Stevie Ray is one of the most unique speakers you will ever meet. Besides being an expert in the art of influence—with over 1,000 corporate clients nationwide—he has traveled the country as a stand-up and improv comedian, opening for such stars as Paula Poundstone and Weird Al Yankovik. (His stepdaughter doesn’t think he is funny, but his audiences do.) He is the co-founder of Stevie Ray’s Improv Company in Minneapolis, MN, a successful training and entertainment company since 1989.

A prolific writer, he is the longest running national columnist for the Business Journal Newspapers, and the author of eleven non-fiction books, the latest being The Roadmap to Influence.

Stevie is also a martial artist and self-defense instructor, a beekeeper, and volunteers recording books-on-tape for the blind.

Keynote:
The Roadmap to Influence
This is Stevie’s signature keynote. In it, Stevie teaches you how the brain accepts or rejects ideas, as well as hands-on techniques to help you influence others toward positive outcomes. Everyone from the CEO to the newest intern owes their success to the ability to influence others; whether it is pitching ideas to clients, motivating staff, or connecting with customers, it doesn’t matter how well you know your job if you cannot positively connect with others.

Learning Objectives:
1) Capture attention: learn the neuroscience behind the Approach/Withdraw Response, and how to use this response to your advantage.
2) Create connection: learn the two main methods of persuasion, and how to determine which to use in a given environment.
3) Motivate action: getting agreement is worthless unless action is taken. Learn the simple methods to ensure that momentum leads to outcomes.


Influential Leadership
Too many leaders are trained in their profession, but not in how to garner support for initiative, or to motivate staff to do their best work. In this exciting session, Stevie Ray illuminates the various styles of leadership, and how each applies to specific teams and situations.

Learning Objectives:
1) The nine recognized styles of leadership, and the types of teams and situations best suited for each.
2) The neuroscience involved in leader-follower dynamics.
3) The psychological trigger words that either motivate others or cause greater resistance.