BEN HUNT-DAVIS OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL WINNING KEYNOTE SPEECH - IV-SM21

BEN HUNT-DAVIS OLYMPIC GOLD
MEDAL WINNING KEYNOTE SPEECH

BEN HUNT DAVIS, MBE
OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST

AN ORDINARY MAN
ACHIEVING THE
EXTRAORDINARY
In 1998 Ben was part of an underachieving GB rowing eight, who after
years of finishing 7th or 8th set themselves the crazy goal of winning
gold at the Sydney Olympics.

Simply training harder wasn’t an option, they needed a whole new
approach. They decided to ask one simple question about everything
they did “will it make the boat go faster?”

They relentlessly focused on improving their performance, trusting
that the results would follow. As a team they held each other to
account and asked the difficult questions.

Against all the odds, and despite not being the strongest or most
talented crew, they achieved their crazy goal and won gold.

INSPIRING OTHERS TO
ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS
After retiring from professional sport Ben realised the power of the lessons
behind his story and began to share it first as a keynote speaker.

Fast forward 20 years and his speech has been delivered to around 200,000
people across 50 countries. Ben is one of the leading keynote speakers in
the world.

The parallels between his experience, everyday life and
The business world are undeniable and so became the
 basis of the best selling book and a performance
consultancy of the same name.

WIMTBGF? help businesses define their own Crazy Goal,
develop their leaders and provide teams with the tools
they need to improve their performance
and achieve greater results.

ABOUT BEN HUNT DAVIS
                              Ben Hunt-Davis is an experienced performance coach, facilitator and keynote speaker. He is also a
                              best-selling author having co-written “Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?”, the story of how the men’s
                              eight crew that he was in won the Olympic Gold medal at the Sydney Olympics.

                              Ben has spent the last 16 years specialising in leadership and team development. He has designed
                              and run training courses and conferences for many organisations be it delivered in person or
                              virtually. He is a performance expert, and has a very practical approach that is heavily focused on
                              application so that participants can easily apply what they’ve heard and behave differently to
                              achieve greater results.

 Ben Hunt-Davis,              Ben founded Will It Make The Boat Go Faster? Ltd in 2012 with Tom Barry. The business continues
                              to grow quickly and delivers very strong results for their clients. He is still involved in the Olympic
           MBE                movement having been a member of the Team GB staff at the last 3 Summer Olympics. He has
 CO-FOUNDER & DIRECTOR        also chaired the Organising Committees of two international rowing events in the UK, leading up to
                              500 people to deliver the events.

Client Experience
                                                                                          “
                                The way Ben tells his story and his singular focus on ‘making the boat go faster’ became a key driver in
Allergan, BP, GSK, HSBC,         my organisation. We recently had Ben kick-off a two-day session for the senior leaders in my current
Imagination, Jewson,             organisation and it had a similar effect with this new group of people. It set up our meeting well and
Lendlease, Mabey,                     ensured we remained focused on the challenges ahead throughout all of our discussions.
Premier Foods, Rolls-Royce,
Unilever                                            MARK HAMPT O N , CHI EF F I N AN CI AL O F F I CER, CO L L I N SO N G RO U P

Ben tells the story of how the GB Men’s Eight changed
as a crew from being regularly 7th to winning Olympic
Gold
                           It is an engaging, motivational and             Ben is one of the most sought after
                           inspiring speech that can be tailored to        motivational speakers in the world. Some
                           you and your current challenges and             of the great value of Ben is the ordinary
                           opportunities. The Great Britain Men’s          guy achieving something extraordinary.
                           Eight was in reality a team of 60 people        The presence of a humble man on the
                           whose collective focus, direction and drive     stage that makes everyone at ease, and an
                           to succeed was captured in the execution        Olympic story that everyone can relate to.
                           of the clear and direct question – ‘Will it
                           make the boat go faster?’.
                                                                                                “
                                                                          Ben provided the perfect finishing touch for
                           The simplicity of the question and its        our conference. His enthusiasm was infectious
                           implied focus and action consistently            and people left the room energised and
                           resonates with teams and individuals who       excited. Even now, some weeks later, people
                           are challenged to lead themselves and         are referencing the speech and the messages
                           others to simplify process, reduce              continue to positively impact our business.
                           complexity, innovate and improve
                           performance.
Speech time is typically                                                  NIGEL MISELL, MANAGING DIRECTOR – UK MILITAIRY
   45 - 60 minutes                                                                 AIR, BABCOCK INTERNATIONAL