Michelle Ray

Michelle Ray is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, author, trainer and consultant who demonstrates a deep understanding of the consequences of low morale, lackluster service and ineffective leadership in the workplace. Michelle resonates with audiences at any level, as she reminds her attendees that leadership is a mindset, not a job title. Born in Australia and now residing in Vancouver, B.C., Michelle began her career in the media industry during the recession of the early 80's. She was once told by management that she "didn't have what it takes" to succeed in the business world. With self- doubt and a lack of mentors, Michelle was inspired to create her own successful international business. She speaks passionately about personal responsibility, the impact of attitude in the workplace, the importance of outstanding leadership and the value of positive communication and influence.

Michelle is a "Certified Speaking Professional" (CSP), the highest-earned designation in the speaking industry. She has been listed in the "Who's Who" of Professional Speakers, and was awarded the "Presentation Mastery Award" from the Vancouver Chapter of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers. Earlier in her career, she was recognized as the top speaker in Canada for the world's largest international public seminar company.

Michelle's motivating keynotes and interactive presentations have a thought-provoking, amusing, common sense message. Her limitless energy, masterful use of humour and down to earth approach has earned her respect and appreciation by clients around the world. Michelle Ray's depth of knowledge and powerful message is guaranteed to energize, inform and inspire workplaces across the globe!

• 2. The Most Challenging Team to Lead is a Team of One

  Is leadership the influence you have on others? The respect you get from your peers? Your ability to implement a business strategy? The number of sales you make? Or the number of friends you have on Facebook? Over the course of her professional career, Michelle got hit with two deep recessions that brought her face to face with the true meaning of leadership....the challenge of leading oneself. From starting out as an administrative assistant during the first recession and working her way up to management for 23 regional radio and TV stations...to helping the largest cinema complex in the southern hemisphere increase revenue when everyone else's budgets were shrinking... to dressing up as Cat Woman to teach her team what it really takes to win business during an economic downturn... Michelle learned that the true test of leadership is how you lead a team of one. Michelle now challenges you to be the leader in your own work and life. Are you tapping into your own innovative potential? Are you leading yourself by demonstrating unwavering confidence in your personal and career decisions in an unpredictable economy? Are you ready to lead the team of one? It all comes back to YOU. Are you ready?

  Learning objectives and benefits for attendees:

  - Implement specific strategies to develop an engaged workplace

  - Discover power of positive influence with teams and clients alike

  - Take charge of yourself...at work and in life

  - Apply the incredible leverage of modeling a "do-what it take" attitude

• 3. Operation Cooperation: How to Build Outstanding, Collaborative Workplace Relationships

  In these volatile times, teams within every type of organization are grappling with the challenges presented by the different values, attitudes and expectations present in today's business climate. "Operation Cooperation" offers you a winning strategy to build an outstanding workplace culture where everyone is empowered to communicate, collaborate and connect. In this interactive presentation, the concept of cooperation will be reinforced with an emphasis on the importance of successful internal workplace relationships to achieve an atmosphere of camaraderie and respect. Our external professional relationships are compromised when the spirit of a unified team is lacking. Participants will have the opportunity to refocus, re-energize and be reminded of the value of collective wisdom... prerequisites for outstanding team relationships.

  Learning benefits for attendees:

  - Realign your core personal values to those of your workplace

  - Discover how to influence others with outstanding interpersonal skills

  - Experience first-hand the benefits of a collaborative atmosphere

  - Embrace the values of cooperation and respect... essentials for a building a culture of excellence

• 4. An Attitude of Gratitude... We Appreciate Your Business

  The Customer Service revolution is still in full swing! Is your front line staff committed to an "attitude of gratitude" for the business your customers provide? Are they giving a gold-medal performance with every customer experience? No matter how high tech our workplaces have become, our organizations will always be about people. When we achieve an exceptional standard of excellence in workplace relationships internally, our external relationships benefit. The first point of contact with a customer can make or break the relationships within seconds. Therefore, great service starts with leading ourselves. Is your team set up to go beyond the extra mile? The theme of this exciting keynote address or workshop is based on the reality that almost 70% of customers take there business elsewhere due to an attitude of indifference!

  Learning objectives and benefits for attendees:

  - Recharge your attitude to client relationships: They are the reason you are in business

  - Learn the six secrets of customer satisfaction to outsmart the competition

  - Improve your internal client relationships to increase bottom line results

  - Learn dynamic communication strategies...Master the art of diplomacy with your most annoying clients! 

  - Avoid the "cost of loss"... a bad service experience with your organization has immeasurable consequences!

• 5. Leading the Generations: Adjusting Attitudes in the Multigenerational Workplace

  The notion of having one job and having it for life does not hold any appeal for the new generation of workers. Those days are gone forever and unless organizations are willing to invest in their people emotionally and financially, the best and brightest will unashamedly seek opportunities elsewhere, leaving you scrambling to replace them. In this context, employers must be willing to rethink existing hiring, mentoring and training practices and let go of old ideas that shaped the traditional organizational structures. In this fun and informative presentation, participants learn how to adjust attitudes regarding the secret to motivating and retaining our workforce to create outstanding intergenerational workplaces. Despite the volatility of the economy and the job market, we can develop an outstanding workplace culture by focusing on what is within our control. Developing an unbiased viewpoint and flexible approach, coupled with exceptional interpersonal skills and specific methods to keep all team members engaged, productive and satisfied. These are fundamentals for leadership success in managing our diverse workforce.

  Learning objectives and benefits of attending:

  - Understand the "push" and "pull" factors regarding employees' decisions to stay or leave.

  - Learn how to lead yourself first and apply positive influence and motivation to all team members; regardless of age, culture and attitudes.

  - Practice the language of leadership to use when giving feedback to different generations.

  - Learn how to create a work environment that fosters retention by encouraging creativity, participation in decision-making, brainstorming problem solving.

  - Experience hands-on opportunity to practice the power of positive connection will all generations!

• 1. The Power of Personal Leadership....Attitude Makes the Difference

  We all possess the ability to profoundly impact another person by the manner in which we conduct ourselves. When we go out in the world with a happier disposition, we impact others positively. By our own demeanor, we create an energy force that has the power to change attitudes and change lives. We should never underestimate our own personal power! This humorous, highly energized and insightful presentation offers a deeper understanding of the power of positive thinking and personal initiative, as well as specific tools to implement when faced with our own “stinkin' thinking”. Whether your group needs an attitude adjustment, tune-up or makeover, audience members experience a memorable, popular keynote that reinforces the concept of leadership being a state of mind. They learn the true meaning of becoming the leader of themselves in order to make a difference in their professional and personal relationships.

  Learning objectives and benefits for attendees:

  - Implement immediate solutions to workplace stress and negativity

  - Realign your core personal and professional values to those of your workplace

  - Learn how to re-energize attitudes to co-workers and management that brings profound results

  - Discover how to influence others with outstanding communication skill

  - Master the art of personal leadership in all relationships

   

• The skills you taught have been incredibly helpful in improving the quality of work and satisfaction in the workplace.
  BC Teachers Federation
• Our departmental training team spent a lot of time researching and then selecting a speaker for our annual session and did it ever pay off! We've already noticed a more positive attitude from staff, and that is thanks to you.
  City of Victoria
• You kept the audience on the edge of their seats throughout the entire keynote address. We have received a great deal of positive feedback.
  National Leasing Canada
• You are someone who really cares about your clients. Our staff had only wonderful things to say about you and the content delivered. To summarize... happy customers, happy employees and a happy boss....A great combination!
  Canadian Pest Control
• Our entire education team really enjoyed Michelle's presentation. She is a very dynamic facilitator with great enthusiasm; which became contagious to her captivated audience.
  KPSS Goldwell Cosmetics
• Thank you very much for a wonderful experience. I highly recommend you to any person or organization wishing to improve their workplace relationships.
  Catena Networks
• The content of your material was very relevant. There was a "buzz" around the room throughout the session. You have exceeded our expectations and we will consider engaging you again for other KPMG events.
  KPMG
• We were very impressed with the feedback from delegates. Michelle gets her message across in a positive, unique and humorous way. Everyone in the room was engaged and the number of people who commented on the quality of her delivery was excellent. Her use of humor to get her point across is masterful.
  Australian Industry Group
• "I was so pleasantly surprised to hear your talk, unscripted and personal. You're so comfortable with your stage presence that those in the audience can't help but feel uplifted by your composure and confidence."
  University of Northern British Columbia, for Canadian Banner User's Conference
• Ms. Ray presented at ICBC's 2007 Annual Human Resource and Corporate Law Business Meeting on the topic of Personal Leadership in the Multigenerational Workplace. As Ms. Ray was following a series of speakers addressing "nuts and bolts" issues for the Corporation, we were looking for a speaker who would be both fun and relevant to our everyday work. To put it simply, Ms. Ray surpassed all of our expectations. Her presentation was interactive, humorous, fast paced, informative and deeply moving. As a organizer of the meeting, I have received many heartfelt expressions of thanks for her selection. Our feedback has been uniformly and overwhelmingly positive. Several of our long-term employees have mentioned that this was the best presentation they have ever attended at a business related meeting. All have indicated that they received "take-aways" which will resonate with them for the remainder of their professional and personal lives. I cannot recommend Ms. Ray more strongly for any organization looking for someone to stimulate and move both the mind and the heart.
  Insurance Corporation of British Columbia
• She held her audience of 180+ captive with her high energy, blunt honesty, witty observations and pertinent advice. I have received scores of emails and phone calls from consultants telling me what a positive impact Michelle had on them and how her message was just what was needed. We definitely ended our weekend on a high note by having Michelle energize and re-focus our people!
  Flight Centre
• You have a wonderful ability to connect with your audience in a way that holds their attention throughout. Your presentation style, vocabulary and props all aid in delivering a powerful message - one of personal leadership where we are each individually responsible for the attitudes in the workplace and we all have the ability to contral our own environment. Our group, comprised of the 70+ senior partners and managers of our firm, attended this retreat with a view to looking ahead and planning, strategically, to grow our business. Your presentation gave them a very valuable piece of the puzzle. We all know how important and valuable staff is to any business success; you emphasized this message while giving these partners and managers some very simple tools in the way of delegation and feedback that they can easiliy implement to reward and retain their key people.
  BDO Dunwoody
• You took the time to learn about our group in advance and to customize the material and this made all the difference. We laughed, we cried, we learned and you left us wanting more. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and I would highly recommend you to anyone looking for a high-energy presentation that will leave participants with skills that can be utilized not only at work, but in their personal lives as well.
  The Supreme Court of British Columbia
• Michelle Ray is a talented, gifted speaker. She immediately connected with close to 200 attendees and held their attention from start to finish. The leadership team and employees experienced a very positive, fun, engaging, and valuable session. We learned skills that will enhance our professional and personal lives. Michelle's exceptional professional standards were evident in her research prior to the event and in the content delivered at the event.
  Corporate Management Branch Pacific Region, RCMP

• 
  January 2000

  Speak Out!

  Michelle Ray and fifteen other successful Canadian professional speakers have put their heads together to discuss their perspectives in business and life. They are sharing what they found in the 3rd edition of the successful "SPEAK OUT" series! Readers will enjoy sixteen chapters on a variety of subjects. The authors, all members of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS), freely reveal tips that have worked for them in their personal and professional lives. Each chapter reveals the unique writing style and expertise of these women who are "invitation only" authors! In "SPEAK OUT" Michelle Ray shares her thoughts on eliminating negative thinking from your life! "SPEAK OUT" is not available in book stores, and is only available online through our website.