John Powers

Biography

John Powers stands out as one of the best in the business. His entire career has been one of effectively communicating with audiences.

Prior to his speaking career, John created and produced the Broadway musical, "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?" which is presently playing in over a dozen cities.

He is the author of four best selling books, the most recent being, "The Junk Drawer, Corner Store, Front Porch Blues." Within the next eighteen months, he has three new books scheduled to be published: "How to Keep the Promises You Make to Yourself," "Never Walk a Road that Doesn't Lead to Your Heart" and "How to Talk so People will Listen; How to Listen so People will Talk."

John Powers earned a Ph.D. degree in Communications from Northwestern University and was a professor of Speech & Performing Arts at Northeastern Illinois University. He has created and hosted a PBS series on how to be an effective public speaker and has hosted several interview specials for PBS. He has been a guest on hundreds of radio and television shows including Oprah and Today. John has received two Emmy awards for his work in television.

John's business background includes producing his own musical for four years, raising capital of over a million dollars and coordinating the daily efforts of over two hundred artistic, financial, sales and marketing people. In 1988, he founded the Powers of Motivation Institute and since then has worked with over a thousand major corporations and national associations to provide programs on how to succeed in a changing world.

John Powers does his homework. Before each presentation, he conducts extensive research into his clients' organization, its internal workings, needs and goals. He and his staff at the Powers of Motivation Institute work with the client to make that meeting the best one the client has ever had.

Publications

ODDITUDE

A potent mix of advice, inspiration and simple steps to unleash the excitement that makes every life worth living Odditude teaches a thought process that can be tailor-made to any person's needs, concerns, personality and situation in life. Now Odditude shows readers how to find their inner potential to make their dreams come true, and the courage and hard tools to make it real. In easy-to-digest stories from his clients, humorous tales from his own experience and pithy lessons of personal growth. Powers shows readers how to assemble a team of support, outline a game plan and lauch their own pursuit of happiness.

Titles

Passion: Do What You Love; Love What You Do. Passion is the difference between a Work-A-Holic who puts all of his or her time into their "Job" and a Love-A-Holic who puts all of his or her enthusiasm, creativity and human spirit into their "Career." Loving who you are and what you do is how to be the best at who you are and what you do. When you practice passion, you harvest such benefits as: joyously meeting the challenges of constant change; becoming a better leader, team player, communicator, negotiator, problem solver, creative thinker and reducing both your physical and emotional stress just to name a few. Those who love who they are and what they do are always more successful than those who do not. For a simple reason: Playing is a more natural and creative activity than working. If you are playing and your competition is working, you are going to win. This program offers simple but highly effective suggestions on how to immediately begin enriching your life in passionate - and therefore, highly productive - ways.

How to Keep the Promises You Make to Yourself. All of us make promises to ourselves. "I'm going to increase my sales," "I'm going to manage my people better," "I'm going to spend more time with my family." But how often do we keep them? According to an executive of a major health club chain, only one out of every hundred people who join actually becomes a regular user. This program, in a step-by-step process, enables you to achieve far more than you ever have before. "Promises" also teaches you "Power Features" such as Time Travel, discovering the real audience for whom you are performing, producing at crunch time, learning to pull the trigger of success, effectively using your imaginary friends and creating Sacred Time in your life.

Lions Walk Softly so They Can Listen. The art and the science of leadership. Strong leaders know that we are all teachers, whether we want to be or not, constantly teaching everyone around us who we are and what we believe life is all about. At the same time, we are students only when we choose to be - learning from those around us. A strong leader is a great sales person - knows how to sell a philosophy of management, a product, a standard of ethics, a sense of caring. A strong leader is not the focus of attention but rather is the source of it for others. A true leader is a Wizard who gives people faith in themselves. No organization, no company, no business has ever succeeded without great leadership, without great wizards.

The Customer is Always Right...Wrong...But They are Always the Customer. "Our company policy is..." Is often the default statement of a company representative who is telling an unhappy customer that, not only is this representative not going to help the customer, this representative is not even going to think about it. The only company policy that makes sense is, "I'm going to make your life so delightful, you'll hardly be able to stand it." The reality (as opposed to the company's "Policy") of customer service flows from the top down. Management must realize that their employees are, in a real sense, their first customers. How employees are treated is how they treat their customers. This program, using numerous real examples and practical principles, demonstrates that you can instill within each customer a feeling of trust by simply caring, using common sense, effective communications and creative solutions. Trust is the soul of customer loyalty.

If I'm Odd, Does that Make Us Even? Each of us is a once-in-a-universe happening. Yet, at the same time, we are 99% alike. By sharing that 1% uniqueness, we learn from one another and help change the world together. That 1% is where the fun occurs. Great Leaders Know This - They recognize and celebrate the unique talents of each member of the team while, at the same time, motivating everyone to work for the common goal.

How to Talk so People Will Listen; How to Listen so People Will Talk: If you talk out loud, you are a public speaker. Addressing a group of people, a job interview, committee meetings, conversing with clients, colleagues, friends and family. Yet, the vast majority of us intensely dislike speaking in public. For a simple reason. No one has ever taught us how to do it well. Our educational system virtually ignores this most vital of communications skills. Most college graduates take only one or two public speaking courses during their entire academic careers. Few of us have been born with the natural talent to be brilliant speakers. But all of us, by having the courage to learn some simple facts, using common sense and practicing the skills we already possess can become very good ones - perhaps even brilliant ones. In the same way, there are principles that we can learn and incorporate into our communications skills that encourage those around us to talk enthusiastically about what is important to them. People want to talk when they know they have an interested and caring listener.

Learning is for the Birds...The Ones Who Want to Fly: A program for teachers, parents, school administrators, school boards, community groups and anyone who is concerned about the education of our children. This presentation provides an audience with the rare opportunity to hear about school from the perspective of the worst kid in class...John Powers. He barely got through elementary school. Says Powers, "Every year, I was in the lowest reading group, the "Sparrows." One year, the teacher made up a special group just for me...the "Droppings." In high school, he graduated in the bottom three percent of his class. Said Powers, "...Which made me feel quite superior to that two percent." He was rejected by over thirty-five colleges and universities. But once he got into college, the momentum changed. As an adult, Powers has taught on the elementary and junior high levels. He was a professor at Northeastern Illinois University and holds a Ph.D. degree in Communications from Northwestern University. In addition, he has worked extensively in public television and has written four books and a Broadway musical about the experience of going to school. Learn about the adults who made the difference.