Rainer Hersch

Keynote Speaker

Rainer Hersch's Biography

Rainer Hersch is unique - he is both in internationally recognized conductor and a stand-up comic who has regularly closed the show at London’s famous Comedy Store. In music he has worked with some of the great ensembles of the world – conducting orchestras from the London Philharmonic to the St Petersburg Philharmonic and Queensland Symphony. He offers two highly engaging motivational sessions and a musical team building.

MANAGEMENT SESSIONS

1) “The Conductor as Leader” (what can business learn from a symphony orchestra). With audience interaction and plenty of musical examples (performed either live or using clips), Rainer completely engages any meeting with a discussion about leadership as viewed from the standpoint of the orchestral conductor. As a comedian, he allows the orchestra-team to reach out to a completely different market without fundamentally changing anything they do, simply re-applying existing resources. It’s a fascinating story and the analogy of the orchestra as a metaphor for any complex organisation is striking and illuminating.

Key messages include: communication; building trust and teamwork; encouraging passion and commitment; creating and communicating a vision; defining values; leadership styles; making the best use of available resources; managing the process of change; guarding and enhancing a reputation.

Can be performed ‘in person’ as a webinar. Either solo OR with 4-8 musicians (depending on the size of venue and audience)

2) "Managing Change" With interaction, challenging and fascinating parallels relating to music and the orchestra, Rainer Hersch outlines the principles of Successful change management.

Key messages include: Understanding, planning, implementing and communicating change.

Can be performed ‘in person’ as a webinar. Either solo OR with 4-8 musicians (depending on the size of venue and audience)

TEAM BUILDING

“It Takes All Of Us” An ‘amazing’ (testimonials) team-working session in which the attendees are given the task of contributing musically to a performance of a hit song. Delegates are divided into teams, each of which retires to a breakout room with a tutor – one of Rainer’s accompanying musicians. There, they are challenged to learn a percussion instrument and a series of rhythms. After 45 minutes instruction, the teams come back together for a further session in group singing. Then it all comes together in a hugely satisfying performance.

TESTIMONIALS

“The role of the orchestral conductor and the business leader are no different. A leader cannot micro-manage their team when they are doing their job, so prepare, train and allow them the space and trust to deliver…Rainer Hersh cleverly, with unique humor brings this to life through music and experience as a conductor around the World. From his keynote to Viva La Vida team building performance, it gains the highest rating from our Global Hard Rock conference.”
David Singleton, Area Vice President, Hard Rock Cafe

“Hugely entertaining and kept everyone engaged after a long day of presentations and information sessions. Rainer combines music and comedy with some very original perspectives on leadership and motivation. Quite unique!”
Jane Foster, Corporate Relations Manager, Lancaster University Management School

“The mix of comedy and classical music was hugely entertaining. The auditorium was filled with laughter from start to finish. Our delegates not only had a brilliant time, but they also left with fascinating insights on what conductors do as well as key takeaways on leadership and motivational techniques for teams.”
Johanna Reder. Head of Marketing and Communications, Essensys

"Rainer was funny, professional and his presentation was thought provoking whilst entertaining. There was a well-balanced amount of audience interaction and musical entertainment that provided the perfect backdrop to our Corporate Strategy Day. We would definitely recommend."
Head of Corporate Buying. Aldi

"A fun, interactive session – perfect for flagging brains at the end of a day. Under Hersch’s guidance, his conducting clear and expressive, a tuneless rendition of Happy Birthday became something subtle and, by the end, rousing."
Matt Trueman, Journalist for the TMA UK

"Thank you, Rainer for delivering such a successful event. Your talk on the conductor as leader was first class - accessible to all of our staff, from cleaners to senior managers, and relevant and enjoyable. Everybody took something away from the event that they can use in their daily work. The orchestra were astonishingly good and added to the occasion. The staff really enjoyed experiencing classical music up close, which surprised many of them. You were such good fun. We have been running the annual staff conference for a few years now, and this is the first time that our staff gave a standing ovation to a keynote speaker. Highly recommended."
Linda McCanna, General Manager, Accommodation Essex