| From: | Deanne Guest Leaders in Action Seminar |
Hi Joan,
We, in Business & Professional Development, would like to thank you for sharing your thoughts on leadership with us. It was truly an inspiring afternoon; I will never forget your words of wisdom and advice on leadership. Thank you.
In regards to feedback, here is what a few of my colleagues and myself had to say about your presentation:
"Very interactive and engaging;"
"Funny-loved the jokes:"
"Sharing the gold medal with us was a nice touch-very cool!;"
"Awesome job, very good!"
The content was excellent. I was glad that you shared leadership examples through a business point of view; I think that a lot of the
participants could easily relate to this. I saw many people taking notes and heard a lot of good comments from the audience. One participant had said to me, "I learned more about leadership in the past hour than I did in a 3 day workshop."
I wish you the best of luck in all that you choose to do. I am so glad that I got to meet you. Thank you for making the afternoon an incredible
experience for me! :)
Deanne
Deanne Guest
Business & Professional Development
Centre for Continuing Education
University of Regina
| From: | Harry Bowler Chairperson, Sunrise Credit Union Merger Virden, MB |
Hello Joan.
Your presentation to our employees on Sat. Sept. 27 was timely & conveyed the message we wanted: put a smile on & you are in charge of your attitude. All staff thoroughly enjoyed your message. I am hearing a lot of good comments from all levels of employees, like: “It was so fun”…”The time just flew by”. Your words are being quoted and discussed amongst employees. I have to confess, I quoted you in a toast to SunRise, by saying, “Here’s to ordinary people, doing Extraordinary things!"
Your presentation has helped our efforts toward team building in our merger of 5 organizations. I have no hesitation in providing a recommendation to yourself for your services as a motivational speaker. Feel free to use our name as a reference in the future.
Best regards,
Harry Bowler
| From: | Nicole Onufreychuk Human Resources Coordinator Saskatchewan Abilities Council Staff Seminar |
Dear Joan:
I received very positive feedback regarding your presentation on September 5, 2008. The overall rating of your presentation was a 5 on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent). Below are some comments I received:
"Best speaker EVER."
"Excellent speaker, enjoyed the humour and mingling with everyone."
"Can't say enough about what a great speaker she is and so gracious with her Olympics prizes. Really got her message across."
"Top notch - loved her! She was tremendous - great calibre of speaker!"
"Joan is an excellent motivational speaker. She holds ones' attention from start to finish, and leaves you wishing there was more."
"Amazing speaker - thoroughly enjoyed her. What a smile she has!"
Thank you again, Joan, for taking time out of your busy schedule to share your expertise at our annual Staff Seminar. We fully recognize that we would not receive such positive feedback from our participants without the excellent presentation and stimulating discussion you provided.
Sincerely,
Nicole Onufreychuk
| From: | Corinne McGirr Sales & Marketing Manager Lloydminster Exhibition January 31, 2008 |
Dear Joan,
Thank you very much for your enthusiastic participation at our recent Cattlemens Corral Crop Visions Campfire & Vittles Banquet. You had the audience captivated from your first words! Your down-to-earth attitude, and infectious personality made for an outstanding presentation.
The message you delivered was one of hope and motivation – ideal for our agricultural audience in these times. You were able to connect with everyone in the room (all 900 of them) and I am certain they all felt like you were talking directly to them. Your antecdotes were insightful and often hilarious! The Olympic Fashion Show component was also a great opportunity for us to “feature” our event sponsor by having them participate with you on stage. I think they also greatly enjoyed it. Thank you for your professionalism while presenting and for being so accomodating when the weather turned bad. We would love to have you come back again! I think the ultimate measure of the success of your presentation was the fact that our 900 person audience gave you a standing ovation at the conclusion – the first ovation we have had at this event in the past 10 years!!!!
Best of luck and I certainly hope to meet again.
Sincerely,
| From: | Lorie McGeough Chairperson, GI Love Regina Canadian Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates 22nd Annual Convention |
Dear Joan,
I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know how exceptionally well received your keynote presentation was.
I have been going to these things for 16 years and you are the only one who has received a standing ovation!
You ended our conference on a super high note, which is exactly what I wanted for our group. Nurses struggle every day with burn out and stressors that the public has no concept of. You were able to make them laugh and forget it all.
Thank you so much for your wit, openness and laughter, I know under the circumstances it must have been very difficult for you.
Take care and thank you so much.
Sincerely,
Lorie McGeough
| From: | Bill Baumgartner Co-operative Managers’ Association Phone: 306-789-6006 Fax: 306-790-9236 |
Re: Joan McCusker
The Co-operative Managers’ Association held its 50th Annual Conference recently at the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort. We were privileged to have Joan McCusker as the closing speaker. Speaking to an audience of 175 persons, Joan provided an entertaining and inspirational presentation on “Characteristics of Successful People”.
Joan uses herself as an example of personal growth from small town Saskatchewan to becoming an Olympic champion. Her presentation was fast paced, humourous and uses many anecdotes of life as an Olympian. Her presentation was followed by a lively question and answer session that she handled extremely well. Following in her presentation she displayed her curling wardrobe and Olympic Gold Medal which was modeled and photographed by many in the audience.
Audience evaluation of her talk indicated 90% felt it exceeded their expectations with comments such as “excellent choice, wow! Awesome, and Fantastic”.
We do not hesitate in endorsing Joan as an excellent and stimulating speaker.
Co-operative Managers’ Association
| From: | Nancy Rathgaber Events Manager, Tourism Saskatchewan, Regina, Sask. Phone: 306-787-9600 |
Joan, please accept my sincere thanks for your contribution toward the success of the 16th annual Saskatchewan Tourism Awards of Excellence Gala evening. We were delighted that you could join us as Master of Ceremonies for this event.
Our guests seemed to have a fabulous time during the course of the evening and we have received many compliments on your behalf. We appreciate the fact that you kept the program running efficiently, in addition to adding some fun and humour to the event. Our conference delegates were using the “single clap” at sessions the next day!
We sincerely appreciate the effort you put into making this event a success, and we look forward to working with you in the future!
Nancy Rathgaber,
Events Manager
| From: | Bill Persley President, Portage Collage Lac La Biche, Alta. Phone: 780-623-5551 |
Re: Joan McCusker Speaking Presentations
Joan spoke at the 2004 Sports and Education Dinner and Silent Auction gala events for Portage College in both Lac La Biche and Cold Lake. We have had great feedback from both communities and those in attendance have indicated that the speakers were the best ever and will be a tough act to follow. It was an honour for community members and students to have the opportunity to meet Joan and be able to handle her Olympic gold medal. People will be talking about the events for a very long time!
Thank you.
Bill Persley
| From: | Brenda Eisner Co-chair Tri-Star Teachers’ Convention Kamsack, SK (306) 597-4406 |
Joan McCusker was the keynote speaker for the Tri-Star Teachers’ Convention on November 5, 2004. This is a letter of recommendation from the organizing committee of that convention.
Joan connected to our group immediately with her humour and life stories. She is a high-energy speaker that keeps the crowd very interested. You do not have to know much about curling to appreciate her “curling stories”. They are universal to human nature. We were given an insight into the fame of a small town girl and we saw the Olympic experience from her perspective.
More importantly than her curling experiences were her life experiences that she shared. Her theme of TNT (Teachers ‘n Teamwork) reached us in two different ways. First, we saw others and their attitudes in the workplace. We felt justified by our feelings of frustration when a person is difficult to be around. She taught us ways to reach those people or move past their behaviour. Secondly and more importantly, we saw ourselves and our attitude toward teamwork. We realized our own shortfalls and lack of commitment to the team effort. The “light went on” and our own attitude was examined. By the same token, we connected to the positive and saw the good that we do on a daily basis whether it is in the school or the community. Silently, we vowed to continue reaching our goals, or change and recommit to a more unified purpose.
The goal of any effective keynote speaker is first and foremost to entertain and secondly to motivate the crowd to get thinking differently about the topic and their connection to it. Since Joan’s speech, our staff has made subtle changes. We now have teachers writing humorous sayings or jokes on the white board. We have repeated parts of the speech to each other as reminders of what we learned.
Teachers are a hard group to speak to because we are in public speaking every day. We entertain, tell jokes, and try to motivate our audience. Joan McCusker received a standing ovation from our teachers and it was well deserved. She is a professional speaker in every way and has honed her speech so it has the highest value to her audience. She is a no nonsense woman with a “straight to the point” attitude.
It is the feeling of this committee that Joan is capable of connecting to any audience because she understands human nature and the hopes and dreams of people. She made us feel good about what we do in this world, but more importantly she made us feel important about who we are in this world.
We would be honoured to hear Joan speak again and it would be different the next time. She incorporates her daily life into her presentation almost immediately. She is an awesome keynote and if you are looking for the best presentation around, look no further that Joan McCusker.
| From: | Gordon Rutten Superintendent of Schools Prince Albert, Sask. Phone: 306-764-1571 |
Re: Joan McCusker
In the realm of motivational speakers, Joan McCusker is a standout.
The art of motivational speaking is a fine and delicate balance which includes elements of personality, content, humour, and human interest. Joan McCusker has achieved that balance in a superlative manner.
Her presentations are entertaining, down to earth, and content-orientated. Joan’s approach is to have a relaxed and informative conversation with her audience. Her underlying theme is the importance of maintaining a positive “can do” attitude to life which she delivers with energy and enthusiasm.
Joan is able to achieve instant rapport with her audience. They identify with her, empathize with her, and laugh with her. The following comments are representative of audience reaction to her presentations: “I felt she was speaking only to me.”, “I would listen to her again anytime.”, “I laughed so hard my sides hurt for two days.”, “Her remarks really touched my heart.”, “I would like to have her as my friend.”.
Any group that has the good fortune to have Joan McCusker speak to them will have their spirits raised and their batteries charged.
Sincerely,
Gordon Rutten
| From: | Cheryl Whiting Cops Provincial Coordinator Saskatchewan Cancer Agency |
Comments re: Joan McCusker Presentation at Cancer Symposium: Excellent Motivator; Dynamic individual; Able to put what she says in perspective at work setting; refreshing speaker; excellent motivational speaker; wow; good food for thought; awesome; very thought provoking and many great ideas to improve quality of workplace; inspiring speaker; excellent team building information applicable to any team; fantastic!!!
| From: | Roberta Luchinski Nipawin Teachers’ Convention, Nipawin, Saskatchewan |
Teacher Comments:
"Enjoyed her very much. Definitely an inspiration that ordinary people CAN DO extraordinary things. "
"Very inspiring with lots of simple strategies you can use in many different life aspects...personal, professional, coaching, family, teams."
"Encouraging our staff to work as a team. SO important! Great messages about life. Her second "session" was very good for giving new coaching strategies/principles."
"She was SO inspiring...I wouldn't have missed her."
"A simple message of communication and teamwork….two ideals which can get lost in our own little worlds (classrooms). We need to embrace these two concepts to better support our team and our goals. It was a timely and well done presentation. Thought and care to detail were evident!"
"Very entertaining yet she had a positive message! It was nice that she was a teacher and could relate to the rewords and challenges of the profession."
"I truly enjoyed her presentation. Her style of humour is almost comforting. The messages delivered were clear and relevant to teachers. Way to go."
"Found her presentation to be very realistic and inspirational. She has a great ability to get and maintain people’s interest. A great public speaker."
"Very much enjoyed her message of communication and teamwork as I believe this is what we are striving towards. I found her to be a very normal person who has achieved great things. I also enjoyed her personal stories as she related them to teaching. I felt comfortable thinking she could be talking about me. A great presentation. I listened to it all!!"
And from myself...You spoke with warmth and humor about what you have learned about taking a positive approach to the challenges of daily life, and of being "the best in the world" at something. You are a champion, inside and out.
Thank you for speaking at our conference.
Roberta Luchinski
| From: | Tracey Mann Manager, Volunteer Regina United Way of Regina |
Thank you again for your presentation at our Vital Lind Dinner supported by the United Way of Regina. Those who attended are still talking about your inspirational words and how much they enjoyed the opportunity to meet you!
Your presence at the Dinner did indeed make it a very special event for the more than 300 volunteers attending, whose “extraordinary” contributions have made Regina such a great place to live!
| From: | Glenda Kary Professional Development Chair Father Gorman Community Sc |
Re: Recommendation for Joan McCusker
To Whom It May Concern:
Recently Father Gorman Elementary School invited Joan McCusker to speak to our staff on how to motivate each other, set goals and stay determined. Joan was able to touch the teachers with her message about how every one is an ordinary person; some just do extraordinary things. The teachers were able to take that message to heart and think about how they can do extraordinary things within their classroom.
Although Joan shared a variety of information, from what to wear to the Olympics, how to pull pranks on others to how teachers should share, the overall message was to have fun. She made the presentation and morning fly by. Her enthusiasm and humor kept everyone spell bound. Joan applied the strategies she and her teammates used to reach Olympic success to teachers becoming successful members of the school team. She was also able to hit some “hot issues” with teachers. Joan used tack but straight forwardness to address those points. Joan presented a lively and animated morning with the teachers. Her presentation had equal parts of humor, reality, theory and practicality. In seconds she had every participant interested and enthused.
I would strongly recommend Joan as a presenter. Her ability to reach the audience, stay on topic, address issues, and remain lively is rarely found in one presenter. Joan was able to pace the morning out effectively, keeping things flowing without being rushed, and was always at ease. She personalized the presentation using information given to her and the group’s responses. Our staff left feeling enthusiastic, revitalized and motivated towards teaching. All participants found something of interest in both her message and presenting style.
Yours truly,
Glenda Kary
| From: | Elaine Farmer Executive Member SW Chapter of Women Entrepreneurs of Sask. |
Dear Joan,
On behalf of the Southwest Chapter of Women Entrepreneurs of Saskatchewan, we would like to thank you for the dynamic presentation we enjoyed on September 12th, 2002 at our Season Kick-Off Event at the Days Inn, Swift Current.
We received many comments from those in attendance expressing their enjoyment of your presentation. Some guests had heard you speak at a previous engagement and said they enjoyed this presentation just as much and would not hesitate to hear you speak again in the future.
The content of your presentation was well organized with many positive thoughts and messages conveyed in a casual and often humorous manner throughout your presentation. We all relate better to someone’s personal experiences and I thank you for sharing the many personal stories used to illustrate your subject material, “Characteristics of Successful People”.
Thank you for the opportunity to see and hold your Olympic Gold Medal and Olympic clothing you brought with you. This is a very special privilege and personal touch you extend to your audience and was greatly appreciated by all those who had the opportunity to hold the medal and try on an Olympic jacket.
I wish you success in your future motivational speaking engagements. Good luck to you and your team in the upcoming curling season. I also look forward to hearing you during the curling season in your role as commentator for CBC.
Yours truly,
Elaine Farmer