ABOUT HEROIC PUBLIC SPEAKING

What We Believe

We believe that a speech has the power to change the world and the people in it—including the speaker.

What We Do

Heroic Public Speaking helps speakers with transformational ideas leverage the power of performance to move audiences (and themselves) to think, feel, and act differently. Simply put, we help speakers deliver best in class performances so their ideas take hold and spread.

Who We Do It For

• Professional speakers and soon-to-be professional speakers.
• Entrepreneurs who use speaking to build their brands and book more business.
• Mission-driven people who want to advance a cause or lead a movement.
• Executives who need to move people towards a big vision.

What We’ve Built

Heroic Public Speaking is considered by many to be the preeminent keynote speaker training company in the world. We're a small company with headquarters in Lambertville, NJ, and were founded by a husband and wife team.

Who We Hire

It's easy to say we care … but we really do. We know that no one is perfect and that non-traditional hires are often the best hires. In fact, most of the people working at Heroic Public Speaking, including the founders, currently do something different than they did in their previous jobs or what they were originally trained to do. Bottom line: we want you if you produce results, and we want you to be happy while doing it.

ABOUT THIS ROLE

We Need a Content Development Associate/Creative Right Hand to our co-founder

This is likely a one-of-a-kind role.

At first glance, it might make you go, “huh?” After all, this isn’t exactly a run-of-the-mill job. But if you’re the right person for the job, you’ll soon realize that you’ve hit the jackpot.

If you love ideation, research, writing, content creation, and curriculum development, with a dash of project management, then this is the opportunity for you.

Maybe you’re better at some of those things than the others. Maybe one or two of them, you have only limited experience with. That’s okay—if you’re confident that you’re capable of doing all those things, and more, keep reading.

In this role, you’ll be the creative right hand to Heroic Public Speaking’s co-founder and CEO, Michael Port. You’ll be by his side, hashing out ideas, creating content, working with him on his books or podcasts, or researching some newfangled business idea.

Michael is a NY Times and WSJ bestselling author of 9 books, including the perennial bestsellers Book Yourself Solid (2006) and Steal the Show (2015). He’s built multiple companies and has given thousands of speeches around the world. He’s also kind and kinda goofy sometimes, excitable when he’s on a creative streak, and when he makes commitments, he fulfills them. He’ll expect you to do the same.

The right person for this role will take pride in their work. That means you also take a no-drama approach to the role and have a “Yes, and” attitude toward creativity and collaboration.

In addition to supporting Michael, you'll also work with the rest of the team at Heroic Public Speaking, planning and coordinating projects, taking on certain administrative duties, and independently managing projects to completion. As part of the Heroic Public Speaking team, you’ll be able see and feel how your contributions directly impact Heroic Public Speaking and the people we serve.

About The Kind of Person We Think is Right for This Position

In this role, you’ll be working on whatever Michael is working on and whatever Michael wants you to work on. If you need an extremely structured role, this isn’t it and is likely not for you.

But if you are comfortable with fluid direction, cross-functional work, researching new concepts and quickly fleshing them out, organizing ideas, and doing lots of writing, then this is an extraordinary opportunity for you. Maybe even a personally and professionally transformational opportunity.

We’re not looking for the perfect person … but we are looking for the right person. So don’t get in your head about applying. If you think this is the right role for you, apply and tell us why. Sell the heck out of yourself. We like that.

We often make non-traditional hires, and we care more about what you’re capable of than what you’ve done in the past. Michael hires people who he thinks are ready for exponential growth.

Remember, a job interview isn’t about you, it’s about how you can make the company better and, in this case, how you can improve Michael’s work. We are hiring you to help Michael be better at his job.

Some of Your Specific Contributions:

• You’ll conduct insightful research and help produce episodes of our podcast, “Steal the Show with Michael Port.”
• You’ll brainstorm creative ideas and explore new initiatives with Michael.
• You’ll write and develop content for Michael’s books and other creative projects that Michael may undertake.
• You’ll collaborate with Michael on class creation along with training curriculum and materials.
• You’ll manage creative and administrative projects from inception through delivery.
• You’ll collaborate with Heroic Public Speaking’s team across all departments.

EDUCATION & QUALIFICATIONS

We don’t really care where you went to school or what level of education you’ve achieved. We care about who you are now and how you show up in the world now. We have an intelligent and sophisticated group of people working together with shared values. However, how someone did in school, where they went to school, or what they studied isn’t the first thing we consider when making our hiring decisions.

WE DO, HOWEVER, EXPECT THE FOLLOWING

• Strong verbal and written communication skills; you enjoy engaging with and influencing others.
• Accountability.
• Willingness to take well-informed risks: not shy away from them.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet a deadline while maintaining an emphasis on detail and excellent follow through.
• Comfort with taking direction and responding to feedback well while also having the confidence to improve company processes.
• Can collaborate and work in support of other teammates, as well as work independently.
• Enjoy drama on the stage or TV but aren’t interested in it on a day-to-day basis.
• A high degree of emotional intelligence and presence of mind is an absolute.

TECHNOLOGY

We’re a company that values and embraces technology; you must be comfortable learning and using modern processing and communication applications, like Google Suite and Slack.

We also use the following programs: ZenDesk, ClickUp, Airtable, 1Password, and KEAP.

If you haven't used some of these platforms, don't let that discourage you. Our savvy team members were able to pick these platforms up right away with the proper training.

HEROIC PUBLIC SPEAKING CORE VALUES

1. We develop people …

• … so we look for what’s working before we look for faults in performance.
• … so we give people the feedback they need to improve their performance in a way that they can hear.
• … so we encourage and support people to go after big goals that might make them nervous.
• … so we embrace changing roles and responsibilities as we grow.
• … so we regularly express our gratitude and recognize the sacrifices people make in pursuit of big goals.

2. We make and keep promises …

• … so we do what we say we’re going to do even when it’s inconvenient.
• … so we show up prepared and on time.
• … so we don't make loose commitments that could lead to unmet expectations; we are explicit and clear in our promises even if we have to say "no."
• … so we communicate in advance if a deliverable has changed.

3. We apply constraints to be more creative …

• … so we use process checklists to free our minds from worrying about the busy work.
• … so we don’t distract each other with unnecessary noise or clutter.
• … so we are lean and nimble and can adapt to whatever comes our way.
• … so we protect our time to allow for focused creativity.
• … so we keep our space and ourselves clean, tidy, and organized.

4. We pursue mastery of craft …

• … so we create transformational experiences for our students.
• … so we are more focused on being effective than being right.
• … so we adhere to the HPS Operating System completely.
• … so we develop everyone’s skillset because talent is overrated.
• … so we produce “client ready” work; we don’t do sloppy.

5. We stay focused and on track …

• … so we use OKRs to achieve our goals and guide our activities.
• … so we play the long game and focus on the end goal rather than short term hacks.
• … so we get gritty and try again if something doesn’t work and, if it still doesn’t work, we try something different.
• … so we make decisions that align with our shared goals.

6. We create collaboratively …

• … so we ask for help when we need it.
• … so we treat others they way they want to be treated.
• … so we make sure to recognize each members’ contributions.
• … so we say, “Yes, and..” rather than “Yeah, but…”

7. We are always performers; never critics …

• … so we go high when others go low.
• … so we focus on achieving our goals instead of beating others.
• … so we don’t waste time being petty or small.
• … so we lift others up rather than put them down.

8. We care more about results than approval …

• … so we don’t do unnecessary work just to look busy or impressive.
• … so we don’t say we know how to do something when we really don’t.
• … so we are transparent about our losses as well as our wins.
• … so we make all company metrics public for team members to see.
• … so we bounce back quickly when rejected or disappointed.
• … so we exceed even our own expectations.

9. We communicate clearly and directly …

• … so we never gossip or pander.
• … so we show respect to others.
• … so we get to the point and don’t waste time.
• … so we stand behind our convictions and values.

10. We take care of our family …

• … so we are flexible and adapt to the needs of our employees.
• … so we offer meaningful compensation, benefits and life experiences for our employees and their families.
• … so we spend time with our employees’ family members and get to know them well.