This is what clients and delegates have to say about Network to Win by Roy Sheppard

Before anyone books a speaker or seminar leader, you have to be certain that he/she will deliver what you need. Below you will find what clients (and more importantly, what delegates) write on their evaluation sheets. 

This is a VERY long document - it contains many audience and client comments, with the most recent at the beginning to help you decide if this talk would be appropriate for your organisation.

24 July 2000 Arthur Andersen Event, Birmingham, UK 

This presentation took place as part of a global Arthur Andersen training course. There were 55 in the audience, comprising senior UK and US Arthur Andersen staff as well as senior director/partner level clients from venture capital companies and law firms in the Midlands. These outside guests represented about 60% of the audience. This data is based on 41 respondents. Please note; the presentation lasted 90 minutes and took place from 6pm to 7.30pm. Even so, a number of these delegates commented that they felt the session could have been longer! 

Delegates were asked to mark the presentation for; content, delivery, entertainment value and applicability to their jobs.

Mean Averages (Maximum score 10)

In July 2000 Roy presented a morning seminar for Excellence-Net - a Merseyside TEC/Business Link initiative to 150 business people. Below is what was written to the speaker bureau that booked Roy:

Content of Speech: Very informative, mind blowing - thought provoking

Structure: Excellent, found he got the points over very well - no jargon

Style & delivery: Brilliant, easy to listen to. Found his humour "cool"

Impact on audience: After event, spoke for itself - every one was at ease - "networking"

Use and effect of humour: Just right.

Additional comments: One of the best I've seen!

Overall Rating %: 100%

Please provide an overall performance rating:- 100%

"I would unequivocally state that "Network to Win" is a presentation that anyone who has to meet people and work with people cannot afford to miss. It makes a science out of an every day occurrence that can so often fail miserably. Roy Sheppard makes simple but effective points about how to network effectively and it works. Using just a couple of things I had learnt in the morning, I went on to get two very positive leads for work following networking over lunch. Roy is a natural communicator which ensures the session flows effortlessly and the audience is kept alert for the next key idea. I would not hesitate to use Roy again. Simon Haworth, Consultant to Excellence-Net

Two years ago (1998) Roy Sheppard was voted their top speaker ahead of Sir John Harvey Jones, Pete Goss, Frank Dick, Andrew Neill and many other highly accomplished speakers. To date, he is the only speaker they have asked back a second time.

In July 2000, Roy presented a half day seminar on developing your People Portfolio to 40 senior members of staff at Bacon & Woodrow, a leading international firm of actuaries. A delegate was overheard by the meeting planner saying "This course should be compulsory for all senior partners."

Delegates were asked to rate the presentation on a scale of 1-10. They marked him for content, delivery, entertainment value and applicability to their job. These are the averages based on 33 responses.

Content 8.7

Delivery 9.0

Entertainment Value 8.7

Applicability to you and your job 8.4

 Delegates were asked to answer this question;

What part(s) did you find most useful?

• Building relationships – how to start conversations.  Learning what I need to find out.
• Be interested, not interesting, i.e. listen “What can I offer?  What do I want?”
• Being more aware of my clients.  Thinking more about my needs.
• Listing contacts and desired contacts.  6 degrees of separations.  Opening conversations with strangers (and ending it).  Reconnection.
• Practical tips, practise sessions.  Motivational and confidence building effect.
• How to cope at meetings with strangers.  Importance of networking.  Use ‘thank you’ notes.
• Asking for help (rather than selling).  6 degrees exercise example.  Making lists of people to contact.
• Need to plan – what do you need, what can you offer.  Ask for help.
• The discussions regarding who we want to get to know.  The exercise ‘What do I want?’, ‘What skills do I have?’
• In particular about being interested
• List of people you want to meet (Master List).  Re-contact people..  6 degrees of separation.
• Taking time out to focus on actively networking.  Re-learning that we can all help each other and we need a formal process to capture quality info.
• Re-connecting with people.  Art of conversation.  Power of networks and networking.
• Tips on Follow-up System. Tips on maximising attendance at events.  Pink/blue cards.
• Explaining the need to change your own attitude from ‘what can I get?’ to ‘what can I give?’ and the 6 degrees of separation.
• emphasis on regular ‘non sales’ contact; follow-up sessions; master lists of contacts.
• Emphasis on building and maintaining contacts, and how to do these things.
• To know what I want and ask for help where necessary.
• What clients are anxious about.  4 Connections.  2 minute drill.  Getting attendance lists in advance.
• The Rule of Four – very useful concept.  Subject of how to maximise potential and to fully exploit existing contacts was well done.
• Lists – important to put it down.  Following up.  Importance of networking, saying ‘thank you’.  Surprised how I can actually help others.
• Idea for focusing on objectives/people before attending events.  Be interested in others.  Use 6 degrees of separation.
• list of ideas/approaches to build people portfolio.
• practical things to improve networking.  Realisation that there is probably someone in B & W who can help with most things.
• Networking – know who you want to get to know and keep in contact with people as they could one day introduce you (via people they know) to the person you really want to know.
• Thinking of what you want, what you can do for others.  Networking and asking questions.
• enlightening, particularly the 6 degrees of separation exercise.
• Importance of building, maintaining and using contacts (both internal and external) “Rule of 4”.  The “7 Steps of Networking” – put a structure around the useful ideas.
• especially issues of confidence in entering a room of strangers and having a structure and reason for ‘networking’.
• Made me think more about myself (wants/needs).  Lists.  Made me more aware of others / learn to listen.  Activities help to reinforce ideas.
• Morning session about developing a network and the follow-up routine. 

Delegates were asked to write key words they would use to sum up the session

• Useful, Enjoyable, Thought Provoking

• Enjoyable, Informative, Useful

• Professional, Entertaining, Worthwhile

• Thought Provoking, Fun

• Inspiring, Fun, Fascinating

• Interesting, Useful, Enjoyable

• Perception, Observation, Wants.

• Interesting, Useful, Amusing

• Enjoyable, Fun, Thought Provoking

• Enlightening, Entertaining, Useful

• Very Useful Day

• Informative, Stimulating, Informal

• Fantastic Day Learning

• Interesting, Informative, Relevant

• Positive, Instructive, Achievable

• Relevant, Useful, Entertaining

• Entertaining, Informative, Thought-provoking

• Enjoyable, Informative, Useful

• Excellent, Relevant, ‘unputdownable’

• Useful, Practical, Interesting

• Informative, Interesting, Useful

• Excellent Value, Relevant, Enjoyable

• Useful

• More Home Truths!

• Made Me Think

• Enlightening, Thought Provoking, Educational

• Listen, Ask, Act

• Useful

• Excellent, Attitude Changing

In March 1999, Barclays Bank plc held a Business Excellence conference for 100 senior executives within the bank. Below are the comments received from delegates following the talk "Network to Win"

• "Roy Sheppard was outstanding. You met your goal of giving us something to take away and put into practice."

• "Roy Sheppard was terrific, he was funny in places, informative, got us involved and illustrated on important facets of Business Excellence"

• "Roy Sheppard was excellent"

• "Roy Sheppard's talk extremely enlightening and very relevant re the Business and Personally"

• "Things that were good: Roy Sheppard and Networking"

• "Roy was brilliant!"

• "Roy Sheppard - Excellent presentation - very simple but loads of learning points"

• "Things that were good: Roy Sheppard"

• "Excellent presentation by Roy Sheppard"

• "Networking for Business results excellent!"

• "Afternoon session - Networking - Brilliant"

• "Roy Sheppard was inspiring"

• "Roy Sheppard was excellent - session was fun as well as beneficial"

"...Roy entertained and motivated the sales force. His popularity and effectiveness were mirrored in the delegates scorecards - "Top of the day.""

David Burcher, Head of Retail Operations, Western Region, Bristol and West plc

"...feedback received from our seminar last month has been very positive. Your talk "Network to Win" provided our executives with a good introduction on how to improve their networking skills, and was delivered in a light-hearted and entertaining way. Your lively presentation style combined with the interactive nature of the talk was particularly appreciated..."

David R Shaw, Chief Executive, NatWest Equity Partners.

"Your presentation was well received by our group and several employees commented to me that it was unfortunate that we were not able to allocate you more time - they were really getting into the presentation! The points you make about improving communications within an organisation are right on target and were certainly useful for our organisation at this time of dynamic changes in our industry...thanks again for a great presentation."

Michael B Parks, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Sabre Europe

In January 1999, Status the Event Management Company organised its first speaker showcase since its company re-launch. Roy Sheppard was the keynote speaker. Below are the comments from delegates.

"Congratulations on a superb event! Last night’s showcase made a huge impact on me – and I’m sure, on the rest of your guests"

"The event proved to be a valuable source of practical information and a good networking opportunity to assess speakers (and of course network!)" "Education, experience, networking, meeting nice people" "The presentation, in particular Roy Sheppard's" "I thoroughly enjoyed the event and the networking therein!"

"Networking and investigating ‘what’s out there’" "The quality of the presenter - the content was fascinating, constructive and inspirational. Also the networking opportunity was superb" "I found this event useful in reinforcing existing knowledge/techniques and giving me fresh insight" "Well managed relaxed and interesting speaker" "Good opportunity to meet wide variety of people"

"Very useful contacts made" "I would feel assured that a future Showcase programme would be designed with the needs of the delegate in mind - with a clear intention of making good use of time. I would also expect a lively atmosphere conducive to effective networking"

"I thought the presentation, the venue and the Status staff were all excellent. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and productive evening"

The Speaker – Roy Sheppard

Out of a possible 100% approval rating Roy Sheppard scored an average 83% rating, the lowest rating being 75% and the median rating of 90%

Comments concerning the content of Roy Sheppard’s talk

"Very interesting and with the added humour easy to take in. Good use of score techniques.Practical and interesting.

Thought provoking" "Good - given time constraints" "Excellent" "Good"

"Informative and inspirational. I took copious notes and fully intend to put the recommendations into practice" "Very good & informative

Interesting, a lot of common sense"

"Lots of little gems to take away and use - starting tomorrow" "The speaker took a substantial topic and broke it down into manageable themes, with a clear logical progression"

The style and delivery of Roy’s presentation

"Very human and easy to warm to" "Very palatable - humour and serious - good anecdotes" "Just right" "Excellent - relaxed and professional" "Very good" "Good, a pro!!"

"Clear delivery and appealing style" "The speaker connected completely with the audience and every word of the presentation was received and understood" "Relaxed, interesting and interacted well with the audience"

"Well delivered" "Excellent" "The best - very experienced" "Relaxed anecdotal style with varied pace, excellent use of space, movement and varied information all combining to engage the interest of the audience immediately and sustain it throughout"

What impact did Roy’s talk have on the audience?

"High impact, well delivered and subject interesting" "Very high" "Immediate - should we not think about content?" "Appeared to be well received and thought provoking for most of the audience"

"Very positive" "In a short space of time it was good" "Eye-to eye contact, humour and body language ensured the audience's involvement and attention"

"Compelling and would encourage people to adopt ideas" "Kept involved" "Good, read us about right" "Really made one think" "I felt the audience was thoroughly involved, intent on picking up key themes and advice and willing to participate fully in the interactive interludes"

Comments relating to the use and effect of humour and interactivity of Roy’s presentation

"Brilliant!" "Excellent" "Correct - good interplay became one happy united group not group of individuals"

"Very good" "Good, both dropped in at appropriate points. Helped keep presentation up and made what could have been a dry topic interesting" "Great" "Humour was excellent"

Additional comments

"This was an excellent talk which gave really good ideas. Roy put them across in a fair way which, meant that the audience was glued for over an hour! Well done!" "Good original format" "A good choice of speaker"

"Wished it had been longer" "Extremely interesting and simple to apply from tomorrow" "The seminar has actually inspired a (subtle) change in my behaviour towards business - and social contacts. I don't believe any other seminar has ever had such a strong effect"

"Enjoyed the whole event. Says a lot about Status as a company to choose somebody as good as Roy for their first presentation"

"I thoroughly enjoyed the event. The support from Status was unobtrusive yet effective. The success of the evening was a tribute to the planning and empathy between the various partners"

How appropriate would Roy’s presentation be to your organisation?

"Very appropriate"

"Very and I hope to progress"

"Appropriate for senior personnel (Partners)"

"Outstanding, well suited for this purpose"

"Very appropriate but the size of the company would not warrant him coming to the office. Part of a conference – yes"

"Very appropriate, however Roy mentioned in his talk that he has already been invited to our company’s event. It may however be appropriate to repeat this."

"Entirely appropriate"

"I think it would be quite useful" "I tell people about Roy everyday. So I believe it would be very appropriate for just about any company I talk to who want to be successful"

Performance Rating by Nick Kelly of Willis Corroon after booking him for the second time;

Content of speech: Roy's presentation covers a lot of material, but in a way which flows and picks up on audience feedback - all relevant!

Structure: Again while there is structure, he is knowledgeable about the content and is able to move between examples in a lively and enthusiastic fashion.

Style & delivery: Excellent!

Impact on audience:They couldn't wait to get back and try out some of the techniques discussed - Inspiring!

Additional Comments: An excellent speaker we will be using again!

"...I was delighted with your presentation and perhaps the greatest accolade is from the participants on the course who, to a man, left feeling rejuventated and anxious to put what they had learned into practice..." Hugo Merison, Executive Director

Roy Sheppard delivered this talk to members of The Institute of Sales & Marketing Management

Feedback from the event was as follows: Each section was marked from 1-5, giving a maximum potential score of 110. This is how he was scored:

• CONTENT: 106

• DELIVERY: 107

• OVERALL: 105

Comments from delegates included:

"Very good presentation"

"Roy Sheppard was excellent and involved the whole audience"

"A very worthwhile and enjoyable evening."

"More speakers like this."

"Excellent presentation. Good participation."

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"...an excellent evening. All of the participants... gave the event a very high rating both for enjoyment and education. I was delighted that the session struck exactly the right balance with what was a difficult audience having a wide range of experience and combining both internal and external attendees."

Marc Gillespie, Partner, Arthur Andersen

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"Following our meeting at Oxford earlier this month I have been in contact with and spoken to a number of the audience. Everyone has told me how stimulated they felt after your excellent presentation. Indeed I went to an industry function earlier this week and saw for myself some of those people at the meeting busily putting their "freshly sharpened" networking skills to good effect...Roy, your inclusion in our meeting was an undoubted success."

Martin Lee, Area Chairman.The Builders Merchants Federation

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"I was impressed by your fluency and humorous approach. I consider myself as a reasonably experienced networker even before the conference. However, your clear explanations and examples gave me valuable food for thought.

Roy Sheppard is a must for anyone taking business- and private relationships seriously."

Evert de Pender, Sales Manager Logica BV

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"...this customer will book you again. You handled a potentially volatile situation with charisma and aplomb. You weren't eaten by the lions in the den, in fact using your proven techniques and excellent knowledge of communication skills you improved the attitudes of many of the people in the audience....You performed admirably." David J. Phillips.The European Petrochemical Luncheon International Association

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Liverpool Chamber of Commerce

Score for speaker and content - 95% rating. Judged top speaker for 1998

"Thank you for your keynote address ... The feedback I have received from the participants has been superb. It would seem that everyone found your presentation most enjoyable, beneficial and thought-provoking."

John Dugmore, Marketing Manager.

"...rest assured that I would recommend you to other organisations that are looking for a quality speaker."

Carl Liquorish, Commercial Manager. Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce

"Thank you once again for being with us on February 19, and presenting such an excellent, stimulating seminar... You have definitely put us on the map. The seminar was different to anything anyone had attended before, and all were unanimous in their praise for its being useful as well as hugely enjoyable.

I am very much looking forward to the second one later in the year, as I know that many of the people who attended last week intend to contact customers/suppliers and invite them to attend too."

Marion Royer, CEO, East London Chamber of Commerce and Industry

"You managed to turn what has historically been a rather nebulous subject into a practical handbook approach to building relationships...many felt the tips you gave and brought to life, could help them improve their bottom line and give them the confidence to operate socially and to the benefit of their business."

Nuala Sharpe, Women in Enterprise

"Thank you for a very entertaining evening. Your observations and insights distil a great deal of what people instinctively know to be right and yet find very hard to apply to their own lives and careers. It is particularly difficult, when in a rut, to see the way ahead or the world changing around you. It takes self-confidence to talk to strangers, but more to really listen to them."

Fabrice LeRoux, Halcyon Designs, London

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