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Schedule Session Descriptions Keynote Speakers Session Speakers Register
2012 Summit for Professional Growth
Debra Benton
Debra Benton is an effective, charismatic, and powerful speaker/consultant/author who has been in business successfully for over 30 years having founded Benton Management Resources in 1976. She has helped professionals worldwide to design subtle changes in their presentation, attitude, and leadership style that ultimately resulted in an increase in their personal and professional effectiveness – and subsequently their financial status.
Her client list reads like a “Who’s Who” in successful business today. Debra’s style and ability to influence positive change has put people “in office,” made companies millions, accelerated career advancement, and created a beneficial ripple effect throughout numerous organizations.
She has coached corporate executives, politicians, and business leaders on their organization impact in every industry imaginable. Every Week Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company features a client with whom she’s worked. Debra has written seven books and numerous articles in business publications including the Harvard Business Review and The Wall Street Journal. Her best-selling books have been translated into fourteen languages.
She has spoken to hundreds of organizations including American Express, United Airlines, Viacom, McKinsey & Company, Comcast, Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, U.S. Border Patrol, Lockheed Martin ….in 18 countries before audiences as large as 5,000 on such topics as: Executive Charisma, How to Think and Act Like the Best CEOs, and the Art of Leadership. As a speaker, Debra has consistently achieved a rating in the top 2% of all presenters.
Debra lives with her husband, a retired cowboy and ranch manager, Rodney Sweeney, in Colorado.
Keynote session: "Leaders Needed: Apply Within"  Benton will dissect and decode the secret sauce of traits and nuance needed to elevate your presence in the world where you want to be.  Your authentic self - How to tweak what you already have to present yourself in a way that people are receptive to you; build trust with colleagues and customers.  Rearrange how you view yourself - How to differentiate yourself and still be comfortable in situations you normally don't feel comfortable in.  Sharpen how you think and behave - How to cause people to remember you for the right reasons; enhance your business grace, connection, and rapport.

Tim Gard
Tim Gard, CSP, CPAE is a drop-dead funny, laugh-out-loud humorist, who consistently delivers a rejuvenating, and immediately applicable message that teaches audiences to enhance productivity and enthusiasm in both professional and personal encounters! While he does not think of himself as a comedian, Tim dedicates himself to using humor as a way to look at life a little differently… He calls this a Comic Vision®.
As a leading and recognized authority in stress reduction through humor, Tim speaks at over 100 events each year, from Sioux City to Singapore. Having authored and co-authored 4 books, Tim is a frequent guest on TV and radio talk shows discussing his keynote speeches, facilitation and consulting experience, as well as marketing his own line of stress buster reminders: Tim's Tools®! Receiving the CPAE designation just this year and being inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame, Tim is now in the top one percent of the top one percent of his industry! Awarded by industry peers, the CPAE is based on exemplary skill and talent in material, style, experience, delivery, image, professionalism and communication. Audiences around the world cheer and applaud when they hear the name Tim Gard!

Keynote session: "CHANGE THE GAME" Life is a game. With big wins and heartbreaking losses.  Yet, once you understand the basics of any game, you have three options: You can play the existing game, quit, or change it.  Perhaps you’ve heard the idiom “there are no rules.” Well, there are rules to every game. What’s more, some rules apply to some players, some players seem exempt from the rules, some get away with it, some do not. But can one person actually change the game? Without a doubt, the answer is yes. By changing the game you shift your perspective and this will change your experience forever. It’s never too late to change the game. In this session discover the secrets for how to change your own game.


Jeff Vankooten
Jeff Vankooten is a professional speaker, content creator, and consultant on resilience- empowering people to live and lead lives that thrive in the midst of extraordinary change. He has over 15 years experience speaking from the platform and has keynoted more than 100 events. Jeff travels the country giving keynotes for a widevariety of public and private organizations in virtually every arena, from the tech sector to financial services, Fortune 500, manufacturing, real estate, health care, hospitality,  entertainment, retail, legal, and the US government. Always keeping a sharp eye on the future, his work reflects his broad experience as an innovator, trendsetter, communicator, and entrepreneur. Recognized for his ability to deliver powerfully focused and influential presentations, Jeff is regularly sought out by leaders to help develop strategic messaging and content for presentations to audiences all over the world. He has authored three books; “Greatalk! Pithy Pieces of Advice for Astonishingly Effective Presentations”, “You are who you were when: Understanding our Generational Personalities”, and “Ready. Set. Thrive”. He is a member of the National Speakers Association, a selective organization for global professional speakers.  Jeff graduated from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology; a Bachelors of Arts in Communications; and a Masters Degree in Theology from Denver Seminary. He lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife, three kids, and a very big dog.

Keynote session: “Ready. Set. Thrive" Change is wearing down a lot people these days. Itʼs intense. More complex than ever. But the world continues to pressure organizations and people to improve performance like never before. We need new solutions. We need new approaches that energize us and restore spirit and morale in the workplace. Resilience gives us all a needed lift to make us more effective performers, while helping us feel more in control of our lives. This keynote introduces nine resilient habits for exploiting uncertainty and thriving in disruption and change.