For more than a decade, Michael Landers has been captivating diverse audiences through his live speaking events, engaging more than 50,000 people on five continents. His interactive and entertaining presentations resonate with people from all walks of life and careers: from CEOs to college students, to those in sales, engineering, marketing, design, hospitality, finance, and education, and countless other fields that that have become increasingly multicultural arenas.

Audience member are led on an eye-opening journey of self-discovery in which they begin to uncover the many ways that their own culture shapes their perceptions and behaviors, impacting everything they need and want to accomplish in their jobs and personal lives.  In turn, this increased awareness enables them to establish more productive, profitable and peaceful connections with people from all walks of life — and from all corners of the world.




All presentations are completely customizable to the client’s specific needs including their industry, geographic location, audience, length of presentation, etc.

Most popular speaking topics include:


This talk introduces the Cultural ROI™ technique that enables people to RECOGNIZE cultural cues, OPEN their minds to alternate ways of thinking, and IDENTIFY opportunities to adapt their responses. It’s a method that helps people to take some of the “cultural reflex” out of the equation and set themselves up for success.  The methodology is widely applicable, whether the goal is to increase sales, build strategic partnerships or maximize the potential of a diverse customer base.  Given a tool kit for helping to navigate the most complex cross-cultural interactions, participants will be empowered to control their own behaviors, anticipate and identify potential cultural crashes BEFORE they happen, and transform obstacles into opportunities.


This talk examines CUSTOMER SERVICE from both an internal and external perspective, whether you are interacting with customers within your own company or outside of it. Participants will be given the opportunity to explore the diverse array of values and expectations that people bring to every service encounter and the impact they have on day-to-day exchanges.  They will learn the key to avoid the “10 Syndrome” and consistently exceed customer expectations as well as recognize the 3 different levels of expectations and how they impact success. This talk also focuses on how to create a more consistent, predictable and familiar customer service experience for both internal and external customers.


This talk focuses on how to effectively apply management and leadership skills in multicultural settings. Participants will achieve this by first examining and identifying their own communication style and exploring how cultural, personal, and interpersonal factors affect it. From here, participants will consider effective ways of leading and managing in international and intercultural arenas.



This talk focuses on skills related to managing effectively. Participants will be given the opportunity to better understand their role and responsibilities as a manager, what their and their team members expectations are, explore the notion of being a coach, utilize effective modes of communication related to engagement, recognition, establishing a culture of accountability, delivering constructive feedback and building trust.


This talk focuses on the premise that conflict is at the core of every negotiation. It gets people to examine how their personal feelings about conflict impact their ability and comfort level with negotiations. People will also become familiar with the different styles of conflict and how they influence one’s ability to persuade and bargain. Negotiation styles within specific cultural and religious contexts can also be examined.


This talk focuses on developing critical communication skills in which participants explore the different types of customers they may encounter and understand the structure and benefits of an engaging in a coaching practice. They will explore the structure and benefits of adopting a coaching mentality with a strong emphasis on the art of present listening and hyper-focused questioning techniques to help facilitate sales and build client relationships.

Additional Popular Topics

Platinum Rules for Strong Relationships

Explore whether you are treating others the way you want to be treated or the way they may want to be treated.




Consciously Cultivating Company Cultures

Cultures exist whether we intend them to or not. This talk explores the power of consciousness and cultivation of intended cultures that actually work@work.



Committed Influence

Discover the nine types of influencing styles, how and when to use them and the benefits and consequences of each. Determine your personal and organization’s preferred style and the difference between influencing for resistance, compliance and commitment.


The Power oF Three

Three questions asked to over 50,000 people around the world in the past 10 years. The answers reveal three simple ways you can boost your self-awareness, connect with colleagues and customers more quickly and build relationships that last longer.


Explore the cultural dynamics of these relationships (gender, ethnicity, tenure, etc.) and explore effective ways to influence and support others more positively and effectively.



The Male Mind

Explore the impactful world of evolutionary psychology and how it has shaped the male dominated culture in business, tech and most of today’s societies.

Michael in Action

What People Are Saying

  1. The most powerful influence on attitude and behavior is one’s culture – and Michael shows you how to be more effective with more people from different cultures.

    Brian Tracy, Author of ‘How the Best Leaders Lead’

  2. Michael is truly exceptional at what he does; drives high-touch, high-impact work that makes a difference!

    Director of Global Retail Talent, Apple

  3. Michael is one in a million. He combines a rare and deep understanding of global cultural issues with humor to create awareness on one of the most important topics of our era. His stories and teachings have been invaluable for us at SAP Academy, as we has spoken to over a thousand millennials from over 50 countries in our global training facility.

    Rae Kyriazis, Global Vice President, SAP

  4. I had the pleasure of attending a speaking event through my company where Michael was the speaker and his grasp and knowledge of human behaviors and interpreting them would be useful for anyone who is striving to improve upon understanding human interactions and relationships.

    Senior Salesperson, Home Building Industry

  5. I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with Michael and hear him speak on multiple occasions. I have learned something new and valuable each time. He has an undeniable knack to relate to the audience in a fun, humorous manner, yet trains and educates on very sensitive, powerful subject matter. Anyone who is working with, socializing with, or in contact with (that’s EVERYONE!) someone from a culture other than their own needs to connect with Michael Landers.

    Christine Slaughter, Director of Marketing and Design, Shaw Floors

Recent Speaking Engagements

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