INSIGHT
“If you want to be lucky, build the conditions for it.“
TOUCH DOWN
My flight touched down in balmy Cairns just before 2 p.m. It’s Thursday, 12 March — the day before the Global Speakers Summit (GSS) 2026 kicks off. Four hundred professional speakers. Twenty-five countries. Four days, five nights.
HARD WORK
Behind me are hundreds of hours of work across six months — no weekends, no time off — bringing every TWICE SHOT digital and physical asset up to speed. A new website. A new showreel. New business cards. New graphics. Updated PDFs. Rebuilt from the ground up.
The website went live just two days before my flight.
Anyone who has built a credible business on the web knows what a mammoth undertaking it is. But it had to be delivered for GSS 2026 — because you only get one shot at a first impression.
PERSISTENCE
As I shared in G.R.I.T. In Action: Climbing Three Mountains, the previous two and a half years kept me well and truly on my toes. Giving up on my ambitions would have been the easy option. But I knew from experience — beginning with being TWICE SHOT — that the easy road takes you nowhere you want to be — fast.
The challenging road is where the growth is. In the long run, it’s the path to triumph.
So, I persisted. For each goal, I mapped out the steps, sub-steps, and timeframes needed to achieve it. I looked at the action items every single day — and crossed each item off as it was done.
OPPORTUNITY
Friday morning, a session caught my eye: “Bureau Ready in 2026: What Speakers Bureaus Look For, and What Is Changing Now.”
The presenters not only shared their insights on the current market — they revealed they were growing their global presence and looking to add speakers to their international roster. Unique Speaker Bureau International (USBI), based in Johannesburg, was offering 15-minute meetings with speakers to see who might be a good fit.
When the session wrapped, I introduced myself to CEO Paul McConnon and handed him one of my TWICE SHOT business cards. It’s a distinctive card — bold colours, a striking logo, and a tactile element: two holes punched into it, resembling bullet holes. Paul held it, ran his thumb across the holes, and his attention was immediate. I also greeted Cathy Johnson, USBI’s Speaker Liaison and Paul’s co-presenter, and handed her a card.
Want to make a splash in this world? You need to stand out from the crowd — for the right reasons.
THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM
After two reschedules due to a calendar conflict and technology issues, I finally sat down with Paul at midday on Sunday, 15 March.
I hadn’t attended any Sunday morning sessions. Instead, I’d spent that time preparing — researching USBI, preparing answers, preparing questions. Just like my police recruit interview at 17 years old: for things that really matter, you give it everything you’ve got.
As his previous appointment walked away, I walked up. Paul greeted me with a big smile: “You’re on time.”
“I was early,” I said. “I’ve been waiting ten minutes to make sure I was on time.”
The conversation flowed naturally, with me doing a lot of listening. A very good sign. Paul closed with: “I look forward to taking a closer look at your website on the flight home.”
ONBOARD
What followed was a Zoom session with Cathy on Wednesday, 13 May — a warm conversation where I learned more about USBI and the genuine care the team has for their speakers.
By 18 May, thanks to Cathy’s swift work, my onboarding was complete. Profile live: USBI Daryl Elliott Green.
I’m very much looking forward to working with Paul, Cathy and the Unique Speaker Bureau International team, to deliver stellar TWICE SHOT experiences with lasting impact for audiences around the world.
THE NUMBERS
Four hundred professional speakers attended GSS 2026. USBI was looking to add 15 to 20 to their international roster.
I was one of them.
Not luck — a formula.
THE LUCK FORMULA
Daryl
Transparency
1) Authorship: All articles are written by Daryl.
2) Review: AI is used for clarity, editing, and accuracy.
3) Mission: TWICE SHOT is about human stories — written by humans, for humans.
