“Become who you are having found out what that is!” - Pindar
Browse our library of testimonials and hear first hand from clients who have booked Kriss. View testimonials by category, scroll back in time, and even search for feedback from individuals with the same job title as you!
Kriss went down an absolute storm. One point we noted was that Kriss didn’t just do a ‘standard’ speech. He tailored it to NHBC and our values and that impressed not only us as the organisers, but the whole audience.
It was a wonderfully uplifting evening with Kriss Akabusi (inspired choice…) playing his full part in that!
Kriss is always an absolute pleasure and we love him at ALOTO! His energy, enthusiasm and positivity is unmatched. Kriss approaches every episode with professionalism, tenacity and a can-do attitude. We look forward to working with him again soon.
Kriss has been a joy to work with from start to finish on Big Heads. His enthusiasm is there for all to see but Kriss brought so much more to the show, his intelligence, sporting wisdom and the ability to sympathise with the struggles of contestants wearing huge celebrity heads was spot on! From the original chemistry test to the last voiceover session Kriss has been an absolute gent, open to direction, ideas and the consummate professional throughout.
We have contracted Kriss to be our ambassador for an exciting new vitamins range that we launched recently and to utilise Kriss’s motivational talent at various company functions. We were given the heads up about Kriss and what an asset he could be for our company by our agency and to say that turned out to be a gross understatement wouldn’t be far wrong. We have dealt with people in the public eye before with mixed results but dealing with Kriss has been an absolute breath of fresh air. Kriss has automatically brought credibility to a new brand in a very competitive market and the launch sales have been way above our expectations. We are extremely grateful to have an association with the Akabusi company and we look forward to working with Kriss and his team for many years to come.
We invited Kriss to present at our annual Global Conference and we couldn’t have asked for anything better. He was funny, engaging, entertaining, inspirational and hugely relevant. The hairs on the back of our hands standing on end with his electricity! Kriss’s tone and content were absolutely perfect and he tailored his act beautifully to fit with our key conference theme and messages. People will be talking about Kriss Akabusi at our conference for years to come! Thanks for helping us deliver the best Speedo Conference ever. Boom! Boom! Boom!
I love working with Kriss. He has unrivalled energy and we always have a laugh. Jackabusi on the run.
Thank you so much for the brilliantly delivered presentation you did for us at the Platinum Property Partners Quarterly Workshop; you were truly Incredible! In all our years of booking speakers, we have never dealt with someone who cared as much as you did, to give our people what they wanted and needed. Your preparation was genuinely world-class and a real reflection on the passion, commitment and dedication that you applied to your sporting career. A very deep, heartfelt thank you from myself and the team at the Platinum Property Partners.
Kriss Akabusi spoke at the Teaching School's Council East of England System Leadership Conference on Friday 18th March 2016 at the Wellcome Trust in Cambridge. Kriss won the delegates over with his hugely inspirational story about his journey into athletics and the pitfalls and challenges that he faced along the way to become an Olympic champion. He was able to draw relevant parallels between the worlds of sport and education with the goalposts continually changing and expectations becoming increasingly higher - he gave sensible advice about how to stay on top of the game without 'burning out'. His talk was well prepared and thoughtful with touches of drama and humour throughout. He went out of his way to get in touch with the other speakers at our conference and carried out his own research to draw links and bring out common themes. Overall, we were delighted in able to secure Kriss to speak at our conference and we thank him for his time. He is a fantastic speaker and a real gentleman. Thank you Kriss!
We were absolutely delighted with Kriss as a speaker, he showed a great understanding and engagement with the audience, his fast pace was just right for our sales force and his delivery was simply sensational. I would highly recommend him to anyone wanting that rare combination of motivation and entertainment.
Fantastic session with Kriss - very engaging and high energy. Kriss took the time beforehand to really understand our company and our values and so his messages on the day were very aligned. The delegates loved the surprise and many commented on the value Kriss added to the overall conference.
Kriss recently attended a leadership offsite after previously attending our Sales and Service Conference (6 weeks prior to the offsite) where he was very engaging and inspirational to over 300 attendees. With this in mind we engaged him to work with our emerging leadership team of 30 people. Once again he was exceptionally impressive, engaging a room of 30 people for over 5 hours (and ran over by 2 hours!) – with his stories, practical advice and highly energetic approach. Huge thanks for taking this event to another level and helping our leadership team on the next step of the journey.
Many thanks for what can only be described as an inspired piece of hosting for our awards on Friday night. The atmosphere was fantastic and our teams had a fabulous evening, here is a quote from our People & Culture Director Liz Newman that I think captures the essence of how great a job you did:'It was indeed an amazing evening, you could feel the love!'The awards touched every point, and the genius of the incredible Mr Akabusi ensures they will never be forgotten - if you could bottle that!
I just wanted to say a quick thank you for your contribution for our VA Live event this year, without you all it would definitely never have been the success it was. The teams returned to their clubs fully engaged, inspired, educated and super-charged to finish the year strong!
A huge thank you for joining us at this year’s Trade and Apprentice Awards. The impact that you made was felt at every level from Apprentice to Director and the word “inspired” is one that I have heard many times from those who attended. You really did make this a great event and we are extremely grateful. Thanks too to Jane for the brilliant organisation, we always felt everything was going to run smoothly.
Thank you ever so much, a fantastic service and the station appreciates the time you have taken to record some sound files for us. The service was 5 star and The Hub would throughly recommend The Akabusi Company.
When we were looking for an athletics’ legend the choice was easy and Kriss was more than happy to oblige! He was a delight to work with and was passionate about the Briggs & Stratton project from our very first discussion. His professionalism, enthusiasm and personality shone through and made our campaign run incredibly smoothly. His help, not just on the day of the event, but also in the planning stages, was invaluable and without his input our project wouldn’t have shaped up in the successful way that it did.
We have enjoyed working with Kriss since 2007. He has helped us to celebrate with colleagues who have successfully achieved a company sponsored qualification, inspiring everyone with his life story and the lessons he has learned. Kriss’s involvement with Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) started after we’d signed the Government Skills Pledge to ensure 90% of our employees achieved a qualification at NQF Level 2 or above. Many of our people have never achieved a qualification before and the prospect of a formal celebration event is a bit daunting. Kriss always mingles with everyone before the event starts, finding out about them, putting them at ease and then really celebrates their achievement. Everyone walks tall with a smile on their face at the end of the evening, they then carry that sense of pride back into their workplace. I have heard Kriss’s presentation many times now, although his story has a consistent message he keeps it fresh and each time I hear it I find a new angle to draw inspiration from.
We have had a few great speakers at our NMI Annual Awards Dinner but Kriss was funny, energetic and by far the best speaker we have had. He fully engaged with the sponsors and winners on the presentation of the awards, his personality bouncing on others gave us many great photos for keep sakes. Kriss mingled with our audience before and after the event and took time to chat and have selfies with our attendees. He is still spoken about weeks after. Kriss you were sensational and thank you for making it a great night. I would certainly recommend Kriss for any event in the future.
Once again Kriss did us proud - and SO lovely to see him again - we feel like we have a true supporter in him! His keynote was brilliant and he engages so well with the young people and carers. He really got into the spirit of the evening and really helped the atmosphere to sparkle. I know that the young man who received his sports personality award was quite overwhelmed! I will be in touch soon. Thanks for all your organisation!
I had the pleasure of working with Kriss as a brand ambassador for my client, Rowlands Pharmacy. His enthusiasm and personality shone through and he was an absolute hit during a series of media visits. I very much look forward to working with Kriss in the future. He was ideal for our campaign.
Kriss’s keynote was a highlight of our Conference. He took time to personalise his speech so the content was highly relevant to our message. He is highly entertaining and the room hung on his every word. It was inspiring and uplifting and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him.
Kriss presented an engaging and motivational message that incorporated the essence of the company. A great guest speaker
Kriss delivered a very entertaining and powerful presentation at the 30th Anniversary Party of the Paris To Hayling Charity Cycle Ride adapting his core materials to our special needs. He had clearly studied the briefing materials that we had presented very thoroughly. Beyond the presentation itself Kriss actively engaged in the fun and celebrations that were key to our event thereby very much enhancing the occasion. I have collaborated with / listened to many similar presentations in my 35 year business career and this compared very favourably with the best.
We at Innocent had a brilliant time with Kriss. His energy and willingness to get involved was incredible- we feel very lucky to have worked with him.
Your planning and preparation certainly paid off, the attention to detail on the Cadbury campaign was superb. To engage an audience of over 300+ people in that way, worked so well. I thought you brought real energy and enthusiasm to the proceedings. You certainly gave quality time to the audience for photo's and autographs. The feedback on the following day was superb, one supplier quoted 'Kriss Akabusi was Brilliant' without doubt Kriss you delivered in spades!
It was a pleasure working with Kriss for our conference. He took the time and effort to really understand our organisation and make sure that his talk was relevant to the people there. He seemed genuinely interested in everything we do and both him and his PA Jane were such lovely people to deal with. We kept Kriss’ arrival completely secret to everyone attending and the effect was just perfect! We even had one person say that it was the best day of his life because Kriss was his childhood hero! Kriss was full of energy and incredibly motivational and people were truly amazed by how relevant he made the talk and incorporated things that we do here at Melin. I still don’t think that people have come down from their high that Kriss left them on and it will be something that people will be talking about for years to come. It had even more impact because Kriss stayed behind for individual photos and spent valuable time with people that meant a lot. I think Facebook went mad that night with all the photos being posted! A massive thank you to both Kriss and Jane for really making our conference the most memorable yet. I don’t think we will ever beat that one!!!
Kriss came to our senior leadership conference and ran a series of interactive activities and workshops to engage our people with the newly announced strategy. He really got under the skin of our organisation and made all his materials completely relevant to us. He created an amazing energy in the room which we were able to capture and bring back to our offices. Feedback received from our delegates was overwhelmingly positive: “Kriss Akabusi was great and I think that he was able to bring out the best in us” “..very inspiring..” ”…amazing…” “a great energiser and lots of fun
I want the best for my staff so when faced with the prospect of change leading to a team mentality I needed a strong ,loud , funny , inspiring , emotional character with leadership qualities so who better than Kriss Akabussi….this man had my team in stitches , had them thinking outside the box , realising the strength in team efforts , with all of them coming away stronger , motivated and fully focused on the plan.
We first invited Kriss to speak to 180 staff members at a September 2014 away day and were so impressed we invited him back to speak to another 200 in February 2015! Kriss spoke about his life, how he has embraced change and the role of the individual in taking opportunities. He was inspiring, funny and incredibly energetic. He quickly built a rapport with the audience and involved them as much as possible. Our staff loved hearing from him and there were queues for well over an hour to meet and get a photo with him. I thoroughly recommend Kriss as a conference/ away day speaker
Kriss was recommended to me by someone who heard him speak over 10 years ago! Kriss was extremely professional in all our briefing calls and was focused on ensuring his talk was aligned to our business objectives. When on stage Kriss personified passion and inspiration, he displayed a whole range of emotions and connected with the audience immediately. The audience were taken on a journey and were hanging on to his every last word. He stuck to the brief and delivered a flawless performance!
I asked Kriss to hold a motivational session on Leading change, during our Leaders Day in September. This day is dedicated to Continuous Improvement and how we can promote it, as Leaders. Kriss made an amazing and so inspiring performance by weaving our company’s history and culture into his own. All delegates left on a real high and still talk about it. Very successful event and it’s partially part of Kriss and his unmatchable energy. Thank you so much!
We had the pleasure of having Kriss take to the stage for the closing session of our conference where we asked him to share his experiences and success stories to entertain and inspire our delegates. Kriss did so much more than that, his session was one of the most uplifting speeches we have seen and the feedback from all our staff was overwhelmingly positive. Kriss went above and beyond just a typical he could have delivered as he took enormous time to ensure he understood our company structure and culture and this absolutely came across in his speech; it was very tailored to our people which made such a huge difference. We were honored to have Kriss speak at our conference, he is truly a legendary, enthusiastic and effervescent character that you can't help but be captivated by; a speech which will continue to resonate in our minds as we continue to grow our businesses.
Kriss delivered an inspirational, energetic and engaging presentation to our audience of residential child care delegates in Scotland. Touching on personal highs and lows as well as Olympic success, he drew the audience in to his story and pushed them to think about their own relationships, both personal and professional. As the first Keynote speaker on our conference programme, he really set the tone for the two-day event, motivating important conversations, encouraging networking and future planning. In addition to presenting brilliantly, Kriss is warm and genuine and took extra time to speak with our delegates and young people after his presentation. An absolute star!
An amazing, energetic session with engagement from all participating like I've never experienced before from a motivational speaker. Genuinely uplifting, inspiring and emotional that has created a real positive buzz which has acted as a spring board for people to take stock of their working lives and positively address and seek to improve and adapt to how they approach their work scenarios in the future.
Without any doubt, Kriss is a fantastic key note speaker and I would not hesitate in recommending him. On the day of our conference, his messages were truly inspirational and uplifting and he carried the crowd along with him throughout his presentation. A great balance of humour, interesting stories, serious messages and wonderful variety of presentation style. A true show man who can lift everyone’s spirits. What impressed me most was his ability to adapt his story to his audience. The preparation that goes into getting it right at these events is what really matters and it was during the planning discussions that we had in advance of the conference when I knew we were on to a winner.
Kriss recently attended the NSPCC Peterborough Business Support Group Dinner where we were celebrating 20 years of fund raising. Kriss was extremely friendly and approachable at all times and totally entertained our audience throughout the evening. He followed our brief to the letter and ensured his audience was captivated at all times. His presentation was lively, sincere and absolutely appropriate for the occasion. He did not rush off after the event and chatted to many of our guests - as the organiser, he made my life very easy. Our guests left feeling motivated, entertained and smiling! I highly recommend Kriss Akabusi as a motivational/after dinner speaker as he is so obviously well prepared and very flexible with his approach.
Everyone was inspired, energised, and we were so pleased you felt able to spend so much extra time talking to people, posing for photos and giving out advice. Everyone has said what a privilege and pleasure it was to meet you and how you helped to make our event ‘the best ever.’ We really appreciated the care you took to learn about our organisation, our staff and the issues we face and weave that into your performance. I really look forward to seeing you again and will be giving you the highest possible recommendation to other people looking for charismatic and energising speakers.
What a legendary and evangelical performance. Kriss’ personality filled the room right from the start. His energy is matched by his professionalism. Kriss did his homework on our company, our history and our vision for the future. He brought together the threads of his personal life and career to make it relevant to our national management conference. The theme of our event was ‘managing change’, and Kriss provided an inspirational, emotional and often funny presentation about the need to embrace change to win. Kriss is like a firework – colourful, loud, eye-catching and full of impact. I have seen many motivational speakers and would not hesitate in recommending Kriss as a corporate speaker at any event.
Kriss was headline speaker at our staff conference and gave us an inspirational session that linked his own life experience to the vision and values of our business. He was well received by our staff, and spent time at the end of the event meeting people and making them feel special – an experience many will not forget.
We booked Kriss for our annual conference and award ceremony after I saw him at a breakfast meeting a couple of years ago. I was expecting good things, but WOW, what a fantastic afternoon. Kriss tied in all our messages throughout his presentation and made the awards his own with his vibrant personality and energy. I have never before had so many messages of thanks from the staff this morning for “The best Conference ever” We thank Kriss for making this an afternoon and night to remember.
Kriss exceeded our expectations above and beyond, everyone loved his presentation... his energy and passion really lifted everyone which was exactly what we wanted. A pleasure to work with and we look forward to future collaborations.
I have been working with Kriss for the last three years on our joint initiative, Employment Skills and Training programme project Mackenzie. Kriss hosts four days of his I-Tang programme for young people aged 16 – 24 years. Kriss is both professional and fun to work with; he seeks to raise young peoples aspirations by reinforcing positive messages. And it works!!!
Kriss delivered an exceptionally engaging session. He was extremely passionate, totally inspiring, motivational and created a fantastic energy and buzz in the room. Kriss is a highly entertaining speaker, whilst at the same time getting across key messages to help individuals make a difference in their lives and take their businesses to the next level. Kriss was also happy to participate within group sessions and share experiences individually. We hope we can work with The Akabusi Company again soon. Boom!
Kriss' presentation was enthralling, interesting, personal but with the right level of business message. Thanks Kriss, you took our brief and translated it into a great message, relevant to all who attended the conference. Your auction hosting was second to none and made over £3000 for our chosen charity, Rainbows. Thank you so much.
Kriss was so great. Brought so much energy. I've never seen a crew warm to someone so quickly.
Kriss has an amazing capacity to use his life as a background and also weave in the client's subject and themes. In addition Kriss' energy and empathy totally absorbs the audience. Kriss is always greatly entertaining, yet can deal with very serious subjects too. Great energy and very committed to delivering quality.
We all loved having Kriss on set with us. As usual he gave 500% and his energy put a smile on everyone's face! No wonder he's in such demand.
Kriss is a consummate professional across the board. We booked Kriss to provide the keynote presentation for our Annual Conference and from our very first contact, his pre-event preparation, background research and commitment to understanding our business was second to none. He is engaging, passionate, dedicated and fully committed to providing the perfect motivational and inspirational speech to our delegates. The fact that he is also incredibly interesting, entertaining and funny was just the icing on the cake!
Kriss exceeded our expectations. He followed the brief we gave perfectly and provided much more that was in line with the messages we wanted to get across. He was charismatic, captivating and enchanting, and we could have heard a pin drop in the room. He galvanised people's willingness to work harder for this group and this led very nicely into the 'pledge' we wanted each person to make in the room to improve their work with them.
Great key messages, and everybody loved his energy and personality. The audience response was excellent, we loved the video that was played, seeing the medal, and the slides were thought-provoking.
The way Kriss spoke about his own experiences and then so eloquently translated that in to our industry was amazing. He left you wanting more and wanting to be a better person. Kriss was very engaging with the audience and so energetic. He will have touched so many people during his presentation and each person will have taken away something unique to themselves that I'm sure they will recall over and over again. There was a real buzz about the place following Kriss's presentation and his keynote certainly lead to a lot of discussion afterwards. Kriss - thank you so much for the presentation that you delivered at the Fix Auto UK conference, I have had the pleasure of hearing a variety of guest speakers at different events and I have to say yours is certainly one that I wont forget and would happily listen to again and again. Truly inspirational and motivational!
Kriss' presentation was honest, true to life and very inspiring. Kriss was lively, kept you engaged and his speech has switched on my positive thinking logic buttons.
Kriss' presentation went down really well with the staff. Many guests would just give their normal presentation and leave but Kriss had done his homework and had woven our key messages into his presentation which was brilliant for reinforcing the messages. I also liked the fact that he got really involved in the awards part of the proceedings and I know that the award recipients in particular appreciated this. Also staying for a while after the conclusion of the event for photos went down very well.
Kriss, thank you for appearing in our video! You exceeded our expectations and we are thrilled with the work you did for us. Your appearance, although only short, conveyed the positivity and enthusiasm that we were looking for and more! What's more, you are a superb guy and gave the whole team a massive lift with your winning personality and attitude to the work. Would happily have you in the office every day!!
Kriss truly delivered at our event. He built his story around ours and captured the essence of what it takes to work well as a team; the highs and the lows. Kriss talked about what it takes to truly support one another and made it relevant to our situation. And he delivered his message brilliantly! Thank you for helping to reinforce, for our team, the power of working as ONE team!
Kriss was a great addition to our company meeting. He reminded everyone of the core values and factors required to succeed by taking us through his very motivating and inspiring story in sport.
Everyone enjoyed Kriss's style - which was different to the business presenters. Very refreshing for some, a 'tick off their bucket list'. Some were quite emotional! Kriss really achieved engagement and motivation through his story and many people are still quoting things he said nearly a month later. Kriss' presentation more than met expectations!
Kriss was an absolute joy to work with. Funny, cordial and knowledgeable on all the topics we were discussing in his on-camera interview. It would be a total pleasure to work with him again.
Kriss Akabusi was a true gentleman and went above and beyond what we could have ever wished for on the day. Kriss brought his boundless energy, enthusiasm and passion for sport – and everyone loved him. The fact that he took part in one of the races with the oldest male and female runners made their year. Hopefully we’ll have the pleasure of working with him again in the future. A special thank you also to Jane, Kriss' Business Manager. It has been a pleasure dealing with you throughout the booking and we really appreciate all her help for making the event a success.
UKATA invited Kriss Akabusi to attend their 10 Year Anniversary celebratory dinner, dance & Excellence Awards July 2018. As soon as Kriss walked through the door he had the audience completely captivated. He shared moving stories, and gave encouraging words in respect of teamwork! Kriss was energetic, and the crowd were willing participants throughout his presentation, which was upbeat with an element of humour and wit.
Kriss' motivational speech did 'exactly what it said on the tin.' We wanted someone to come in and drive the teamwork and collaboration theme we were trying to promote. He did exactly that and the buzz around the room and in the bar afterwards was visible, everyone was busy talking to everyone. We had lots of congratulations afterwards about the event and everyone said how much they got out of it and how much they enjoyed it.
Kriss' speech was very motivational- the message was strong throughout and Kriss did a great job of tying in ASOS’ story with his own. We all leapt out of our seats when we watched the relay race- the energy Kriss gave us was amazing and just what we needed. Thank you Kriss. You were everything we hoped for and more.
Kriss was taking part in my show “The People’s Playlist” on BBC Three Counties Radio. As a local name, we wanted him on to tell his life stories and choose the music for the hour. His energy was infectious, he made everyone laugh. Many people wanted pictures and videos with him, which he happily helped with. I can’t wait for people to hear his show. A complete gentleman.
I just wanted to say a massive thank you Kriss for your brilliant hosting of the Longhurst Group conference over the last two days. Your energy, passion and sense of fun is absolutely brilliant! Kriss you are always my number one recommendation for conference speaking and facilitation. Thanks again for a great job!
The performance was awesome. Kriss is massively inspiring especially as he came from the council estate humble beginnings and care- as many people do. Proving that lives can always be improved.
Kriss’s keynote was sensational. The renewed motivation, energy and ‘extra spark’ that the team have since hearing Kriss’ presentation has been felt throughout the organisation. In addition, the personal impact that Kriss’ key messages have had on the team has been truly notable. Thank you so much Kriss for what you did for everyone!
Kriss was an absolute pleasure to work with and he certainly helped to make the conference a huge success for us. He was a great speaker, he was engaging to listen to and he incorporated everything that the client wanted within his talk. The group were very inspired by him and he had them in fits of laughter as well. There were lots of requests for photos after and he was only too happy to participate.
Kriss was a pleasure and delight to work with and it was a real treat to see him in action. Kriss went down a storm with our delegates and people are still talking about his session at KronosLIVE today. We’ve also received emails from our customers saying how much they enjoyed his closing keynote. On a personal note, meeting a childhood hero and reminiscing with his stories during his GB Athletics days brought back very fond memories for me. All in all a very successful event for us, thank you!
Thank you from everyone for sharing your story and being such a great guest speaker, it was great seeing our colleagues interact with Kriss after the conference and everyone is still talking about it nearly a week later!
Thanks for bringing your energy and lifestory to our annual rally. The messaging was great and with your enthusiasm the crowd listened to everything you said. I think a few doctors appointments have been made - that section was great as so rarely talked about.
I can't speak highly enough of Kriss. On stage, you get the fun, energetic, entertaining character that you expect. Off stage you get a very professional, well-prepared, genuine guy. Thank you Kriss.
Kriss, it was my pleasure and privilege to be able to meet with you and to host you at our event. You made us feel as though you really understood our work (no mean feat!) and I know that you contributed to making it our most memorable conference to date! Thank you for your words and your inspiration.
Kriss you were amazing. The feedback we had from our colleagues who attended was so positive, they loved every minute of. It was heart warming, funny, lively, personal and tailored to them so they felt appreciated - which is exactly how we wanted them to feel as our Heroes. THANK YOU!
Kriss shared his perspective, experience and insight to us and it was fantastic. There is so much more to Kriss than I was aware of beyond his athletics and TV work and this depth was fascinating to hear about. Yes, Kriss provides motivation by being around, but this additional depth was the real thing I took away from his session.
I just wanted to thank you for the personalised video that you produced recently for my friend Jason's birthday. You used all the content we provided perfectly and the end result was fantastic. Everyone that has seen the video has been in hysterics and it definitely made Jasons day! Many Thanks
Best Best Man Ever!
Thank you so much. Kriss's message was the icing on the cake - it brought the house down! Bride and groom were blown away. See short clip of them attached. A-maze-ing! Big thanks to Kriss."
I have just watched the video several (hundreds) of times. There is only one way to describe it... IT IS THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN. I LOVE it and so will everyone else.
