Mimi Donaldson

Speaker, Author, Speech Coach

Expert on

  • Leadership
  • Time Management/Self-Management
  • Negotiation
  • Gender Issues
  • Stress
  • Motivation

Fee Range

$10,000–$20,000

Travels from

CA, US

Biography

For over twenty years, Mimi Donaldson has captivated audiences, from the Fortune 100 to the just plain fortunate. She’s won acclaim for her rousing keynote speeches, for her compelling workshops, and for her in-house training programs. She has shared the keynote platform with Colin Powell, Katie Couric and Maya Angelou. Before starting her own consulting business Mimi Donaldson spent 10 years as a Human Resources Trainer at Northrop Aircraft, Rockwell International and Walt Disney Productions.

Mimi Donaldson is the co-author of Negotiating for Dummies. It has been published in six languages including Chinese, Taiwanese, Russian, and German and has sold over one-million copies worldwide. Mimi Donaldson is also the author of Bless Your Stress- It Means You’re Still Alive. Mimi’s latest book is about success and football, Necessary Roughness: New Rules for the Contact Sport of Life. As a very funny, football-female, Mimi uses the game as a metaphor for shaking off the bad plays, or roadblocks of challenging times, and leading with perseverance and courage.

Mimi Donaldson has been a featured guest on countless radio programs nationwide and made numerous television appearances. She was the “pitch coach” on ABC’s American Inventor and coached the contestants to success persuading judges and America.

She’s been the subject of over 200 articles in newspapers and magazines, having been featured in: the Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Denver Post, Ladies Home Journal, and Harvard Management Review.

Mimi Donaldson has a B.A in Speech and Communications from the University of Iowa and a Masters Degree in Education from Columbia University. Mimi has also been a visiting professor at Harvard University’s Center for Public Leadership at the Kennedy School of Government.

Speaker Videos

NECESSARY ROUGHNESS: NEW RULES FOR THE CONTACT SPORT OF NEGOTIATING

Successful negotiations are crucial in today’s hard-fought personal and professional success. Negotiating in challenging times is a question of ability. Master negotiators are not born – they are skilled. Mimi, the author of the new book, Necessary Roughness: New Rules for the Contact Sport of Life, uses football, the ultimate team game, to highlight the skills you need in every negotiation.

We need to learn how to get what we want with dignity and honor. Contracts, partnerships, managing people, parenting and other relationships all require us to be skilled at asking for and getting what we need. Co-author of Negotiating for Dummies and Bless Your Stress: It Means You’re Still Alive! Mimi will help you master the six skills of every negotiation: preparing, setting limits, maintaining emotional distance, listening, being clear and closing any deal.

BLESS YOUR STRESS: IT MEANS YOU'RE STILL ALIVE!

They don’t call it “work” for nothing. Thanks to our stressed, pressed, hustling, bustling, irky, quirky, “It’s all about me!” world, you have to deal with overwhelmed, overworked, overscheduled, and overspent cranky ones among us, big and small. Here’s a quick quiz just for fun:

¬  Has the phrase “It’s gonna be one of those days!” become your favorite saying?

¬  Are you busier than ever but it still feels as if your “TO DO” list keeps getting longer?

¬  If you described yourself as “laid back,” would those who know you laugh like crazy?

¬  Do you find it annoying or irritating to be asked questions like these?

If you said “yes” to two or more of these questions, you will find stress relief in Mimi’s presentation. To manage everyday stress, people must learn to identify their own stress “triggers”-the little things that set them off.  Next, they must delve deeper to discover why things bother them-the “war” within- worry, anger, and resentment, that causes the stress response.

BEYOND MARS & VENUS: BRIDGING THE COMMUNICATION GAP

Do you ever feel people are speaking a different language when they’re not? Do you find yourself frustrated with people who have organizational styles different than yours? Your effectiveness as a professional is only as good as your ability to work with all kinds of styles. Mimi Donaldson presents enlightening and hilarious insights on the differences in communication among team members and clients.

NECESSARY ROUGHNESS: NEW RULES FOR THE CONTACT SPORT OF BUSINESS

Prevailing in challenging times is not a question of ability – people are able. Success hinges on opportunity and intention. Opportunity and intention are what football is all about. Mimi uses the ultimate team game to highlight motivational and teambuilding principles that are crucial in today’s hard-fought personal and professional success.

We are all in need of a good game plan, and what used to be considered “rah-rah” clichés have become a way of life. Motivation itself has become the new norm, and football is the perfect metaphor. Today’s managers need to believe the team’s goals are doable, because they are.  Every day, they need to lead like coaches, like Vince Lombardi and other greats before the big game.