MENU

Terry Williams: Speaker / MC

Event organisers should book Terry Williams to speak at their conference or event because he brings over 34 years of experience in leadership and people-skills training, ensuring engaging, impactful sessions that leave a lasting impression. Terry is known for his unique ability to combine humour with practical insights, making complex concepts accessible and memorable. His presentations are interactive, tailored to the audience, and focus on real-world application, making them highly relevant for diverse groups. Whether you're looking to inspire your team, enhance workplace culture, or drive personal and professional growth, Terry’s dynamic speaking style and deep expertise will energise and empower your attendees.

Picture your people leaving your event energized, having actively participated in discovering in themselves new skills & confidence they can apply straight away. How can we connect with people's own internal motivations and help them use their own inner passions to drive towards productivity, success and happiness? And hopefully have a few laughs along the way... Laughing and learning. Unforgettable, entertaining, fun, interactive and full of takeaway 'How to's.'  Enquire now.

 

Sample Video of '2 Dangerous Things A Year'
(Varied audience at Livestock Improvement Corporation)

 


 

Enquire now.

Terry delivers an entertaining and interesting set of practical tools to takeaway and put into practice. He's a trainer originally by trade and his comedy is a means to an end. Terry is an expert, author & motivational speaker on engaging people. He's a trainer and facilitator for over 25 years, and also a columnist in 'Employment Today' magazine. His books, including 'The Brain-Based Boss', take psychological research and makes it interesting and useful for people wanting to engage the people they work with or influence. He's also a comedian, performing in several New Zealand International Comedy Festivals.

As a point of difference, Terry has a combination of a leadership training background, coupled with a sideline as a professional stand-up comedian. Those two elements create content that is practical and relevant delivered in a way that is provocative and memorable. They also often convince event bookers to utilise him as both a keynote speaker, facilitator of a breakout workshop, and/or an MC. 

As an example, his presentation on change and resilience got great reviews recently from a wide range of business event audiences such as McDonalds, Robert Half, LIC, Contact Centre Institute, NZ Certified Builders, Cambridge Homes, TSB Bank, RNZAF, and Southern Cross Healthcare. 

Terry is a CSP - a Certified Speaking Professional. This is the speaking profession’s highest earned international measure of professional platform competence. With this designation, meeting professionals looking to hire the best of the best see a commitment to the profession, be assured of a top-notch speaking ability, and a track record of professionalism and success. Less than 15 percent of NSA members worldwide have achieved the CSP designation and only 8 other kiwis.

He presents slices of his new book ‘Getting Better Buy-In’ offering practical things that frontline leaders and individuals can actually do to make a difference.

Unforgettable, entertaining, fun, interactive and full of takeaway 'How to's.'

Enquire now.

Presentation Topics

2 Dangerous Things A Year: Take charge of change before it takes charge of you

Why should we change? Why don't we change? How can we change? Work out your 'Change Muscles' now so you're ready when you need them later. Should you be worried that you or your team are not prepared for change? Change is inevitable and the rate of change is accelerating. You will learn why most people are unprepared for change. You will learn tools to get past those obstacles, build momentum & muscle through when it's tough. Engaging & entertaining, this distinctive session starts with my own story of doing 2 dangerous things a year, including becoming a stand-up comedian. It flows interactively into a series of practical takeaway tools for anyone to better handle change at work & in life. You'll realise which of the 4 stages of 'change evolution' you're at. Are you stuck in a state of 'change sloth' or 'change strain'? How can I help you move towards being 'change-fit'?

 

Getting Better Buy-In – Proven Tools To Build A Workplace Culture That Attracts & Retains Talent.

Have you ever tried to scope the sheer scale of the cost of your staff churn, disengaged employees and turnover? Never mind the recruitment costs, what about all the indirect effects on productivity and morale as people depart, arrive, learn, remake mistakes & institutional knowledge walks out the door with their stapler. It’s a spiral. You do not want a reputation as a poor employer as you know that’ll drive away talented people and, soon after, drive away customers. You want to be running  a workplace of choice. If ever a vacancy occurs, it’ll be for the right reasons and talent will beat a path to your door and that’ll magnetically attract more talent. That’s the kind of spiral you do want. But how? You’d like to know what drives these engaged employees. You’d like to know the specific actions you can take to influence the choice of talent to choose you. Tools for managing change and influencing behaviour based on an extensive collection of workplace and psychology research - all told in an engaging style not an academic lecture.

 

The 3 Elements To Build A Winning Team

Very rarely do we get the chance of a workplace leader to start from scratch and build the team we think we want. More often, we get dropped into a leadership role with a pre-existing team and all their good and bad goings-on. In this hour-long presentation that is chock full of informational tips, engaging interactions, and inspiring provocation, Terry helps you develop a plan based on the team you think you want but starting from where you actually are.

You already know a lot of the things you should be doing but you actually doing them?

 

Engaging Your People Through Change And Uncertainty

A key with change and adversity is proactivity, doing something, even when the environment is such that you feel powerless. That feeling of powerlessness can drive anxiety and stress. Do something. Be proactive. Take some steps.

  1. Are change and uncertainty the new normal?
  2. Why should we assist our people through change and uncertainty?
  3. How can we help ourselves and our people through change and uncertainty?

The dictionary's first definition of resilience is not about people. It's about manufacturing materials and how quickly they could bounce back from being dropped or damaged. Only later did psychologists tweak the definition to make it about people. Because people were seen as units of production as well.

How can people bounce back to their ability to recover from adversity? That dictionary definition of "bouncing back" is obsolete because if you assume that we are going back to the way things were before but there isn’t a 'before' anymore.

How can we and our people not just survive adversity, but learn from it and come out better prepared for the next inevitable adversity?

Who Would Benefit?

  • Senior executives,
  • Employers,
  • Employer associations,
  • Owner / operators of small to medium enterprises
  • Team leaders

Enquire now.

 

Client Feedback

Get Coaching On Your Own Presentation Skills

 

 

 

"Terry was recently the MC at our annual conference in Auckland. Both myself and the audience really enjoyed Terry’s professional high-energy during the day and his enthused humour during the conference dinner. But it’s what the audience didn’t see that sticks in my mind even more, the way he ensures the conference runs smoothly, the speakers are on and in time, and both myself and the audience has a good time. Terry is totally professional, and I totally recommend him." - Brett Jeffery, GM NZ Australasian Society of Association Executives

"Awesome presentation! Loved the content, takeaways, and of course the laughs!" - Nick Bloor, President Enterpreneurs' Organization Brisbane

"Thank you for your guidance, enthusiasm and humor in MCing the #HRGrow event. You are an amazing talent!" - Prof Doug Waldo, Partner & Principal Consultant, Leading Dimensions Consulting (Florida)

"Terry, you did another amazing job MCing our conference. I love your work! A great, big thank you from NZ Certified Builders". - Eve Cooper, Membership Services Manager, NZ Certified Builders

"99.9% rated your content as good or very good! Terry did a great job , a good message and more importantly,  very engaging. - Janet Walke, Staff Capability Leader, UCOL

"Terry was an absolute pleasure to host as our guest speaker. Terry has a very natural and engaging speaking style. The high energy and humour with which he delivered his talk was infectious and produced much laughter and audience participation. The team left his talk feeling invigorated and newly focussed on the future, and on taking the steps towards making their ‘2 dangerous things per year’ a reality. We have had a number of talks of this kind and this has undoubtedly received the most enthusiastic feedback. I would recommend Terry as a motivational speaker, comedian, trainer and would definitely have him back anytime." - Richard Spelman, Chief Scientist, LIC

“Terry provided an engaging and thoroughly entertaining presentation to a diverse crowd of NZDF personnel and their partners. The content was a highly effective balance between, humour, science, and lived experience which made it both relatable and enjoyable for all involved. All of this was reflected in both the positive disposition of the crowd in attendance, and the slew of wonderful feedback that came after the event. The RNZAF mentoring advisory team highly recommend Terry for both his entertainment and professional development value.” - Mentoring Advisory Team, RNZAF Base Ohakea

"Terry has a natural gift of humour, and the ability to bring together a room full of strangers, and make them feel like a cohesive unit.  He brings with him an ability to take charge of any situation and can take a muted crowd to being pumped and ready to go.  From an organiser's perspective he gives the reassurance that everything you need him to do is taken care of. Undeniably, Terry's sincerity, professionalism, talent and wonderful energy will inject success into every conference or event he hosts!" - Dayrel Williams, NZgenomics

"A great job not only as MC but your keynote was brilliant in its simplicity." - Miranda Knapton, GM Blue Summit Construction

"Terry is a delight. His energy and enthusiasm is contagious and his presentation hit the perfect note for our conference. He had the audience in the palm of his hand whilst sharing some great insights and nuggets of truth for everyone to take away. I would absolutely recommend Terry as a Key Note speaker" - Susan Doughty, RemNet

"Great feedback from delegates regarding your presentation, rating 4.8 for facilitation out of a maximum of 5.0 (which I might add I've never seen delegates rate up to!)" - Diane Robinson, RemNet

"Terry presented in a humorous manner very imperative information for business managers/leaders to use in their workplaces, to influence those people around them. 83% of attendees (senior finance managers) rated Terry as excellent." - Megan Alexander, GM, Robert Half International

"WEX are an IT Company who have experienced phenomenal growth and the challenges it presents. Terry presented a seminar on Change, and provided insights into the different personality types that make up the office environment. Presented with more than a touch of humour overlaying a serious message, the office was alive and buzzing afterwards." - Simone Turin, WEX

"We, as a team, enjoyed your honest, practical and straightforward (yet impactful and valuable) presentation (and training)......not to mention the wonderful humour." - Shimrath Paul, Chief Executive, Otago Museum

"Terry is a very engaging speaker who presents with passion, humor and a mischievous streak. He clearly knows his subject but much more importantly he is able to impart his knowledge and connects with the audience. He leaves you not just inspired to take action but with the information and tools to do so. Terry's presentations were interesting, funny, thought-provoking and educational. Many of our delegates gave him two-thumbs up for his session and have asked to hear him speak again next year." - Fiona Sim, Key Media, Singapore

 

Get coaching on your own presentation skills

Enquire now.

 

Videos

Humour

Crowdwork