Neal Petersen

World-class, History-making Extreme Adventurer, Award-winning Author, Global Investor, International Keynote Speaker

  • Neal Petersen Keynote Speaker Fee Fee range is for U.S. events, depending on location and organization type

    $10,001 - $20,000

  • Languages Spoken

    English

  • Travels From

    South Carolina, USA

  • Neal Petersen Keynote Speaker Fee Fee range is for U.S. events, depending on location and organization type

    $10,001 - $20,000

  • Languages Spoken

    English

  • Travels From

    South Carolina, USA

Suggested Keynote Speaker Programs

Beyond the Barriers for Business Leaders

When Helsinn, a global pharmaceutical company, wanted to launch a new drug and were in the midst of facing major changes, they needed a keynote speaker who could weave their messaging of “Making Waves” within a brilliantly told story. That choice was adventurer, ...

When Helsinn, a global pharmaceutical company, wanted to launch a new drug and were in the midst of facing major changes, they needed a keynote speaker who could weave their messaging of “Making Waves” within a brilliantly told story. That choice was adventurer, author, Neal Petersen.

PNC Bank needed their leadership team to navigate a growing future as their organization expanded among banking reform. They turned to Neal’s leadership experiences of using the life and death choices he had to make on the high seas. Financial leaders can use the same principles in their decision making abilities.

As tax receipts fell, Municipal and City Governments had to tighten their belts and do more with less and needed a business speaker who could take a long term vision from concept to inception with limited financial means. They turned to Neal Petersen.

Neal Petersen addresses the creation of winning strategies, embracing diversity, conquering fear in order to achieve the impossible, while continuing to raise the bar as he takes the challenges of his clients businesses, combines it with the specific messaging, that creates results and an extraordinary experience. Using a well crafted personal story of overcoming all odds of prejudice, economic hardship and physical disability to complete the longest and most arduous sporting event, solo racing around our planet, Neal assists clients in moving their workforce and customers forward into positive action.

Working with governments, technology, healthcare, insurance, financial services companies, Neal is the business speaker who will inspire leadership growth, creation of long-term vision, while re-focusing on the ability to keep navigating towards being the industry leader. This is the fuel for change!

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There are No Barriers ~ Only Solutions!

In these challenging times of uncertainty, fear and insecurity rise, many feel like solo sailors, adrift, grasping for survival. Neal lays out the importance of a clearly communicated vision and direction, followed by detailed planning, preparation, passion and execution using...

In these challenging times of uncertainty, fear and insecurity rise, many feel like solo sailors, adrift, grasping for survival. Neal lays out the importance of a clearly communicated vision and direction, followed by detailed planning, preparation, passion and execution using his riveting personal story.

Neal’s life-story addresses adversity, diversity, leadership, team work, motivation, crisis, innovation, change, planning & preparation – then execution and the courage to embrace fears.

Take away values:

*Neal carries a treasure chest on-stage and in it are examples of how he turned barriers into opportunities to achieve his dream and empowers others to turn their baggage into solutions.
*Innovate – how to capitalize on ever changing winds storms.
*Change – adapt to wind shifts and stormy seas by knowing when to alter course.
*Leverage economic challenges to your advantage – keep pumping, choose a winning course and navigate to your advantage.
*Attitude adjustment – refresh your vision and purpose.
*Elements of success include passion, determination, perseverance and hard work.
*With focus and planning, a dream can become a reality – everything is possible.
*Life is about choice and with choice are consequences ~ choose your course wisely.

The Power of Positive Attitude & How It Affects Performance – Neal has always defined himself by what he can imagine – rather than how others would define him and how he sustained his dream in the face of numerous barriers is compelling.

The Importance of Realizing Goals: Perseverance & Determination – Overcoming fear and facing danger and the unknown has been central to how Neal approaches his goals and his life.  Audiences will walk away understanding the validity for direct correlations between perseverance, determination, passion and dedication to achieve any goal.

With Choice There Is Consequence – Neal’s impact transcends age, gender, and race to promote the creation of leaders, life-long learners, and individuals who are mindful of the consequences their choices will have on personal, familial, community, and generational levels.

Change Is Constant: It’s How You Play the Cards – Audiences will understand that you have to address the possibility of failure if one wants to achieve great things. His message will connect with audience members’ experience facing challenges – sales quotas for instance – that may seem formidable at first – until imagination, innovation and passion are applied.

 

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Leadership Program

Neal Petersen’s ~ Shackleton Leadership Program Based on the polar explorer, Ernest Shackleton, who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic and became a role model for leadership as one who, in extreme circumstances, kept his team together in a survival ...

Neal Petersen’s ~ Shackleton Leadership Program

Based on the polar explorer, Ernest Shackleton, who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic and became a role model for leadership as one who, in extreme circumstances, kept his team together in a survival story described as “incredible”!

Neal challenges guests to ask themselves ~ “Why would someone follow you to the end of the world?”

This stimulating and thought-provoking leadership program will follow Neal Petersen’s “No Barriers ~ Only Solutions” keynote. The allotted time is customized to fit a client’s program, between 1- 6 hours and can be done as a two day program as well.

Leadership Program Content

  • Today more than ever we are navigating change and we need to be able to adapt. Join together to learn, to share and to better understand how to navigate into the future.
  • The goal of the program is to identify what the group or individual is hoping to achieve.
  • Development of their vision using Ernest Shackleton as an example of great leadership.
  • What are the steps to take in order to get there?
  • Discuss uncertainty, how to deal with rapid and ever changing winds, the importance of knowing when to tack, threats to the industry, alternatives to status quo and develop a philosophy that will help in achieving the vision.
  • What mechanisms are required today to find solutions to your barriers? What is failure, set-backs and how do you respond to achieve success?
  • How better to cope with the rate of rapid change and the anxiety that this brings.
  • Retaining the work force, rewarding people, reduction of cost in human capitol.
  • What is a sustainable culture for your business’s to thrive?

Leadership and Diversity
Today’s work force is ever changing and a new vision is needed in bringing workers of various backgrounds together

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About Keynote Speaker Neal Petersen

Transform your organization by turning set-backs and barriers into opportunities.

How do you navigate forward, deal with constant wind shifts, sudden storms, conquer fear, isolation, while dealing with an ever present changing world?  Neal Petersen takes audiences on a captivating journey around the world, using his remarkable life-story and shows, by example, that you can achieve your goals by turning set-backs and barriers into opportunities ~ with the right attitude and ability to foster innovation, build stronger teams, adapt under pressure, and cultivate a mind-set that focuses on no barriers ~ only solutions!

History-making extreme adventurer, Neal Petersen completed two amazing journeys in his life: a single-handed yacht race around the world, 27,000 miles, 9 months at sea, alone, around Cape Horn, and in the smallest, least funded, yacht he designed and built himself. And an even more arduous and eventful trip of overcoming racial prejudice during the harsh Apartheid era in South Africa, poverty, and a childhood physical disability, just to make it to the start line!

Neal inspires organizations to foster innovation, build stronger teams, adapt under pressure, and cultivate a mind-set that focuses on solutions!

Petersen brilliantly connects his remarkable story to audience’s unique challenges, a theme or vision with dramatic stories of adversity, sheer determination and triumph.  His presentations redefine courage and human potential.

With high energy, passion and fully engaging presentation style, Neal’s audience’s are spellbound from the moment he walks onstage, until he departs –  leaving them with a fresh perspective on turning disadvantages into advantages.

Neal carries a treasure chest on stage, and in it symbols of how he reached his dream by always turning barriers into opportunities, then into solutions.

Using examples of how he overcame insurmountable barriers is compelling and highly entertaining. Neal demonstrates how success is realized—through innovation, balancing risk against return and being flexible enough to adapt to constant shifting winds. In these challenging times of uncertainly, fear and insecurity, many feel like solo sailors, adrift, grasping for survival. Neal lays out the importance of a clearly communicated vision, followed by detailed planning, preparation, passion and then execution.

He has challenged global audiences to prevail against their own formidable barriers and setbacks while igniting passion and a mind-set to never give-up!

This story of hope, resilience, and accomplishment is truly inspiring and reflects a powerful message that “in life there are no barriers, only solutions!”

Neal projects stunning images during his keynote and a 1 ½ minute intro and a 4 minute powerful self-filmed video of Neal rounding Cape Horn solo – his dream!

He has thunder built into his presentation – lightning and fog are easy options for larger productions, dramatically bringing his story to life.

Testimonials

Neal Petersen delivered one of the most inspirational talks I ever heard at a corporate event. He had the whole audience enthralled as he talked about his life and how he set himself what seemed to be an impossible challenge. Impossible that is, unless like Neal, you believe there are “No Barriers” 2015

P.M., VICE PRESIDENT

QLIK

The theme of our summit this year was “Owning Your Possibilities” and we could not have had a better opening keynote speaker than you, Neal Petersen. Our attendees were on the edge of their seats as you took them on a journey of how you broke barriers to own your possibility and reach your goal. They appreciated that you were able to correlate the challenges you faced to our business needs so that they could make the connection and that you spent the entire day with them and were willing to share your knowledge with them. Thank you for your engagement, for sharing your story and for inspiring us to Own Our Possibilities!

A.G.L.P.N., MEETING PLANNER FOR DIVERSITY

MASTERCARD

“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 thank for the extraordinary presentation you gave in San Diego to 8,000, but for the follow up presentation you gave in Barcelona to another 5,000 with virtually no prep time as well. 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!

(Regarding book-signing) 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.

You generated some of the highest ratings and most positive feedback I have seen in many years of running WW events in this division.”

L. BENWAY

IBM

I have been very fortunate to work with Neal Petersen – we brought him in to speak to 3 of our top producer meetings. He is a great speaker and he has found ways to help financial advisors take Neal’s experiences and to apply it to their practices in such a way to grow their businesses through the tough times and enjoy the good times.

L.R., CEO

ADVISORS GROUP, AIG

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