Al Walker CSP, CPAE

Al Walker is a professional speaker who has lots of experience with all types of organizations. Al brings strong content and big laughs to any gathering. He has been the opening, closing, keynote, luncheon or after dinner speaker to audiences from 50 executives at The Homestead to 5,000 at a convention in Las Vegas and his evaluations are always excellent. Ninety percent of Al's presentations are either a repeat engagement or a referral from one of his clients.

Al is President and CEO of Al Walker and Associates, Inc., a firm he runs in addition to his speaking that is dedicated to helping businesses and individuals solve problems through not only his speaking, but also through their training and consulting services. Al and his organization specialize in results-oriented training programs. They have conducted over 2500 training clinics, workshops, seminars and programs for organizations from the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Al is a masterful teacher and is nationally recognized for his unique, fun-loving, humorous approach to speaking and training.

Al has been published in various journals and magazines, he has created dozens of training manuals, his latest book, Thinking Big & Living Large has sold over 7,000 copies and he has two more books coming out in 2009. With the use of questionnaires, interviews and research, Al truly customizes his presentations to fit his audience.

Al earned a business degree from the University of South Carolina. After graduation, he joined a residential building and development corporation. Within two years as head of sales and marketing, the firm was the highest dollar volume residential builder in South Carolina. During that time, Al attended a Dale Carnegie course and decided his future was in training and developing people. He joined Dale Carnegie and for five years sold and taught their programs throughout South Carolina. He quickly became one of the top-rated instructors in the organization. In 1981, he started his own company. His international client list includes Kellogg's, Wal-Mart, BASF, NCR, BellSouth and Westinghouse/CBS. Al’s articles on leadership, sales, customer service and personal development have appeared in professional publications throughout the world.

Al is past president of the National Speakers Association and has served as Chairman of the NSA Foundation Board of Trustees. He has earned the designation of Certified Speaking Professional from NSA and his NSA colleagues inducted him into the prestigious Council of Peers Award for Excellence Speakers Hall of Fame which is the highest recognition in professional speaking. There are only 119 CPAE’s in the world today including Jeanne Robertson, Harvey Mackay, Art Linkletter and Zig Ziglar. Al's colleagues recognized his service to the speaking industry by awarding him The Cavett Award - the National Speakers Association’s highest and most cherished award presented annually to the member who has rendered exceptional service to the speaking industry and the association. He has also received The Master of Influence Award for his worldwide impact through speaking.