Stories that stick. Songs that linger. Lessons that land.

Michel helps us harness the power of story, not just to entertain, but to transform how we lead, sell, and connect.

Michel Neray is a professional speaker whose keynotes and workshops are as much inspirational and entertaining as they are instructional. He works with companies and individuals to drill down to the core of their unique value and differentiation, and then craft their “Essential Message” that connects more powerfully with audiences and stakeholders, including customers, investors, strategic partners, and top talent.

It’s an “Inside-Out” approach that digs deeper than most marketers dare to go and provides the rock-solid platform for telling the story and designing a category that creates a new place in customers’ minds, a place in their minds that screams, “we need this.”

Michel has helped thousands of individuals and organizations clarify their core message, become category leaders, and craft impactful stories to become more effective leaders, salespeople, consultants, and presenters. Some of his clients have reported sales increases of 60%.

He combines a science degree from the University of Waterloo, an MBA from McGill University, over 30 years of experience as a creative marketing copywriter, and a career as a senior sales and marketing executive.

He is a Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and is an accomplished singer-songwriter, with music on Spotify, Apple Music, and all major streaming platforms.

A visionary and entrepreneurial game-changer, he created the world’s first online searchable directory of creative professionals in 1995, before Google. Michel co-authored The Great Crossover, which made it to Jack Canfield’s Achiever’s Recommended Reading List. He has spoken at conferences in more than eight countries worldwide. Michel founded momondays in 2012 as a monthly variety show that combines storytelling, comedy, and live music. Pre-Covid, there were up to 16 cities in Canada and the U.S. with live momondays events.

He spends his weekends, evenings, and days with two canoes, one motorcycle, three ukuleles, seven guitars, three kids, and one wife.

Michel Neray knows what it’s like to feel “different.” Born to a Jewish mother from France who had survived Auschwitz, and a Jewish Iranian father who fled Iran during WWII to join the French Foreign Legion, his parents settled in Montreal to start a new life and raise their family. Michel grew up as a French-speaking Jewish kid in an English Protestant school in a province that was overwhelmingly French Catholic.

Having a girl’s name didn’t help him blend in either.

Rather than hide his differences, he learned to embrace them. Michel credits his early childhood experiences for the foundation of his unique expertise in branding and positioning. Today, Michel is widely considered an expert in helping organizations and individuals discover and communicate their greatest strengths and differentiation, enabling them to succeed both personally and professionally.

“If you want to discover your true difference,” says Michel, “you have to dig deeper than traditional marketing approaches to see what is quite likely right in front of your nose.”

That’s the most basic building block that enables individuals and companies to be the best at what they do, to have stronger relationships and better rapport with customers, colleagues, family, and friends, to stand out from the crowd and make a difference, to provide exceptional customer service driven by a genuine desire to help, and above all else, to lead a more fulfilled, more effective professional and personal life.

Michel has helped thousands of individuals and organizations to clarify their core message, become category leaders, and craft impactful stories to become more effective leaders, salespeople, consultants, and presenters. Some of his clients have reported sales increases of 60%. He combines a science degree from the University of Waterloo, an MBA from McGill University, over 30 years of experience as a creative marketing copywriter, and a career as a senior sales and marketing executive.

He is a Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and is an accomplished singer-songwriter, with music on Spotify, Apple Music, and all major streaming platforms.

A naturally dynamic, fun, and engaging speaker, Michel helps his audiences discover their differentiation, and communicate it powerfully.

In 1995 Michel founded Portfolios Online, the world’s first Internet search engine for advertising and creative professionals. Michel co-authored The Great Crossover, which made it to Jack Canfield’s Achiever’s Recommended Reading List. In 2005, his chapter, “Everything Starts With A Conversation” was selected as the lead for the book, Sales Gurus Speak Out and then again for Awakening The Workplace Volume 3.

He has an MBA from McGill University, a BSc from the University of Waterloo, and is also a Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).

Since 2008, Michel has held leadership positions in the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers, and has spoken professionally in more than eight countries. Michel founded momondays in 2012 as a monthly variety show that combines storytelling, comedy, and live music. Pre-Covid, there were up to 16 cities in Canada and the U.S. with live momondays events.

He spends his weekends, evenings, and days with two canoes, one motorcycle, three ukuleles, seven guitars, three kids, and one wife.

Our next speaker is someone who truly understands the power of story, not just to entertain, but to genuinely transform how we lead, sell, and connect. Michel doesn’t just talk about storytelling… he turns it into your secret weapon in sales, leadership, brand differentiation, and pretty much anything else that involves communicating with other people.

He’s a seasoned marketing strategist with decades of experience in sales and leadership, a Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and a talented singer-songwriter with two albums on all streaming platforms. Yes, you can look him up on Apple and Spotify.

[Include one or two sentences on why you personally are interested in this presentation.]

And because at [name of organization], we really do care about the person behind the title, I’ll add that Michel spends his weekends and evenings with two canoes, one motorcycle, three ukuleles, seven guitars, three kids… and one wife.

Please welcome Michel Neray.