Speaking Testimonials

(reflection after Dave’s presentation) “ ’Co-creation.’ Let your audience become performers in your show. More than simply delivering the most polished performance that requires no investment on the audience’s part other than purchase of a ticket or cover charge, Dave seeks to partner with his audiences in the creation of something relevant and worthwhile to them. He looks to create shared experiences at every turn. Dave transforms himself from being a solo artist or even a band member to being an orchestra the moment his audience is creating the experience with him. In doing so, Dave has reached farther and deeper into new markets than he probably imagined possible.”

“Dave Carroll was the closing presenter at our Browns Annual Company Conference in August. After a long day of challenging retail material, Dave’s material was appreciated immensely by our Managers. He was inspiring and entertained/educated for a full hour. I could see that his words resonated deeply with many participants and they were quite impressed with his message.

Additionally, as the conference organizer, I realized how valuable this kind of motivational presentation is at a company gathering, because it teaches life skills that can be used at home as well as in the work environment. Dave’s session provided an opportunity for us to demonstrate that we respect our team as colleagues and as individuals.”

“Your journey with the broken guitar, told in a most compelling way, helped us to see the importance of a customer’s experience which is absolutely relevant to our day to day operation… You were instrumental in helping us deliver a successful and meaningful meeting to our franchise owners across the country. My one big ‘take-a-way’ (which I will continually remind our owners of) is no customer is ‘statistically insignificant!’”

“Loved Dave — down to earth, his story / message relates to everyone. Good entertainer”

“Awesome, what a privilege to incorporate this into our working strategy.”

“We saw Dave’s sensational video ‘United Breaks Guitars’ in one of our training sessions and it did not take us much time to get him on-board for our first edition of our MarTech Confluence in Mumbai this September. I think it was the best decision we made because he added a lot of value to the conference and excitement among the delegates. With a 30 mins keynote and a 60 min masterclass, people still could not get enough of him! He has mastered the art of storytelling for sure! The message he gave was loud and clear ‘It’s a customer’s market and organisations need to re-think their marketing strategy’. We wish him all the success for his future assignments.”

“Dave is a phenomenal speaker with much more than just one great story to tell. His ability to communicate his message in an incredibly entertaining way made him the highlight of the 2013 Next Generation Customer Experience conference. Dave’s message on the importance of customer experience in today’s business environment was very on point for our group but I also believe he has the ability to tailor it to any number of audiences. As someone who has been organizing business summits globally for 10+ years, I’ve seen a lot of professional speakers and Dave is one of the best. The fact that we’ve already rebooked him for our next event is testament to the value he delivered!”

“Working with Dave was a fabulous experience from start to finish. He had our audience captivated as he educated, inspired and entertained them – I’ve never seen a crowd so raptured! And Dave seemed like he was having a ball, too! I could not give Dave a higher recommendation. The problem I’m left with now is finding a keynote speaker who will do as good of a job next year!”

“Over the years, I have heard many speakers through my various roles and business events. This year, I had the pleasure of hearing Dave Carroll speak at an RBC conference. Dave would definitely make my top five presenters of all time! His genuine care and compassion was very contagious. His presentation was fun, practical and very informative. His talk was so real and from the heart it made it easy to relate to his topic. He had a magical way of drawing the audience in and holding their undivided attention throughout his entire presentation. Although it was the first time most of the audience had heard Dave speak, almost everyone I spoke with afterwards remembered his name and didn’t address him as “the speaker”. Dave was selling his CD’s and books during the break and he managed to make everyone feel important and showed how much he appreciated their support. I personally bought a book and CD for myself and a book as a gift for a friend. I would not hesitate to pay to hear Dave speak again and I would highly recommend his as a speaker.”

“Dave was a keynote speaker for an incentive meeting we hold every year to celebrate the success of our Investment Advisors. While the location and the social activities are always the highlight, the business agenda is equally significant. This is a well-organized, carefully themed meeting with a strategic message. Our speakers are thoughtfully chosen to ensure they deliver a relevant, meaningful and hopefully, memorable presentation that is aligned to our theme – and resonates with our often finicky audience. Dave exceeded our expectations. It’s a rare moment when our discriminating crowd rises to their feet to acknowledge their appreciation for a powerful performance. Dave informed, entertained and captured the audience with his wit, his humour and his highly pertinent recount of how one person’s experience can have such a tremendous impact on a company’s balance sheet.”

“Our company audience of 1200 left our time with Dave Carroll inspired and emotionally driven to tackle the challenges of the coming year. I have never seen a performer capture the hearts and imaginations of our employees like Dave did…when he was done I witnessed the longest standing ovation I had ever seen.

We asked Dave to create a song about our mission and the people we serve – he hit a home run – I could scarcely believe my ears as I heard it for the first time. His song touched the hearts of our entire workforce. The impact was huge. The song and his performance are assets we will use for some time to come. It is a privilege to have someone of Dave’s caliber communicating on our behalf with our customers.”

“Dave Carroll takes his clear, warm and intimate approach to music and applies these attributes as an insightful and engaging speaker. Dave uses his own success as a perfect case study of how to connect with clients and build a brand through the ever-evolving social media landscape. His entertaining presence is complemented by informative approaches and ideas to marketing and client relationships that any organization can apply to successfully reach their own goals.”

“When was the last time a speaker picked up the phone and called you to discuss arrangements for their presentation? Dave Carroll does, and simplifies a meeting planner’s life. Dave is thorough and detailed in contracts and requests, quick to respond to questions and easy to work with. When faced with limitations at our evening facility, he accommodated us to ensure a flawless event.

We had the pleasure of hearing Dave deliver his ‘United Breaks Guitars’ presentation which our delegates ranked as the number one keynote at this year’s conference. Dave tailored his speech to ensure that our public relations audience felt the impact of his use of social media in a way that was pertinent to them, and he delivered it in an engaging and entertaining manner. That evening, Dave and his band, Sons of Maxwell, performed at a traditional Maritime Kitchen Party for our delegates. The layering of Dave’s address earlier in the day with his entertaining us in the evening reinforced his connection with the audience. Dave’s ratings topped the chart at our conference this year.”

“Your keynote was ‘the best stand-up presentation I have seen in 10 years.’ Don’t change thing. It’s perfect the way it is.”

“Dave Carroll is a certified music AND social media superstar. His ‘Dave versus Goliath’ effort with his spectacular United Breaks Guitars videos shows that even one individual can outgun one of the largest, most scientific marketing, PR, and customer-service organizations on the planet. Ten million YouTube views, tens of thousands of blog posts and tweets, and hundreds of mainstream articles later, Dave offers the proven methods that get people and organizations noticed. The rules have changed. The balance of power has been irrevocably altered. Scale and media buying power are no longer a decisive advantage. Today it takes speed and agility, plus the kind of creative imagination and craft skill that allowed Dave to write a song every bit as powerful as a Stinger missile.”

“Dave was a huge hit with our customers and the media at our client summit…His United Breaks Guitars story really brought home for our audience just how much impact a single consumer can have on a global business today.

…In addition to be being a talented artist, Dave is a really down-to-earth, likable guy who is easy to personally connect with. I think it is great that Dave is using his talent and his story to champion the cause of consumers to help us all rid the world of bad customer experiences!”

“We invited Dave to be Keynote speaker at G-Force Prague, our annual User & Partner event, with an audience of 1200 Customer Service professionals from across Europe. His UBG story fitted perfectly with our event theme of ‘Change the Conversation’ and the impact of social media in business today. He was a resounding success and was rewarded with a standing ovation, a ‘first’ for any speaker in the 10 year history of this event. Actions speak louder than words!

His natural storytelling and performing skills made for a compelling, articulate and sometimes emotional story that had the audience captivated throughout. From an organisers point of view he was a dream to work with. Unpretentious, charming, easy to deal with and most importantly, flexible (we had a very tight schedule to adhere to!). Nothing was too much trouble. He exceeded all expectations and I pity next year’s Keynote speaker – Dave has set the bar real high for 2012!”

“As a software company in a fast-moving market, our annual Business In Concert event gives us the opportunity to show how we’re different from our competitors. Music plays an important part of this event, and Dave Carroll’s unique story plus his relevant and poignant original music moved our attendees to their feet, providing a standing ovation that was more than deserved.”