"A must-read for anyone interested in team performance at the very highest level." - Henley Business School
An inspirational speaker that prides himself on presenting audiences with an incredible story inspiringly told and loaded with hugely impactful content that also provides business-relevant leadership takeaways, Brendan Hall is one in a million. A motivational speaker that is trusted by several leading organisations, Hall is one of the most prolific adventure leadership speakers on the European circuit and has spoken worldwide to hundreds of audiences for prestigious companies, including PwC, GSK, Nestle, Financial Times and Toyota, among others.
A highly accomplished and esteemed figure that has been a professional yacht racing skipper, author and leadership expert, Brendan Hall’s reputation soared in 2009. He was one of only 10 people in the world to lead the winning team as a skipper in the greatest long-distance challenge, The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race a 40,000-mile circumnavigation of the globe, contested by amateur crews in identical racing yachts. Despite being the youngest and most inexperienced skipper in the race, Brendan and his team won it in a convincing fashion showcasing his prowess and phenomenal attributes as a leader, which make him a globally acclaimed speaker.
An achievement that was the culmination of years of leadership research, creating a high-performance culture and a leadership style way beyond his 27 years, Brendan’s leadership skills were put to the ultimate test in the middle of a deadly North Pacific winter hurricane when he and his crew were tasked with the rescue of an incapacitated skipper on a competing yacht. A compelling account that instantly captures the attention of all in attendance, Brendan Hall has a host of entertaining, insightful and informative tales and anecdotes to share with his guests that are certain to equip every attendee to excel in their lives and attain peak performance while maximising success within their individual lives.
Swapping yachts and skippering both vessels 4000 nautical miles, across the world’s most treacherous ocean to safety. Brendan uses his insights and powerful race narrative to help business leaders build ironclad trust with clients and teams, thrive on uncertainty and develop a growth mindset. After completing his life-changing challenge, Brendan authored, Team Spirit, a raw, insightful look into the life of a leader pushing himself and his team to perform in extreme conditions. It distils and communicates the core skills and hard-won lessons that made Brendan’s team winners and has had an outstanding reception from the business world, where leaders and teams face comparable challenges in their own environment. Furthermore, the book was featured in Economia, The Sunday Times and shortlisted for the prestigious Mountbatten Book Award.
An exceptional human being who has regularly defied odds and pushed the boundaries of possibility, the immensely impressive and inspirational Brendan Hall has sailed the seas and led from the front, allowing him to provide a plethora of knowledge and expertise to guests - and at Champions Speakers, we proudly represent Brendan Hall as his official booking agent. From discussing personal experiences to advising and providing guests with leadership tactics that can be implemented in any walk of life, Brendan Hall is an outstanding speaker for any occasion.
In recognition of his prominence as a leadership and teamwork speaker, Brendan Hall was honoured as one of the 15 Best Training & Workshop Speakers to Hire for Corporate Events.
Books
Team Spirit: Life And Leadership On One Of The World's Toughest Yacht Races
Reviews
Brendan Hall received a 5 star rating across 20 events in 2023
Agent Recommendation
"Brendan Hall stands out as a motivational speaker, captivating audiences with his incredible story of leading a winning team in The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. His talks, rich with impactful content and leadership takeaways, inspire peak performance and success."
How to hire Brendan Hall
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Brendan Hall for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
Brendan Hall's official speaking topics are listed below:
- Ownership Culture - Brendan’s team was the most empowered, entrusted and autonomous team in the race, where every crewmember took full ownership. At a minimum, Brendan needed to ensure they could get the boat to safety if he was killed or incapacitated, but the ownership they felt became the key to their high performance.
- Emotional Intelligence - Brendan’s team learns the need for Emotional Intelligence in their teamwork, observing how their moods influenced each other. Brendan realised his moods and emotional responses were closely emulated by the team.
- Growth Mindset - In the aftermath of a disastrous accident, Brendan’s team discusses how they should respond to failure and the statistically inevitable problems they will encounter on their journey. They decide to treat every failure as a learning opportunity and vowed to be the team that reflected on their experiences and only learned the hard lessons once.
- Blame Culture - Brendan’s team realised having learning conversations is impossible, when people are afraid of being blamed. His team develop a strategy to talk in a no-blame way, with a high level of disclosure, vulnerability and support.
- Trust - Brendan displayed some negative behaviours that impacted negatively on the trust in the team. After receiving feedback, he realised how crucial maintaining trust is. Using the Trust Equation, Brendan changed his behaviours, the trust was rebuilt and performance soared.
- Mental Wellbeing - Brendan’s team learned that there can be a big difference between a person’s outwardly normal behaviour and their internal world. High-functioning anxiety is important to recognise and can affect the people you’d least expect.
- Leading Teams Through Adversity & Change
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events
Feedback from In-Person Events:
"Brendan was outstanding in terms of both personality and professionalism. He arrived on time, was very courteous, and handled the rehearsals wonderfully." - King.com
"Brendan joined us as our guest speaker for our internal conference. He came recommended through Champions Speakers and listened to our company story and background which helped him gain a greater understanding of our event and the outcomes we wished to achieve. Brendan is a true professional at what he does. He asked questions which helped to shape the guest speaker slot aspect at our event and improve the overall value. He arrived early to the event to get a feel for our company culture and meet the teams. He researched our company values and included this in his presentation which offered a real wow factor to the senior team. Brendan stayed post-event, enjoyed lunch with the team and took the time to sit and talk to anyone who wished to reach out and take photos with them. Thank you to both Champions Speakers and Brendan for their support." - Ben, Senior Event Executive, Newable Limited
"Brendan's talk was fantastic. He was rated excellent by 80% of survey responses and good by 20%. The main reason why he scored so highly was that he not only had an incredibly gripping story to tell but he connected it perfectly with the content we had shared with the attendees in the morning to really reinforce the key messages that we were trying to get over."
"Thanks for coming along Brendan. Truly inspiring story."
- Craig, Managing Director, NYMAS
"I just want to let you know what a brilliant speaker Brendan was! The feedback we have had is excellent and the workshop worked really well. It was a long day and you could definitely see the group flagging towards the end, but Brendan kept them engaged and there were a few people feeling unexpected emotion at the end." - Joanne, Project Manager, First Events
"Valuable leadership insights that we could easily relate to and apply to our roles" - PwC
"Inspiring and thought-provoking insights, delivered with a tailored message that was super impactful" - SAP
"Brendan delivers an engaging experience that translates directly into meaningful business learnings." - GM
"It was an excellent session overall. Very close fit with our requirements on the day. Kudos to Brendan for the energy and the storytelling he brought to the session." - Safwan, SR HRBP, British American Tobacco
"Compelling story and much to translate into day-to-day leadership on dry land!" - Jim, Director of Engineering, BOC UK & Ireland
"A professional and thought-provoking session that helped us better understand our current organisational challenges" - Nikon
"A brilliant story about team dynamics which makes us reflect on our own behaviour" - Nestle
"His style, approach and engagement had everyone gripped. The feedback has been brilliant" - L'Oreal
"Awe-inspiring- Brendan turns a personal challenge into valuable collaboration lessons for all" - Tesco
“Brendan delivers an engaging experience that translates directly into meaningful business & team building learnings that will help our team stay ahead of the competition.” - Swarovski
"His presentation was very accomplished and fit the theme of our event perfectly" - Continental
"We used Brendan for 12 events this year - each time a great performance with brilliantly applicable messages" - Johnson & Johnson
“Well delivered, well received. Brendan generated a sense of inspiration and powerful learning for our attendees” -Santander
"Brendan carefully weaved the key themes of our conference agenda into his speech. The way he brings the story to life so you feel it and how he skilfully translates these into practical leadership lessons is inspiring." - Covea Insurance Group
"Articulate, inspiring, entertaining and full of great practical advice." - Penguin Random House
"An incredible story-teller. The leadership messages are clear and always consistent. After his presentation, I was overwhelmed by positive feedback." - Foster + Partners
"Thank you for sharing your incredible story with us. I received great feedback from all the attendees." - Bradley, ESI Commercial Operations Manager UK & Ireland, ADP
"Phenomenally inspiring and encapsulating stuff today, Brendan. As Gordon said, the contrast photos between Rio and San Fran were tear-jerking. Can't wait to read your book and wish you the very best for your future." - Graham, Mid-market Sales Manager UK, Ireland & South Africa, ADP
"The session with Brendan was really good! Please pass on my thanks!" - Gemma, NQA
"Brendan was absolutely superb! He had everyone captivated and you could literally have heard a pin drop in a ballroom of 500 people. I have literally just listened to a voicemail from the conference Chairman who said it was the best finish to a conference he has ever experienced. So as you can tell, Brendan was a brilliant choice and I would HIGHLY recommend him to anyone wanting a keynote speaker." - Nick, The Leadership Academy
"I was absolutely blown away by your story, and I'm sure I echo the sentiments of many of my colleagues when I say your presentation was one of, if not the most engaging I've had the pleasure of experiencing. Thank you for inspiring a room full of already brilliant sales people and leaders to look at and build on the bigger picture. Truly Inspirational!"
"A true highlight was Brendan – as I don’t think people were really expecting his presentation (despite being advertised in programme), and they loved him!" - Beth, Vice President Events & Programmes, Europe, ULI
Feedback from Virtual Events:
"A quick note to say many thanks for today Brendan! Your story perfectly reflected the key insights we wanted to share with our community of managers, with a focus on what we have discussed with our CEO Xavier. Many thanks for this inspiring talk, we already got very positive feedback from our participants." - Sandra, Learning & Development Lead for APAC & Europe, AXA
- 2023 - Interviewed on Emotional Intelligence by The Motivational Speakers Agency
- 2021 - Founder of Lifestory Recorder
- 2020 - Leadership Associate of the Cranfield School of Management
- 2017 - Leadership Adjunct at Hult International Business School
- 2012 - Published Team Spirit
- 2012 - Captain of S/Y Acheron
- 2007 - Race Skipper in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race
