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Eric Chester

Generation Why: Getting Them to Give a Damn


Look on the front lines of your business. Standing between you and your profits are those talented, weird-looking, impossible-to-understand 16- to 24-year-olds. And if you’re not connecting with them, they are not connecting with your customers, and you are leaving all kinds of money on the table. In short, your front line is the key to your bottom line.

No one has a better understanding of this new generation than Eric Chester. He is the premier expert on Generation Why; in fact, he coined the term. Since 1980, Eric has been teaching, coaching, speaking to, and working with teens and young adults. He has personally addressed more than two million teenagers, co-authored eight books for teens, and is dialed-in to the mindset of this burgeoning generation. He frequently appears on national media (Good Morning America, MSNBC, FoxNews, CNN, ABC News 20/20, etc.) and is interviewed in major publications (Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Workforce Magazine) to provide insight and perspective to business leaders and concerned adults.

Eric is the founder & President of Generation Why, Inc., a training and consulting firm helping leading companies and organizations recruit, train, manage, motivate, and retain the very best of this new generation. His client list includes Dairy Queen, Harley-Davidson, Applebee’s, Universal Studios Theme Parks, Wells Fargo, and Toys-R-Us. He is the author of two highly acclaimed business books EMPLOYING GENERATION WHY – Understanding, Managing, and Motivating Your New Workforce (Tucker House Books, 2002) and GETTING THEM TO GIVE A DAMN – How to Get Your Front Line to Care About Your Bottom Line (Dearborn 2005).

As a keynote speaker, Eric Chester holds the prestigious CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) credential awarded by the National Speakers Association, its highest earned designation. He is a 2004 inductee into the CPAE (Council of Peers Award of Excellence) International Professional Speakers Hall of Fame, an honor shared by less than 2% of all professional speakers in the world.

Married with four Gen Why children aged 21 to 26, Eric lives in Golden, Colorado.


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Your audience will:
•  Discover strategies to break through to Generation Why
•  Learn how to Recruit, Train, Manage, Motivate, and Retain the very best of this new generation
•  Find the secrets to getting Generation Why to perform at their peak while reducing turnover
•  Learn tactics to enhance customer service and increase bottom-line profits


*Speaker fees vary based on event location, program duration and other factors, and are subject to change without notice. Please contact us for an accurate fee quote for your event.


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Look on the front lines of your business. Standing between you and your profits are those talented, weird-looking, impossible-to-understand 16- to 24-year-olds. And if you’re not connecting with them, they are not connecting with your customers, and you are leaving all kinds of money on the table. In short, your front line is the key to your bottom line.

No one has a better understanding of this new generation than Eric Chester. He is the premier expert on Generation Why; in fact, he coined the term. Since 1980, Eric has been teaching, coaching, speaking to, and working with teens and young adults. He has personally addressed more than two million teenagers, co-authored eight books for teens, and is dialed-in to the mindset of this burgeoning generation. He frequently appears on national media (Good Morning America, MSNBC, FoxNews, CNN, ABC News 20/20, etc.) and is interviewed in major publications (Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Workforce Magazine) to provide insight and perspective to business leaders and concerned adults.

Eric is the founder & President of Generation Why, Inc., a training and consulting firm helping leading companies and organizations recruit, train, manage, motivate, and retain the very best of this new generation. His client list includes Dairy Queen, Harley-Davidson, Applebee’s, Universal Studios Theme Parks, Wells Fargo, and Toys-R-Us. He is the author of two highly acclaimed business books EMPLOYING GENERATION WHY – Understanding, Managing, and Motivating Your New Workforce (Tucker House Books, 2002) and GETTING THEM TO GIVE A DAMN – How to Get Your Front Line to Care About Your Bottom Line (Dearborn 2005).

As a keynote speaker, Eric Chester holds the prestigious CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) credential awarded by the National Speakers Association, its highest earned designation. He is a 2004 inductee into the CPAE (Council of Peers Award of Excellence) International Professional Speakers Hall of Fame, an honor shared by less than 2% of all professional speakers in the world.

Married with four Gen Why children aged 21 to 26, Eric lives in Golden, Colorado.

Employing Generation Why: Understanding, Managing, and Motivating Your New Workforce

Getting Them to Give A Damn: How to Get Your Front Line to Care About Your Bottom Line

I cannot in recent memory think of another presentation so well organized, prepared and delivered. I believe your content and delivery will have a lasting impact on Applebee's. — Applebee's

Eric, I think you have a message everyone who hires, manages, and motivates the emerging workforce needs to hear. — Toys R Us

We...recognize our success came from the partnership you brought to our events. I was impressed with how your presentation had so many people nodding their heads in agreement. You connected with your audience each and every tine and for this we thank you. — McDonald's

Thank you for coming to the Gaylord Texan and speaking to our Leaders about Generation Why? . We have had excellent feedback from everyone who attended the seminar and have had several people come to our office and ask for information on your books. In a short two hour period, you not only made a huge impact on how our Leaders think about, but also react to this new and mysterious group entering our workforce. You took the mystery away and replaced it with calm and understanding. — Gaylord Texan

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