Bart Berkey 

Former Ritz-Carlton Global Executive, Recruiter, Sales & Service Trainer, Viral TEDx Speaker, Author, Podcast Host, Founder of "Most People Don't"

Proposed Keynote Title

Feel Better, Get Better, Do Better - by Doing What “Most People Don’t”

Easy to BE. Better to Become.

Speaker Information

Name: Bart Berkey
Title: Keynote Speaker | Founder, Most People Don’t, LLC

Short Bio 

Bart Berkey is a keynote speaker and the Founder of Most People Don’t, LLC, with more than 35 years of experience in hospitality, sales, service excellence, and leadership development. His background includes 16 years with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, where he learned firsthand how intentional communication, consistency, and culture shape world-class experiences. Bart also served as Regional Vice President of Sales for both Visit Long Beach and Explore St. Louis, leading high-performing sales teams and partnering closely with service, events, and destination stakeholders.

Today, Bart helps organizations strengthen connection across teams and across the customer journey by focusing on behaviors that move people from good intentions to great execution. His work centers on the belief that while it’s easy to simply be, it’s better to become—by doing what Most People Don’t.

Keynote Approach and Overview

Choose Chicago’s iconic bridges are a powerful metaphor for organizational success: they connect people, carry weight, and require constant alignment to function at their best. This keynote brings that metaphor to life by translating connection into daily behaviors that strengthen communication, collaboration, and consistency across sales, services, partnerships, and events.

Grounded in Bart’s hospitality leadership experience, the keynote uses the Most People Don’t philosophy to challenge teams to move beyond “checking boxes” and toward intentional actions that help people feel better, get better, and ultimately do better—for each other, for partners, and for clients.

To make connection actionable, the keynote introduces a simple communication rhythm aligned with the PULSE mindset—placing people and purpose first, seeking understanding, listening and leading with intention, sharing stories and solutions, and elevating execution through consistency. This framework becomes a practical way to build stronger internal bridges that support Choose Chicago’s progression from Good → Better → Great and reinforce the brand promise of Never Done. Never Outdone.

Learning Objectives and Outcomes 

Participants will leave the keynote able to:

Strengthen connection across teams by improving clarity, listening, and follow-through in everyday interactions.

Recognize how small behaviors either reinforce or weaken the organizational “bridge” across the customer journey.

Apply a repeatable communication approach to align sales, services, partnerships, and events around shared outcomes.

Translate the Good → Better → Great mindset into consistent actions that reflect Never Done. Never Outdone.

Fees & Logistics 

Speaker Fee: $5,000 (discounted from $15K-$25K regular fee)

This fee reflects a customized 60–75-minute keynote, including pre-event alignment with Choose Chicago leadership and full content customization to the 2026 SKO theme. While Bart’s standard keynote fees typically range from $15,000–$25,000 for a 45-minute presentation, this investment reflects a strong desire to partner with Choose Chicago and support the goals of the 2026 Sales Kick Off. It also is showing partnership for future consideration of your SALES TRAINING NEEDS for 2026 as discussed. 

Travel Expenses:
To align more closely with standard engagement terms, Choose Chicago is respectfully asked to cover travel expenses for Bart Berkey and one staff member (co-founder), including airfare, hotel accommodations (one room), meals, and ground transportation.

AV Requirements:
Wireless lavalier or handheld microphone, projector/screen with HDMI connection, confidence monitor preferred, and standard audio support for optional short video content.

 IHG Hotels

 

Wynn Las Vegas

 

Boston Convention Marketing Center and MCCA

 

Meet Long Beach

 

Leidos

 

Davidson Hotel Group

 

Penn State University

 

New England Inn & Resorts Assn

 

Bart's top 2% Podcast Clip: Founder of Ritz-Carlton, Horst Schulze

 

Client Endorsements

Boston Convention Marketing Center 

We have just completed a two-day program with Bart and his company “Most People Don’t”. I must attest that Bart is probably the best at sales training, sales development, and a master at working with groups that need to work together at the juncture of sales and then sales delivery.

I am in the business of selling groups into our convention centers in Boston, MA. These sales are sometimes for business in the next month, but in many cases for an event that will occur in our convention facilities 10 or more years from now. Bart worked with both teams that needed to work together. First the group responsible for selling and educating that group on the tools and techniques for potential customer engagement and then subsequently to the point of obtaining the contract with that customer. Bart, at the same time worked on the delivery team that must understand the customer’s event business model and how to get the sales team and the delivery team to engage with each other over the delivery of the type of event the customer was looking for. Many of these events are quite complex and no event is the same as the event that occurred previously.

 

Bart worked on how these communications should work with the client and inside our internal teams. He has a concept that he developed known as “PULSE” which became the foundation to build the sales team efforts and the coordination between sales and sales delivery that was very clever and creative. In the two days that Bart worked with us, I found him to be very energetic, very capable of getting the groups to actively participate with him and then in turn with each other. He has some very interesting approaches using “fake” money, stones to be cherished, models that need to be assembled by teams working together. He kept the program on a fast pace, such that at no point in time did I find the audience being bored and always keeping the energy level at a high level.

 

I would not hesitate to use Bart again in a subsequent engagement. I would highly recommend to your organization that you consider using Bart and “Most People Don’t” for your own training needs.

-Milt Herbert, Executive Director, BCMC

 

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company 

Ranked as the BEST and MOST HIGHLY REQUESTED Sales Trainer for Ritz-Carlton and Marriott Luxury Brands.

"The BEST training I've attended in my 20+ years in the industry"

"This shows the commitment our company is making in ME"

"Perfect 100% FACILITATION RANKING for 15 out of 16 years of training"

"Bart is the MOST Effective Sales Trainer we've ever worked with..."

Wynn Las Vegas - Sales Kickoff

 "We invited Bart to join us for our recent kickoff and we all thoroughly enjoyed his presentation! In a short period of time, Bart immersed himself with our team and into our culture. The past few years have been crazy for everyone and we wanted to start this year with an uplifting and positive message…and Bart really delivered!! He’s engaging and funny, and very passionate about helping people find ways to be better in life, both personally and professionally. ”

-Ms. Chris Flatt, EVP- Wynn Las Vegas and Encore

Liberty Mutual Insurance  

“Bart recently led a program for my team. He partnered with us to really target the content and deliver dynamically - effectively using storytelling to help people make deeper connections to the message. Bart also layers in unexpected elements, which most people don't (pun intended), and his session was rated by the audience as the one that provided the most value out of the entire event. Versatile, above-and-beyond, and impact!" 

-Katrina Kent, Vice President, Liberty Mutual Insurance 

Leidos

"Thank you so much for helping us end our 2.5 day offsite with a bang. Your presentation was exactly what the team needed. We are using much of your phrases in our daily conversations. 

Your energy was contagious. I am also really enjoying the book and plan to share with the team." 

-Colleen Nicoll- Vice President 

Marriott Vacations Global Summit 

 “It was our pleasure to host Bart Berkey as our Keynote Speaker at our recent Leadership Conference. Bart did his homework on our organization and culture and customized his stories to our organizational needs. Bart was incredibly engaging with the audience, kept high energy with his storytelling, and was very passionate about the betterment and success of our attendees- both personally and professionally. I really loved the “Pushing the Button '' and “Be Bamboo” stories! Thank you, Bart, for your positive energy and starting our conference out on a high note!”

-Jane Berg, Regional Vice President, Vacation Ownership- Resort Operations Americas, West

Vayner Media (Gary Vee's Co.)

“Bart thinks differently based on his ability to “observe, anticipate, and over-deliver” which may come from his past Ritz-Carlton Leadership roles. His storytelling is remembered more than data and enables betterment for organizations and individuals. Bart leads with authentic heartfelt emotion to touch upon the hearts and minds of individuals, so they FEEL moved to take action and do good for themselves and others.”

-Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer

PCMA - Sales and Partner Training

 "Bart delivered a set of engaging and insightful presentations for our community of business event professionals and supplier partners. It has been a long time since I’ve seen a speaker connect with an audience the way Bart did - he has a gift of engaging through sharing relatable and compelling stories and provides clear takeaways you can put into practice right away.”

-Meredith Rollins, Chief Community Officer, PCMA & Executive Director, PCMA Foundation

Guest Supply (Sysco)

National Sales Conference

 "You made a wonderful impression with your style, content and relatability to our Team.

-You took the time to interview key players from our company, discovering our Theme and how we were tying that into the week. Then you went one step further by weaving it into your content, creating a connection between your message and our Theme. I’m not sure we’ve ever had a Key note Speaker to it so seamlessly and eloquently before. 
-From a pure visual and audio perspective, your presentation was big, easy to see and entertaining. And your “stories” were easier to receive and understand than other style types.
-You jumped right in, engaging the audience, enticing us to lean forward in our seats from the get-go."

-Phil Traywick, Vice President, Field Sales, Guest Supply

CONTACT US 

Email Bart