Steve Smith

Voted Academy of Chief Executives Speaker of the Year 2009-10. Steve Smith is one of the country's best and most sought after motivational speakers and he has extensive experience of working with leading corporate organisations and elite level sport, in particular premier league football.

He is still Britain's most successful ever high jumper having won a medal in every major championship including the Olympic Games and his British record has now stood untouched for an incredible 20 years.

Well known as an athlete who always delivered when it really mattered, his ability to respond to the pressure situation of an all or nothing third attempt was key to his success and gained him a reputation as one of the toughest mental competitors on the circuit.

Steve was the inspirational captain of the British team for the European Championships in 1998. His rousing team talk set the tone for Britain's most successful ever championships. A ruptured achilles tendon finished Steve's career in 1999 at a time when he was the World number one and was seen by many as the favourite for the Sydney Olympics.

Since retirement he has gone on to be a successful restaurateur and a broadcaster for Sky, Channel 4 and the BBC, he is now a director of Raise the Bar, one of the country's leading Training and Development companies.

Career Highlights: 1993 World Championship Bronze; 1994 European Championship Silver; 1994 Commonwealth Games Silver; 1996 Olympic Bronze.

Raise the Bar - Presentation Overview:
Steve Smith is a highly engaging and adaptable speaker. His presentations are interactive and challenging as he takes the audience on a roller-coaster journey through his Olympic experience using visual props and television footage to bring the experience to life.

Although sport based, Steve’s business experience ensures that the real links into the audience's roles are never forgotten and delegates have a clear understanding of how the sporting parallels relate to them.

Steve's keynote will give a unique insight into the crossovers from sport to business drawing on his own experience of performing at the highest level as well as the work of influential figures behind the success of the 2012 games.

A recent survey of over 100 presentations showed that 98% of delegates attending his sessions said that they will take something away from his presentation to impact upon their own performance.