Sterling Hawkins

SPEAKING.COM: What do you want people to learn/take away from your presentations and why do you do it?

HAWKINS: I get to make a difference for people and that’s the number one reason why I do it. Inside of a keynote I’m able to create entirely new possibilities for an audience that light up actions for them to take in their businesses. It has a ripple effect inside of conferences that really leaves the event and attendees with tangible results.

There is so much technology out there that not only works, but is also economically viable and can entirely change what retail (and the world) looks like. Inside of a keynote, we start to create that change and give people the tools and knowledge so they can start making that difference as well.

SPEAKING.COM: What kind of special prep work do you do prior to an event? How do you prepare for your speaking engagements?

HAWKINS: It’s funny — I often hear I’m such a natural speaker, but that has only come with practice, practice and more practice.

I have a lot of material to draw from so I spend time understanding who event attendees are and what they’re currently dealing with. Then I orient my message, stories, and content in a way that’s not only relatable, but furthermore, inspires action.

SPEAKING.COM: Have you had any particularly memorable speaking engagements / unusual situations arise while on the road?

HAWKINS: There have been bomb scares in Melbourne, flight cancelations in New York, and countless adventures in and around speaking engagements like diving with great white sharks or sailing the Galapagos.

One of my favorite stories though is about a speech I gave in Japan years ago. It was to a larger audience and one of my first keynotes so I was overly prepared. Since I don’t speak Japanese, there was consecutive translation set up, which I loved since it afforded me a few seconds between each thought for the translator to translate. I got up there after a big applause, delivered my first sentence and the translator started right on queue.

30 seconds went by. 60 seconds. 90 seconds.

A full two minutes later the translator started to wrap up and the entire audience broke out laughing. I was confused; I hadn’t told a joke. I stumbled through the rest of the presentation, found the translator afterwards, and asked him what he had said out there that had everyone laughing. “Oh,” he replied, “don’t worry — I told them you were here to talk about the future of commerce, but that you were really here to find a Japanese wife.”

SPEAKING.COM: What types of audiences would most benefit from your message?

HAWKINS: Audiences that want to make a difference themselves. We have the toolsets to unlock innovation thinking and unleash action to produce measurable results.

Of course, it’s particularly relevant to crowds that have to do with retail and commerce; however, it’s a message that resonates with entrepreneurial groups, business managers, and even more traditional companies that want to start taking steps toward change.

SPEAKING.COM: Which of your keynote speaking topics are your favorites and why?

HAWKINS: I love everything that I get to speak about. What I love most is talking about innovation thinking because it opens people and businesses up to so much potential. Not only is it a blast to share — it’s something that people take with them and put into use. I continually get updates from past attendees on how take-aways from my programs are impacting their businesses and lives.

SPEAKING.COM: What inspired you to start doing speaking engagements?

HAWKINS: There’re countless quotes on how powerful language can be. Our future is literally created through the conversations we’re having now, which is why I felt I had to speak. I was scared in the beginning; to start speaking meant to be vulnerable and be willing to embrace the unknown in myself. Yet it has ultimately led to more fun than I could have imagined, impacting more businesses than I would have ever believed, and giving me more fulfillment than I ever thought possible.

SPEAKING.COM: How do you keep your audience engaged and actively listening during your keynotes? Do you use case studies, personal stories and/or in your speeches?

HAWKINS: Yes, yes, and yes. There’s a difference between speaking to an audience and speaking with an audience. My audiences are engaged because I’m talking with them, not just talking at them. Of course there’s interaction, vivid stories, case studies, and take-aways, but they’re delivered in a way that gets up under the audience where they know that I know that I’m talking with each of them, be it 10 people or 1,000 people.

SPEAKING.COM: What are some of the successes you’ve helped clients achieve?

HAWKINS: We’ve kicked off successful corporate meetings by shaking up the conversation. We’ve launched conferences with record-breaking attendance and engagement. We’ve even shifted corporate cultures from resistant to change to a culture that actually creates change.

One of the things I’m most proud of is a success at a business event relatively recently. We kicked off the program and lit up a very traditional crowd with more energy, more excitement, more possibility than they’ve ever seen at this conference, which has been running for about 50 years. The keynote spurred more engagement than they’ve ever logged throughout the program – such as record early registrations for the following year’s event and the most positive feedback they’ve seen so far.