Frequently Asked Questions
“How do you pronounce that name?”
Now you know why MPK became my handle early on! Pain Ka-no-per is the last name (no comments about the pain, please) and Michele is self explanatory. As long as you don’t call me Michael, we’ll get along just fine!
“What’s that CSP after your name – do you just like acronyms?”
Actually, I love acronyms because you can fit more words into a shorter space, but the CSP has real meaning. It stands for Certified Speaking Professional and is a designation earned by less than 10% of all professional speakers. You can read more about the CSP here, but just know it took five years and a tenuous application to earn the designation – so it must be special, since neither patience or paperwork are a specialty of mine! (smile)
“Do you really kick box with your audiences?”
Absolutely — it energizes people to fight for their cause and provides great humor during my keynotes! No, I’ve never kicked an audience member or even hit one (very hard). You’ll be amazed to see the participation as volunteers hook, cross, and jab. And yes, I regularly get 50-70 year-old men to join me as kick boxers on stage.
“Are your presentations truly customized or do you just adapt them?”
Well, first I conduct research on the organization. Then I have the meeting planner complete a thorough needs assessment and interview a few audience members before developing the program. I then tailor it to the audience needs and review expected outcomes with the meeting planner. Finally, I arrive at the meeting early to mingle with the audience and get to know their perspective. Seems pretty customized to me!
“Where will you travel to?” All over the world, preferably in tropical locations during winter in North America. Actually, I spend the majority of my time traveling across the U.S., though I do greatly enjoy other countries. I’ve worked all over Europe, enjoyed helping Egyptians, conducted training programs in Eastern Europe, found South Africa fascinating and loved Australia!
“How does social media fit into all of this?”
Telling agriculture’s story is critical to the future success of producing food, feed, fiber and fuel for our world. Personal relationships are critical to that mission – and social media is the tool that builds connectivity around all sides of the food plate. I believe in building communities where the people are, and people are unquestionably on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media sites. I frequently ask clients – do you want to jump on board the train and enjoy the ride, or do you want to look back after the train has run over you?
“You look kind of young…can you really relate to our audience?”
Well, I don’t look as young as I used to – wrinkles have attacked! Seriously; I’ve been in training for 15 years, have been professionally speaking for nearly a decade and have a variety of experiences in my professional career (see About MPK), which led me to found Cause Matters Corp. in 2001 Through identifying audience needs, sharing a message relevant to the people in room, and involving as many of them as possible in my program, I’ve received positive responses from audiences of all ages. Passion and energy are key to my connection.
“Do you really have your workshop participants build bridges with food products?
Right again – creativity with limited resources is so important in today’s world. Different people learn with different tools and my job is to find ways to impact your audience as much as possible . The more involved each person is with my program, the more they’ll retain and implement the message when they go home. Besides, building bridges is fairly mild compared to some of the “hot seats” I put participants in.
“Are you really involved in agriculture?”
Yes, I grew up loving our dairy farm in southern Michigan and share that same commitment with my husband. We own farmland and have been building a small farm after transitioning from a farm with a round barn in the historical registry Registered Holsteins from a cow family I purchased when I was 12 are in our front yard. If you still don’t believe me, come help me pitch manure or judge a cow show! Seriously, too many people are disconnected with where their food comes from, disgruntled with the agrifood business and believe a lot of misinformation fed into popular media by anti-ag activists. I feel very strongly that we need to help more people understand the connection between farm gate and dinner plate. That’s why I bust my tail to give a voice to the people who feed the world!
“What’s this community relations thing about?”
Through working with 250+ companies and selling corporate sponsorships for the National FFA Foundation, I learned how valuable it is for companies and associations to develop a grassroots connection with their customers. You may be familiar with cause-related marketing, nonprofit fundraising, grassroots marketing, or association membership drives. Community Relations is a package all of those fit neatly into.
“What are your speaking fees?”
Given the hours preparation and research required for each program, pretty reasonable! Fees vary depending program involved, expected outcomes, and time of year. Non-profits do receive special rates and winter is the time of highest demand for my programs (meaning less flexibility in fee structure). I will work hard to help you get results from your investment in my programs.
“I have more questions!”
Call me at 765.427.4426 and we’ll chat or fill out the contact form.
