Michael Bergdahl's Speaker Services:
Motivating and Inspiring U.S. and International Audiences

When Michael Bergdahl speaks, people don't just listen. They learn.

Experience, insight, and a powerful, personable presence combine to make Michael Bergdahl the must-have speaker for any business that's serious about competing in today's market.

With an upbeat, high-energy style that entertains as it teaches, Bergdahl makes complex business strategies and tactics easy to understand and apply.

Following are synopses of five of Michael Bergdahl's most powerful and popular speeches.


NOTE: To see "Bird Dawg" in action, check out the video clips page.

Speech #1 – Picking Wal-Mart’s “POCKETS”
In this speech, using the acronym “ P.O.C.K.E.T.S.”, which stands for Price, Operations, Culture, Key Item Promotion, Expenses, Talent and Service, Michael Bergdahl describes several effective strategies competitors can and have used to counteract the inevitable pressure created by “big box” retailers. Finding Your niche in the market or “POCKET” is the key to Your survival! The key is to avoid the temptation to compete on price. You’ve got to make the commitment to differentiate yourself by finding your unique niche or pocket. Audience members will learn techniques other companies have used to compete, survive and thrive in a Wal-Mart World! Bergdahl also reviews a checklist of success strategies and tactics others can implement immediately. This speech is designed around Bergdahl's book, What I Learned From Sam Walton, How to Compete & Thrive in a Wal-Mart World.

Speech #2– Secrets to Living a Passion Driven Life, (A Motivational Speech)
In this inspirational and motivational speech, Michael Bergdahl shares his personal Secrets to Living a Passion Driven Life. Drawing on his own life experiences as a Fortune 500 company executive who became the caregiver to a profoundly deaf child with Aspergers (high functioning autism) and a wife who suffered a stroke and survived, he tells the story of the day to day challenges he has faced in balancing his life. A breadwinner who was forced by circumstances to become “Mr. Mom” to two children, Michael Bergdahl tells a story of inspiration and overcoming life’s obstacles in order to succeed. Using humor and anecdotal stories he provides his own recipe for overcoming obstacles and shows audience members the importance of Living a Passion Driven Life. The speech is broken into five parts: 1. Believe in yourself, 2. Develop a big dream 3. Don’t listen to the naysayer, 4.Do whatever it takes and 5. Don’t give up. Author of three books, and a professional keynote speaker, Bergdahl shares his story and his secrets, as an example, in his personal mission to make a difference in the lives of others. This speech is a great opening or closing keynote for both business and non-business meetings or conferences.

Speech #3–The 10 Success Secrets of Sam Walton
Do you want to achieve greater levels of success in your personal and professional life? The answer of course is everyone does. In Michael Bergdahl's forthcoming book called, The 10 Rules of Sam Walton: Success Secrets for Remarkable Results he shares the success secrets of the world's most successful entrepreneur. In this speech, he will discuss Sam Walton's self professed ten rules for success which Mr. Sam embraced as he grew Wal-Mart from a single site to a 5000 store global enterprise. Audience members will take away success strategies they can use in both their personal and professional life.
Here are Sam Walton's 10 Success Secrets:

Rule #1: COMMIT to achieving success and always be passionate
Rule #2: SHARE your success with those who have helped you
Rule #3: MOTIVATE yourself and others to achieve your dreams
Rule #4: COMMUNICATE with people and show you care
Rule #5: APPRECIATE and recognize people for their effort and results
Rule #6: CELEBRATE your own and other’s accomplishments
Rule #7: LISTEN to others and learn from their ideas
Rule #8: EXCEED the expectations of others by setting high standards
Rule #9: CONTROL your expenses and save your way to prosperity
Rule #10: SWIM UPSTREAM, be different, and challenge the status quo

If you'd like to print Sam Walton's 10 Success Secrets, CLICK HERE

Speech #4 – F.I.R.S.T – Secrets to Outperforming the Pack
From his experiences working for World Class “Best Practice” Companies like Pepsico’s Frito-Lay Division and Wal-Mart, Michael Bergdahl shares with you some of the secrets of their success. As a turnaround team member at American Eagle Outfitters and Waste Management, learned what it takes to turn a failing company around. He shares the secrets of outperforming the pack in this speech using the acronym F.I.R.S.T. which stands for; Focus on the Customer, Inspirational Leadership, Results through People, Succession Planning/Bench-Building & Tactics for Driving the Business. Combining energy, storytelling and humor with his practical experience working with executives like Sam Walton, Bergdahl will entertain and provide practical and actionable business ideas to those in attendance.

Speech #5 – Building Bench – Attract/Retain & Upgrade
What is your standard for staffing talent in your organization? How do your people compare to those of your competitors? Are you selective in choosing very bright, high potential people for your business or do you settle for whoever walks through the door and applies? Are you getting your share of “A” Players? The selection and retention of quality employees is the foundation upon which every one of your other strategies is based. Staffing should be one of your most important competitive advantages. In this speech Bergdahl will challenge your staffing paradigms. He will share with you “World Class” Staffing strategies and tactics from his experiences working for PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay Division. He will review the methods of creating a “human inventory” or “bench strength” analysis for your organization to help you improve your ability to compete. In the competitive world we live and work in the companies with the best talent…WIN!

Speech #6 – Change/Challenge/Choice
Competition with manufacturers from countries like China is brutal. The manufacturing world as you’ve known it has changed and you and your team must be willing to Change also, if you intend to survive. The Challenge for manufacturers of products is what to do to re-level the playing field. In order to succeed you and your team must make the Choice do what’s necessary to reinvent your business, and the way people think, to remain successful.

The fact is that competition is more difficult than ever before. Those who are used to simply picking up the fruit of their labors right off the ground or from the branches within closest reach are finding that success today requires that people stretch and even climb up into the branches to gather the highest hanging fruit to succeed. Unfortunately, Change is always hard for people, which adds to the Challenge faced by organizations forced to make the Choice to reinvent their business in order to compete, survive and thrive in this complex and competitive world. As you think about global competition think about these quotes:
In this speech, Change/Challenge/Choice, Bergdahl will discuss the following strategies:

CHANGE
• Get Efficient - you’re going to need to produce more with less people.
• Benchmark Best Practices – seek out the ideas used by other manufacturers
• Innovate – grow revenue by getting creative with products, services and service enhancements, technology, strategy and tactics. Brainstorm new ideas – new markets, services, bundling products, delivery, in-sourcing.

CHALLENGE
• Continuously Improve – empower people to improve every area of your operation
• Increase Productivity – improve “internal and external” customer service
• Control Expenses - teach everyone in your organization to manage costs

CHOICE
• Continuously Learn – learn from and imitate the success of others
• Leverage People – tap into the creativity of your own people and change the way they think, focus everyone on your brand and a common agenda - “Your people make the difference.”
• Focus on your Competencies – play to your strengths and shore up your weaknesses
• Customer Partnerships – become the supplier of choice, by asking your customers what kind of products and services they need, when they need them and what you can do to partner with them.