Patrick Schwerdtfeger’s Background

Patrick has been a full-time professional speaker since 2007. He got his start after his “Beyond the Rate” podcast (focused on mortgages and the real estate industry) gained popularity in 2006. During the subprime ‘mortgage meltdown’ (2007) and ensuing financial crisis (2008), he was interviewed regularly on mainstream media and soon began speaking at business events and conferences. He covered developments in the collapsing financial markets and, before long, spoke about the burgeoning field of podcasting and social media as well.

Barack Obama’s presidential campaign gained traction in 2007. It was the first presidential campaign driven by social media, and Patrick began covering that topic with increasing frequency. His “Social Media Victories: Real Businesses, Real Campaigns, Real Results” program would end up taking him to hundreds of events all around the world. He became best known for his tactical and energizing keynotes about technology trends and digital marketing.

Today, Patrick is a business futurist specializing in technology trends including big data, artificial intelligence and blockchain. He’s the founder of Trend Mastery Inc. and host of the Strategic Business Insights video blog. Trend Mastery is a strategic consulting agency, identifying a world of transformational opportunities, and Strategic Business Insights has over 25,000 subscribers and five million views on YouTube. Patrick works as an independent business analyst, following emerging technology use cases and sharing his insights with clients around the world.

Publications, Education and Experience

Patrick has excelled at content generation and delivery his entire life. He won writing contests as a child and while in high school was selected to represent his peers by civic organizations such as the Vancouver Safety Council and the Rotary Club in their “Adventures in Citizenship” program in Ottawa, the country’s capital city. He placed third in debating at the Canadian Business School Competition during his university years, and all of his early-career jobs encompassed training and presentation roles. He has also published a variety of works including the following:

Patrick received his Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing and Finance) from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada in 1993 and was licensed by the Canadian Securities Institute as a Financial Advisor in 1994. He moved to California in 1998 and received his California Notary Commission in 2003 and his California Real Estate License in 2004.

He founded the Entrepreneur & Small Business Academy in April 2007 and began holding events for local business owners and self-employed practitioners. The group grew quickly (current membership of 2,500+) and Patrick was selected by American Express as one of the country’s top small business organizers. Along with 49 other organizers from around the country, he participated in an AMEX OPEN Small Business launch event in New York City in January 2008.

Since pursuing a full-time career as a professional speaker in 2007, Patrick has studied business and technology trends extensively, as well as the art and science of effective speech craft and delivery. His research has left him with hundreds of case histories and success stories from a wide variety of strategies, along with lessons learned. Striving to be the best speaker in the industry, and with dogged determination and in relentless pursuit of excellence, he has developed a reputation for educational, enlightening and engaging business programs. Here are several speaking highlights from the past few years:
 

2019 Speaking Highlights

  • Naples, Florida: KII Telecommunications 2019 FallConference
  • Fort Lauderdale: IIA 2019 Governance & Risk Management Conference (GRC)
  • Bahamas: World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) 2019 Conference
  • Calistoga: Corteva Agriscience 2019 Summer Conference
  • Minneapolis: AXFI 2019 Analytics & Financial Innovation Conference
  • Hollywood, Florida: NASCO 2019 Annual Conference
  • Kansas City: Nat’l Assoc. of Insurance Commissioners 2019 Insurance Summit
  • Fort Worth, Texas: ASQ World Conference on Quality & lmprovement
  • Sacramento: SETA Future Focus Business Summit
  • Palm Springs: Cacique 2019 Management Offsite
  • Vancouver, Canada: National Assoc. of Container Distributors (NACD) Annual Conference
  • Tamps: Kroger Affiliates 2019 Credit Union Conference
  • Amsterdam: FIDI 2019 Annual Conference
  • Athens, Greece: 19th Airline Marketing Aviation Conference
  • Orlando: Federated Auto Parts Distributors Annual Conference
  • Phoenix: American Society for Quality (ASQ) Lean & Six Sigma Conference
  • Palos Verdes: Profit Recovery Partners 2019 Annual Forum
  • Kuwait City, Kuwait: KFH United Arab Training Center Blockchain Workshop
  • San Diego: Corporate Directors Forum 2019

2018 Speaking Highlights

  • Dallas: ASQ Quality 4.0 Summit on Disruption, Innovation & Change
  • Las Vegas: TribalNet 19th Annual Conference & Tradeshow
  • Chicago: GCM Grosvenor, IT Team Leadership Meeting
  • New Orleans: Kreston International 2018 World Conferencw
  • Tacoma: Northwest Credit Union Association (NWCUA) 2018 Conference
  • Orlando: UBM Service Management World 2018
  • Virtual Webinar: SAP Innovation Day, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
  • De Moines: Iowa Association of Business and Industry, Advanced Manufacturing Conference
  • South Dakota: Farm Services of America 2018 Leadership Meeting
  • Bakersfield: International Fruit Genetics (IFG) 2018 Global Summit
  • Cyprus, Greece: Amdocs R&D Technology Leadership Summit
  • San Francisco: International Exhibition Logistics Association (IELA) 2018 Congress
  • Las Vegas: Moss Adams 2018 Industry Group Conference
  • San Diego: Afflink 2018 Dealer Summit
  • Maui: AMP Financial Services, New Zealand, Strive Conference
  • Chicago: Transunion 2018 Insurance Summit
  • Virtual Webinar: SAP Innovation Day, Blockchain Enterprise Use Cases
  • Santa Fe: KeyPoint Credit Untion Board of Directors Strategic Offsite
  • San Antonio: HUB International 2018 SHARP Incentive Trip
  • New York City: Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA) 2018 Operations Conference
  • Chengdu, China: Aptiv Strategic Planning Conference, Electrical Distribution Systems Asia Pacific
  • Palm Desert: Security Traders Association (STA) of Los Angeles, Blockchain Summit
  • Las Vegas: Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), General Audit Management (GAM) Conference
  • Orlando: Ameriquest Business Services, 2018 Ameriquest & Corcentric Symposium
  • Dallas: National Association of College Stores (NACS) 2018 CAMEX Conference
  • Las Vegas: ExhibitorLive 2018 Conference and Trade Show
  • Dubai, UAE: Government of Dubai, Department of Energy and Water (DEWA) Innovation Summit
  • Tampa: Produce Marketing Association (PMA) Fresh Connections Technology Conference
  • Bangalore, India: IIFL Wealth Management Cryptocurrency Summit
  • Chicago: GCM Grosvenor Blockchain Education Session
  • Kansas City: Wachter 2018 Kick-off Meeting

2017 Speaking Highlights

  • Chicago: FabTech 2017 Expo, representing KeyedIn Solutions
  • Mumbai, India: Sigma-Byte Connect 2017 Conference (with CommScope)
  • Vancouver, Canada: Alliance Canada Conference (ACC) IGNITE 2017
  • Redmond: Accenture Blockchain Summit (on the Microsoft Campus)
  • Minneapolis: Regis Corporation 2017 Annual Franchisee Summit
  • Los Angeles: Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container Association (FIBCA) Conference
  • Nashville: Graphic Product Identification (GPI) Association Annual Conference
  • Toronto, Canada: Assoc. of Energy Service Professionals 2017 Summer Conference
  • Cartagena, Colombia: Colombian Stock Exchange 9th National Broker Conference
  • San Francisco: Silicon Valley Business Travel Assoc. (SVBTA) Annual Meeting
  • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Kreston International Asia Pacific Conference
  • Chicago: MEMBERS Development Company 2017 MDC Owners Meeting
  • San Francisco: Protiviti Managing Director 18-Month Meeting
  • The Greenbrier: The Refractories Institute (TRI) Annual Meeting
  • Phoenix: CommScope 2017 Global Partner Conference
  • Barcelona, Spain: Roche Pharmaceutical Sales Leadership Conference
  • Chicago: The Transformer Association (TTA) Spring Meeting
  • Charleston: Energy Utility Cost Group (EUCG) Annual Meeting
  • Lansing: Jackson National Life Insurance 2017 Leadership Meeting
  • Atlanta: American Association of Managing General Agents (AAMGA) Automation Conference
  • Alicante, Spain: Inaugural Cryptocurrency & Blockchain Congress
  • Indiana: 2017 Kokomo CEO Business & Entrepreneur Summit
  • Scottsdale: Door & Access Systems Manufacturers Assoc. (DASMA) Annual Meeting
  • Phoenix: Upper Deck 2017 Certified Diamond Dealer Conference

2016 Speaking Highlights

  • Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: Landcoin Cryptocurrency Summit
  • Vancouver: ACTE 2016 Global Corporate Travel Conference
  • Paris, France: CapGemini High Performance Leadership Program (Connect & Drive 2016)
  • Chicago: Schneider Electric: 2016 Maximize Return on Assets Conference
  • Detroit: Amcor North American Procurement Plus Celebration
  • Hyderabad, India: NASSCOM 2016 Big Data & Analytics Summit
  • Huntington Beach: Moss Adams Manufacturing & Consumer Products Annual Conference
  • Orlando: National Coil Coating Association (NCCA) – Annual Meeting
  • Las Vegas: Keller Williams Luxury Homes Division – Annual Conference
  • New Orleans: Matthews International 2016 National Sales Meeting
  • Phoenix: IDEXX Laboratories Global Leadership Meeting
  • Nashville: Tennessee Association of Realtors Spring Conference
  • Bilbao, Spain: Basque Government – Internationalization Conference
  • Santa Clara: Teladata 2016 Technology Convergence Conference (TCC)
  • New York: Money Show T3 Traders Expo – Algorithmic Trading
  • Myrtle Beach: Century 21 of the Carolinas – Spring Conference
  • Detroit: Comcast Business Class – Small Business Forum
  • Dubai, UAE: Oracle Global Cloud Conference – Modern Finance Program
  • Orlando: PoolCorp 2016 Retail Dealer Conference

2015 Speaking Highlights

  • Phoenix: Desert Schools Credit Union Leadership Conference
  • Toronto: Boehringer Ingelheim Leadership Summit
  • Cleveland: Saint Gobain 350-year Anniversary Celebration
  • Bogota: Colombia Ministry of Information & Communication Technology ‘Big Data’ Congress
  • Minneapolis: Verisae 2015 User Conference
  • Kansas City: CMLS 2015 Annual Conference
  • Winston-Salem: BB&T Bank Leadership Retreat
  • Stanford University: People to People Technology Summit
  • Baltimore: Bloomberg TV and RCN Small Business Forum
  • New York: Globecomm 2015 TechForum on ‘The Future of Mobility’
  • Miami: Realty World 2015 Annual Convention
  • Mountain View: Keiretsu Forum 2015 Angel Capital Expo
  • Muscat, Oman: Full-Day Seminar on Big Data and Business Intelligence
  • Philadelphia: Residential Communications Network (RCN) Small Business Forum
  • Phoenix: Transportation Safety Equipment Institute (TSEI) 2015 Conference
  • Las Vegas: Council of Residential Specialists (CRS) Sell-A-Bration Conference

2014 Speaking Highlights

  • Istanbul: Solairedirect Annual Conference
  • Indiana: Purdue University Aviation Technology Faculty Retreat
  • Cancun: Marriott International Travel Partners Conference
  • Kansas City: Bloomberg TV & Comcast Cable Small Business Summit
  • Bogota: International Forum for BPO, Contact Centers and CRM
  • Palm Desert: CPhA West Coast Pharmacy Exchange
  • Orlando: Mphasis 11th Annual Wyde Users’ Conference
  • Dubai: BMC Software India Technology Exchange (BITE)
  • New Zealand: CXC Global International Sales Conference

2013 Speaking Highlights

  • Bahrain: Bahrain Communications Social Media Masters Forum
  • Orlando: Society of Incentive Travel Executives (SITE) Annual Conference
  • Phoenix: EPICOR Software Annual Executive Forum
  • Madison: Trek Bicycles 2013 TrekWorld Dealer Conference
  • Moscow: CREDAI 13th Annual National Conference
  • Bangkok: Capstone Financial Annual Sales Convention
  • San Diego: Association of Marketing Service Providers (AMSP) Annual Conference
  • Toronto: Ontario Municipal Benchmarking Institute (OMBI) Annual Meeting
Patrick’s experience as a speaker has contributed directly to his value as a speaker. He has addressed countless industries and learned the challenges and opportunities associated with each of those industries’ business models, giving him a broad understanding beneficial to all of his audiences. He has spoken in myriad countries, gathering diverse cultural perspectives from around the globe. This has also added depth and perspective which benefit future clients. Patrick truly is a global business speaker.
Every region has its own opportunities. Patrick tailors each presentation for the audience. If attendees are based in the Middle East, he incorporates the opportunities specific to that region. If based in Southeast Asia, he incorporates the opportunities within the Asean Bloc. Below is Patrick’s perspective on each of the six primary regions of the world. He is also happy to incorporate other opportunities and/or messages specific to your organization.
North America: Patrick has spoken at hundreds of events in North America and has also extensively studied the domestic demographics. The result is a unique understanding of the business landscape including the generations driving consumer spending (the Baby Boomer and Millennial Generations) as well as the competitive entrepreneurial mindset that defines American business culture. We are shifting from a W-2 economy to a 1099 economy and that increasing self-reliance is fueling a do-it-yourself culture within our economy.

South America: Patrick’s primary hobby is salsa dancing and he regularly interacts with the local Latino community. He has followed the geopolitical developments in Latin America including the investment boom in Panama, failing policies in Venezuela, dynamic economic growth in Mexico, Colombia and Chile and the difficult debt restructuring in Argentina. He has already contributed to events in Columbia and the Caribbean and would welcome opportunities to again visit South America.

Europe: Population growth has halted in Europe; the birth rate is the lowest of any region on Earth. The standard of living is flat or declining with zero growth in consumer spending, which is the largest single component in GDP. The result is a stagnating economy that will never again see the dynamism of its population growth phase. The only way to encourage growth is to stimulate exporting and that depends on economic vitality around the globe. Whether European leaders embrace austerity or growth policies, the Eurozone will struggle with anemic economic growth for decades to come.

The Middle East: Patrick is passionate about the Middle East and Muslim versus non-Muslim relations. The videos he has recorded explore various aspects of that evolving dynamic and document Muslim culture to Western viewers who often have difficulty understanding the motivations and incentives of that world. Patrick has traveled to the Middle East many times and believes that tomorrow’s leaders need to understand the Muslim world in order to thrive in our inter-connected global economy.

Asia Pacific: All of the exciting things taking place in today’s world are occurring in the Middle East (the GCC region in particular) or in the Asia Pacific region. The Asean Bloc is exploding and their industrious approach to business and progress is spurring economic miracles throughout the region, including China, Thailand and Indonesia among others. Patrick sees enormous potential for growth and development in Southeast Asia and is eager to help companies growing and expanding into those markets.

Africa: Unlike Europe, Africa has the highest birth rate of any region on Earth, with the population expected to quadruple in the next 100 years. That explosion will create enormous economic challenges, political volatility and the potential for social unrest. While a growing population is positive for the economy, the requisite social and economic development cannot take hold until the birth rate drops and the moderating influence of adults increases within the community. Patrick has studied individually most of the countries of Africa and can lay out a year-by-year forecast of relative economic development to business and political leaders.

Patrick Schwerdtfeger has published five (5) books as well as three shorter handbooks. The three titles above all won awards in their respective categories, and all are available on Amazon. Please let us know if you would like to purchase copies for your event attendees. Bulk discounts are available on orders over 100 copies.

Learn more about Patrick’s fundamental beliefs:

Anything is possible.
Anyone can dominate their chosen field with enough practice and tenacity. Any company can dominate its industry with the right guidance and human talent. It all boils down to a belief system. If you believe it’s possible, it is. If you don’t, you’ll never make any progress. So how can you build your belief system? By repeatedly taking small steps in the right direction. Success is the accumulation of 10,000 tiny victories and 100,000 tiny failures! So rather than being afraid of failure, take massive action and trust that each step will bring you closer to your goal.
Your potential is not fixed.
Your potential is a function of the actions you’ve taken in your life. When you take more action, you develop more skills. When you try new things, you expand your potential. Meanwhile, if you take less action, your potential will shrink right before your eyes. So as an individual, you can further develop your potential as long as you continue taking action. And as a manager, you can help your people increase their potential by guiding their actions in an intelligent direction. In either case, potential will grow in proportion to effort.
Communication is essential.
Communication facilitates progress. Without communication, ideas and insights cannot spread from one person to the next. Without it, you can’t learn from others nor teach them anything. Effective communication is the highest-paid skill a person can possess, and the deterioration of communication skills in recent years has created even greater opportunities for those who are adept communicators. Ambitious people need to study communication in conjunction with their primary skill set.
Technology is exponential.
The most exciting characteristic of technology is that it is scalable. The same effort is needed to move from one to 10, or from 10 to 100, or from 100 to 1,000. Technology solutions are exponential by nature, and that’s what might just allow them to solve the daunting global problems that have developed over decades. And as the world’s population marches past 10 billion by 2100, technology is helping us to literally optimize our existence on this planet. Businesses need to embrace technology to add an exponential element to their growth plans while contributing to a sustainable future.
Bigger goals are easier to achieve.
Thinking BIG creates a fascinating domino effect. First, happiness increases and that has been proven to improve performance. Life is more fun when you’re chasing BIG goals! Secondly, you inspire everyone around you, including your customers, your employees and even your suppliers, not to mention your friends and family. If you embrace BIG goals, countless people will line up to help you achieve them. And lastly, you often have very little competition along the way because everyone else is too busy chasing “realistic” goals. Don’t limit yourself to “realistic” goals! Add some BIG ones to the list.
 
Patrick walks the talk. He speaks of thinking bigger because that’s exactly what he has done in his own life. He manages his emotional ecosystem by employing his passion for positive psychology and the science of happiness. He researches and studies global business trends because that is his understanding of our world. Patrick lives by his own recommendations and according to the following two success principles:
BECOME what you have the potential to BE.
We all have potential but few of us ever achieve it. We give up far short of the total opportunity. Why? Because good is the enemy of great. When life gets good, we start to relax, take it easy and become less motivated to push harder and achieve more. The condition of good is perfectly understandable but it diminishes the impact we can have on this planet. It reduces the legacy we can leave behind.

There are three levels of achievement in business. You reach subsistence at the first level. You’re able to pay your monthly bills. The second level is success. You’re now able to pay your bills and have something left over. And finally, you attain self-actualization. At this stage, your efforts are contributing to a larger cause. You’re working for the greater good and the rewards become altruistic.

The way to stay motivated after your life has become good is to focus on the greater good. Focus on the purpose of your business. Why do you do what you do? The answer to that question will keep you motivated, regardless of the wealth you may already possess. And only that answer will keep you pushing beyond your successes, leading to realization of your full potential.

The road to BEING is through DOING.
You can’t think your way to success. Even philosophies like the Law of Attraction profess the need to take action in the direction of your goals. No matter what you want in life, you must take action in order to get it. If you want to BE happy, you need to DO happy. If you want to BE healthy, you need to DO healthy. And if you want to BE successful, you need to DO successful. Find people who are already successful and DO what they are doing.

Patrick incorporates this success principle into each of his speaking programs. He focuses on action. He focuses on tactical steps that can be taken to see measurable results. No matter which topic is of interest for your upcoming event, expect specific ideas and suggestions that your audience can immediately implement to see real progress in their lives.

Just like music, public speaking is an art that benefits from a basic structure that defines the cadence and rhythm of the content. When engaged for an event, Patrick works through his standard process to accumulate relevant information, identify critical insights and construct a speech to convey those insights to your audience. This process is described in more detail below:
The Research Process
Patrick consumes an enormous amount of content. Immersed in books, videos, blog posts and podcasts, he constantly seeks the latest research and insights regarding the topics of which he’s passionate. This research is then translated into his own tone and style. The creation of images that visually convey the information are added to his inventory of 1000+ presentation slides. When an engagement is booked, he pulls from this inventory and conducts additional research to fill in the blanks.

Patrick welcomes suggestions from clients regarding sources of relevant content. The insights from these suggested sources can then be incorporated into the presentation. Although his broad business background adds perspective to his programs, his industry-specific knowledge may be more limited so these content suggestions are extremely valuable in the preparation process.

The "Surprising Truth"
The most important element in a good speech is the surprising truth. It’s the juicy nugget that leaves attendees buzzing with thoughts and opinions. It’s the insight that gets your attendees communicating with each other. When event planners hire speakers, they’re buying BUZZ. They’re buying a vehicle that will motivate attendees to think and interact with one another. The surprising truth element accomplishes that.

The idea is to build a case for something unexpected but insightful. “Everybody thinks it’s one way, but it’s not true. The reality is very different!” The surprising truth leaves people with a new perspective and, hopefully, an entirely new way of viewing the situation. Done successfully, the idea will be talked about for days and even weeks after the event.

Speech Construction
Patrick composes his speeches like a song: verse #1, chorus, verse #2, chorus, verse #3, chorus, bridge, chorus, close. Verse #1 is the first story or argument, verse #2 is the second and verse #3 is the third. The chorus is the primary message and it might be just a few words long. Back in 2008, Barack Obama used “Yes, we can” as his chorus. Patrick often uses think bigger or the road to BEING is through DOING as his chorus, although not exclusively.

So what’s the bridge? The bridge is the surprising truth! Within the context of a song, the bridge is the guitar solo. It breaks out of the established pattern, is more dynamic in its delivery and generally comes near the end of the song. These characteristics of the bridge are also true of the surprising truth. Patrick delivers his surprising truth after the arguments have already been made. It comes near the end, is followed one last time by the chorus time, and then the close.

Additional Information

Please contact us if you would like more information about Patrick, his experience, background or programs. You can learn more about his personal investment strategies and review his domestic and international fee structure here. We would also be happy to send you a copy of his latest book. Just send us your full mailing address and we’ll send one to your attention. We’re eager to answer your questions and help you determine if Patrick would be a good fit for your upcoming event. Thank you!