The Sweeney Agency

About John Powers - Motivation and Communication Speaker:

John Powers stands out as one of the best in the business. His entire career has been one of effectively communicating with audiences. Prior to his speaking career, John created and produced the Broadway musical Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? which is presently playing in over a dozen cities. He is the author of four best selling books, the most recent being The Junk Drawer, Corner Store, Front Porch Blues.

John earned a Ph.D. degree in Communications from Northwestern University and was a professor of Speech and Performing Arts at Northeastern Illinois University. He has created and hosted a PBS series on how to be an effective public speaker and has hosted several interview specials for PBS. He has been a guest on hundreds of radio and television shows including Oprah and Today. John has received two Emmy awards for his work in television.

John's business background includes producing his own musical for four years, raising capital of over a million dollars and coordinating the daily efforts of over two hundred artistic, financial, sales and marketing people. In 1988, he founded the Powers of Motivation Institute and since then has worked with over a thousand major corporations and national associations to provide programs on how to succeed in a changing world.

John Powers does his homework. Before each presentation, he conducts extensive research into his clients' organization, its internal workings, needs and goals. He and his staff at the Powers of Motivation Institute work with the client to make that meeting the best one the client has ever had.

What John Powers About:

Passion: Do What You Love; Love What You Do
Passion is the difference between a workaholic who puts all of his or her time into their Job and a loveaholic who puts all of his or her enthusiasm, creativity and human spirit into their Career. Loving who you are and what you do is how to be the best at who you are and what you do. When you practice passion, you harvest such benefits as: joyously meeting the challenges of constant change; becoming a better leader, team player, communicator, negotiator, problem solver, creative thinker and reducing both your physical and emotional stress. This program offers simple but highly effective suggestions on how to immediately begin enriching your life in passionate - and therefore, highly productive - ways.

If I'm Odd, Does that Make Us Even?
Each of us is a once-in-a-universe happening. Yet, at the same time, we are 99% alike. By sharing that 1% uniqueness, we learn from one another and help change the world together. That 1% is where the fun occurs. Great Leaders Know This - They recognize and celebrate the unique talents of each member of the team while, at the same time, motivating everyone to work for the common goal.

Lions Walk Softly so They Can Listen
The art and the science of leadership. Strong leaders know that we are all teachers, whether we want to be or not, constantly teaching everyone around us who we are and what we believe life is all about. At the same time, we are students only when we choose to be - learning from those around us. A strong leader is a great sales person, knowing how to sell a philosophy of management, a product, a standard of ethics, or a sense of caring. A strong leader is not the focus of attention but rather is the source of it for others.

The Customer is Always Right? Wrong - But They are Always the Customer
John Powers believes that the only company policy that makes sense is I'm going to make your life so delightful, you'll hardly be able to stand it.

Customer service flows from the top down. Management must realize that their employees are, in a real sense, their first customers. How employees are treated is how they treat their customers. This program, using numerous real examples and practical principles, demonstrates that you can instill within each customer a feeling of trust by simply caring, using common sense, effective communications and creative solutions. Trust is the soul of customer loyalty.

How to Talk so People Will Listen; How to Listen so People Will Talk
If you talk out loud, you are a public speaker. Addressing a group of people, a job interview, committee meetings, conversing with clients, colleagues, friends and family. The vast majority of us intensely dislike speaking in public for a simple reason: no one has ever taught us how to do it well. Few of us have been born with the natural talent to be brilliant speakers. But all of us, by having the courage to learn some simple facts, using common sense and practicing the skills we already possess can become very good ones - perhaps even brilliant ones.