Joe Simpson
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Mountaineer and author of Touching The Void
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Made the 1st ascent of the previously unclimbed west face of Siula Grande
Joe Simpson is a mountaineer, author and Greenpeace activist, who’s passion for climbing has taken him all over the world. He’s twice come close to losing his life on mountaineering expeditions; and the remarkable story of his extraordinary survival in the Peruvian Andes is told in his award-winning book Touching the Void.
The best-selling book, which was subsequently made into a movie, has become one of the all time classics of mountaineering, hailed as an account of psychological, even philosophical witness of the rarest compulsion.
Touching the Void is a tale of two men thrown into a nightmare of terrifying life and death choices and heartbreaking decisions. It is about agony and terror, courage and weakness. It tells of trust and friendship tested to the very limits of human endurance.
You need no special knowledge of mountain climbing to understand the many inspirational messages to be found in the telling of this powerful human drama. It is about the triumph of the human spirit, the immense instinct to survive and the innate strength we have within us to succeed.
We all take risks, but when we fail it doesn’t usually involve death. Joe Simpson has been in the risk business for over 30 years, and the story he tells has reached far beyond the narrow confines of his chosen profession to appeal to millions of people from all walks of life.
The messages are clear; careful planning, effective teamwork, goal setting, decision making, coolness under pressure and self belief can get results. Making the right decisions, in the right place, at the right time, can be the difference between living and dying. Success is about choice not chance.
Touching The Void - Motivational Speech
The appeal of Joe Simpson as a motivational speaker is that he tells his story in an unassuming, articulate and often humorous style. He refrains from giving patronising analogies between his exploits and the jobs of the people in the audience, preferring that they draw their own conclusions from the multitude of key messages that are wrapped up in his story.
The overriding feeling is one of total amazement and that no matter how tough things may get, there is a way to not only come through it, but to achieve even greater goals.
Joe Simpson is able to fine tune his presentation to your conference or event, to a degree, however it would not be possible to make the talk solely about teamwork, for example. You will find that his presentation deals with many issues that are important in just about every industry, and certainly in the lives of every individual.
“Touching The Void” deals with planning, strategy, teamwork, goal setting, leadership, responsibility, motivation and our ability to reach way beyond what we think is possible.
Fireside chat/interview
TV/media clips
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Joe Simpson's very personal account of how he survived against all the odds, made for a very powerful presentation at our Annual Sales Conference. We were most impressed. His presentation was both inspirational and moving but laced with a good measure of appropriate humour. People were left very uplifted and inspired.
I was speechless at the end of Joe Simpson's presentation – the casual, informal, personal and captivating way in which he tells his remarkable story held my attention for every second. In terms of achieving my objectives by impressing the audience with the strength and ability to meet tough personal challenges and goals, Joe achieved this 110 percent. He has become a subtle role model for many of our staff in terms of handling challenges and achieving goals.
Thanks for delivering a superb account of your experience in the Andes. It had been 5/6 years since I last heard your account and even though I reread the book, it really is quite a moving and amazing experience to hear to you live.
The collated scores from the 'Avandia Experience' show that Joe Simpson's session scored highest (7 people put Joe off the scale). Please thank Joe for his excellent work.
I'm still on site in Las Vegas, but I wanted to send you a quick message to let you know we had rave reviews from all of our clients. Joe Simpson is truly one of the nicest people I have had the pleasure to meet. We are already talking about booking him for next year.
Joe Simpson was enormously popular. The audience were staggered by his story. He got a standing ovation." ..... "There has been nothing but praise for your talk. No other speaker has ever had a reception such as the one given to you.
The evening with Joe Simpson was a tremendous success. Although he denies it, he is a very good, very natural public speaker. Everyone in the room was fully engaged. I have never seen the interest in Q&A afterwards so high at our events – we could have kept him up late into the evening. I only wished we were in a smoky pub in Sheffield after a good days climbing.
Without any doubt, Joe Simpson delivered a powerful and motivating presentation throughout the week and was a resounding success at each of the three conventions. He added exactly the right dimension and the feedback from delegates is unanimously positive.
Clients often ask about purchasing books for giveaways and delegate packs. Below you’ll find a selection of products by Joe Simpson. Click the images to view on Amazon's website. For bulk orders, please speak with your Booking Agent.
How to book Joe Simpson for your event
To book Joe Simpson, please submit an online enquiry to booking.agent@nmp.co.uk or contact one of our booking agents on +44 (0)20 3822 0003.
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