EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS REFERENCES
“The feedback so far from staff and students has been nothing but shaking of heads saying “he was amazing”. I thought the paradigm of using the stories associated with his shirts was a great way to help the kids conceptualise and remember the important messages Paul was relating. As for Paul, as you know, what a wonderful role model and gentleman. For him to avail himself to our school despite the smaller than preferred numbers was also extremely refreshing for me to see from such a high profile personality. His heart for people was clearly obvious from the first time I spoke to him on the phone to the moment we waved him off. I think that is such a key trait for people working in schools. You have to want to make a difference in the lives of the kids. I know he must have given that message literally a thousand times before, but his delivery was still charismatic and engaging.”
Stephen Bird, Head Teacher PDHPE, Keira High School
“It was great again and the students were very engaged. I received very positive feedback!
Thanks very much!”
Neal HAINING, Year 11 Level Leader, MLMC Lilydale Victoria
“We have been fortunate to have Paul speak to the last 2 cohorts of Year 12 as they began their HSC work. The students thoroughly enjoyed the session and I guarantee that we will be having Paul return to speak to our students every year. Staff and students both enjoyed the presentation.”
Peta Willard Pastoral Coordinator, Mount Carmel Catholic High School
“The boys loved hearing from Paul. Thanks so much for helping to arrange it.”
Andrea van den Bol, Head of Curriculum , The Scots College Sydney
“Both staff and students agreed the talk was inspirational and we would happily invite Paul to our school again.”
Patricia Kirk Careers Adviser, Yanco Agricultural High School
“Paul was able to present and reinforce important life themes to the students such as “never giving up‟ , being willing to accept new challenges and to always go the “extra mile‟ to achieve your dream.”
Ian Smith, Joan Rheinberger, Denise Latta, Western Plains Tertiary Information Day at the Dubbo College
“Students were engaged and enthralled by his life stories and appreciated being spoken to as young adults. He was professional, genuine and sincere and I will be inviting him to return next year.”
Judith Smith, Careers Adviser Dungog High
“The positive feedback from our students has continued for some days (fairly rare these days).”
Mark Pawlak, Year Ten Coordinator St Pius X College, Chatswood
“I would highly recommend Paul as a motivational speaker who can capture people’s interests through his life experiences. Paul brings real life examples of why goal setting & choices are so important to a person’s future.”
Gail Davies, One80tc, Correctional Centre Manager (turning lives around)
“The audience were literally spellbound – even the girls who were not that interested in Football were hanging off Paul’s every word. A great way to start a Year 10 motivational day.”
Maureen Tweed, Former Careers Advisor, William Clarke College Kellyville
SKILLS FOR LIFE
“When Paul spoke with the kids, they were interested in what he had to say, but truly sat up when he began to talk about epilepsy. He has certainly shown us all that God gives us all challenges and we can choose what we do with them. I truly thank you Paul for today’s opportunity. I believe it has made a difference to more people than we could have ever imagined.”
Kristen Southwell, Assistant Principal, St Catherine’s Catholic College
“Paul you’re absolutely brilliant! Congratulations for engaging and reaching young people the way you do! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!”
Georgia Careers Adviser, Homebush Boys High School
“He is a fantastic public speaker and has helped to enlighten Homebush Boys year 12 students for their up-coming HSC. Thanks so much.”
Annabel, Year 12 Teacher, Homebush Boys High School
“I thank Paul for bringing my motivation back up towards school and wanting to achieve a high result in my HSC. The part that inspired me most was how he repeated “you have to go out there and get your Maradona jersey”, as this related to me wanting to achieve my potential in everything that I do.”
Ali El Kheir, Student, Homebush Boys High School
“Along with his great humour, Paul’s stories with his jerseys were amazing and all directly linked back to how we can use the main messages throughout our last 26 weeks of school.”
Jack Codd-Miller, Student, Homebush Boys High School
“I got so much out of his talk for e.g. when he talked about stress / pressure levels, if you keep studying, your stress / pressure levels decrease as you get nearer the HSC because of the preparation.”
Eddie Kadayifci, Student, Homebush Boys High School
“He experienced many hardships and found ways to overcome them. He also taught us many life skills which will help us succeed in life.”
Bilal Taha, Student, Homebush Boys High School
“It was a warm, very personal and very professional delivery of topics relevant to all. Young and old were equally enthralled by Paul’s enthusiasm, passion and commitment.”
Lorna Quinn, Careers Adviser, Ryde Secondary College
“I was a member of the audience as a teacher & parent of the students. My own child came home full of excitement & enthusiasm stemming from Mr. Wade’s talk. She had gained ideas from his speech about what direction her future career may possibly take. She also kept discussing aspects of his speech & presentation with great fervour, reiterating what she had learned & how she could make changes to her own life to achieve her new direction & goals. As a parent this was extremely gratifying.”
Monique Mintern, Science Teacher, Cobar High
“One young boy still hasn’t recovered from touching Maradona’s shirt!
Comments from teachers: “very good”, “Interesting”, “Excellent”, “At first I thought it was going to be just about him but then it developed into a really interesting talk”.
From Students: “Really good”, “Liked the real life stories”, “He’s the best, I touched his shirt!”, “Pretty good””
Patricia Betar, Head Teacher, Careers, Alexandria Park Community School
UNIVERSITY/TAFE REFERENCES
“Paul made a big impact on our students who got a real buzz from his presentation and found him to be passionate and motivational.”
Rodney Brown, B Com MBA CA Director, Bachelor of Accounting Program School of Accounting. Faculty of Business
CORPORATE REFERENCES
“It is without any reservations that I provide this testimonial for Paul Wade. His contribution to a recent AMP conference was first class and his ability to combine his experience as an international footballer and national team captain with a strong learning environment was a big winner with our delegates.I find Paul extremely good to work with and his demeanour and passion certainly show through in his presentation. I am happy to recommend him for any company or group who is looking to encourage their employees or team members to excel at what they do.”
Steve Helmich, AMP Director – Financial Planning, Advice & Services
“An all round great presentation that motivated our members to take responsibility for their own business and the results they achieve.”
Chris Slater, State Manager, NSW/ACT Australian Financial Group
“My challenge to Paul was to assist in bringing together over 100 people from five different teams, I plan on exploring other inspirational opportunities to utilise his broad relevant business talents to inspire, motivate and energise my team.”
Dawn Swainston, Regional Sales Director Australia – Convenience and Food Service, National Foods
“Paul Wade is a truly inspirational and motivational speaker. Using his unique experiences as Socceroo Captain he was able to translate the core values of our organization to the senior executives in a humorous yet poignant way.”
Phillip Muhlbauer, CEO Link Market Services Limited
“Paul ran a great team-building event with my team. His key messages around teamwork and respect were clear and my team could really appreciate them. I look forward to having him back again soon.”
George Fallah, Executive Manager, Business Credit –Commonwealth Bank NSW / ACT, QLD
“We were fortunate to have Paul Wade join our sales conference at Toshiba and the feedback from our audience was overwhelmingly positive. Paul’s presentation showed us the man behind the man and the challenges Paul went through to make the success he has of himself, how these correlate to us all in our daily work and life challenges and how to deal with them by facing them head on. Paul’s wonderful insight was both memorable, humorous and most of all heartfelt. Highlighted by each of the amazing stories relating to the magnificent array of opposing Countries Guernseys he had managed to swap throughout his playing career. It was refreshing to hear someone so passionate, so honest and yet so iconic.”
Garry Pendleton, Toshiba Australia EID – National Marketing Manager
“Paul was able to communicate several key messages to the group that were very well explained and delivered in an interesting and entertaining manner. His passion and inspiration was very motivating for all involved. A Really enjoyable experience that has been a major part of discussions throughout the group ever since.”
Michael Hall, NSW/ACT Regional Manager – EID DIRECT – Toshiba Australia
SPORTS CLUB REFERENCES
“Paul speaks from the heart of his dreams, measured by meaningful and poignant life experiences, imbued with passion and humour, with an insightfulness that sits well with those who also dream and aspire to be the best they can be.”
Terry Wilkinson, Director of Youth. APIA Leichhardt Tigers
“Paul Wade’s presentation “What it takes to play pro” has inspired players and parents to know what they want and if they want it bad enough find a way to get it.”
Nick D’Amore, Highlands Soccer Association Inc. Director of Coaching & Development