Rusty Shelton

Best-selling Author, Speaker & Entrepreneur

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

    Please Inquire

  • Languages Spoken

    English

  • Travels From

    Texas, USA

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

    Please Inquire

  • Languages Spoken

    English

  • Travels From

    Texas, USA

Suggested Keynote Speaker Programs

THE AUTHORITY ADVANTAGE: BUILDING THOUGHT LEADERSHIP FOCUSED ON IMPACT, NOT EGO

This popular keynote, which has been given to audiences around the world ranging from Harvard Medical School to YPO chapters, uses humor and memorable stories to challenge assumptions from leaders about personal branding, showing them how to build authentic thought leadership ...

This popular keynote, which has been given to audiences around the world ranging from Harvard Medical School to YPO chapters, uses humor and memorable stories to challenge assumptions from leaders about personal branding, showing them how to build authentic thought leadership focused on impact, not ego.

Leaders are operating in an increasingly skeptical world, a new reality backed up by a 2022 Gallup study which shows trust in institutions & businesses is at an all-time low.

But while your audience may no longer trust your company, they are willing to trust YOU, if you are visible to them in an authentic, mission-driven way.

Based on a proven framework that Steve Forbes calls “bold and transformational,” this presentation will show attendees how to:

  • Build a meaningful, authentic personal brand that operates as an on-ramp back to their company & positions them to make a bigger impact
  • Conduct an online brand audit and make intentional changes to ramp up visibility and impact to drive business goals
  • Focus their content marketing efforts on best & highest use to build intentional relationships with clients, strategic partners, talent and others
  • Have a lot of fun along the way

Rusty often hears from leaders who walked in the door to his presentation with the belief that building thought leadership was an exercise in ego that they left the room not only convinced that they absolutely had to dive in, but also that they were comfortable doing it based on the tangible, evidence-based roadmap it provided them.

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About Keynote Speaker Rusty Shelton

Rusty Shelton first spoke at Harvard on the changing world of PR and marketing at the age of 23.

He is a bestselling author, dynamic keynote speaker and a successful entrepreneur who challenges assumptions about personal branding, showing audiences how to build authentic thought leadership focused on impact, not ego, writing three acclaimed books and speaking around the world to audiences ranging from YPO to Harvard Medical School. He is Founder & Chairman of Zilker Media, Senior Marketing Strategist at Forbes Books, and a proud member of EO.

He is the co-author (alongside Adam Witty) of The Authority Advantage: Building Thought Leadership Focused on Impact, Not Ego (ForbesBooks, 2023), Authority Marketing: How to Leverage 7 Pillars of Thought Leadership to Make Competition Irrelevant (ForbesBooks, 2018), which features a foreword from Steve Forbes, and co-author (alongside Barbara Cave Henricks) of Mastering the New Media Landscape: Embrace the Micromedia Mindset (Berrett-Koehler, 2016), which is endorsed by David Meerman Scott, Tom Rath, Sally Hogshead and many others. An active international keynote speaker, Rusty has shared the stage with Steve Forbes, Alan Mulally, Brendan Burchard and many others.

He has been on faculty at more than 20 Harvard Medical School CME courses over the past 15 years and has spoken at several Forbes events, SXSW Interactive, numerous Fortune 1000 companies as well as several YPO, WPO and EO Forums.

Audiences regularly rate Rusty among the highest marketing speakers they’ve experienced based on his mix of story-telling and practical, put-it-into-action-next-week guidance.

Rusty’s commentary on the changing world of PR and marketing has been featured in Forbes, Inc. Magazine, Wharton, Huff Post and many other top media outlets.

An avid Texas Longhorns fan, he sits on the University of Texas Texas Exes PR Committee and is a proud member of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) in Austin, where he currently serves on the board.

He lives just west of Austin in Spicewood with his wife, Paige and three children (Luke, Brady & Sadie) and their very rowdy black lab, Charlie. Rusty loves to play golf, fish and coach his sons’ sports teams.

Testimonials

“Rusty Shelton’s coaching on social media enabled me to build a web platform that within a year expanded traffic a hundredfold and laid the basis for continuing growth of my web presence. He opened doors that now have sitting CEOs and other leaders contacting me for coverage. Special plus: working with Rusty is fun!”

Steve Denning

Author, Forbes Columnist and Former Program Director, Knowledge Management at the World Bank

“I can always count on Rusty to provide spot-on, target market creative ideas. I appreciate working with someone who doesn’t rely on the ‘business as usual’ mantra.”

Stephanie Newton

Publicity Director—Thomas Nelson

“Rusty is an engaging and terrific speaker! I invite him back year after year, because course attendees rave about his talks. His ideas and tips have been instrumental in our course attendees getting major media, including Oprah, Good Morning America and The Early Show.”

Julie Silver, MD

Award-winning author, successful entrepreneur and the Associated Chair for Strategic Initiatives, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School

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