Jim McNeill
Keynote Speaker
Contact Lori for Jim's latest profile
Having completed two major TV programmes and working on the sequel to
BBC’s “Planet Earth” series, “Frozen Planet”, has meant Jim has added two more talks to his repertoire.
Safety in the Extremes
How to ensure safety, teamwork & success
in the most hazardous of environments
Frozen “but…..s”
Light-hearted after dinner anecdotes associated with film crews
surviving the Arctic wilderness
LeadershipThe world of leadership training is full of people that create jargon and lists of “must-dos” - and then the inevitable book or three in a similar vein. No matter what the audience, Jim “rolls up his sleeves” and talks about what he calls simple and dynamic leadership based on reality, simple characteristics and a goodly degree of common sense. If you want a no-nonsense, working talk anecdotally portrayed by dipping into Jim’s three “pools” of personal experience, then this is the talk for you.
MotivationIt is when people are at the extreme end of their “tether”, absolutely physically and mentally shattered and you have to ask them for more, (without question or even murmur) that you really get to know something about motivation. Are there any tricks, techniques, tools? Jim discusses and draws parallels.
PerformanceJim describes himself as having a passion for getting the very best performance out of everyone; individually or collectively as a team. Having recently trained more than 80 people from all walks of life and every echelon of society to become competent sea ice travellers and 26 of those people having reached the Geomagnetic North Pole, he certainly has something useful to offer on the subject.
Incident Leadership and Planning for Disasters
Jim can present a keynote speech or workshop based on incident leadership, situation and critical crisis management, communications, risk assessment and dynamic risk assessments etc. Anecdotal evidence is drawn from Jim’s operational fire service work, Royal Household fire precautions work and Arctic expeditionary work.
Climate Change IssuesThe subject of global climate change has moved on. It’s clear, it’s here! The Arctic has long been recognised as a barometer of what is going on and International Polar Year has focussed people’s attentions on watching the barometer. Jim’s Ice Warrior Project plays a crucial role in gathering the scientific raw data and in delivering the reality of climate change to its audiences around the globe. Having started his working life in 1980 measuring the environmental impact of agricultural practices, which included ground-breaking work on the depletion of the ozone layer, Jim has had an extraordinarily close relationship with the Arctic Region over the past twenty three years and is exceptionally well qualified to talk first hand about the changes he has seen.
Lighter NotesSelectionBeing able to select suitable candidates to become polar explorers from a public call for volunteers demands that you are pretty observant and it is these observations of human behaviour that Jim recounts in an almost stand-up comedic style. Great for the after dinner chortle!
Things that go wrong
A humorous collection of mishaps, failures, accidents and near disasters, Jim is the master of all with polished and accomplished experience in fire and rescue, business and expeditionary fields.
Life on Expedition….in the freezer!Over the twenty two years of Jim’s Polar expeditions there must be only a few questions left that Jim hasn’t answered about what it is really like on expedition, spending so much time in such incredibly adverse conditions. Jim challenges the audience to come up with a novel one whilst flitting through an array of humorous happenings.
Links to talks -