If it's tough for you it's tough for everybody else. If you can keep going it's an opportunity for you.
Adventurer, strategist and TV presenter, Kevin is one of the few people on Earth to have rowed an ocean and trekked to a Pole.
Kevin’s journey began in the high-performance world of business, working as a strategy consultant for The Boston Consulting Group. But despite the corporate prestige, he felt the need for a radical change. He quit his job, sold his house, left his relationship, and moved back home to live with his mum. What followed was a period of uncertainty, self-reflection—and junk food. One night, while watching TV from the couch, Kevin saw a clip on the gruelling Atlantic Rowing Race. With no rowing experience but a growing sense of determination, he signed up.
Supported by none other than Sir Edmund Hillary, Kevin launched into the 5,000km row across the Atlantic in a 7-metre plywood boat. The odds were against him, but in 40 days and 5 hours, he not only completed the crossing—he broke the race record.
Still craving challenge, Kevin set his sights on Antarctica. He became part of the first unsupported expedition by New Zealanders to trek from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole. Of the thousands who have climbed Everest and the hundreds who’ve been to space, fewer than 50 had ever completed this 1,200km journey. Kevin joined an elite few to have completed both an ocean row and a polar expedition.
Viewers may recognise Kevin as co-host of TVNZ’s award-winning series First Crossings and Intrepid NZ, where he recreated the feats of New Zealand’s pioneering explorers in some of the country’s most extreme landscapes. His knack for storytelling, grit and understated humour made him a household name and a favourite with audiences.
Before all the adventures, Kevin earned a physics and psychology degree from the University of Auckland, followed by a Master’s in Environment & Development from the University of Cambridge. His early career included stints at the New Zealand Treasury, Telecom NZ, and a role as CEO of a tech start-up. Along the way, he’s also been a truck driver in London, a bricklayer in Nepal, and even a giant chicken at an amusement park.
Kevin is the author of three books—The Oarsome Adventures of a Fat Boy Rower, Escape to the Pole, and First Crossings. Each captures the humour, hardship and sheer ambition of his extraordinary life of challenge and reinvention.
Talking Points
Your Oarsome Adventure
To have an adventure you don’t have to be climbing a mountain or crossing an ocean. The definition of adventure is simply ‘to take bold steps towards and unknown but worthwhile outcome’. As you grow your business, as you work towards your goals for 2020, then you are on an adventure too.Your Oarsome Adventure
In this presentation Kevin shares what he has learned taking on his adventures. The content is split into four topics - the four times you are mostly likely to be ‘capsized’ by your attitude or mindset as you take your goal from idea through to completion.
- Face the 'Flinch'
- Choose to win
- Playing as a team
- Dealing with setbacks
How to take on touch challenges
In this workshop you will learn:How to take on touch challenges
HOW TO GET TO GRIPS WITH A DAUNTING CHALLENGE
• How to beat procrastination?
• When and why you should avoid being ‘rational’
• How to use foresight to address your concerns?
• A system for dealing effectively with your objections
HOW TO GET A WINNING ATTITUDE
• The benefits of taking on a challenge you might fail at?
• The difference between committing to an outcome vs ‘trying your best’
• The real reason for why you need to take on a tough challenge
HOW TO ENERGISE AND UNITE TEAMS
• The single team rule that got Kevin and his new team mate across the Atlantic and Antarctic?
• How to get the mindset that allows you to successfully resolve disputes between team members
DEALING WITH SETBACKS
• The only way to stop being daunted by overwhelming challenges
• How to reframe adversity into opportunity?
The Four Leadership Principles
In this session, ‘The Four Leadership Principles’ you’ll receive practical insights and advice to help you handle a wide range of leadership situations. The Four Leadership Principles
Kevin’ methods and techniques, supported by his story of an absolute underdog taking on two of the world’s toughest endurance feats, will have you laughing out loud and leave you more enthusiastic and empowered about your own leadership challenges.
Video
Kevin Biggar | Vlog
From his unique background in business consulting, ultra-endurance adventures and TV presenting Kevin delivers powerful, battle-tested tools and techniques that will make your team much more effective in setting and achieving their own outrageous challenges.Kevin Biggar | Showreel
In 2018 motivational speaker Kevin Biggar spoke to the advisers at BNZ private banking at the Rydges hotel in Auckland. From his unique background in business consulting, ultra-endurance adventures and TV presenting Kevin delivers powerful, battle-tested tools and techniques that will make your team much more effective in setting and achieving their own outrageous challenges.Kevin Biggar | Vlog 2
From his unique background in business consulting, ultra-endurance adventures and TV presenting Kevin delivers powerful, battle-tested tools and techniques that will make your team much more effective in setting and achieving their own outrageous challenges.Kevin is a truly inspiring presenter. His presentation was a highlight for many of our attendees, they left with many key takeaways and strategies for persevering through challenges & tough ... keep reading Sieba
Kevin took time to understand the industry and the goals of the conference. The presentation resonated well with the audience and was both entertaining and informative. Kevin was highly engaging and there was universal positive feedback from audience, some found useful ideas to use for their own situations straight away.
Kevin was easy to deal with and hit the audience on point.
He captured the audience very quickly and they thoroughly enjoyed his themes coming through as well as relating his adventures to everyone. Very enjoyable presentation and an excellent way to finish the day. What Kevin did particularly well is the work prior to the presentation where he got to understand our business better and also what we were wanting to achieve out of the conference and ultimately his presentation. On that basis he was able to tailor his presentation to present a fine tuned version which fed really well into the overall theme and messaging that worked very well for us. Kevin joined us for our evening function and got the chance to meet people which I know was very much appreciated.
The presentation was excellent and fulfilled all of our required criteria. The audience took away a sense of what real achievement is and it has helped in some 'defining' conversations on where people see their futures.
Entertaining, interesting, inspiring!
Thank you for a great presentation, brilliantly aligned to project management principles. The Conference ended on a high note, thanks to your ability to understand the needs of the audience and your professionalism in presenting amazing adventures with humility and humour.
Wow, what a way to end a frantic two days, a perfect culmination of the entire agenda professionally delivered in an inspirational, inspiring positive speech which our staff are still talking about!
Kevin was the perfect fit for the audience, the presentation was humorous with subtle messages throughout.
Having first heard Kevin speak at another event and coming away thinking Wow' combined with a great dose of inspiration, I knew he would be ideal for the guest speaker at our Sales Conference the focus being goal setting and gearing for growth' and he didn't fail! I was inspired and motivated all over again. Kevin is very easy to listen to and holds his audience captive with tales of his great adventures and sparks motivation and inspiration within us all. Feedback from our Conference was 100% positive and Kevin was the highlight of the whole event. Thanks Kevin, I knew you would be a great choice
Thanks so much for yesterday it was an unqualified success with your presentation the hands-down highlight for everyone. Your key messages were so well aligned with where we want to go and leadership profiles that we have in our organisation and aspirations for our team to develop - it was just Oarsome
We have had numerous motivational speakers over the years. None have had the resounding impact that Kevin had. The quantity of unsolicited feedback from our employees clearly indicated the excellence of Kevin's presentation. Kevin inspired the team by showing an everyday person can achieve outstanding results
Our team were absolutely rapt with Kevin's presentation at our corporate team away day recently. I couldn't recommend Kevin highly enough. He's grounded, funny, humble and authentic. His presentation had everyone enthralled, and found Kevin hugely personable, easy-going, and an absolute hoot. We all got something out of it that we'll keep with us for a long time to come
If Google had 10 stars I would give them to Kevin. The best motivational speaker I have ever heard
Kevin connected 100% with the audience. His input impacted incredibly positively on the success of the whole day.
Kevin was great to deal with, he understood the specific needs of our event and didn't just roll out an existing presentation, but made it work for our audience. We heard again and again what an amazing speaker Kevin was from our staff and that he was their favourite thing about the event.
"Kevin's presentation was fantastic, he was entertaining, engaged with the audience regularly and tied the lessons learnt from his adventures back to their business and life challenges very well. He also joined us for lunch before his presentation and chatted with our customers. He was definitely a highlight of the event and I would definitely recommend him."
"Everyone loved Kevin's talk today. They left feeling inspired and those who received a copy of your book were the envy of all! Kevin clearly put in a lot of effort into understanding who Datamine is as a company and was the best speaker many people had heard. We particularly appreciated that he came in to meet with us and visit our offices and also came along to the lunch and got to know our guests."
"Kevin Biggar was fantastic. What a lovely and approachable guy! It seems everyone I talk to wants me to express appreciation for Kevin's inspiring Presentation. Right from the beginning Kevin captured the audience, and considering there was a pretty important rugby game (Chiefs v Crusaders) going on at the time, it was no mean feat! Yet he handled it all in his stride. Once he began you could have honestly heard a pin drop. Considering Kevin only had two weeks to prepare, I appreciated the time he took to really make sure the information he had was relevant and would deliver what we wanted. The way Kevin tailored his presentation to incorporate the theme of our conference, his ability to present the subject in such an interesting way and also managing to include his amazing personal experiences made for a very inspiring and entertaining evening. On behalf of myself and the Region 2 Fire Region Manager Ron Devlin, please thank him for sharing his experiences with us."
