John Simonett... He gave one of the most dazzling displays I have ever witnessed - fluency beyond belief, humourous, attention grabbing and holding, and his ability to memorize dozens of names of people in the audience was astonishing!
Mike Rainey, The Insurance Institute of Southampton
John Simonett is a former schoolmaster and sportsman. He was a member of the Scottish Rugby Union squad and played in the Gloucester team, which won the John Player Cup at Twickenham in 1978. He holds a first class honours degree from Bristol University. In 1985 he left teaching to become a professional corporate entertainer and after-dinner speaker, and is now firmly established as one of the most original and entertaining speakers on the circuit. He has appeared at many conferences and other corporate events, both in the U.K. and abroad. His clients include major multinational corporations, many of whom have used his services on a number of occasions. He has also appeared on television, both on BBC and ITV.
John specialises in the tailored presentation and requires a full briefing before each event, so that he can personalise his performance. He is well known for his ability to remember numerous names and details of people in the audience, and is able to bring these into his presentations in a non-offensive manner. His talks often have a motivational theme, and he is able to highlight important messages such as teamwork, quality, customer service, problem solving and personal achievement, depending on the nature of his client’s business. His main objective, however, is always to be funny, clean and entertaining. As a spoof he is often introduced as a consultant (or other business expert) about to give a serious talk, until it gradually dawns on the audience that all is not quite what it seems…..! As well as speaking at dinners John has often made presentations to enliven a long day in conference, either with a slot to open the proceedings, or as a summariser at the end. He has also acted as a host or facilitator to ensure the smooth running of the whole event.
In addition, as a silver star member of the Inner Magic Circle, John also makes use of some clever magic as a visual aid half way through a presentation, introduced gently, as a surprise, and which is also related to the theme of the event. This makes him particularly suitable for non-English speaking audiences. Equally at home with an audience of five hundred – or at a board meeting for twelve, John’s combination of humour, memory and magic – tailored to a client’s specific brief – provides a unique and refreshingly different alternative to the traditional after dinner speaker.
Below are some of the stunning testimonials that John Simonett has received.
”It was my pleasure to act as the Awards Dinner Chairman and to meet with John Simonett. With very little briefing from myself beforehand, John delivered an outstanding performance in many ways. He made us laugh, think, question, argue, reflect and smile but most of all, he fully entertained all of us. Quite genuinely, I cannot remember any of our previous entertainers creating so much positive comment over the following two days during the major show in which we were involved. I am certain John will receive many enquiries from this international audience who enjoyed his humour, no matter their nationality.”
Chris Aylett, C.E. Motorsport Industry Association
”Thank you for your contribution to our recent senior management dinner party. The best bit for me was watching their faces drop when I introduced you as the after-dinner expert on the Maastricht Social Chapter. Priceless!”
Andrew Cosslettt, Managing Director, Cadbury Schweppes Ltd
“Thank you for the wonderful Business Address you gave at our client dinner last Friday. You caught the mood of the evening exactly right with a wonderful blend of humour, magic and audience participation. Everyone left on a high and the evening has created immense value in promoting the name of Nat West in the local business community”
David Russell, Corporate Director, Nat West
“Thanks for your excellent presentation during our Sales conference last week. Your professionalism, delivery and sense of humour caught the mood of our conference exactly and made a big contribution to our overall success”
Paul Harris, Sales Director, Hays Chemical Distribution
“Thank you for another wonderful performance last night. It must have been a difficult audience with different nationalities who didnt all know each other. I thought you pitched it perfectly and my overseas colleagues all told me that their customers had a thoroughly enjoyable evening.”
Nick Rawlings, European Marketing Manager, 3M Healthcare
“We were subjected to some real magic by our mystery guest speaker John Simonett, who cleverly wove our project vision into his talk. It was very entertaining and emphasised the important messages we were trying to get over far more memorably than anything else we could have done!”
Editorial, Shearwater Project Newsletter, Shell Exploration