SIGNATURE SPEECHES

Mark’s Signature Speech Topics, guaranteed to get your audiences thinking and feeling differently about Leadership, Teamwork and Resilience.

Each is a mix of compelling narrative peppered with ‘sticky’ original phrases, blended with gripping images and footage, all set to a powerful music score. The learning is highlighted throughout and neatly summarised at the end with an easy to remember framework for putting it into action the very next day.

‘TOGETHER WE TRIUMPH’ is Mark Denton’s signature Leadership and Teamwork Keynote, an ‘edge of your seat’ multi-media journey through the ups, downs, twists and turns of leading an amateur Team to success in the ‘world’s toughest’ around-the-world yacht race. And as this epic journey unfolds, the secrets are revealed that allowed this team to thrive when facing constant adversity, change and competition including:

Galvanising the team with a compelling and unifying Purpose and Value set
Playing to the Team’s strengths in key onboard positions
Intelligent and meaningful goal setting that built confidence over time
Data driven strategic decision making, constantly adjusting performance for risk
The Leader being self-aware, creating an enabling rather than disabling environment
Instilling a daily meeting with strong psychological safety, where clarity, feedback, and creativity flourished to overcome the constant changes they faced
Empowering the frontline sailing teams to be able to experiment and make decisions to improve performance
Challenging mindsets and collaborating to achieve breakthrough performance, in a relentless pursuit of the overall goal

Mark summarises these into the 3 cultural factors that every Team can embrace to ensure they achieve the seemingly impossible, which were the Teams Values that were validated around the world:

Great for: All staff conferences and department events with a mix of Leaders and Team Members

“NAVIGATE THE STORM” is Mark Denton’s signature ‘Resilience’ keynote, a roller-coaster multi-media journey through the ups, downs, twists and turns of an amateur team taking part in the ‘worlds toughest’ around-the-world yacht race.

And as the gripping account unfolds, Mark shares his unique perspective on what kept him and the team resilient, including top-tips on how to nurture the 8 key factors summarised in the ‘Navig-8 Model’ that builds as the story unfolds:

This simple but comprehensive ‘compass’ framework, that’s shared with attendees post event, equips them to:

Recognise that resilience is multifaceted and accessible to all
Understand the different factors, and why each are key
Learn practical ways of accessing these when facing a challenge
Navigate any storm in their personal or professional lives

Great for: Leadership/Management conferences and All-Staff conferences, especially where Organisations are facing turbulent times

Or if you’re looking for something bespoke, why not build your own in partnership with Mark

CUSTOMISED

Or Mark can help you build the perfect custom speech for you, taking into account your audience, the event key themes and required duration.

FLEXIBLE

Durations are between ‘Ted style’ 20 minutes and ‘epic film style’ 75 minutes (and everything in-between). And he can even split it into two for perhaps the start and end of a day, or pre and post dinner!

IMPACTFUL

Mark works with you to craft a powerful beginning with a punchy title to set the tone, a compelling middle drawing out the key stories and messages most suitable for your event, and a memorable summary to finish.

A POWERFUL BEGINNING

Mark will help you decide on the ideal title that will set the tone right from the word ‘go’. Some previous options are below for reference.

COLLABORATION

Together we triumph
Together we thrive
Stronger together

EMBRACE CHANGE

Navigate the storm
Ride the waves
The only way out is through

PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY

Storm to perform
Storming performance
Safe, Happy, Fast

LEADERSHIP / TEAMWORK

People, Purpose, Performance
Leadership and Teamwork in the eye of the storm
Ordinary to Extraordinary

A COMPELLING MIDDLE

He will also help you pick from any or all of the following Leadership and Teamwork success factors and ‘sticky’ original phrases to include to get the speech really ‘on message’.

Prioritising wellbeing

Emotional intelligence

Feedback and feed forward
Growth mindset
Embracing change
Setting big, bold goals
Idea creation
Innovation
Celebrating success

Aligning on Purpose, Vision, Values

Establishing critical success factors
Understanding individual motivations
Structuring for success
Building psychological safety and trust
Collaboration
Communication
Managing risk
Resilience

a compelling middle image of a boat in stormy seas

STICKY ORIGINAL PHRASES

CULTURE

“Your culture is defined by your values - and our’s ran through us like a stick of rock”
“We are there to enable our people just as much as they are there to enable us”
“Purpose is your compass when everything goes wrong”?”
COLLABORATION

“Collaboration is the answer to the world’s problems if only we could see it”
“When you put people in teams, all they care about is their team”
“Psychological safety is the foundation for collaboration, and like any foundation you have to build it”
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

“What’s the shadow that you’re casting - an enabling one, or a disabling one?”
“When there’s something wrong, there’s one finger pointing out and three pointing back. What do I as leader need to do differently?”
EMBRACING CHANGE

“You’ve got to scan the horizon and be one step ahead”
“The only way out is through”
“Optimism opens up possibilities, pessimism closes them down”
INNOVATION

“No-one knows better how to improve their job than those who do it everyday”
“The thinking that created the problem will never be the thinking that solves it”
“When you have a new idea, look for a low-risk experiment to try it out”
LEADERSHIP

“In uncharted waters, look for a compass not a map”
“It’s not about having all the answers, rather turning up with the right questions”
“How do we get 18 minds thinking about the challenges we face instead of me trying to work that out on my own?”
FEEDBACK

“So I had to ask the ultimate question that never gets asked - how am I doing as your leader?”
“I’m not trying to catch you out, i’m trying to catch you in”
“So I gave them a damn good listening to”
PERFORMANCE

“Slow boats never win”
“We never take our eye off the numbers, as the numbers don’t lie”
“Never take your eye off the competition - they’re playing the same game”
“Remove the noise and cut to the chase”