Meet The Team
Simon
Twice winner of the GB & All-Ireland Championship of Public Speaking, Simon is an expert in helping high-achieving leaders and entrepreneurs to influence and inspire through the spoken word.
Since placing in the top 20 out of 26,000 competing speakers worldwide at the finals of the World Championship of Public Speaking in the USA, Simon has worked with thousands of ambitious professionals across the globe, addressing audiences in Japan, Pakistan, India, the UAE, Germany, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, the USA and across the UK and Ireland.
Clients benefit from Simon's ability to bring international keynote speaking expertise into the 'training room'. He draws extensively on real-life experience from a career which spans corporate executive headhunting, consumer brand strategy & innovation consulting, plus a stint working in the British Parliament and running the successful campaign to elect England's youngest MP in 2005.
Simon's practical high-energy Keynotes, Seminars, Masterclasses and One to One Coaching sessions have assisted FTSE 100 executives, professional speakers, politicians, MBA graduates, PHD Engineers, social entrepreneurs and others to enhance the 'connection' they forge with the people who matter.
Holding degrees from Oxford University and the London School of Oriental and African Studies, he is the 2012 President for the London Junior Chamber of Commerce, part of a worldwide federation of more than 175,000 young leaders and entrepreneurs.
Simon is the only speaker to receive national awards from all three of the following: Toastmasters International (twice winner of GB and All-Ireland 2006 & 2007), Junior Chamber International (European Champion 2008) and UK Professional Speaking Association (The 2009 'Speaker Factor'). Also recognised as GB & All-Ireland Speech Evaluation Champion 2009 (Toastmasters International).
He is a member of the Professional Speaking Association, the Global Speakers' Federation and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce.
He has delivered programmes for leaders within General Electric, Shell plc, BP, Cambridge University, 'Which?' magazine, the Chartered Management Institute, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), UnLtd, Teach First, IIRME, Ashridge Business School and Hult International Business School.
Simon is the Founding Director of The Art of Connection.
Richard
Former Lead Trainer at the National Crisis and Hostage Negotiation Unit at Scotland Yard, Richard brings a lifetime's experience of tackling communication challenges at the sharp end.
With experience training staff at the Metropolitan Police, the United Nations and the FBI, Richard's expertise offers a unique opportunity for participants in his sessions to master the communication challenges they face.
Richard's recent client experience includes delivering communication programmes for organisations which include Oracle, the Tate Gallery, BNP Paribas and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
He offers specialised courses on The Art of Influence, Power of Language and Active Listening Skills and is a much sought after keynote speaker.
James
James is a Learning and Development Consultant and Executive Coach with over twenty years experience in the private, public and voluntary sectors. As a former Chartered Surveyor and BBC Producer he has a unique take on designing and delivering Team Building, Leadership and Communication Skills courses with special emphasis on lasting behavioural change.
He began life as an Investment Fund Manager with international property consultants Jones Lang LaSalle. In 1997 he fulfilled a lifelong desire and joined the BBC, first as a Radio 4 producer, then as a BBC television producer. He is one of the few people ever to have produced Science and Arts programmes on both Television and Radio: All In The Mind, Thinking Allowed, Britain's Best Buildings, The Material World and The Human Mind.
His programme experience has given him an obsession with how the brain works and James brings the latest neuroscience into his masterclasses so delegates gain a critical understanding of how their own minds work.
At the BBC he trained under their Executive Coaching Programme and worked as a Trainer. He has experience facilitating a wide spectrum of Management Development courses.
He has a passion for understanding team dynamics and the evolution of a high-performing team. Shell plc and Quintiles are among his many clients.
James lives in London with his wife and two children and is an obsessive Toastmaster.
Eileen
Eileen's long and varied career, both home and abroad, has included work in the sales & sales promotion world and in the voluntary and education sectors. More recently a stint as Arts Correspondent and Resident Poet for local Dubai radio. An entrepreneur before she'd ever heard the term, she is well-suited to her role as Middle East Development Director, based in Dubai, UAE.
If you are interested in learning more about The Art of Connection's role overseas then she is the one to contact.
