Simon Director		An award-winning speaker and trainer, Simon is the youngest person ever to win back-to-back GB & All Ireland Public Speaking titles. He is also the last person in the world you should ever consult for advice on DIY. Click here for full biography
James Associate Expert		James is an expert Team Trainer and Executive Coach, with more than twenty years experience working in the private, public and voluntary sectors. Click here for full biography
Richard Associate Expert		Richard is a former Scotland Yard hostage negotiator and Lead Trainer at the National Hostage & Crisis Negotiation Unit. Click here for full biography
Pia Associate Expert		Pia offers training and coaching in Cultural Intelligence, with more than ten years experience travelling, studying and working as a project manager all over the world in multi-national universities, organisations and businesses. Click here for full biography

Simon European Champion of Public Speaking An award-winning speaker and trainer, Simon is the youngest person ever to win back-to-back GB & All Ireland Public Speaking titles. He is also the last person in the world you should ever consult for advice on DIY. In 2007, Simon placed in the top 20 out of 26,000 competing speakers worldwide at the World Championship of Public Speaking finals, hosted by Toastmasters International in Phoenix, Arizona. The following year, he was crowned European Champion of Public Speaking for Junior Chamber International (JCI), a global federation of more than 200,000 young leaders and entrepreneurs.

Today, drawing on a broad-based career background spanning corporate executive search, politics and consumer brand strategy & innovation, Simon helps professional people maximise their personal impact – as communicators and as leaders. His workshops and presentations have empowered audiences in the USA, the United Arab Emirates, India, Pakistan, Finland, Denmark, and across UK and Ireland.

In 2005, Simon recruited, developed and led the team of young volunteers who, against all the odds, secured the election of England’s youngest Member of Parliament, coming from third place to win.

He is a qualified Training Associate for Speakersbank, a national network of trainers and facilitators, empowering young people in state schools across London and the south-east with vital skills in communication and personal leadership.

Featuring on television as a special guest on John Deykin's Face-To-Face programme on City7tv, the UAE's premier English Language TV channel, he has also been interviewed on Business Tonight for Dubai Eye, Dubai's premier Talk Radio Channel.

He is a Fellow of the RSA (Royal Society for the Arts) a charity that has been providing a platform for public thinkers and progressive debate for over 250 years.

Simon is the Director of The Art Of Connection, a niche consultancy that specializes in helping ambitious professionals maximize their personal impact.


Click here to download PDF version

James James Marshall is an expert Team Trainer and Executive Coach, with more than twenty years experience working in the private, public and voluntary sectors. A former BBC Radio and Television Producer specialising in psychology programmes, James has a passion for team dynamics and behaviour change. He has worked with a wide range of blue–chip clients, including Norvartis, Natural England, The Environment Agency, The Care Quality Commission, Citigroup, Standard Life, The Metropolitan Police, Institute Of Neurology, Channel 4, MTV and BASF.

Richard Richard is a former Scotland Yard hostage negotiator and Lead Trainer at the National Hostage & Crisis Negotiation Unit. With experience training staff at the U.N., security forces in Afghanistan, FBI agents and the Metropolitan Police, when it comes to language and listening, Richard’s tools and techniques are truly cutting edge. A communication specialist, he has delivered specialised courses in the art of influence, power of language and active listening skills for organisations all over the world.

Pia For more than ten years Pia has travelled, studied and worked as a project manager all over the world in multi-national universities, organisations and businesses, bringing experience from the US, India, Scandinavia, South Africa and the UK. She believes that her mixed background as half Indian and half Danish has sensitized her towards the importance of bridging cultures while still maintaining one’s own individuality. Pia holds a post-graduate degree in Linguistic Psychology, a certificate in advanced Life and Business Coaching, and specialized in cross-cultural communication, conflict resolution and collaborative negotiation at Columbia University, New York. Her training and coaching in Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is highly interactive!