We were lucky enough to catch up with Shed Simove for our latest 'Getting to know' feature. Shed is a professional speaker with an expertise in the areas of creativity, boosting sales and how to get marketing exposure for less - and he has twenty years experience in these areas, having worked in television for fifteen years, writing two books, then creating and then selling over 1.5 million novelty gifts. The presentations Shed deliver cover the topics of ‘Innovation In Business’ and ‘How To Think Differently’, in order to obtain huge future success and directly improve your bottom line.
Q: Hey Shed - in a nutshell, tell us a bit about your services and some of the industries you’ve freelanced for?
A: Well, actually that’s an appropriate question - my presentations teach Blue Chip Companies, Teams, Entrepreneurs, Students and Organizations how to think out of the nutshell! I’ve presented successfully to Industries and Universities around the world. It’s an amazing thrill and privilege. I recently presented to a Healthcare company in Boston, USA, was the headline speaker at the ‘Minds Of Marketing Conference’ in Malaysia and I’m soon to present to the hottest Entrepreneurs in Istanbul.
Q: How did you get started in the events industry?
A: Many years ago, I was invited to present the techniques I’ve learned through years of what I call ‘Failing Upwards’ – in other words, through making mistakes in business. At that event, there was a lovely professional speaker called Caspar Berry, who said, ‘Shed, you could be a professional speaker…’. I was skeptical - and it took years of facing my fears, tweaking my offering so it utterly delivers concrete value to both companies and individuals, and lading a brilliant Manager, but eventually, I incrementally got better at what I do and lost the many of the crippling nerves that most people naturally feel in front of an audience. Now, I still have some nerves, but they’re from excitement and wanting to do a great job – and rather than hindering me, they help me deliver a great presentation each and every time I get on stage.
Q: Most memorable moment working as a freelancer?
A: I am supremely grateful for having this career in keynote speaking. Here are three moments out of many that I treasure:
1) Presenting to four thousand entrepreneurs in a Bournemouth arena. Such a thrill!
2) Being awarded a solid silver coin in Romania by a finance company after my speech for them. I still have it as a treasured keepsake.
3) Being called by a company in the building industry to be told they implemented one of my strategies and it brought them huge results. In fact, this type of situation happens regularly – a firm will let me know that my speech has directly brought their company a huge increase on their bottom line, which apart from being engaging and entertaining is the whole point Event Planners book a speaker.
Q: Best location you’ve worked at?
A: It’s so exciting presenting around the world. The conferences I spoke at for a brilliant event called ‘Brand Minds; in Singapore and Romania were utterly amazingly well organized and powerful. I spoke on the same bill as Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk and the audiences were at the top of their game, engaged and excited. Also, I particular loved the Peninsula Hotel in Paris. My room was fit for a King and had a heated toilet seat. I miss that seat!
Q: If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself when you first started out in the events world?
A: I started a long time ago, so my advice would be ‘Buy some Bitcoin, Shed’, ha ha! In terms of advice re speaking, I’d tell myself to stick at it, value those who support you and constantly improve. There were many times when I thought about giving up my speaking career, because it was difficult or didn’t go well, but thanks to my Parents, Family, Manager and Agents, I have both the support to carry on, and a personality that never ever quits. Being a ‘Completer Finisher’ is one of the tenets of success…
You can contact Shed here:
Email: https://motivationalspeaker.biz/contact/
Website: https://motivationalspeaker.biz/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShedSimove
Linked in: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/shedsimove