Marc Hogan

Biography:

An ex-sales and marketing professional with over 14 years experience, Marc’s Funny Business, S.A.L.E.S. and Inspirational Communication programmes have inspired audiences to seek out opportunities, tackle challenges and improve their communication and influencing skills.

In August 2008, while giving a talk to a business audience, a fellow speaker told Marc that he was “quite funny”. But would a paying audience who expect – nay, demand - laughs, think the same?“So, you want me to do an open mic spot at a comedy club then?” Marc replied, “Right you are!” But that was far too easy a challenge. Surely a professional speaker, used to playing big audiences, and sometimes even getting a laugh, should set his sights higher… or at least further North. “I bet you £1 that you can’t put on a successful show at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.”

The bet was on: Marc had less than 12 months to perform a 1 hour comedy show for 21 nights at the world’s largest comedy festival. And so it began; the open spots, the sleepless nights, the laughs, the silences, the boos, the booze, and the endless, endless writing, rewriting, rephrasing and finding different words for what became the biggest challenge of Marc’s life.

His personal and inspirational journey into comedy, complete with setbacks, triumphs and even a few tears and tantrums, will inspire the audience to see new possibilities and will teach them how to take personal action to achieve their goals.

His clients have included: Tesco, Barclays, Volkswagen, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, BAA, Virgin Media, KPMG, Select Group, Bechtel and many more.

Testimonials

"Marc, on behalf of the Unilever Category Management team I’d like to say a massive thank you for the time you spent with us last week. Your session was a hugely engaging and enjoyable way to start our team day.

You delivered some brilliant business truths in a manner that involved and captivated the team in equal measure. The feedback from the team was that they found your words gave them practical advice and inspiration to try things outside their comfort zone. Thanks again for such a memorable and humorous session.”

Adrian Adams – Head of Category Management, Unilever UK & Ireland

“Marc, thanks so much for being with us. Always inspiring to see a personal journey that was accomplished in the face of heavy odds, well interspersed with the theory of how to make it happen. Go, Edit your Editor!”

Suresh Viswanathan – Chief Operating Officer, Barclays UK Retail & Business Bank

“Marc provided the perfect after dinner speech combination of a light-hearted, funny and amusing speech that related to our sales teams and our commercial business needs. His approach delivered thought-provoking aspects in terms of how we go about our daily business, yet was simultaneously hilarious and highly enjoyable as the finale to our evening.”

Jon Evans – Corporate Sales Manager, 3M UK & Ireland

“Marc a massive thank you for your brilliant presentation today. Your presentation was hilarious, inspiring and thought provoking at one and the same time – quite an achievement.
The way you combined intelligent humour with psychology was impressive and I know this will have a lasting impression on the team. A number of people have already commented you were the best speaker Natwest has ever had. Thank you again Marc – I really hope we can work together again in the future.”

Warren Cooper – Regional Director, Natwest PLC

“Marc’s Funny Business session was inspiring and funny, the team really enjoyed Marc’s engaging and direct style!”

Andrew Winton – Director of Online Sales, Orange & T-Mobile, Everything Everywhere

“Just a short note to thank you for your support and contribution which helped make the various events we delivered together such a success; in fact the highest rated set of events since HSBC Expat was established based upon the feedback of participants!

You were not only professional in delivery and ‘on message’ throughout the many sessions that we ran together, but you were a true business partner in the way you helped us develop and deliver the various messages to our teams.

I hope (expect) that we will work together at some point in the future – but in the meantime I wanted to thank you for your help, guidance and support during the last few weeks. We couldn’t have delivered the events with such a positive outcome without your involvement, so a BIG thank you from me and the team here in HSBC Expat.”

Dean Blackburn – Head of Retail Banking & Wealth Management, HSBC Expat

“Many thanks for a truly inspirational keynote speech. A great message delivered with humour and sincerity. Highly recommended!”

Andrew J Hancock – Head of Customer Services & Revenue Management, EDF Energy