Meet the man behind Book Speakers Direct, who tells why it’s been one hell of a ride and that he ain’t getting off anytime soon.

The GM, Gerry Morris, where do I start, let’s go with my experience. I have had the joy of being involved in the guest speaking industry since 2001, which I guess makes me one of the most experienced speaker consultants in the country. It has been an amazing journey where I have had the pleasure to work with the most wonderful people you could ever imagine.

Over the two decades I have worked with ex-Prime Ministers, captains of industry, some of the best-known sporting heroes in the country, finance gurus, futurists, amazing motivational and inspirational speakers and some of the biggest names in Media and Entertainment. And on top of this met amazing clients who became good friends. It really has been a blessed life working with such incredible people.

Some highlights included being involved with an event that featured Nelson Mandela’s Executive Assistant Zelda La Grange and I even played a significant part in having an amazing young woman interview President Barack Obama when he visited Sydney in 2018. I loved that Obama’s people were taking advice from me!

Then there was three years running events on the Sunshine Coast, to give back to my community, who gave so much support to myself and my family after my near tragic accident. For those events we brought amazing speakers to the region for everyone to enjoy.

So many highlights over those years. Thinking back, I loved the sports luncheons where I brought the likes of Wayne Bennett, Wally Lewis, Kerry O’Keeffe and so many more personal favourites. Our business breakfasts were legendary, with a long list of great presenters but I guess one of the best was with Ray Martin. Ray was wonderful, as he shared stories from his incredible career but most of all I shall best recall spending two hours chatting over coffee at Coolum and getting to know one of the nicest men on the planet.

I mentioned my accident, to be honest not my favourite of times, getting knocked off my push bike, flung into oncoming traffic then being hit and dragged under a car for 20 metres is not a good thing.

Thankfully ten (yep, that’s right, ten) amazing men, who were dining at nearby cafes and barbecuing at a park with their families, came running to my rescue.

After assessing the scene and thinking me dead they decided to lift the car off of me, I was squashed under the engine and my head in the wheel arch.

As their side of the story goes, after they pulled me out from under the car, they stood over me and thought best they get a blanket to put over my dead body. That’s until I started to make very strange noises, which was followed by some colourful language and they could not believe I came back to life. A world of pain and slow recovery was to follow but at least I got a cool nickname out of it, a quick search of “Gerry Morris Miracle Man” will take you to my story. 

Which leads me into my WHY – why Book Speakers Direct? Well, I guess the big man upstairs didn’t take me then, as I had unfinished business down here. I have been sitting on this concept for a good few years and I want to create what I truly believe is a fully transparent platform, that works best for everyone, guest speakers and clients alike. It is a platform that works for everyone who wants direct contact, open dialogue between those wanting to book a great guest speaker for their event. We assist by trying to supply the end client as much information on the speaker as possible, to make an educated decision on which speaker they want to engage. And before they engage, they can reach out via phone or email and have direct dialogue with who they are considering.

We take No Commissions from the guest speakers, they pay us a yearly tax-deductible subscription to advertise themselves to potential clients. We are not an agency, more so an advertising platform for speakers to be booked directly, with out losing a substantial commission of their speaking fee and clients have the opportunity to deal directly with them.

Last comment on our WHY is that Book Speakers direct was created to be a fully transparent platform to allow for open and direct dialogue between event organisers and guest speakers.

We created it because it is a fairer system for clients to engage guest speakers directly.

This platform is an amalgamation of my many years of experience in the guest speaking industry and my millennium son’s Tom’s IT skills, who created the website. Tom Morris is a joint Director in the company and I am so proud to be building this business with him. 

So, whether you are an event organiser or speaker, go to Book Speakers Direct today. Why? Because it makes sense.