Travels from United Kingdom
Debra Searle's speaking fee falls within range: $25,000 to $30,000
Debra Searle MVO MBE has an extraordinary story! She first hit the headlines when she set out to row across the Atlantic with her husband – a 6’5” international oarsman. Unfortunately, he had to be rescued so Debra, a novice rower, continued alone without a support boat and rowed 3300 miles from Tenerife to Barbados. It should have taken them six weeks, but Debra ended up spending 3 ½ months at sea alone and unsupported, encountering 30′ waves, sharks, and force 8 squalls in her 23-foot plywood boat. Since returning from this adventure, Debra has undertaken solo and team expeditions across the globe. She has also represented Great Britain at European and World Championship level in Dragon Boat Racing winning bronze, silver and gold medals.
Debra has spoken at well over 1100 events around the world, across every industry sector but she is more than your usual sports speaker. Debra has founded 5 companies including MIX Diversity, a Diversity & Inclusion consultancy, so is able to speak with authenticity about what it takes to succeed in business. She has presented 40 programmes for the BBC and had 3 books published. Her spirit of adventure gained her an MBE from Her Majesty The Queen and she spent 10 years on the board of a charity with two members of the Royal Family, so has great board-level experience to share. In 2023, a British newspaper listed Debra as one of the World’s Top 50 Inspirational Leaders. Debra has been appointed a Member of the Victorian Order (MVO) for her services to the Royal Family.
In 2022, Debra was ranked no.3 in the World’s Top 30 Motivational Speakers, after Simon Sinek at no.1 and Tony Robbins at no.2, making her the highest ranking female motivational speaker in the world. The movie of Debra’s solo Atlantic row is currently in development in Hollywood.
• Choose Your Attitude! It’s not magic: it’s mindset. • Practical tools to stay motivated and build resilience. • Wellbeing techniques to expand our ability to tolerate the challenges. • How to keep going when the journey only seems to be getting harder. • Finding a way to innovate when pushed outside our comfort zones. • Taking personal ownership as an individual while performing as part of a team. • Leading through change / Strategies for not just coping but excelling during times of adversity. • Women In Leadership and how to manage Unconscious/Implicit Bias.
CHOOSE YOUR ATTITUDE: IT’S NOT MAGIC, IT’S MINDSET
Research shows that 75% of a top performer’s success can be attributed to positive attitude traits, with only 25% of their success attributed to their skillset. Debra helps people tap into that 75% by sharing her amazing personal story of rowing the Atlantic solo after her husband was rescued from their small boat. In her speech, Debra shares the attitude enhancing tools she relied on during those 111 days alone at sea and how she now uses them in her business life. More than just an inspiring storyteller, Debra leaves her audiences with practical and actionable golden nuggets for work and life success, and ideas around how to stay connected as a team. Her ‘Choose Your Attitude Toolkit’ helps leaders and individuals to support themselves, rather than sabotaging themselves mentally when the pressure is on, so they can show up well for their colleagues and clients.
PRACTICAL TOOLS TO STAY MOTIVATED AND BUILD RESILIENCE
There aren’t many people in the world who have spent more than 100 days totally alone at sea, and there are probably even fewer who could say that they thrived during those 100 days. Debra Searle MBE spent 3.5 months unexpectedly rowing the Atlantic solo after her husband and rowing partner developed a crippling phobia of open ocean and had to be rescued from their tiny plywood boat. You don’t survive an experience like that without clear strategies for remaining resilient and carefully guarding your mental and physical wellbeing. In these challenging times of high inflation, hybrid working and geopolitical unrest, Debra presents the mindset and wellbeing strategies she has adapted from her time at sea and that she has successfully brought into daily life. This session is about hearing an inspirational story of resilience and the practical ways to stay positive and productive during times of adversity. The audience will leave re-energized and ready to go again.
CHOOSE TO CHALLENGE
Debra took on her first board position at 27 years old, working with members of the British Royal Family. As the youngest and only woman on the Board, it challenged her confidence and courage to speak up and be heard. But Debra is no stranger to challenging herself! Debra has founded five businesses, one of which is a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Consultancy, has completed expeditions all around the world, and co-founded The Businesswomen’s Network Forum based out of Buckingham Palace. In this inspiring talk for women and male allies, Debra uses storytelling to demonstrate how to choose to challenge yourself, how to challenge unconscious bias and how to challenge imposter syndrome to push yourself outside your comfort zone to make major step changes in your career and confidence. This talk is a rare combination of high adventure, while communicating important messages around the value of inclusion and how we can all play our part to overcome bias.
SPEAKING.COM: What do you want people to learn / take away from your presentations?
SEARLE: I want people to know that they are capable of so much more than they have ever dreamed. I have rowed the Altantic single-handed, founded 3 businesses and sat on the board of a charity with members of the Royal Family. None of that would have been possible had I always stayed within my comfort zones.
SPEAKING.COM: What kind of special prep work do you do prior to an event? How to you prepare for your speaking engagements?
SEARLE: Before each event, I ask my client to fill out a pre-event questionnaire online. This covers lots of the basics about the event, but also goes into a bit of detail about what the business’s biggest challenges are and how I can help their team to embrace the current challenges.
I’ve been fortunate enough to speak to all kinds of industries over the past ten years – from finance, to healthcare, to education and retail. I’ve even spoken to the National Association of Funeral Directors! Once I’ve read through the questionnaire, I do lots of Googling to make sure I am up to date on the latest industry news, and it’s normally then that I start tailoring my speech, figuring out what anecdotes resonate most with that particular audience.
A couple of weeks before the event, I then have a call with my client just to ensure that my speech is completely en-pointe with the conference message.
Finally, I try to arrive on the day as early as possible. It’s often during those introductory speeches by the CEO or MD that I really get a feel for the organization, and sometimes I even pick up the industry-specific language and acronyms which I use in my own speech to ensure that my message resonates as much as possible with my audience.
I’m a stickler for detail, but I love to know that I’ve done a good job. I want to leave the stage knowing that the audience is inspired and equipped for their return to the office.
SPEAKING.COM: Have you had any particularly memorable speaking engagements / unusual situations arise while on the road?
SEARLE: So many! I’ve also been fortunate enough to be invited to Buckingham Palace numerous times, and thanks to my position on the Board for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (a youth awards program), I know a few members of the Royal Family quite well. My sister and I even have a selfie in the Buckingham Palace toilets!
Another highlight was when I was doing a keynote speech for Microsoft in the Maldives, and they asked if I would like to go scuba-diving with their team – amazing!
SPEAKING.COM: What types of audiences would most benefit from your message?
SEARLE: I’ve spoken to over 800 conferences worldwide, with audiences ranging from school children to royalty, from call-center workers to CEOs, so I can say with confidence that all kinds of people benefit from my message. Crucially, an audience has to be ready to make steps to change. My aim is that, through my story, people will be inspired to step outside of their comfort zones and go on to achieve amazing things.
SPEAKING.COM: Which of your keynote speaking topics are your favorites and why?
SEARLE: At the moment, I love talking about gender balance in the workplace and challenging the stereotypes that we have around what it means to be a man or a woman. In fact, the more I research the topic, the more determined I am to join with others to make a positive change. I love that it’s not seen as a “women’s issue” anymore.
SEARLE: At one speech I did for an engineering company, a huge hulk of a man who was covered in tattoos came up to me afterwards. My unconscious biases kicked in big time, and I assumed that he would have hated what he heard. Not so! He actually told me that he had been moved to tears and challenged to act – he didn’t want his daughters and nieces to grow up in a world where they had to face sexual harassment and discrimination because of their gender. I was blown away by his honesty, and it gave me a real appetite to speak to as many people as possible about how powerful it is when we speak out against prejudice.
I also still love talking about my Atlantic row. It truly was the adventure of a lifetime, and it’s formed who I am today. I love to see people inspired to achieve their dreams through my story. There’s no feeling like it.
SPEAKING.COM: What inspired you to start doing speaking engagements?
SEARLE: I entered the world of corporate speaking completely accidentally! While I was rowing the Atlantic alone, little did I know that my twin sister had been fielding phone calls from the press and TV stations all over the world.
I was still celebrating with my family in Barbados when Vodafone invited me to their annual conference as the keynote speaker. When the lights first went up on the stage, blinding me so that I couldn’t even see the audience, I was so scared! I mentally pushed myself – ‘Come on Debra, you’ve just rowed the Atlantic, you can do this!’ – and I did.
From there, it just snowballed, and I have been on the speaking circuit ever since. I love the huge variety of people I get to meet doing my job, and it’s such an honor to be a part of each company’s community for a day or two.
SPEAKING.COM: How much do case studies, personal stories and/or humor factor into your keynote speech content?
SEARLE: I think being able to laugh at yourself is the key to enjoying life! Songs such as “You Get What You Give” by the New Radicals were a key part of my motivation strategy while on the Atlantic, so during my speeches I will often be found leaping around the stage dancing or sharing anecdotes about my Christmas dinner, which comprised of a chicken flavored Cup-A-Soup (it was the closest I could get to turkey!)
I’m so interested in the science and psychology of motivation, but as human beings, we engage so much better with stories rather than dry information. All of my “mind tricks for success” are linked to psychological theory in some way, but by applying practical strategies to real-life situations, audiences are far more likely to remember and use the strategies in their own lives.
SPEAKING.COM: What are some of the successes you’ve helped clients make?
SEARLE: I’ve had HEAPS of encouraging feedback over the years, and I’m often touched when delegates email me in the months and years following my speech to tell me how applying some of my “mind tricks for success” have helped them to achieve something great. The success I’m most proud of is the Arctic Challenge, which I mentioned earlier. Tens of thousands of people followed our team’s social media campaign, and 62% of those stated that the Arctic Challenge project had caused them to have a conversation about gender equality.
It’s so encouraging to know that I am speaking to the business leaders of today and tomorrow. A recent client from the financial services industry wrote to me and said,
“The feedback, both last night and today, has been incredibly positive and has inspired much reflection on both the enormity of your achievements and the relentlessly positive attitude you portrayed….I now have 60 or so leaders choosing their attitude!”
What more could I ask for?!
“I have never heard a better speech, anywhere, in any context. It was such a thrill to have you, and you simply ‘nailed it’ in terms of what I wanted for the closing, in delivery and content. People are still talking about it.” – Alan Farnsworth, President, Bausch & Lomb EMEA
“We provided feedback forms to all participants and asked for a rating between 1 (poor) and 5 (excellent). We received 170 completed forms and Debra scored a ′5′ from every single respondent. This is unheard of! The comments were all super, for example – ′ Best speaker I′ve heard at an IBM event – outstanding!′” – Deborah Evans, Client Director, IBM UK Ltd.
“Very many thanks for your fantastic after dinner speech. Aside from the laughter, for the majority of the time that you were speaking you could have heard a pin drop! To get insurance brokers and insurer company salesman to keep quiet is no mean feat! The feedback I got on the evening was extremely positive and many felt that the move away from our traditional type of male speakers was a vast improvement.” – Insurance Institute of Reading
“Her feedback scores were phenomenal – the highest ever. Her slides were the earliest we’ve ever received. She was dressed impeccably. She stayed for the entire event and even incorporated what she’d heard earlier in the sessions making it totally relevant. The most professional speaker we’ve ever booked!” – LCP
“She scored 5 out of 5 from every one of the 170 delegates. This is unheard of at an IBM event!” – IBM
“The way you translated your experience into actionable day to day practices to change behaviour and get into a positive mindset is very powerful.” – Biogen
“Your insights have certainly inspired the team to challenge the status quo and dig deep within, to achieve what feels like the impossible.” – Google
“You were a HUGE hit. The sessions have been littered with references to choosing our words, our attitude and extending our comfort zone! So many of the delegates came to find me to tell me how moved and inspired they were by your story and to congratulate me on my choice of external speaker.” – Odeon
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