Michael Hingson
HE / HIM / HIS
Michael Hingson is a consultant and keynote speaker on disability inclusion. The New York Times best-selling author of “Thunder Dog,” Mike worked in corporate management until he escaped from Tower 1 of the World Trade Center on 9/11 with his former guide dog, Roselle. he talks about trust and teamwork, disability inclusion, and how to adapt in a world of change.
We all should be servant leaders through developing trust and teamwork.
Popular Talks
Moving from Diversity to Inclusion
How many times have we experienced presentations and conversations about diversity without discussion of disabilities?
Michael Hingson, blind survivor of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on 9/11 and a #1 New York Times best-selling author, shows us that it is time to move from diversity to real Inclusion. Mike uses stories from his life working in management, and leadership positions to teach how a few simple mindset adjustments open the minds of everyone about including persons with disabilities. People take away ideas about how to gain more loyal employees and how to help make organizations more welcoming to all. Audiences leave with a different perspective of how to create inclusion in their lives. Mike will use a mixture of humor and serious talk to help audiences realize how anyone of us could in an instant join the ranks of persons with disabilities. Mike reminds us that we are all walking down the same road of life.
What would you do if…?
Emergency preparedness is a topic receiving a lot of lip service, but most of us do not pay much attention to it. For example, when sitting in a meeting hall listening to a speaker do we know where all the emergency exits are located or do we simply rely on reading signs which might not work in a smoke-filled environment? Blind people learn to KNOW how to move and work in their environments. If they do it well, they create a mindset that helps them not be “blinded or overwhelmed” by fear. Audiences learn how they can become better prepared to function in an emergency. They will discover how to begin to develop a mindset that will help them learn how not to be blinded by fear.
“LABRADOR LESSONS FROM A CANINE HERO”, Michael and Guide Dog Alamo: A Story of Ultimate Trust & Teamwork
Meet Alamo, a seven-year-old black Labrador retriever guide dog who travels the world with his partner, Michael Hingson, talking about trust, teamwork, and life. Yes, you will meet Michael Hingson as well. He will tell you and your audience about working with guide dogs and the many lessons he has learned from them. In fact, Mr. Hingson will tell you very honestly that “I have learned more about team building and management from working with eight guide dogs that I have learned from Brian Tracy, Ken Blanchard, and all the other experts combined.
Mr. Hingson will share and discuss the 10 lessons of “Guide Dog Wisdom” presented in his number one New York Times best-selling book, “Thunder Dog” and he will show your audience how to apply these same lessons in their own lives. He will use his story of survival and escape from the World Trade Center with his former guide dog, “Roselle”, on 9/11, 2001 as a backdrop to show how each of us can become a better team player and more open to the idea of trusting others. Audiences take from Mike’s talks lessons and ideas they can immediately apply in their work and home environments to make life more fun and build stronger and richer relationships with the people around them. Mike says, “there’s a lot to be said for thinking more like a Labrador”. “Don’t knock it till you have tried it.” Mike promises that you will be enthralled and captivated and won’t miss a minute of his speech—unlike Alamo who has heard it all before and will probably sleep through most of it.
GOING BEYOND THE ASHES OF CHANGE TO THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF SUCCESS, Learning to Survive in a Changing World
Most of us have experienced personal unexpected life-changing events and most likely had a difficult time moving on. Perhaps we have not been able to get past the traumatic change at all. This is because we never learned to prepare for unanticipated changes in our world even if we know that “change happens”.
Using the compelling account of his harrowing journey to safety from the collapsing towers of the World Trade Center on 9/11, Michael Hingson captivates audiences and challenges them to access and strengthen their skills, trust, teamwork, risk-taking, and creativity, to ease their way through changes in their work and personal lives. He shows his listeners how creating teams at home and at work can give each of us tools to better cope with new directions and alternative pathways in our lives.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/esbfxn8lt63xoks/AACcZGEwn_ReHcvKPlxL68csa?dl=0
Consulting
I teach companies and organizations about Inclusion. I teach that the most loyal people they can hire are persons with disabilities since we realize how hard it is for us to break through the %70 unemployment rate we face.
“Many of our students had the opportunity to have a conversation with Mr. Michael Hingson, author of the New York Times best seller, Thunder Dog. Mr. Hingson, who has been blind since birth, told us the story of his life as a blind person and of his experience of being on the 78th floor of the World Trade Center during the attack on 9/11/2001. We all learned a great deal about what it is like to be blind in a world where many people do not understand blindness. Mr. Hingson told us that the biggest problem that blind people face is that they are not recognized for their abilities.”
– Robert Pritchard, Ed.D.
“Michael Hingson presents a fascinating, inspiring, and motivating account of his life in a fashion that is relatable to students. Michael may be without sight but he possesses an amazing amount of vision. His optimism is contagious and his story telling ability is unparalleled.
Our students were simply mesmerized in a way that I had not witnessed previously. During Michael’s presentation, students weren’t texting or talking—they were completely engaged and hanging on Michael’s every word. After his presentation, students lined up to visit with Michael and his amazing service dog, Africa.
Of course, his experience at the World Trade Center kept our students on the edges of their seats. However, stories from his childhood—stories of overcoming hardships and prejudice—were equally meaningful and captivating. I have no doubt that Michael’s presentation prompted hours of reflection and moments of transformational change for our students.
If you are looking for an inspirational speaker on your campus, you would be hard pressed to find a more motivating and entertaining speaker than Michael Hingson. Michael captured our students’ minds and Africa captured their hearts.”
– Roger Drake, President, Central Methodist University
“The recent presentation you delivered to our South Central Region Leadership Team was outstanding! Your ability to combine the themes of leadership, teamwork, and planning/preparation all underscored by the implementation of creative thought processes was extremely well received.
While many speakers deal in theory, the message you delivered was punctuated by the reality of the events of 9/11 and the World Trade Center tragedy. You eloquently and respectfully shared your experiences of that fateful day, while at the same time weaving in the “real life” decisions and actions that you took, and that hit home with all of our participants.
I wanted to thank you for the impact you had on our people, and for engaging them in a series of messages that flowed so naturally and meshed so well with our leadership goals.”
– Nicholas Galanos, Director of Operations, Central West Markets
- Traveling from West Coast, USA
Mike was born in Chicago to sighted parents who raised him with a can-do attitude., He grew up riding a bike doing math in his head and learning to read and write Braille ! At 14, he received his first guide dog. He went to college earning a master’s degree in Physics and secondary teaching credential.
Michael enjoyed a 30-year sales career mostly in management roles.
His life changed on 911, when he escaped from Tower One in the WTC just before it collapsed. Then Mike was thrust into the international limelight where he began to share his story and 9-11 lessons of trust, courage, heroism, and teamwork.
He served as The National Public Affairs Director for Guide Dogs for the Blind; He served as the vice president of the National Association of Guide Dog Users; He holds seats on agency boards including the Fort Worth Lighthouse for the Blind, the Earle Baum Center of the Blind and the Colorado Center for the Blind.
Through September 2019 he worked as CEO of the Do More Foundation, the non-profit arm of Aira Tech Corp, a manufacturer of assistive technology which makes a revolutionary visual interpreter for blind people. In January 2021 Mike joined accessiBe as its Chief Vision Officer to help advance the company goal of making the entire internet fully inclusive. AccessiBe provides products that help make web sites accessible to persons with disabilities.
He is the author of the #1 NY Times BestSeller: “Thunder dog” selling over 2.5 million copies Worldwide. He also published his 2nd book “Running with Roselle” in 2014.
Mike has traveled world-wide Speaking to the world’s elite: including President, George W. Bush and Larry King,. After sharing his story of survival on many TV and Radio programs, Mike is hired by major corporations and organizations Speaking and consulting on the importance of Teamwork and Trust and Moving from Diversity to Inclusion!.
Hingson lives in Victorville, California with Alamo, his eighth guide dog and his rescue feline, Stitch.
Let’s collaborate to ensure a transformative experience.