The Pulse of the Speaking Industry

GDA Industry Insights

GDA Podcast Recap | Jeff Kirschner Episode 1

Jeff Kirschner was our first guest and the timing was incredible.  GDA Podcast  had Jeff on just before his TED talk was released in February 2017, which the TED talk is now  approaching 1 million views.  

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GDA Industry Insights

The Story of the GDA Podcast

In the 18 years since the founding of GDA Speakers, one of the many benefits of the speaking industry I've come to appreciate is the constant exposure to those that inspire others. Whether it be for business or personal improvement, common business phrases and buzzwords often shared are: Grow or Die, Innovation, Disruption, Value-add, Culture, Intentionality and Surround yourself with people smarter than you.

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GDA Industry Insights

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same: 30 Years Of Perspective

With nearly three decades of industry experience GDA Speakers president, Gail Davis, share's her thoughts and insight on what has changed, as well as what has remained the same in the speaking industry. 

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GDA Industry Insights

An Inspirational Story of Perseverance

   I founded GDA Speakers because I believed in Nando Parrado and his story. I set myself and my business apart because I found someone who was new and different. I was able to passionately describe his story to potential clients and how it could profoundly impact audiences. Nando has been our most booked speaker for 17 years. I often hear, “Gail, we need another Nando.” Quite frankly, Nando is a tough act to follow.  His story is so unbelievable and so powerful – that, coupled with his humanity and humility always produces a crowd favorite.

  Then, I encountered Amanda Lindhout.

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GDA Industry Insights

Less Is More

In 1995, while working on the other side of events as a meeting planner, I was in Maui with Rob Schneider.  He was so funny and I was looking for every opportunity to use him at EDS for our general session, awards night, recap video, anywhere he would fit.  Then he looked at me and shared something he learned on Saturday Night Live, “less is more.” He explained to me it is always better to leave the audience wanting more.

This advice has been valuable to me over the years in coaching speakers and clients for the maximum impact.  I recently found another great application for his lesson.  This month my company turned 17 years old.  In the beginning, I tracked the number of speakers in our database.  I was constantly updating the website to say GDA Speakers works with over 500, 1,000, 2,000 speakers.  Somewhere along the way that number got to 5,000.  That is when I remembered less is more.

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GDA Industry Insights

Six Speakers, Six Days, Three Cities….. Impressions.

There is nothing like going on the road to gain a new perspective or to remind you of the basics when it comes to event planning.

I spent 20 years working on the other side of booking speakers as the Director of Corporate Incentive Events at EDS and now for almost the same length of time, I have been on the bureau side.  I walked away from my recent onsite visits with this collection of thoughts:

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