About Craig2018-10-09T20:40:04+00:00

Speaker, Consultant, Author and Story-Whisperer, Craig Harrison

Helping Others Aspire and Achieve!

Helping Others
Express Their Excellence

Craig believes the skilled and confident communicator opens doors, builds new relationships, serves others effectively and enhances one’s own leadership. He combines humor, wisdom and common sense to help you communicate with confidence and clarity, substance and style.

Craig helps professionals express their excellence… as communicators and leaders, in sales and service, in words and in deeds, to help them aspire and achieve greatness. He partners with clients to teach skills, instill confidence and help men and women achieve their full potential.

Let him help you experience the sweet taste of success!

Who Is Craig Harrison?

Since the age of 11 when he went door-to-door in his hometown of Berkeley California selling Recycled Jokes, Craig has been using humor, story and style to connect with others and help them communicate with confidence and style. His career path included working in healthcare, high-tech and management. He’s coached youth domestically and abroad in multiple sports with Olympians and Hall of Fame athletes, worked for non-profits, a database company, a Silicon Valley consulting firm, managed several high-tech publishing houses, and ultimately launched Expressions Of Excellence™ to help others aspire and achieve significance.

As a leader Craig has chaired a radio station board, led a Toastmasters district to distinction, innovated as president of the National Speakers Association Northern California, founded its speakers academy coached hundreds, inspired thousands and enjoyed a worldwide following through his many published articles in newspapers, journals and magazines around the globe. He’s also spoken on five continents.

What Does Craig Do?

Whether entertaining and motivating from the platform, leading interactive training in classrooms or working with professionals in one-on-one situations, Craig provides clients with tools and confidence to communicate for success.

Craig helps organizations improve their internal and external communication, which builds loyalty, increases retention and productivity. His service audits, speaking and training inspire and motivate work forces and his coaching and consulting help companies’ leaders build trust, credibility and rapport with their employees.

Craig helps clients express their excellence through speaking and training, consulting and coaching. He uses stories, gamication, large and small group activities and powerful processes to help people tap into their own confidence, uncover their own resilience and build skills to succeed as leaders and managers, entrepreneurs and solopreneurs.

Hire Craig to Help You and Your Organization Express Your Excellence!

Awards & Honors

Patricia Fripp Leadership AwardFor Service Excellence

Craig Harrison with Patrica Fripp after receiving the award.

NSA Northern California Chapter Member of the Year2008–09, and 2014–15

Awarded Chapter Member of the Year for  2008–09, and 2014–15!

Presidential Citation, Toastmasters International 2004 in recognition of Craig’s worldwide influence as a speaker, leader and author of over 75 published articles in Toastmaster magazine since 1994.

Craig with citation received from Executive Director Donna Groh

Did You Know Craig..?

  • Is an instructor for University of California Santa Cruz of Silicon Valley designing and teaching Business Administration classes
  • Has been a professor for developmental studies at Hult International School of Business, San Francisco campus
  • Served as Director of Communications at Pros for Kids, helping young people become confident communicators and develop life skills for success using Olympian thinking and high performance methodologies
  • Vice-chair, Chapter’s Leadership Council, NSA
  • Founded and was the Dean of the Speakers Academy, an NSA Northern California Program (formerly Pro-Track)
  • Served as the President of NSA Northern California
  • Is a recipient of the Patricia Fripp Leadership Award for Service Excellence from NSA Northern California
  • Was the Curator of NSA Northern California’s tour-de-force GIZMOLOGY Day of Technology
  • Founder, past chair, NSA’s Storytellers Professional Emphasis Group (PEG)
  • Past chair, NSA’s Sales PEG
  • Was President of the International Customer Service Association for the San Francisco Bay Area
  • Was vice-chair, Storytelling Assoc. of California, producers of the annual Bay Area Storytelling Festival,
    a 35-year tradition
  • Founded LaughLovers comedy club featuring professional comedians, humorists, entertainers, improv artists and storytellers
  • Is a sponsor and mentor for multiple advanced hybrid Toastmasters clubs on humor, relationships, leadership, professional speaking, improv
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Craig as a Teacher and Instructor

Craig is an adjunct instructor for the University of California at Santa Cruz Extension’s Silicon Valley Business department, designing and teaching two classes (on Meetings and Listening), and teaching two others (Credibility in the Workplace; Positive Political Skills in the Workplace) over the past 15+ years. These offerings are part of their Business Administration dept’s HR Certificate and Executive Administration programs. In 2016 he launched an 8-week business communication course for UCSC Extension in Santa Clara with modules on public speaking, impromptu speaking, creative thinking, meeting management, influence, credibility and the future of work.

In 2015-2016 Craig served as professor for development studies at Hult International School of Business at their San Francisco campus, where he taught public speaking and presentation skills focusing on elegant slide deck designs in PowerPoint and Keynote using concepts found in the books Slide:ology and Presentation Zen Design. Past teaching stints of Craig’s include Foothill College’s workforce development training, Diablo Valley College’s Regional Training Institute and Cupertino’s Career Action Center.

Craig as a Facilitator and Trainer

In 2016-2017 Craig worked extensively in the public sector, training city and county employees on better writing and speaking, leadership development, managing change, cultivating a culture of trust and enhancing personal and departmental credibility.

He also facilitated police and sheriff’s POST Team Building Workshops at offsites for multiple police and sheriffs’ departments in northern California.

Craig also facilitated city council strategic planning retreats, led SWOT analysis and helped council boards with visioning activities as they dealt with budget crises and other challenges they faced.

Craig Harrison as a Facilitator

Craig as an Author

Craig has taken his wide range of experiences, including big successes as well as educational mistakes, and distilled them into highly instructional books. From communication, to customer experience, to storytelling Craig shares his thoughts and expertise in easy to understand and easy to digest forms.

Books to booklets, take Craig’s lessons with you wherever you go.

Start your Craig Harrison collection today at the Learning Tools Store! 

Start Working with Craig Today