An Interview With David JP Phillips - Keynote Speaker, Author, And The Founder Of HeadGain.com
Updated: Dec 8, 2021
Brainz Magazine Exclusive Interview
David JP Phillips is a successful TEDx speaker with over 7 million views online and 20 years of experience. David studied 5000 of the World's Greatest Speakers and discovered the 110 STEPS ™ of Communication.
He is the founder of Sweden's largest Presentation Skills training company, international speaker, author & coach, David JP Phillips is best known for his book/ seminar “How To Avoid Death By PowerPoint“, delivered at TEDx Stockholm in 2015.
You’re the founder of Sweden’s largest Presentation Skills training company, an international speaker, coach, author, and YouTuber especially known for your book “How to avoid death by PowerPoint” delivered at TEDx Stockholm in 2015. You are also nominated to the Top 8 in the world on communication according to Global Gurus, YouTub, and TikTok. This is a very impressive list of merits, is there any of this that you are extra proud of that you have succeeded with?
Every month we reach +5 million kids and teens with our messages of how to create and live a better life through communication and self-leadership. That is what I am by far most proud of.
You grew up in a small city in Sweden with your family. And despite the fact that Sweden is a very small and "insignificant" country, you have made a name for yourself in more than 30 other countries. Do you think it is to your advantage that you come from Sweden compared to, for example if you had grown up in the USA?
I think Sweden is a great stepping stone in the world with so many success stories like Spotify, Minecraft, Avicci just to mention a few. Swedes are regarded as thorough and that ties nicely in with who I am and how I am perceived and I think people enjoy that aspect in particular.
HeadGain.com is the world’s most extensive online coaching platform for speakers and presenters. In order to create these steps and the model "110STEPS" that could define and systematically teach speakers how to become as great as they desire, you spent seven years studying over 5,000 speakers. It seems like you are the kind of person that never gives up, where does this driving force come from?
It's crystal clear. To give all humans the opportunity to be better communicators. And me defining that, teaching that, sharing that I truly believe that it changes the world, one person, at a time, or as it is now, 5 million a month through my social media channels.
Your list of customers is very long and impressive. Why do you think people choose to work with you?
What I hear is that they like working with me because I am a ”CREATOR”. I don’t copy what others do, I create what I do from scratch with minor influence from others. This means that what I teach, the keynotes I deliver, and my online platform are all very unique to the world.
During the last four years, you and your team have been building the unique i-Learning world of HeadGain.com. We have understood that this world is supposed to be a direct reflection of your brain, in both content and application. Can you tell us more about HeadGain.com and how it works?
I’ve spent 15 years of my life studying, creating and inspiring the world in communication skills. And one day I just thought to myself, let's create one platform with everything I have in my brain. And so we did and we of course created it in a very unique way to represent my brain. We did that by creating snippets of knowledge, just as the brain is built up of clusters of neurons.
You are famous for your quote “There is no quick fix to being happy, being happy is a lifestyle”, can you, in a few lines, explain the meaning of this quote?
Absolutely. MANY believe that being a good storyteller, presenter, and communicator is a talent - something you are born with. But it all comes down to skills. Anyone, anywhere can become brilliant at communication and by so, be a better partner, parent, professional, speaker, leader, or salesperson. It's the most influential skill in life and anyone can learn it.
So, to the last question, what’s the next big goal or project for David JP Phillips?
The next big project is the 110STEPS™ analysis. We have seen a correlation between those with high scores in the 110STEPS and their proficiency in Sales! Just imagine that it would be possible to foresee how good a person will be in their sales job based on a 30-minute scoring analysis. AND we can then also pinpoint which skills are needed to accelerate that persons growth in sales. Truly game-changing!
