Matt Speakman, Public Speaker www.mattspeakman.com

Professional racing car driver, Matt Speakman, has achieved enormous goals in his 49 years, in particular the past 23. A sports fanatic Matt’s life took a very different turn in 1993, when 26 years old, he was hit by a drunk driver whilst riding his motorbike in Sydney. He incurred a serious spinal injury resulting in paraplegia. His passenger, a young woman, was killed. After an extremely difficult six months in hospital, where he

was told he would never walk again or enjoy the sports he loved, Matt was determined to prove them wrong. 23 years later Matt is achieving his goals, which he is continually setting higher. Matt is now a professional racing car driver racing in Europe in the world’s first 24 hour endurance race series, Mission Possible Racing www.missionpossibleracing.com In January 2015 Matt added to his list of world firsts. As part of the Mission Possible Racing team, he and three others in wheelchairs (two of which have quadriplegia), took on the most challenging form of Motorsport - the Dubai 24hr Endurance Race in the BMW 235 class. Many questioned the ability of an all disabled team to finish such a monumental challenge. But the team not only finished the gruelling race, they finished in style and further up the leader board than the ambitious team expected. Next, in March 2015, is round 2 at the iconic Mugello Autodrone in the Tuscany region of Italy. The team, confident from the results of Dubai, is now intent on showing the world just how competitive they can be. In 2013 Matt raced in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge presented by Pirelli in the Gold Coast McElrea Racing team. In doing this Matt became the first person in the world to race in a Porsche series with a major disability. Matt is also the first person in Australia with a disability to race professionally. As well as racing Matt is an Ambassador of SpinalCure Australia, http://www.spinalcure.org.au/, a non profit organisation which raises funds for medical research to find a cure for paralysis. Matt is also one of the key presenters in No Second Chance http://n2c.com.au/, a youth antiviolence education program. Matt was also a member of the Australian Paralympics Alpine Ski team and competed in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in 1994 finishing 30th. He is also currently training in a K1 Kayak and working hard to qualify for a spot on the Australian Paralympic Team heading to Rio in 2016. Matt talks about setting and achieving goals, developing individual goal setting ladders and stress the point never giving up and achieving and believing. His motto is Dream, Believe, Strive and Achieve.

“I try to give a strong message on what is possible. I believe if it is humanly possible and you’re a human you can do it. This is something I totally believe and want others to realise it too” say Matt.

Matt is dedicated to inspiring people with disabilities, and those without, that they do not have to accept their limitations.

“It’s important to have a major goal, a source of desire and inspiration to achieve the smallest steps on the goal setting ladder towards your ultimate goal” says Matt.

“I want to inspire people, especially those with disabilities, that they can achieve their dreams whatever they may be. If they see that a guy in a wheelchair can professionally race cars then, hopefully, they will follow their dreams” Matt Speakman.

1 A vision becomes reality!

WORLD PREMIERE

Mat t Speakman www.mattspeakman.com page 2 To watch Matt’s Affinia Presentation go to: http://youtu.be/-IN5WMcQ1LU

Speaking Testimonials “An outstanding and engaging presentation! What a story teller, it had it all, tears, laughter, shock and awe, inspiration, motivation, drive determination all the while demonstrating the power of true passion and how we can all continually succeed, if we need to! Everyone wants to or at least say they do!. Matt recently presented at a function where I hosted 40 of my top clients, the thanks and positive feedback has continued to flow, the rewarding part has been 40 different people took 40 different messages that made a difference to them, their business, their families and eventually their clients! They found their need, their passion, thanks Matt.” Paul Gaffney Regional Manager - QLD/NT Affinia Financial Advisers Limited “I have seen several presentations from crash survivors and I can honestly say Matt’s is one of the best presentations I have seen. I believe Matt is able to achieve the perfect balance between getting across the seriousness of driving sensibly and the drastic consequences that the wrong decision can have on not just the people involved in an accident but many other people, whilst at the same time not being too negative. From my observations Matt relates extremely well the students and also the other presenters and volunteers who run the program, and feedback from students about Matt’s sessions has always been positive.” - David Hinton Rotary Club of Hervey Bay Sunrise Inc, Rotary Youth Driver Awareness (RYDA) program “Matt has always conducted himself as the polished professional integrating his MC duties with the co-ordination of guest speakers and entertainment performing on the day. His voice is clear and easy to listen to whilst grabbing the public’s attention.” J.de Waard, Fraser Coast Regional Council Speaking inquiries please call: Matt Speakman on 0414 653 507 Louise Lyel on 0481 362 682

Mat t Speakman www.mattspeakman.com page 3 Example of a Talk D B S A - Dream Believe Strive Achieve The one-hour program will consist of three 15-minute talks with interactions and discussions in between. Plus an open question section at the end. Talk 1: an introduction explaining who I am, the accident and my return to national motor racing competition. Special emphasis will be placed on the importance of having a dream and how that dream was used as motivation. Interaction 1: participants will be asked to put forward some dreams or goals and the discussion will consist of reasons for wanting to achieve that dream. This is designed to help find a goal that will be rewarding, achievable and motivating and not just some thing that sounds cool. Talk 2: The goal setting ladder. A step by step on the importance of breaking down a huge task into small and most importantly achievable steps. Being able to reach the small steps keeps the whole process positive and having little wins along the way is the key to staying motivated and keeps the ultimate goal in sight to further motivate. Interaction 2: A goal put through in discussion one will be placed on a white board and the group will put forward the steps that will make up the goal setting ladder. During this they will learn how to make adjustments and set smaller ladders along the way to keep breaking down the steps into as small and achievable goals as possible. Talk 3: From effort comes reward. Using personal examples this talk explains the rewards achievable by putting in effort and how the bigger the effort is the bigger the reward. To use an example that youth can identify with reference will be made to video games and how the hardest most frustrating ones are the most rewarding and enticing because of the feeling of success once the have been concurred. Reference will be made to the goal setting steps as a kind of cheat code. Summary and questions to finish. The program designed for small groups of up to 20 to ensure all in attendance have a chance to participate in the discussions and for maximum impact.