John Amaechi

John Amaechi is a multi-faceted speaker who has travelled the globe to speak on wide-ranging and influential topics. He is a champion of young people and passionate about their rights and needs in an ever changing world.

John is a psychologist, motivational speaker and broadcaster but started his career as an National Basketball Association player…a rather unusual achievement for a man raised in Stockport near Manchester

John was born in Boston, Massachusetts in the US to a Nigerian father and a British mother but was raised in Stockport.

John has always shown tremendous focus and application – in mind, spirit and in body.

Aged seventeen, and at 6ft 10in, John first picked up a basketball…but he was considered to have arrived ‘too late to the game’ to have any chance of success. However, John’s personal drive proved his critics wrong. Twelve years later, he became the first and only Briton to earn a place in the revered US Basketball Hall of Fame.

Although now retired from the basketball court, John combines the knowledge of a demanding elite sport with successful psychological strategies for performance. He is a practised communicator whose experience is in demand across a range of different industries and organisations on both sides of the Atlantic.

John was one of the BBC’s main commentators at the Bejing 2008 Olympic Games. As a former Captain of the English Basketball squad and as one of the Ambassadors for the successful London 2012 Olympic Bid, John is uniquely positioned to inspire young people to new heights of achievement. As a Judge on The Speaker, John is a serious advocate of structure and focus as a route to unlocking excellence.

His motivational style and coaching ability is what he brings to all of his professional encounters.

John will be aiming to fire up the Speakers, encouraging them to speak with passion, commitment and personality.