DERRICK TENNANT | A PRACTICAL MESSAGE THAT STICKS Motivational Speaker from Buffalo, NY

THEY’LL REMEMBER THE SPEAKER. THEY’LL LIVE THE MESSAGE. You can hire someone to motivate your audience for an hour. Or you can give them something they’ll still be using months later. Derrick Tennant combines powerful storytelling, practical ideas, genuine audience connection and humor to create an experience people remember — and a message they can actually use after the applause stops. A sudden brain bleed led to emergency brain surgery, a coma and permanent paralysis on the left side of Derrick’s body. His athletic future appeared to be over. It wasn’t. After a year in a wheelchair, Derrick returned to competition and played basketball internationally in the Philippines and Mexico — at 5'9", with the use of only one arm and one leg. That experience became the foundation for one of the ideas Derrick now shares with audiences around the world: YOUR OBSTACLE IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY. “My obstacle wasn’t in the way. It became the way.” But Derrick’s presentation isn’t simply about overcoming paralysis. It’s about your people. How do they respond when the plan changes? How can they turn limitations into possibilities? How do leaders make the people around them better? And what changes when we stop asking, “What can I get FROM this person?” and start asking, “What can I do FOR this person?” Those ideas fuel Derrick’s messages on resilience, leadership, generosity and CONTAGIOUS EXCELLENCE. CONTAGIOUS EXCELLENCE Great leaders don’t simply succeed. They create success around them. Derrick challenges audiences to measure excellence not only by what they accomplish, but by what happens to the people around them. And he doesn’t just teach it. Derrick created Jokability — Big Stage. Bigger Stars., a program that gives people with disabilities the opportunity to build confidence, learn comedy and perform on a real comedy-club stage alongside professional comedians. It’s Contagious Excellence in action: Use your success to help someone else discover theirs. YOUR EVENT SHOULDN’T FEEL LIKE HIS LAST EVENT. This may be one of the biggest differences between Derrick and the other speakers you’re considering. He does his homework. Whenever possible, Derrick arrives a day or two early to experience your organization firsthand. He meets your people, hears their stories, learns your culture and discovers the little things no speaker could learn from a website or planning call. Then he brings them into the presentation. Your people. Your language. Your stories. Your mission. So when someone in the audience thinks, “Wait…how did he know THAT?” That’s the point. Derrick doesn’t come early just to learn the stage. He comes early to learn your people. AND THEN THERE’S JULIE. For an extraordinary addition, bring Derrick’s sister Julie, who has Down syndrome. Science tells us Julie has an extra chromosome. Their grandfather saw it differently: “Julie doesn’t have an extra chromosome. You and I are missing one — the Love Chromosome.” That simple idea became The Love Chromosome, an unforgettable presentation from Derrick and Julie filled with joy, humor and a powerful reminder that sometimes the people the world sees as having less may have something the rest of us desperately need. Julie doesn’t simply help Derrick communicate the message. In many ways, she is the message. Derrick has appeared on The Mike Huckabee Show, Dry Bar Comedy, Pure Flix and more. He even appeared in a Jeff Foxworthy movie as a one-armed softball player named “Lefty.” His assessment of his acting career? “I was a featured extra. That’s basically getting an F+.” He’s also a committed minimalist, known for traveling with virtually everything he needs in one suitcase — including seven shirts labeled Monday through Sunday. It all points toward another philosophy Derrick tries to live: LIVE SIMPLY. LOVE WASTEFULLY. SIGNATURE MESSAGES CONTAGIOUS EXCELLENCE — Don’t just be excellent. Make the people around you better. YO-YO: YOUR OBSTACLE IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY — Discover how obstacles, change and limitations can become the way forward. SELFISH GENEROSITY — Stop asking what you can get FROM people and start asking what you can do FOR them. DON’T JUST LEAD. INSPIRE. — Build a culture where people don’t merely have to follow. They choose to. THE LOVE CHROMOSOME — Add Julie for an unforgettable message about joy, value, perspective and love. Corporate meeting. Leadership conference. Association event. Fundraiser. School. Faith-based gathering. Awards banquet. Whatever the room, Derrick’s goal is bigger than getting a standing ovation. Give your people stories they’ll remember, ideas they’ll repeat and principles they’ll actually use. Because a great speaker shouldn’t just make an impact while he’s onstage. He should leave some of it behind. THEY’LL REMEMBER THE SPEAKER. THEY’LL LIVE THE MESSAGE.