Let's Rock and Roll

If you're looking for a standard motivational keynote, "then you don't want me," says Dayna Steele. Steele, who spent years as a music radio host, is the author of Rock to the Top: What I Learned About Success from the World's Greatest Rock Stars.

"When I left rock radio and formed a couple of successful businesses, people started inviting me on the speaking circuit. They wanted me to talk about business," she explains. So she'd get on stage and run through the speech and "I'd be bored and they'd be bored and it would be excruciatingly painful for everyone involved," she says. "So I started asking if there were questions. It didn't matter the crowd—how old, how young, how well-dressed, the ratio of men to women—the first question was always something along the lines of 'Did you ever meet Van Halen?'" Well, she had met Van Halen, and Steele started incorporating not only anecdotes about her run-ins with rock's biggest names, but insights as to how these men and women are some of the best businesspeople she'd ever known. The response was tremendous. People started saying, "You have so motivated me," she says.

Her discussion is centered around a return to business basics and how to cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit, based around stories of the greatest rock stars' varied interests: Sammy Hagar, formerly of Van Halen, is a restaurateur and creator of Cabo Wabo tequila, which recently sold for $80 million; Carlos Santana founded Carlos by Carlos Santana Shoes; Jon Bon Jovi is founder and primary owner of the Philadelphia Soul arena football league.

"The crowd is anticipating yet another boring motivational speech that their company has put them through year after year. I come out in my jeans and boots and have fun and tell stories and show pictures," she says of why groups enjoy her talks, adding that music is a universal language, and the bands in her presentation are not limited in their appeal to one demographic.

Her message is that you can be a rock star at anything, so long as you ensure that the four corners of your "stage" are supported: passion, networking, knowledge, and appreciation. "Check those pillars and keep them strong, or your stage is going to fall down," Steele explains. "Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the minutia that we forget the basics."

Steele's favorite example of the power of passion in business involves the band Def Leppard. In 1984, Def Leppard's drummer, Rick Allen, severed his left arm in a car accident—an injury that should have ended his career—but he was able to remain an incredibly successful drummer. "Passion gets you over the big bumps and the little bumps," says Steele. "The lesson is that you have to love what you do because it's not always going to be great."

Steele has encountered some resistance from planners who think that because their attendees are successful, a rock-and-roll-based presentation won't cut it. To them, Steele says that "It's okay to have fun and learn. And it's time to go back to basics sometimes." She adds of her presentation: "I guarantee you it will be good. I will rock."

Originally published Jan. 1, 2009

For more ideas, tips, and tools for better meetings and events, get Successful Meetings' weekly e-newsletter delivered to your inbox.