly planning goes well and is FUN! Feel free to post comments if you have any questions, and I will be happy to address them.

The following Marquis Athletes clients are available for school and community events: Rulon Gardner, Shane Hamman and Jon Turk. School and community events are $2,000 plus travel expenses (air, ground, hotel, parking and food), and each additional event is $1,000 extra. Rulon does one low-fee school/community event per week, booked Monday through Thursday only. Shane and Jon do not have limits on the school/community events they will do.

Agricultural and Dairy Yahoo! Group

This is a group for event planners working with motivational speaker/athlete clients of Marquis Athletes to organize agricultural or dairy events. Here you will be able to share fundraising and organization ideas with other agricultural and community groups and ask specific questions to a Marquis Athletes representative about your event. Click here to join today!

School and Community Yahoo! Group

This is a group for event planners working with motivational speaker/athlete clients of Marquis Athletes to organize school or community events. Here you will be able to share fundraising and organization ideas with other schools and community groups and ask specific questions to a Marquis Athletes representative about your event. Click here to join today!

Motivational Business Speakers Yahoo! Group

This is a group for meeting and event planners seeking motivational business speakers who are also professional athletes. Join by clicking here now!

Last Minute Specials Calendar

Please visit our online calendar of Last Minute Specials and bookmark the site for future reference. If a client’s name is listed with a green background, it means they are available on that date and we’re ready to negotiate! Contact us, make an offer and let’s make a deal!

This calendar will only show 2 months of specials at a time, so make sure you check back!

Client Info: Jon Turk

A 59-year old Ph.D. in Chemistry who spends his time writing Earth Science textbooks and embarking on amazing adventures, Jon Turk is not your ordinary grandfather. Jon has climbed previously unnamed rock walls and high peaks, mountain biked across the Mongolian Gobi, was one of two mushers to travel along the South and East coasts of Baffin Island, and he sea kayaked around Cape Horn and across the Pacific Ocean (Japan to Alaska). Jon shares with his audience how he uses fear to face obstacles in life and on his journeys and how managing your own fear, not overcoming it, can help you to achieve what others deem impossible.

Speech Topic: “Fear Management”

Categories: Athlete Endorsements; Athlete Personal Appearances; Business Meetings; Business Speakers; Casino Appearances; Celebrity Autograph Signing; Celebrity Infomercials; Celebrity Speakers; Celebrity Spokesperson; Celebrity Voiceover; College Speakers; Commencement Speakers; Conference Speakers; Conventions and Trade Shows; Corporate Conventions; Corporate Hospitality Functions; Corporate Speakers; Educational Lectures; Emcees; Event Hosts; Fundraising Events; Graduation Speakers; Grand Openings; Incentive Programs; Inspirational Speakers; International Speakers; Keynote Speakers; Master of Ceremonies; Motivational Speakers; Office Parties; Peak Performance Speakers; Presentations; Press Conferences; Private Parties; Product Launches; Professional Athletes; Professional Speakers; Public Awareness Campaigns; Public Speakers; Sales Promotions; Sales Seminars; Sports Fantasy Camps; Sports Marketing; Sports Personalities; Sports Public Relations; Sports Speakers; University Speakers; VIP Meet and Greets

Fees: $2,000-$5,000 plus travel expenses; Multi-event discounts available; Last minute specials available; Low-fee events for schools and community groups available, please contact us for details

Traveling From: Missoula, MT