Alex Banayan

ALEX BANAYAN is the only nationally bestselling business author under 30 in America. His book The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World’s Most Successful People Launched Their Careers has been translated into more than a dozen languages. Over the course of his unprecedented seven-year journey, Banayan interviewed the most innovative leaders of the past half-century, including Bill Gates, Lady Gaga, Larry King, Maya Angelou, Steve Wozniak, Jane Goodall, Jessica Alba, Quincy Jones, and more.

The day before his freshman-year final exams, Banayan hacked The Price is Right, won a sailboat, sold it, and used the money to fund his larger-than-life adventure. Since then, Banayan has been named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list, Business Insider’s Most Powerful People Under 30, and been featured in major media, including The Washington Post, Fortune, CNBC, MSNBC, Fox News, and NBC News. An acclaimed keynote speaker, Banayan has presented the Third Door framework to business conferences and corporate leadership teams around the world, including Apple, Google, Nike, IBM, Snapchat, Salesforce, and Disney.

Why book Alex? Here are the top 10 reasons:

1.   HONED, POLISHED, AND RELIABLE

Having done hundreds of high-profile keynotes over the past decade, Banayan is a seasoned keynote speaker who comes prepared to set the tone for any event. Google has said that Banayan is one of the most professional speakers they’ve worked with.

Disney said that Banayan received the best feedback from any speaker they’ve had. And the president of Merrill Lynch said the feedback about Banayan’s keynote was off the charts.

2.   ELECTRIC ENERGY

Whether it’s a room of 50 executives or an arena of 5,000 salespeople, Banayan has a way of lighting up any stage and elevating the energy of an event unlike anyone else. Nike’s VP of Global Brand Creative said that Banayan’s energy was contagious, and Red Hat’s Senior Director said Banayan unleashed their team’s energy in a way they’ve never seen before.

3.   MEMORABLE AND IMPACTFUL

For years, audience members have sent messages after events saying Banayan’s keynote changed their lives. Intuit said that Banayan’s keynote received the highest rating out of all the speakers at their annual Quickbooks Connect conference. Banayan leaves a long-lasting impact after every keynote, ensuring that your event will be unforgettable.

4.   VULNERABLE AND AUTHENTIC

Stories of fear and rejection remind audience members that they’re not alone in life’s challenges. Banayan takes audiences on a journey of vulnerability, from curling up on the floor of a Motel 8 feeling cold, lost, and defeated, to the comforts of Jessica Alba’s office during a gut-wrenching discussion about both of their families’ battles with cancer. Through his humility, Banayan connects deeply with audiences, providing new insights to universal experiences.

5.   REMARKABLY PROFESSIONAL

Banayan is committed to making the jobs of meeting planners as easy and straightforward as possible. From the pre-event call to backstage on event day, Banayan’s professionalism and courteousness are on display every step of the way.

6.   WILDLY ENTERTAINING

From winning The Price is Right to his larger-than-life quest to track down Bill Gates, audiences go on a rollercoaster of emotion, from laughing out loud to sitting on the edge of their seats. Packed with wild stories, including chasing Larry King through a grocery store and hacking Warren Buffett’s shareholders meeting, it’s no surprise the CEO of Life Is Good said that Banayan is one of the best storytellers he’s seen.

7.   RADICALLY COMMITTED TO AUDIENCE CONNECTION

From his authentic interactions with the crowd during the keynote to his one-on-one conversations with audience members after the speech, Banayan builds meaningful connections, making him the perfect speaker both on and off the stage. Approachable and fully present at book signings and meet and greets, Banayan is focused on personal connections with every attendee he meets at your event.

8.   TIME-TESTED RESEARCH AND PRACTICAL LESSONS

Banayan has spent a decade researching exponential success, poring over hundreds of biographies and interviewing the most innovative leaders in America, from Microsoft founder Bill Gates to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. The Third Door is a #1 international bestseller and has been translated into more than seventeen languages.

9.   CUSTOM TAILORED MESSAGE

In the pre-event call, Banayan learns as much as he can about your organization, ensuring that every keynote is custom-tailored to the needs of each event. Want two pre-event calls? You got it.

10.   MASTERFUL STAGE PRESENCE

From his pacing and tonality to his movement on stage and through the audience, it’s no surprise why CEOs and event planners alike rave about Banayan’s world-class speaking style. Ford said that Banayan has a “masterful way of bringing the audience along for a journey,” and that out of all the events they’ve planned, Banayan’s keynote was one of the best.

Video

BIOGRAPHY:

ALEX BANAYAN is the youngest bestselling business author in American history. The Third Door chronicles Banayan’s seven-year quest to decode the definitive mindset of growth and success. The book is a #1 international bestseller and has been translated into seventeen languages.

Over the course of his unprecedented journey, Banayan’s research led him to interview the most innovative leaders of the past half-century, including Bill Gates, Lady Gaga, Larry King, Jane Goodall, Maya Angelou, Steve Wozniak, Pitbull, Jessica Alba, Quincy Jones, and others.

Banayan is one of the world’s leading experts on high performance and personal development, having been featured in Fortune, Forbes, CNBC, Businessweek, The Washington Post, MSNBC, Fox News, and NBC News. A renowned keynote speaker, Banayan presents the Third Door framework regularly to corporate leadership teams around the globe, including Apple, Google, Nike, IBM, Salesforce, Delta Airlines, Bank of America, Mastercard, and Disney.

SPEECH TOPICS

THE MINDSET OF EXPONENTIAL GROWTH:

HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR THINKING, TAKE THE THIRD DOOR, AND ACHIEVE YOUR MOST IMPORTANT GOALS

We all face rejection. We all deal with fear. Whether it’s in our personal lives or careers, there are always dozens of obstacles holding us back from achieving our biggest goals.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are certain mindsets and tools that can not only clear the obstacles along your path, but can also add rocket fuel to your success. After spending ten years researching and interviewing the most innovative leaders, bestselling author Alex Banayan’s widely-acclaimed Third Door™ framework can help any organization achieve its goals and radically accelerate its overall growth.

In this riveting keynote, Banayan takes audiences on an unprecedented adventure, from hacking The Price is Right to chasing Larry King through a grocery store to the multi-year quest to learn from Bill Gates and Lady Gaga. Alongside these larger-than- life stories, Banayan takes the principles from his bestselling book The Third Door and pushes them to a whole new level, making them practical and applicable for organizations of all sizes. This powerful presentation teaches you how to:

  • Cultivate perseverance
  • Instill the mindset of persistence
  • Fuel growth, no matter the external economic environment
  • Become more capable of achieving your company’s biggest objectives

This wildly-entertaining keynote is packed with insights and lessons guaranteed to transform anyone to believe that, no matter what obstacles they’re facing… there’s always a way.

THERE’S ALWAYS A WAY:

HOW TO CULTIVATE PERSEVERANCE AND PERSISTENCE DURING UNCERTAIN TIMES

The pace of change in the business world is faster than ever. It has never been more critical to an organization’s survival for teams to cultivate a DNA of resiliency, perseverance, and solution-orientated problem solving.

In this empowering keynote, bestselling author Alex Banayan masterfully decodes the most critical and elusive skills needed for any organization to cultivate the mindsets of exponential growth, particularly during times of rapid change and uncertainty.

After interviews with Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, and dozens more of the world’s most iconic leaders, Banayan uncovered that there are fundamental skills that every

organization needs—but that most people don’t talk about—to achieve their biggest goals during disruptive times. This keynote covers it all, with lessons including:

  • How do you transform persistence from being an esoteric word to being a living, breathing part of your day-to-day culture?
  • What are the unspoken dangers of over-persistence and how can you prevent them at your organization?
  • Why is the opposite of success not failure—and how does that shift in mindset help your employees take more risks and grow exponentially?
  • What’s the surprising difference between fearlessness and courage— and why does that critical difference lead to consistent breakthroughs in organizations of all sizes?

If you care about elevating your business—if you care about your employees being more resilient, more courageous, and more capable of making smart, innovative decisions—this keynote is what you’ve been waiting for.

V.I.S.T.A. STORYTELLING FOR BUSINESS GROWTH:

HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR ORGANIZATION AND ELEVATE YOUR CAREER USING THE 5 KEYS OF RADICALLY COMPELLING STORIES

The world has never been noisier.

How do you command the attention of your customers, sales prospects, strategic partners, or industry at-large? Once you have their attention, how do you transform those stakeholders into lifelong advocates for you and your business?

After a decade of researching the world’s most successful leaders and organizations, bestselling author Alex Banayan uncovered what the single most underrated skill is that can radically boost the growth of any company’s sales, marketing, or business development efforts.

The secret is storytelling—but not just any kind. Banayan’s research led him to decode the keys to remarkably compelling, gripping, and emotional storytelling that can be used by businesses of all sizes to supercharge their goals. This is a specific, teachable skill set that can transform prospects into blue-chip clients and customers into evangelists, and can inject an entirely new sense of possibility into the DNA of your company culture.

Drawing from his years of research and the international success of The Third Door’s unique narrative style, Banayan distills in this keynote how anyone in your organization—from C-suite executives to your newest team members—can use the five elements of Banayan’s V.I.S.T.A. Storytelling Framework to transform your business.

Because at the end of the day, everything in life and business comes down to a story. And it’s time your organization uses that to its advantage.

THE THIRD DOOR FOR TOP-LINE GROWTH:

HOW TO RE-TRAIN AND RE-INVIGORATE YOUR TEAM TO FIND A WAY THROUGH ANY DOOR

What happens when some of the hardest-to-reach people are your prospects? How does a salesperson or financial advisor persevere through the inevitable onslaught of rejections? Sometimes sales pipelines feel like pipedreams. Often weeks and months are spent on a deal, only for it to fall through at the last minute. Over time, the sting of rejection can multiply until it becomes crippling.

After seven years of learning directly from the most successful entrepreneurs on earth, bestselling author Alex Banayan gained invaluable sales lessons from Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, and dozens more.

In this empowering keynote, Banayan shows teams how to deploy new approaches to establishing relationships with leads so that you’re more than just another name in an inbox, from re-imagining prospect meetings to making a lasting impression.

His presentation also sheds light on new frameworks to view rejections and failures, offering surprising insights on what to do next. Audiences come away with practical tools to apply the Third Door™ framework to their sales process, including:

  • Finding your “Inside Man”
  • Overcoming “The Flinch”
  • Utilizing “Borrowed Credibility”
  • The surprising science of cold emails

From Larry King’s interviewing secrets that help warm up prospects to Quincy Jones’ key to continued growth and success, this keynote is for any sales team serious about taking their top-line results to the next level.

WORKSHOPS

CAREER GROWTH WORKSHOP

FUEL PERSONAL GROWTH BY INSTILLING THE THIRD DOOR MINDSET

90 MINS

In this interactive workshop, bestselling author Alex Banayan guides your audience through easy-to-implement exercises that are derived from his ten years of research on high performance and success.

Banayan presents practical tools that garner on-the-spot results within each individual, along with take-home exercises your audience can utilize after the event to continue cultivating growth, both personally and professionally. These tools help your audience get unstuck, rediscover what makes them come alive, and find clarity on some of the biggest obstacles they are bound to face as they navigate their paths to achieving their biggest goals, no matter what stage they are in their careers.

If instilling a sustainable and consistent mindset of growth within your attendees is a priority, then this workshop is for you.

STORYTELLING FOR BUSINESS GROWTH WORKSHOP

ACCELERATE TOP-LINE GROWTH THROUGH RADICALLY COMPELLING STORIES

90 MINS

After a decade of studying and interviewing the world’s most innovative leaders, bestselling author Alex Banayan has honed in on the one lever that can be pulled to accelerate your business growth in a whole new way: storytelling.

This goes beyond telling stories for marketing or advertising—this is about elevating your team’s ability to tell emotionally compelling narratives. Participants will radically improve their approach to the most critical components of top-line growth, ranging from sales and client communications, to executive leadership and investor relations, to how quickly and effectively new initiatives can be implemented internally.

This workshop produces dramatic results in real-time. Banayan not only teaches your audience his proprietary V.I.S.T.A. Storytelling Framework that can be used at any level of your organization, but he also guides your group through an interactive exercise where your audience walks away with brand new, rewritten stories.

This experience brings your event to new heights—not only changing the way audience members see themselves and their colleagues, but most important, changing the way they’re able to fuel your organization’s growth for years to come.

EXECUTIVE GROWTH STRATEGY SESSION

TURN THE LESSONS INTO A TANGIBLE PLAN OF ACTION

60 MINS

This session is only available to groups of thirty attendees or fewer, and is strongly advised to be used only with executive leadership, select upper management, or a top-priority team. To be coupled with the Exponential Growth keynote, this highly- dynamic session creates the space to create an actionable strategy for the upcoming quarter or fiscal year of your organization.

This session turns the principles of the Third Door framework into tangible plans specific to your organization’s goals. Each strategy session is tailored for the specific needs and goals of each organization.

By the end of the Executive Growth Strategy Session, your team members will not only see new pathways and approaches to achieve your most critical business objectives, but they will also be infused with an energy of possibility, perseverance, and enthusiasm for the rest of your fiscal year

TESTIMONIALS:

Partial list:

“The speech was an absolute home run. And it changed my life.”

– CEO, Intuit

“The feedback about Alex Banayan’s keynote has been off the charts. It was an outstanding event! Alex knocked it out of the park!”

—Andy Sieg, President, Merrill Lynch

“Banayan is one of the most professional and polished speakers I’ve worked with. And his talk couldn’t have gone better. His stories were enthralling, his insights were incredibly tangible, and his message was spot on.”

—Megan Green, Google Play Business Development, Google

“After Banayan’s keynote at Disney, we sent out a survey to all of the attendees. I must say, it was the best feedback we’ve ever received from any speaker. Hands down.”

—Laurie H. Allred, Head of Y@DCPI, Disney

“Alex Banayan’s keynote was entertaining, informative, and most of all, memorable. Thousands of our team members were in the audience and Banayan’s storytelling made it feel like we were all sitting down with him, one on one, as he spoke directly to each of us. It was exactly the kind of engaging keynote we were looking for.”

—Mike Miedler, CEO, Century 21 Real Estate

“When Alex Banayan spoke at my department’s off-site, his energy was contagious, his stories were inspiring, and his ideas pushed my team’s leadership. If you’re looking for someone with insight and passion, then Banayan is your man.”

—Jesse Stollak, VP of Global Brand Creative, Nike

“As a keynote speaker for our employee retention series, Alex Banayan brought a perfect mix of lively stories and practical exercises for some of our most tenured colleagues. Banayan’s keynote was able to strike the rare balance of entertaining, informative, and useful—which is exactly what we needed.”

—Courtney Loomis, Director of Employee Events, Salesforce

“Alex Banayan is an unbelievable storyteller! His keynote was thoughtful, engaging, and dynamic. Banayan represents the energy of unlimited potential.”

—Arturo Nunez, Head of ALAC Marketing, Apple

“Alex Banayan was the closing keynote at our top advisor summit and his message of ambition, growth, and perseverance were phenomenal! It was everything I was looking for and more.”

—Frederick E. Yates, Corporate Vice President, New York Life

“Banayan’s keynote kicked-off our event perfectly! His charismatic personality draws you in, and then his insights and stories prove to be both immensely entertaining and deeply emotional. Whether you work in sales or marketing, every department will find tremendous value in Banayan’s keynote. On top of that, we then decided to gift copies of The Third Door to our top clients, and they all loved it. Once you start reading the book, you can’t stop. The keynote coupled with the book is magic.”

—Sevan Leipziger, Senior Head of SAE Entertainment Sales, Delta Airlines

“The feedback on Alex Banayan’s keynote has been terrific! Our team left more energized and more informed. It was the perfect way to close out our event!”

—Kevin Squibb, Senior Manager of Digital Field Sales,

General Motors

“It was a fantastic keynote! The team is still talking about Alex’s presentation and using his take-aways and repeating his quotes left- and-right. Alex’s speech was one of our company’s favorites by far, and possibly the best Q&A we’ve ever seen.”

—Elysha R. McMurtry, Director of Corporate Affairs,

Monster Energy Drinks

“Banayan’s keynote and Q&A were on point for our attendees, his topics and takeaways were very effective for our group of top advisors. Alex even took the time to do a book signing and connected one on one with our advisors afterward. He was an amazing person to work with before and during our event.”

—Sarah Potts, Senior Specialist of Field Meetings,

Northwestern Mutual