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Business Leadership Keynote Speaking

Keynote speaker and consultant for Fortune 1000 clients looking to unlock courage in their stories, business and cultures.

Leadership Keynote Speaker.
Executive Coach and Trainer.
Bestselling Author.
Courage Sherpa.

In 2019, Ryan Berman sparked the courage movement that set out to reinvent businesses by galvanizing people, inspiring leaders, and celebrating courageous action in life and business.

Since then, this movement has continued to gain momentum around the country as Ryan has shared his methods with the leaders at Google, Kellogg’s Europe, Snapchat, charity: water, PnC Bank, Kraft Heinz, Logitech, Pledge 1% and many others.

On a larger level beyond marketing, we are witnessing a clarity epidemic before our very eyes, causing catastrophic levels of paralysis that is stymieing growth and splintering cultures. That lack of corporate action is creating internal politics, negativity and, quite often, mass turnover.

But, Ryan believes that being courageous is our ultimate competitive advantage. If 95% of our competition is stuck in freeze or flight, and if we can train our teams to be in that 5% that learns how to fight, then this is a liberating differentiator from the rest of the competitive pack.

Ryan envisions a world where courageous leaders are creating courageous cultures. Those courageous cultures are accepting of courageous ideas and innovation. In essence, any willing being, business, or brand can receive a return on courage. And when they do, they’ll feel it permeating their people, products and corporate purpose. The only way to properly set a goal is to have the right skill set working in tandem with the right mind set; that’s the power of courage.

Leadership Keynote Speaker 

Leadership Keynote Speaking Topics

Ryan Berman devoted three years interviewing many of the most courageous people: astronauts, Navy SEALs, tornado chasers, and business leaders from Apple, Amazon, Domino’s, Google and Method. He learned that winning companies all shared a common trait: courageousness.

As for the rest? 52% of the Fortune 500 since 2000 are extinct. Half of the S&P 500 are predicted to be replaced in the next decade. Ryan shows his audiences how any team or brand can push through internal paralysis, stand out from the crowd, and earn a serious Return On Courage.

Ryan will tailor his speaking topics to deliver the best keynote message to meet your event and organizational goals. Feel free to reach out to Ryan by email or use the website form to set up a call with him to design a custom presentation. A sample of his business leadership keynote speeches and speaking topics appears below, and includes:

  • The 5-Part Plan for Courageous Change in Your Business
  • What Brands Can Do Right Now to Earn a Return on Courage
  • Identify and Overcome Your Largest Corporate Business Fears to Become a Courage Brand

There’s a noticeable deficiency of courage in the business world. It is absent from business models, boardrooms, company cultures, and mission statements. Courageous leadership seems to have taken a sabbatical—and many businesses are far worse for it. Most terrifying of all, employees within an organization who aspire to make calculated courageous calls across a company are not getting the opportunity to do so. Their bold ideas are getting squashed along the way or, sadly, they’ve landed in a culture where iterative growth has become the goal throughout the hallways. Instead of spending the next 1200 words delving deeper about “why” this is our current diagnosis, I’d prefer to simply tap into “how” we can help those willing leaders help their companies get their courage back. Indeed, unlocking courage, when truly embraced and understood, can be your ultimate X factor and competitive advantage.


COURAGE SETS YOU FREE. Courage unshackles you from the pack; it separates you from stuck, risk-averse companies. Courage is never prejudiced; It’s willingly open for any opportunistic gender, race, or ethnicity. Courage is a team sport. There’s an our in courage for a reason. Courage can be learned. So long as you are open to the training. Courage has a role in your daily life. It is for you and can be your ultimate X-factor. Above all, courage gets it done. It stretches budgets further. And propels you forward, faster. Courage Credo.


Fifty-two percent of the Fortune 500 companies from the year 2000 are now extinct. In less than two decades, more than half of the brands that were on the Fortune 500 list in 2000 no longer exist. The Business Apocalypse has caused the demise of many once-thriving corporations. Companies we used to adore like Toys “R” Us, Tower Records, Pets.com, Blockbuster, and Kodak are no more. Four Truths of the Business Apocalypse: 1. Companies are perishing at an alarming rate; 2. We are afraid of change; 3. What got you here won’t keep you here; 4. You need time, but you don’t have time.


Courage as a concept is wildly misunderstood, and you can’t truly understand what courage is without first understanding what courage isn’t. Myth #1: Courage describes other people; Myth #2: Courage is jumping out of a plane sans parachute; Myth #3: Courage is a risky solo journey; Myth #4: Courage is impulsive; Myth #5: Courage can’t be taught; Myth #6: Courage doesn’t have a role in your daily life. Here lies our first problem: Almost no one is up for voluntarily doing something that takes courage, because we associate it with fear.


IS IT CONCEIVABLE to make something that’s scary less terrifying? Can we create a mechanism that takes the risk out of taking risks? Are we capable of crafting a formula that transforms making a courageous decision into a seemingly regular one? Knowledge, faith, and action are the matchstick, tinder, and wood that work together to form the fire that is courage. The sum of these parts—and it must include all of them—makes up courage.


To achieve courage, you must be knowledgeable, have faith, and take action. This new definition of courage leads us to our working definition of a Courage Brand: A Courage Brand willingly addresses its business fears by gathering enough knowledge, building faith, and taking swift action. The four principles of competent and courageous decision-making are: 1. Talent; 2. Team; 3. Tenacity; 4. Training. The only way to properly goal set is to have the skill set working in tandem with the right mindset; that is the power of courage.


The Central Courage System combats the realities of the skeptical freeze or flight response that we are wired with. Once the training is fulfilled, your Central Courage System will help you make quick, calculated, and courageous decisions with your employees. The Central Courage System is a process that your team can repeatedly turn to for guidance. Once it has been established and implemented, you can lead with your system’s values, purpose, and point of view. Central Courage System comes at a cost, which can be quantified as a five-step process, easily summed up as P.R.I.C.E: Prioritize. Rally. Identify. Commit. Execute.


There’s a noticeable deficiency of courage in the business world. It is absent from business models, boardrooms, company cultures, and mission statements. Courage has, in fact, gone out of style and out of practice—and many businesses are far worse for it. Indeed, unlocking courage, when truly embraced and understood, can be your competitive advantage and ultimate X factor.


Seven unwavering traits of courage brands are: 1. Courage Brands are unapologetic in who they are; 2. Courage Brands put a “rally cry in their why;” 3. Courage Brands inject a sense of urgency into a sensible plan; 4. Courage Brands lead with the brand’s creature versus the product features; 5. Courage Brands create passionate Believers; 6. Courage Brands narrowcast to advocates who broadcast to the rest of the world; 7. Courage Brands address business fears head-on.


Return on Courage is the return a business, being, or brand gets from tapping into and activating their courage. Look to maximize your return on investment with a Return on Courage. Setting yourself up to maximize your Return on Courage is adhering to the five steps of P.R.I.C.E. to successfully establish your Central Courage System. To set up your Central Courage System is to set up your process for success. Businesses cannot be courageous. Only the people inside a business hold the potential to create a Courage Brand.

 

Virtual Business Event Keynote Speaking

In addition to in-person business events, conferences, workshops, and speaking engagements, Ryan offers speaking engagements via virtual conferences and interactive webinars when your organization or audience is dispersed geographically. Virtual conferences provide an opportunity to reach a greater number of participants, allow two-way sharing of information in real-time, can expand the potential for on-demand participation and can be recorded for later on-demand participation. Virtual business events can replicate in-person engagement among participants and keynote speakers, and even increase direct interaction, through the use of interactive presentations, polls, live chat, Q&A, surveys, networking, social media and more.

Whether you’re looking to create-a-change in yourself or team, Ryan is one of the most sought after presenters who can offer a media-rich experience to create courageous change.

Audiences consider Ryan a top-rated speaker who is confident, entertaining and motivational. He is usually the top speaker at any event and earns standing ovations from attendees at his live appearances. Ryan is a must-see speaker for your event, both in person and virtual event, who will transform your teams and employees with his courageous outlook on their personal and professional lives.

Work With Ryan

To learn more about Ryan Berman keynoting or leading one of his Courage workshops at your organization, please provide the following with your message below. We look forward to connecting with you!

RECENT APPEARANCES

D.C. United – December 2022
Aramark – November 2022
Society of Marketing Professional Services – October 2022
Kellogg – September 2022
French Funerals & Cremation Services – September 2022
Sports Business Journal Thought Leaders Retreat – July 2022
New York CIO Executive Summit – June 2022
New York CISO Executive Summit – June 2022
Entrepreneur’s Organization – May 2022
Deloitte – April 2022
LA Galaxy – February 2022
Tinuiti – January 2022
Wasserman – December 2021
Kraft Heinz – September 2021
Chappellet Winery – August 2021
Columbia Grain – July 2021
Viasat – June 2021
5-Star Senior Living – May 2021
The Gathering – April 2021
PNC Bank – April 2021
Novant Health – March 2021
DX3 Summit Canada – March 2021
American Advertising Federation – February 2021
Kellogg’s Europe – February 2021
PeopleGrove – January 2021
Flourish – October 2021
EPX Masters – Nov 2021
Cereal Partners Worldwide – June 2020
Peter Bregman Leadership Podcast – June 2020
Courageous Action Chats – May 2020
Qualcomm – May 2020
Welk Leadership Summit – March 2020
Sandag – March 2020
GES Events – February 2020
Mentorbox – February 2020
HSMAI NYC Keynote – January 2020
Charity : Water – December 2019
RallyFwd Virtual Summit – December 2019
Harrah’s Courage Bootcamp – December 2019

Eric Ryan

“Ryan is right! The difference between mediocrity and greatness or failure and success is one simple ingredient: courage. Ryan provides a playbook to realize our true potential.”

– Eric Ryan, Method Soap, Founder

Jennifer Zudonyi

“Ryan’s passion for courage and for brands is infectious. He, as he believes brand should, lives and breathes the mission and values he has defined for himself.”

– Jennifer Zudonyi, Major League Baseball, Sr. Brand Marketing

Mike Jaquet

“Working with Ryan and his team was one of the best experiences I’ve had in my 25 year career.”

– Mike Jaquet, US Ski & Snowboard, CMO

Nicole Ayers

“Ryan’s book, Return On Courage, is not only the rally cry that businesses need to stay relevant into today’s rapidly changing environment, but it also provides a road map that leads to action.”

– Nicole Ayers, General Mills, head of innovation cereal team

Ryan Thompson

“Ryan challenges conventional thinking. He is also fun and engaging. I find that when we collaborate there are great outcomes as he listens yet provides insightful feedback. His sense of humor translates into all areas of his life, and that is a quality more of us need.”

– Ryan Thompson, Caesars Entertainment, SVP Global Hospitality Marketing

Bill Warren

“Over my 17 year career with P&G, I’ve had personal experience working with numerous creative agencies, but there was something clearly different with Ryan’s team. He is an inspirational leader who truly knows how to think outside the box.”

– Bill Warren, P&G, Pampers

Evan Jones

“Ryan is an exceptionally talented creative strategist. He has a unique ability to connect with consumers, clients and business partners on a personal level.”

– Evan Jones, Fender, CMO

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