workshops & talks for
COMPANIES & ORGANISATIONS
An unstoppable team in a peak emotional state
An Unstoppable Team in a Peak Emotional State is an engaging, effective and informative 3–3.5-hour team-building workshop designed to have a lasting positive effect on workplace atmosphere, communication, job satisfaction and mindset. It goes beyond team building to improve performance, results and enjoyment through practical techniques drawn from sports psychology, neuroscience, positive psychology, behavioural science and the actor's approach to character development. The workshop focuses on what I believe is the most important key to a strong team: developing people's desire and ability to take full responsibility for their own emotional state, attitudes and performance, while continually striving to have a positive effect on those of their teammates. To spark participants' interest and inner desire to embrace this principle, I structure the workshop using an effective approach called Neuro-Associative Conditioning. This structure makes the workshop distinctive and enables me to have a strong, positive influence on participants' attitudes. Once the desire to take exceptional responsibility for ourselves and positively influence our colleagues has been ignited, we learn a distinctive technique for stimulating the nervous system, much as world-class professional athletes do, to enter our strongest emotional and mental state. I call this a Peak Emotional State. Here, we experience maximum energy, self-belief, self-trust, passion and enthusiasm, with a generous helping of care for others. We practise the technique together and experience its effects. The body's production of neurotransmitters and hormones changes, creating a chemical combination that maximises the brain's access to our abilities, knowledge and creative thinking. The positive effects are clear, both for the group and for each participant. Using the workshop's techniques, individuals can gain greater physical and mental energy, stronger confidence, more courage, more constructive attitudes, better decision-making and more purposeful action. To make the ideas and techniques stick, it is important to begin using them immediately. That is why I have designed a light, enjoyable five-day challenge for the group to complete after the workshop, weaving the techniques into an ordinary working day. This challenge has consistently worked well, so I can promise an enjoyable week afterwards. What does all this mean for you and your business? A stronger team, whose improved wellbeing and more constructive attitudes form a foundation for the company's success. “A PERSON IN A PEAK EMOTIONAL STATE FINDS A WAY TO REACH THEIR GOAL.” WHAT WILL WE LEARN? We learn three simple ways to activate and strengthen our most powerful emotions, entering what people call flow, the zone or being at the top of our game. I call this a PEAK EMOTIONAL STATE. It greatly increases the brain's access to the inner resources we already possess but cannot always readily draw on. These resources fall into three categories: 1) information, 2) abilities and 3) creative thinking. We explore intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, using this knowledge to build a strong desire to apply the workshop's ideas and techniques and take responsibility for how we feel, both at work and elsewhere in life. We discover two types of fear that all healthy people continually face, often forming a significant but unconscious barrier to making decisions and taking action. We learn the Optimized Success Formula and discover the three foundations of performance, success and enjoyment, two of which remain a mystery to most people. We explore what really stands between us and the results we want, and why some people succeed more than others. We discover the brain's motivational system: two dominant forces that explain every decision and behaviour, including behaviour that seems incomprehensible. We learn to understand and activate these forces so they serve us well. This understanding also helps us motivate others without provoking resistance or defensiveness. We examine positivity from a new angle, defining it in a sensible, enjoyable way and discovering the enormous benefits of being positive. We explore why our emotional state is crucial to maximising performance, success and enjoyment in anything we do. We discover how profoundly emotions affect our experiences, decisions and actions, and therefore our happiness and success. We learn why different stimuli and experiences trigger different emotions, and how to step in and take charge of a process that would otherwise run on autopilot. We leave with a clear understanding that we are responsible for our own emotional state. One of the best gifts we can give ourselves, our colleagues and the other people in our lives is to spend as much time as possible in a strong, constructive emotional state. WHY CHOOSE THIS WORKSHOP? Why continually develop a positive workplace culture, strengthen team spirit, lift the group's energy, emphasise positive communication and help people take responsibility for their own emotional state and attitudes? Because: Psychological safety and a sense of security grow. The team feels cared for by its managers and the company. People know they are valued and that staff wellbeing matters. People arrive at work happier. Positive attitudes towards the company, and the positive things employees say about it, increase. Work becomes more enjoyable for everyone. Ideas flourish. Goodwill and loyalty towards managers and the company grow. Ambition increases. Productivity improves. The workplace attracts stronger talent. Conflicts and problems become less frequent and take less time to resolve. Communication with customers improves. Service standards rise. Sales increase. Profit grows. A company's success depends on its people, and their emotional state, energy and attitudes are among the greatest influences on their performance and results. An energetic, enjoyable workshop can shake things up, lift the group's energy, challenge a stagnant mindset, strengthen relationships and ignite each person's inner desire to help create an outstanding workplace atmosphere. It also gives people powerful techniques for taking responsibility for their own emotional state and attitudes. By offering such a workshop, you actively take responsibility for building and maintaining a strong workplace culture — benefiting the company, its managers, frontline staff and customers all at once. A strong, enjoyable workplace culture is a tremendous key to business success. It needs regular care: what we nurture grows and thrives; what we neglect deteriorates. How would you feel about arriving at a workplace with an unconstructive culture? How would it feel to arrive somewhere full of interest, ambition, passion, enthusiasm, energy and friendship? OBJECTIVES The ideas and techniques we learn and experience aim to increase what we all seek in life: greater wellbeing and success. They can greatly improve how we feel each day, our confidence and belief in our abilities, and the quality of our decisions and actions. The effects can be felt immediately and applied to any area of life. With daily practice, life can change dramatically for the better. The workshop is a powerful way for groups to improve communication, break down barriers, lift the atmosphere, establish constructive attitudes and increase cooperation. Why does it work so well for team building? First, the group makes a clear, conscious decision to become an unstoppable team. This shared decision is an agreement that each person will take responsibility for their own emotional state, attitudes and performance, while striving to positively influence those of their teammates. Second, each person develops new skills for taking responsibility for how they feel. People often struggle with this simply because they do not understand how emotions work or how to work with them. After the workshop, everyone understands how much each person's emotional state affects the group and their own success in every area of life. The positive effects of taking this responsibility are remarkable, while the negative effects of failing to do so are something nobody deserves. Once this is understood, taking responsibility for our emotional state makes complete sense. Ultimately, a group of people who want to take responsibility for how they feel, and know how to do so, is a group in which progress, growth and enjoyment can flourish. HOW DOES THE WORKSHOP WORK? Unstoppable in a Peak Emotional State is available in two versions: a three-hour workshop or a highly energising talk lasting one to one and a half hours. I strongly recommend the three-hour version because we go much deeper, the experience is stronger and the effects stay with the group for longer. It includes a simple but powerful five-day challenge that makes participants much more likely to use the techniques afterwards. Whichever version you choose, active participation, humour, enjoyment and tremendous energy take centre stage. The workshop has three parts: 1) knowledge, 2) experience and 3) practice. The presentation is lively and designed to be FUN, while packed with fascinating insights. The full three-hour workshop includes a short break around the midpoint. Afterwards, the five-day challenge begins. Participants receive an enjoyable daily email revisiting key ideas and setting simple tasks that fit easily into everyday life. The shorter version, lasting 1–1.5 hours, is one continuous, energetic session. We explore the ideas, touch on the key principles, play with the techniques in a humorous way and leave with simple methods for entering a peak emotional state whenever and wherever we need it. IS IT RIGHT FOR YOUR GROUP? Entire workplaces looking to build an outstanding atmosphere, improve communication and increase enjoyment. Leaders, managers and middle managers who want a better understanding of human behaviour and effective ways to influence it. Associations seeking a memorable atmosphere and a change of pace at meetings or conferences. Groups of friends wanting something different that brings them closer and strengthens friendships. Athletes, sports teams and clubs seeking to maximise performance, success and enjoyment through a distinctive understanding of, and skills in, mental training and emotional regulation. Sales departments looking to keep their teams energetic and motivated, while nurturing the attitudes that support sales. Service businesses wanting to provide outstanding service and turn customers into fans. Anyone wanting to improve communication and maintain a positive working environment. Anyone facing challenges who wants to be in their strongest mental and emotional shape for the tasks ahead. Groups seeking powerful inspiration, whether to get a project started, emerge from a lull or reach new heights. Ambitious people wanting to break through barriers. Groups wanting to lift the atmosphere and strengthen togetherness. Conferences seeking to raise energy, improve attention and encourage participants' initiative. Teams wanting a warm, positive atmosphere in the week before an annual staff party or Christmas gathering. Ambitious students. Anyone looking for powerful team building, group activities and motivation. The short version of UNSTOPPABLE IN A PEAK EMOTIONAL STATE is ideal as a morning or lunchtime talk. DURATION, PRICING AND PRACTICAL INFORMATION The most comprehensive version lasts 3.5 hours. It is designed for those seeking lasting effects on the group's attitudes and wellbeing. The shorter version lasts 1–1.5 hours and provides an enjoyable, informative change of pace, for example as part of a staff development day. What is included in the 3.5-hour workshop? An in-depth exploration of the subject and a powerful shared experience. Access to the slides and all Optimized tools for emotional regulation. A five-day online follow-up challenge for the group to complete together. A satisfaction guarantee: if you are not completely satisfied with the workshop, you do not pay a penny. What is included in the 1.5-hour workshop? Access to a simple but effective tool for emotional regulation. Who is it for? Any business or workplace wanting to strengthen its team. People aged 14–100. Anyone interested in doing better, feeling better and enjoying life more. What should you bring? A water bottle. A notebook and something to write with. Comfortable clothes; sportswear is not required. Comfortable shoes; trainers are not required. A willingness to learn and have fun with the group. Where does it take place? The organiser provides a venue with a projector and sound system. The workshop is also available online through Teams or Zoom. Languages Available in Icelandic and English. PRICING Please note: www.attin.is offers a way for companies to fund employee education. I can help you explore whether Áttin could cover the full cost of your workshop. 3.5-hour workshop: ISK 289,000. 1.5-hour workshop: ISK 189,000. Flexibility and fairness are among my values. Get in touch for a quote suited to your needs and circumstances: email bjartur@bjarturgudmundsson.is or call +354 6607724. I strongly recommend exploring www.attin.is, where you can find grants for companies offering staff workshops and vocational training. www.attin.is
Service that touches hearts and creates fans
How can you provide outstanding service that touches hearts and turns customers into fans? What makes people admire a company or organisation so much that they want to return again and again — and encourage others to do the same? I believe it is, above all, the emotional experience and the connection with the people providing and selling the service that make us think ‘Wow!’ We all want to be seen and heard. We want to know that we matter, that the service provider has our best interests at heart and wants us to feel good. But to truly love a place or business, we need more: we need to feel that the person serving us is passionate about improving our lives and genuinely cares about us. The keys to service that turns customers into fans are a strong, positive emotional state, constructive attitudes towards the service role and the knowledge to do the job well. Every employer dreams of a capable team who feel good, know their craft and share a burning desire to provide outstanding service. Such a team takes effort to create, develop and nurture. That is where the Service That Creates Fans workshop comes in. This is an exceptionally enjoyable experience that strengthens the team's relationships while taking its approach to service to a new level. We explore how our emotional state influences the quality of our service, and the opportunities that arise when we strive to provide an outstanding experience. The result is a stronger team, better service and increased sales. Participants leave more united, with an even more positive approach to their service role and powerful techniques for entering their strongest emotional state — a state in which touching hearts and providing service people admire comes naturally. Customers become more likely to return and recommend the business to others, helping sales grow. This workshop has been a great success, and participants can apply its lessons throughout their personal lives too. Email me at bjartur@bjarturgudmundsson.is or call to book an introductory meeting. We can explore how the workshop could help your team build a great reputation for your business and increase sales.
Stronger leadership & management
Would you like a deeper understanding of human nature and powerful techniques for influencing people's decisions and behaviour? Whether we run a small family business or a large company with hundreds of employees, its development and success depend on its leaders' ability to solve problems and make the most of resources such as time, money, people and experience. Leaders need to be ready to make decisions, take action and positively influence their people, whatever the circumstances. The quality of a leader's decisions, their drive to act and their ability to influence others depend to a great extent on their emotional state from day to day. Research has shown that our emotional state determines the brain's access to knowledge, abilities and creativity, while also having a profound effect on communication and influence. It is therefore vital for a business that its leaders know how to cultivate a constructive emotional life, enabling them to make their best decisions and take effective action so that the company benefits from everything they have to offer. The workshop has two parts: How Leaders Access Their Best and The Leader's Influence. TOPICS COVERED Part One: How Leaders Access Their Best The role of a leader. The power of decisions. How emotions affect the quality of a leader's decisions and actions. Why we do or do not achieve our goals. How to bring out our very best. Part Two: The Leader's Influence What drives human behaviour. What people truly need. How to build a strong connection with anyone in an instant.
Better sales skills & communication
SALESPEOPLE WHO KNOW HOW TO WORK WITH THEIR EMOTIONS AND ATTITUDES ACHIEVE GREATER LONG-TERM SUCCESS. All success, including sales success, rests on three factors: 1) our knowledge and skills, 2) our mindset towards selling, the product or service, the customer and ourselves, and 3) our emotional state and energy at any given moment. Hello, my name is Bjartur Guðmundsson. I am an actor and the owner of www.optimized.is. I have worked in sales for seven years. I went from being unable to make a cold sales call without physical fear responses — anxiety, shaking, stammering and sweating — to a level of confidence that enabled me to close roughly 60–70% of cold sales. Over time, I learnt the importance of building service-focused business relationships that led to repeat sales and friendships. I have also experienced setbacks: struggling to sell, losing interest and feeling stressed. I know first-hand how personal difficulties and challenges can directly affect sales performance, and how hard some barriers can be to identify and overcome. A deeper understanding of human behaviour, combined with powerful techniques for working on my mindset, emotional state and sales approach, helped me regain my confidence, passion and unstoppable enthusiasm. Today, I am proud to call myself a capable, service-minded salesperson, because I was far from a ‘born salesperson’. So what made the difference? Of course, I learnt sales techniques and methods of influence. But two things transformed my ability to sell and provide outstanding service. First, I used a distinctive technique, Neuro-Associative Conditioning, to change my attitudes and mindset towards sales and service. Second, and most significantly, I adopted an approach called the State Management Triad to bring myself into what I call a Peak Emotional State. Unstoppable Salespeople is a 3–3.5-hour workshop. It provides some of the most important knowledge and techniques salespeople need to enjoy lasting success in their profession — and ENJOY the work itself. Its subject is one of the greatest influences on success and among the strongest forces shaping decisions and, therefore, buying behaviour. I am talking about emotions. I put it this strongly because emotions are the force behind human action, great and small. Without them, there would be no development or movement, and no sales. People buy for emotional reasons and justify their choices with logic, even when they believe otherwise; we explore this further in the workshop. A salesperson's success is also driven by emotions and emotional associations with countless things. The same forces can hold salespeople back. Service works the same way: to provide an outstanding experience, we need a particular emotional state and the emotional connections that motivate us to serve in a way that inspires strong, positive feelings in our customers. Ultimately, sales and service are about emotions: the service and products with which people associate the strongest positive feelings will win out. Those of us working in sales and service can choose to put this emotional power to work with remarkable results. To do so, we need to understand how emotions work and practise techniques that activate the right feelings at the right time. That is exactly what we do in Unstoppable Salespeople. We develop a deeper understanding of how emotions arise, how they work and how they affect customers' decisions. We also explore their effects on our own decisions and actions. Above all, we learn to stimulate the nervous system and neurotransmitter activity so that we can consciously enter our strongest emotional state: what I call a Peak Emotional State. A Peak Emotional State is one of drive, strong self-belief and self-trust. Passion and enthusiasm flourish, together with care for our customers and teammates. It is the zone in which our mindset is at its best: we become engaging, resourceful, humble and courageous. We can approach every customer with confidence, a desire to serve, resolve and honesty. It is the state in which we can have a real influence and sell. As well as being an energetic, enjoyable sales workshop, this is a powerful workshop in stress management. WHAT WILL WE LEARN? We learn how emotions and attitudes affect our ability to sell and provide outstanding service. We explore three simple ways to activate and strengthen our most constructive emotions, entering what people call flow, the zone or being at the top of our game. I call this a PEAK EMOTIONAL STATE. It greatly increases the brain's access to the inner resources we already possess but cannot always readily draw on: 1) information, 2) abilities and 3) creative thinking. We explore intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, using this knowledge to build a strong desire to apply the workshop's ideas and techniques and take responsibility for how we feel, both at work and elsewhere in life. We discover two types of fear that all healthy people continually face, often forming a significant but unconscious barrier to making decisions and taking action. We learn the Optimized Success Formula and discover the three foundations of performance, success and enjoyment, two of which remain a mystery to most people. We explore what really stands between us and the results we want, and why some people succeed more than others. We discover the brain's motivational system: two dominant forces that explain every decision and behaviour, including behaviour that seems incomprehensible. We learn to understand and activate these forces so they serve us well. This understanding also helps us motivate others without provoking resistance or defensiveness. We examine positivity from a new angle, defining it in a sensible, enjoyable way and discovering the enormous benefits of being positive. We explore why our emotional state is crucial to maximising performance, success and enjoyment in anything we do. We discover how profoundly emotions affect our experiences, decisions and actions, and therefore our happiness and success. We learn why different stimuli and experiences trigger different emotions, and how to step in and take charge of a process that would otherwise run on autopilot. We leave with a clear understanding that we are responsible for our own emotional state. One of the best gifts we can give ourselves, our colleagues and the other people in our lives is to spend as much time as possible in a strong, constructive emotional state. WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES Beyond improving sales skills, my sincere aim is to teach ideas and techniques that can bring us greater wellbeing and success in every area of life. Using these techniques can greatly improve how we feel each day, our confidence and belief in our abilities, and the quality of our decisions and actions. The effects can be felt immediately and applied to any area of life. With daily practice, life can change dramatically for the better. The workshop is a powerful way for groups to improve communication and atmosphere, establish constructive attitudes, increase cooperation and build a stronger team. Why does it work so well for team building? First, when each person in the group feels strong and well, they feel more secure in themselves and can carry out their tasks to the best of their ability. Second, the workshop makes clear how much each person's emotional state affects the whole group, constructively or destructively. A group of people who want to take responsibility for how they feel, and know how to do so, is a group in which progress, growth and enjoyment can flourish. HOW DOES THE WORKSHOP WORK? Unstoppable Salespeople lasts 3–3.5 hours. Active participation, humour, enjoyment and tremendous energy take centre stage throughout. The workshop has three parts: 1) knowledge, 2) experience and 3) practice. The presentation is lively and FUN, while packed with fascinating insights. Afterwards, a five-day challenge begins. Participants receive an enjoyable daily email revisiting key ideas and setting simple tasks that fit easily into everyday life. Price: ISK 289,000.
Viking Energiser
EXPERIENCE 20 MINUTES OF GREAT FUN THAT TAKE YOUR TEAM'S ENERGY HIGHER THAN EVER! Planning a staff development day? Looking for something enjoyable to bring the team together? The key to an outstanding team day or staff celebration is to break the ice right at the beginning and bring everyone into an energetic state filled with joy and friendship. HIGH-QUALITY TEAM BUILDING THAT WORKS LIKE THIS: Bjartur arrives full of energy, with his boombox and a few powerful team-building tricks up his sleeve. In 20 minutes, he lifts the atmosphere to new heights. The session is short and lively. It can take place indoors or outdoors, in rain or sunshine, at any time of day. Afterwards, the group's energy is sky-high, with plenty of warmth and joy. Communication barriers have come down, people feel more outgoing and everyone is ready to keep the good atmosphere going through the rest of the working day or evening. Price: ISK 189,000. Bookings: call +354 6607724 or email bjartur@bjarturgudmundsson.is.