Speakers

Front-Row Leadership
*60-75 minute keynote; customized to specific needs
We are where we are because of the CHOICES we’ve made. It takes courage to look at where we are versus where we want to be. After Marilyn’s keynote, you make a commitment and strive to become better. When you engage in the process of improving yourself and engage more positively with your team, you will start to exceed your previous performance, exceed your customer’s expectations, and succeed more than ever before. You will soon evolve into a position to help lead OTHERS to their front-row. THAT’S Front-Row Leadership.

One thing that prevents people from having more success is a lack of courage and confidence to lead effectively. When people settle, it impacts their work, their team, their leadership, and their entire lives. Marilyn provides solutions to prevent people from living and leading from mediocrity. Think of her as an usher, leading people to their front-row. Once people have the tools necessary to be more successful, they become ushers helping and impacting others in a positive way. Marilyn’s presentations are all about helping people around choices, courage and commitment to lead better – even if only by example.

Take-away value from program:
1. INCREASED: Sales, employee morale & engagement
2. DECREASED: stress, conflict and disharmony in the workplace
3. OVERALL: better attitude, positive morale/culture and no more excuses!
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Why Settle for the Balcony? How to get a Front-Row Seat in Life
*60-75 minute delivery; customized to specific needs of your group
Life is short – live it in the front-row! This dynamic keynote inspires people to get out of the balcony of their life, and go for that front-row seat! With so many things out of control these days, attendees will be reminded that their attitude and perception are 100% within their control. With the right mindset, any seat can be a front-row seat! Marilyn inspires her audience by showing them the difference between living and working in the balcony and general admission, She will inspire people to choose to live in the front-row — because that is where successful people live! During the session, Marilyn teaches people to have a vision, be of service, be gutsy, appreciate what they have and become empowered to do more. After Marilyn’s presentation, people will be ready to get out of the balcony, where they had once complained how bad the seats were, and move to the front-row with all the necessary tools to make immediate changes for positive results. Everyone deserves a front-row seat in their life and this program helps people get there. Leaders also learn how to usher others to the front-row of their lives for better results.

[As an additional training tool, Marilyn has a motivational book of the same title that would make a great attendee gift!]

Participants will be able to:
1. Help people reach their true potential by giving action steps to implement immediately
2. Help motivate people to overcome obstacles – personal & professional
3. Feel empowered to reach goals & start each day with more confidence
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Whose Comfort Zone Are You In?
*60-75 minute delivery; customized to specific needs of your group
DESCRIPTION: This keynote inspires people to recognize their vision, set goals, overcome obstacles and have a winning attitude. Sometimes, people live in a comfort zone and don’t even realize it. Others are influenced by negative people and do things for the wrong reasons. In this keynote, Marilyn helps people take charge of their career and their life by stretching themselves out of their comfort zone, encouraging them to achieve more than they thought possible. With lots of stories about people who have overcome obstacles, you will be empowered and inspired to do more with what you have! The benefit to your audience is when they leave, they will feel empowered to do more than they’ve done in the past and will yield higher results for your organization.

[As an additional training tool, Marilyn has a motivational book of the same title that would also make a great attendee gift!]

Participants will be able to:
1. Increase productivity, reduce conflict and improve results by helping people get out of their comfort zone, overcome obstacles and get a front-row seat in life!
2. Become more productive and use new techniques to manage change.
3. Shift to a more positive ‘no more excuses’ mindset! This may lead to reducing stress, minimizing conflict, perfecting communication, increasing sales and productivity, and plans to attaining goals – professional and personally.

Communicating for Results: From Conflict to Cooperation
*60-90 minute delivery; customized to specific needs of your group
This is a content-filled program providing tools to anyone who doesn’t like conflict or confrontation. Let’s face it; no one really likes conflict, which is why so many people avoid it. Or, they act inappropriately because they don’t have the tools to navigate conflict. This program teaches you to communicate better to reduce conflict; and how to handle uncomfortable conversations with grace and respect. Marilyn offers proven communication techniques that can be easily adapted to your work environment. With examples and practice, you will learn the value of being assertive, and not aggressive or passive-aggressive. This is a great workshop for organizations who wants to reduce conflict, increase communication, or create a better foundation for your company culture. Marilyn will provide communication tools that can be immediately applied at work (and at home) to create or increase harmonious relationships. The tools provided work ESPECIALLY well when dealing with difficult people!

[This session can be added as a second program for the same client. Marilyn can open a conference with one of her motivational keynotes, then present this workshop later in the conference. This program is Marilyn’s most content-heavy, but is delivered with humor and encourages audience engagement. There is an interactive piece at the end that will get everyone laughing and learning about how they can sometimes add to potential conflict situations unnecessarily!]
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Participants will be able to:
1. The skills to reduce conflict and ability to handle uncomfortable conversations when conflict occurs
2. Improve communication skills
3. Create a better foundation for your company culture by improving communication and focusing on relationships

Which V are You? Managing Change with a Positive Mindset (WORKSHOP)
*Workshop – 2-3 hours; customized; top leaders interviewed prior to program
If your organization isn’t going through some type of change now, it means one of two things: You have already gone through a major change, or you are about to! Marilyn believes when people are asked to change; they become a Victim, a Vacationer or a Volunteer. Obviously if they choose to be a Victim or Vacationer, the chances of the change being successful are severely hampered. Marilyn has shown people the effects of each V, and what outcome it can have on their team. This program is an interactive workshop, helping people lean towards the mindset of a volunteer: resourceful, opportunistic, positive, helpful, open-minded and vision oriented. Sounds better than being bitter, resentful, helpless and sabotaging! Prior to this workshop, plan on supplying Marilyn with your current vision – so the program can be about YOUR change. She will start with what the change means and what can be done to navigate the change more successfully.
[ Plan on a minimum of two hours for this workshop the next time your team is struggling with a change in your organization.]

Taking Charge of Your Career | 10 Strategies for Professional Success
*75-90 minute delivery; customized to specific organization; top leaders interviewed prior to program
This program was designed to inspire people to be more accountable for their success and job opportunities. Too often, talented people wait for new roles and responsibilities that never appear. You will learn how to ask for what you want, and be more assertive in your career path.

This program was built using examples of how others have moved up their company ladder and creating a more rewarding career. After attending, you will leave with clearer strategies on how you can have more personal and professional success.

Below are topics covered in the session:
1. Appreciate where you are right now.
2. Find – Discover – [or] Create Your Passion.
3. Be willing to do what your competition is not.
4. Don’t be afraid to dream… and dream BIG!
5. Avoid the traps.
6. Create opportunities for yourself – don’t wait for them to appear.
7. Build your bench! Coach – Mentor – Mentee
8. Get the job description of the job that you want.
9. Get clear on WHO needs to know what you want.
10. Be 100% engaged.
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Front-Row Service: How to be a Hospitality Fanatic!
This keynote helps anyone involved in the service industry to up their game when it comes to providing exceptional customer service to their customers and partners. Marilyn starts by providing examples of what a hospitality fanatic is NOT, then teaches what it really means to provide service to your customers. It’s time to up your game when it comes to serving. Marilyn has written a book specifically for restaurants called Front-Row Service, How to Increase Tip Percentage and Check Averages, but this keynote can be customized to people in the food-service industry as well. This topic is not limited to restaurants and food-service. If your business survives by serving your customers top-notch service, this program is for you, too! It’s all about relationships and delivering the unexpected. This keynote also includes advice on how to inspire yourself to become better, so you can continue to improve. Your customers deserve to be treated like VIP’S, so let them know doing business with you is a front-row experience!
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Front-Row Service: How to Increase Check Average and Tip Percentage in Your Restaurant
Learn the 10 things NOT to do if you want your customers to return again and again, and the 7 things TO do if you want to increase check average and tip percentage in your restaurant. Motivational speaker Marilyn Sherman has teamed up with a young food server, Devon Morton, who became number one in both tip percentage and check average in his first six months as a server. They have combined both the customers’ perspective and the server’s perspective to collaborate on a book of the same title. Marilyn recently added this new topic to her list of programs customized for food service. With stories of both success and failures, your team will walk away with actionable steps to immediately increase your effectiveness to your customers – resulting in higher check averages, higher tips, and repeat business !