Motivational Speaker with Fire Power

Motivational speaker Denise Ryan brings her infectious energy to conferences, talking about dealing with change, getting along with others, and staying motivated no matter what.

A magna cum laude graduate of the University of South Carolina with a master’s degree in business, what she really specializes in is lighting fires. She is a motivational pyromaniac! Her infectious energy and enthusiasm sets a room ablaze.

After earning millions for clients in the corporate world, Denise realized she had a talent for firing people up. She parlayed this gift into FireStar, a company specializing in enthusiasm. Eighteen years later, Denise motivates and energizes large corporations and small businesses across America at conferences, board retreats and annual meetings. Her no nonsense, direct delivery coupled with her astute business savvy and irreverent wit leave audiences not only laughing, but with actionable tips.  She believes a talk with no tips is a big waste of time.

Denise also has arthritis – she has had one hip replacement and was featured in Arthritis Today magazine.  She knows about dealing with pain and about having the discipline to recover from surgery as well as to lead a healthy life.  She can help your audience members do the same.

She isn’t a celebrity.  She’s not famous.  But she has the amazing ability to tell your audience exactly what they need to hear in a way they will love hearing it.

Not your typical “motivational speaker,” Denise is genuine and real. But also highly skilled – she holds the title of Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), a designation of excellence awarded to fewer than 10 percent of professional speakers. Denise is an author, keynote speaker and most notably, a fire starter extraordinaire.

FireStar’s unique programs are relevant, uplifting and informative. Denise’s trademark interactive programs address myriad issues such as dealing with change, getting along with others, and staying motivated no matter what. She also offers customized training sessions. Denise’s infectious enthusiasm motivates the unmotivated and challenges the challenged. Consider yourself warned: FireStar programs are five-alarm scorchers.

Most Popular Topics:

Great Balls of Fire! (Also called Keeping the Flame)

One of the greatest challenges we all face is keeping ourselves motivated. This is particularly difficult and extremely important with our fast-paced high responsibility jobs and lives today. It’s also vital for those in healthcare.  Their mood impacts patients and families every day.  It’s easy to lose enthusiasm and get burned out, stressed out, and finally – checked out. This high-energy session gives attendees six steps for getting the fire back in their lives professionally and personally. It’s not just a motivational speech; it’s a method attendees can apply long after the program.

Motivation by Chocolate

This keynote features two things everyone likes – chocolate and motivation! It teaches nine key concepts to help participants get more out of work and life. They’ll learn about persistence, passion, effective allocation of resources, the law of diminishing returns, and much more! The session includes a chocolate tasting to demonstrate not only how to appreciate chocolate, but also life itself. And now we have established the health benefits of this wonder food!  Give them chocolate and bring down the house!

How to Communicate with Everyone Who Isn’t You

Life would be so easy if everyone we interacted with was just like us. They would understand our cryptic e-mail messages, forgive our bizarre text messages, and understand why we unfriended them on Facebook. There would be no hard feelings, no conflict, and clearly, world peace. Unfortunately, no one else is exactly like you and to succeed in life and business, you have to work with the crazy, the angry, the silly, and yes, even the smarter and more articulate. This session will help you do just that. You will learn about barriers to communication and how to remove them. You’ll take a communication styles quiz and find out just how different a large portion of the world really is and how to get along with them. People won’t stop being crazy, but this session will help you stay sane.

Setting Your Followers on Fire!

This session opens with a discussion of the traits great leaders possess. Then we move on to the common mistakes that leaders make (micromanaging, failing to define expectations, criticizing rather than coaching and more) and how to avoid them. Then we get to the juicy stuff – what really motivates people (let go of Maslow’s Hierarchy – we’ve got something better!). If you want to get more from your employees, if you want to raise morale (without raising pay), or if you just want to be a better boss, this keynote is for you.

Communication and Power for Women

Often women have to walk the fine line between being effective and being perceived as a witch. This keynote will help you stay on the right side of the line!  You’ll learn how to communicate powerfully (even when you might not feel powerful), things that can weaken women professionally and how to avoid them, and 10 power tactics that work for women.  Stop waiting to get what you want and start making it happen!

WORKSHOPS or BREAKOUTS:

How to Get Along with Everyone Who Is Not Me

Life would be so easy if everyone we interacted with was just like us. They would understand our cryptic e-mail messages, forgive our bizarre text messages, and understand why we unfriended them on Facebook. There would be no hard feelings, no conflict, and clearly, world peace. Unfortunately, no one else is exactly like you and to succeed in life and business, you have to work with the crazy, the angry, the silly, and yes, even the smarter and more articulate.

This session will help you do just that. You will learn about barriers to communication and how to remove them. You’ll get tips on defusing hostile people (especially helpful for those in customer service or divorce court). You’ll take a communication styles quiz and find out just how different a large portion of the world really is and how to get along with them. There will be tips on technology and how to be more effective when using it to communicate. And you’ll even improve your listening skills (not that anyone has better ideas than you, but they might have more information). People won’t stop being crazy, but this session will help you stay sane.

Life is Like a Box of Chocolates – How to Excel in Uncertain Times

How can you give your best when you don’t know if you’ll even have a job next year or if you’ll be healthy?  Or who your boss might be or if there will be layoffs?  Well, you’re not going to stop eating chocolate if you don’t know exactly how every piece will taste!  There are no guarantees in life and you have to excel anyway.  This session will give you a four step method to excel at anything when the future is uncertain.  You’ll get concrete action strategies to keep your head in the game and get refocused and re-engaged.  We’ll talk about the importance of innovation and how ambivalence is not a strategy.  And we’ll discuss the real key to your success – disciplined action.   This time we’re thinking IN the box!

Overloaded, Overwhelmed and Over It!  How to Regain a Sense of Calm and Control

Did you know that dealing with e-mail has increased your workload by one to two hours a day?  Do you feel that you’ll never get caught up?  Are you overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information coming at you?  Do you find yourself angry, tired and frustrated?  If so, this session is for you.  We’ll discuss many of these overwhelming causes of stress and how to deal with them.  You’ll get tips on how to protect yourself in a world of ever increasing demands.