Bob Gray

Speaking topics

Presentations listed below include in-person and virtual keynotes, as well as workshops, fireside chats, and other presentation formats.

• Digital Amnesia: How Technology is Stealing Your Brain (And How to Steal It Back)

  Digital Amnesia: The experience of forgetting something important because you trust a connected device!

  Since we’ve been able to place more memory power in the palm of our hand than was used to land a man on the moon, we’ve banished our own memory to the back burner. The more we rely on technology to retrieve information, the more we erode the process to recall that information naturally.

  So, is this a problem? Aside from the mental health implications, here’s just one scenario: You have a pre-arranged appointment, you have reviewed all the pertinent information about that client/customer/patient, you’re able to ask about their spouse, kids, even their favourite sports team. They feel you have a great relationship.

  A month later you bump into them unexpectedly, not only have you ‘forgotten’ their family’s names…you can’t even remember THEIR name. How’s that relationship now? How helpful is that device now?

  In this highly interactive, empowering, and funny, presentation, Bob shows you how to keep your memory in shape, how to steal your brain back from technology, and how you’ll never need to say “Sorry, I forgot your name” again.

  This same method, which is the foundation of all memory systems dating back thousands of years, can also be adapted to recall presentations, lists, safety procedures and more.

  A recognized authority on memory systems, Bob has spent the last twenty five years traveling the globe entertaining and training corporations, governments, and associations to adapt memory systems for their particular needs. To date, Gray’s clients have included Bell Canada, Ford, FedEx, GE, General Motors, Hilton Hotels, Boston Pizza, and Great West Life, to name just a few.

  Bob’s many media credits include Ripley’s Believe It or Not, The Steve Harvey Show, The Today Show, CBS News, and BBC One.

• I'm No Good With Names - But I Never Forget a Face!

  With this longer version of his 45-60 minute keynote, Bob is able to share the #1 memory problem in business today – how to recall clients’ names.

  How often have you bumped into clients, or customers, or someone you know you have been introduced to, perhaps two or three times before, but for the life of you, can’t remember his name, or hers? And the harder you try to remember, the farther it seems to slip from your mind? Socially, this can be extremely embarrassing, but in business, it can be disastrous. With our lives already so hectic, and the number of people who are important to us increasing every day, we need an instant and easy way to keep each and every one of them active in our memory. The sweetest sound to someone is the sound of his or her own name. By forgetting a person’s name, you show not only a lack of respect, but you might just as well say that this individual is of no importance to you.

  Conversely, by recalling a correct name, especially after only one introduction, you will not only engage and flatter its owner, but you will be remembered for your thoughtful interest.

  In his amusing, unusual and empowering presentation, Bob reveals a wonderful method to easily recall and store into memory the names of new friends and business acquaintances. Having been taught the system, participants are quickly and easily able to recall both first and last names of several new acquaintances as they are introduced during the presentation. It’s an hilarious system that will have the audience in hysterics…and it works!

• The Master Program

  In this half-day workshop Bob will introduce the group to four major memory systems. Expanding on his ninety-minute keynote, he will introduce them to the Peg System and The Phonetic Index.

  The Peg System gives the student the ability to memorize schedules, calendars, meetings, feature lists and rules and regulations. It is one of the easiest time savers you’ll ever learn.

  The Phonetic Index, which is often considered to be the single most powerful memory system ever devised, was developed over three hundred years ago. Yet, until now, has been known by only a handful of scholars and experts. Bob retrieved the Phonetic Index from history’s dustbin, revamped it, and made it directly applicable for today’s business leaders. This system gives the user the ability to recall the biggest stumper of them all – numerical information.

  On a basic level, the Phonetic Index makes the memorization of phone numbers and serial numbers as easy as smiling. Using it in conjunction with some of Bob’s other techniques, it becomes a valuable resource, allowing the student to recall deep banks of information. As an example of this, Bob demonstrates how he himself has memorized the capitals, population and square mileage of every nation on earth, as well as the major world events for every year of the twentieth century. In the workshops, groups never fail to amaze themselves by memorizing, both forwards and in reverse, a randomly generated thirty-digit number. It is an exercise that shows the incredible, untapped potential in each of us.