BRAIN GAME: BUSINESS SPEAKING
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Tennis Tells A Perfect Story For Business.
The connections are abundant. Sport is a natural learning ground for business, and tennis in particular leans in on the three big lessons of overcoming adversity, achieving your potential, and using analytics as the playbook.
G'day! Meet Craig O'Shannessy.
Craig is widely regarded as the world leader in tennis research and strategy. He has pioneered winning patterns of play and improved match metrics in tennis and is the most sought-after keynote speaker globally in the sport.
Craig now shares his passion for personal excellence with the business world, brilliantly weaving a compelling narrative about what it takes to succeed at the pinnacle of tennis and the lessons and parallels that apply to the world of business.
Craig has worked with the world's best, helping guide Novak Djokovic to four Grand Slam titles, including winning three in a row and securing back-to-back Wimbledon titles. Craig has been the strategy analyst for the ATP World Tour for a decade and has consulted for just as long with the Italian Tennis Federation, who are now the global benchmark for success.
Craig worked as a journalist out of high school in Albury, Australia & graduated with a journalism degree from Baylor University (Texas). Craig's ability to share a compelling story from the world of tennis and make it "land" in the business ecosystem is second to none.
Craig's speaking engagements focus on conquering adversity, achieving personal and professional excellence, and the use of data analytics to tell a better story.
How you hit the ball matters. Where you hit it matters more! Craig O'Shannessy uncovered the importance of rally length in 2015, which upended the belief that consistency and shot tolerance were the most important aspects of our sport. Instead, the first two times you touch the ball are more important than everything that follows.
Click the video to the right to watch The Tennis Channel feature.
Cisco - Brisbane
Tennis used to be a game of touch and feel, not data and match metrics. Craig changed the global paradigm in 2015 with the discovery that 70% of all points in tennis are a maximum of just four shots—that's just two for each player! Tennis was thought of as a game of consistency, shot tolerance, repetition, and grinding. Data destroyed that myth, and Craig ushered in the new era of "first strike" tennis.
Tennis is now deeply ingrained with data. It's these data success stories that Cisco can use to sharpen their vision and power their business in search of data that matters most to winning - in sport and business.
Infosys - Roland Garros, Paris
Infosys is the official data provider for the ATP World Tour, Roland Garros, and The Australian Open. Craig joined four-time Grand Slam winner Jim Courier and two-time Grand Slam winner Mary Pierce for an Infosys Leadership Summit, discussing how data will lead the next revolution in the world of tennis.
Ministry Of Sport - Melbourne
Craig was a keynote speaker for the US Sports & Business Breakfast, which was ideally organized right before the 2024 Super Bowl. The lights shine brightly on the business of sport in the United States, and Craig shared stories from elite events and organizations in the US where he now resides.
While the Australian sporting market is smaller in size, there is so much to learn and implement regarding US fan engagement, social media outreach and in-game interaction.
BNE Enterprise - Royal Queensland Golf Club
The Olympics are arriving on Brisbane's doorstep in 2032 and the Brisbane Airport is preparing itself to welcome the world Down Under. Craig spoke at a BNE Enterprise function at Royal Queensland Golf Club following a very enjoyable round of golf.
Bringing sport and business together is a centerpiece of the Olympic movement. Craig's analysis from the world of tennis focused on personal and sporting excellence.
Nuestar - Sydney
It was time for this innovative real estate/lifestyle company evolve from Equity Rise to a new chapter as Nuestar. The message was clear. What does it take to level up? What does it take to move from good to great? Craig's message came from the top of the tennis mountain as he shared stories being on Novak Djokovic's coach team from 2017-2019, helping the Serb back to the world No. 1 ranking while winning four Grand Slams, including three in a row and back-to-back Wimbledon's.
Innovation Central Brisbane - Brisbane
Craig was the keynote speaker to kick off ICB's inaugural Innovation Leaders Lunch at Queensland University of Technology. Craig shared how new data is upending traditional norms in the tennis world and how sport provides small, manageable doses of adversity to help people prepare for solving bigger problems in the business world and also in their personal lives.
Luminary - Brisbane
Craig was the keynote speaker at Luminary's first networking event of 2024. Over 80 of Queensland's finest senior executive leaders were treated to the inner workings of how to win in the world of tennis - and business. The focus was on the small margins that elevate the elite in tennis and how new analytics in tennis guide players on how to best organize the practice court.
"This was hands down the best business event I have attended in a long time. Craig is an outstanding speaker."
"Craig has inspired me. It was great to spend time in the company of so many amazing leaders."
Carina Leagues Club - Brisbane
It was a fantastic afternoon, with over 100 coaches from 18 different sports coming together to hear Craig talk about excellence and analytics in tennis. His interactive presentation inspired inspirational discussions about the benefits of sport and how to bring the best out of a player physically, mentally, and emotionally. Success in sports is all about small gains day after day. One day better is the message coaches can use with players to guide them down their development pathway.
BNE Enterprise Chairman's Dinner - Brisbane
Tennis is undergoing a digital transformation as new match analytics are smashing traditional myths about what matters most to winning. Craig shared personal stories from the professional tennis tour about data and personal excellence from the elite level of the game. There are so many parallels between succeeding in sport and business.
RPS - Brisbane
RPS is all about "making complex easy." That's exactly what Craig has done in the world of tennis analytics as he has pioneered the importance of rally length in the past decade. Craig spoke at a luncheon at RPS's Brisbane headquarters and spoke about the importance of analytics in tennis.
Some data points are interesting but irrelevant to winning, while others directly affect the win/loss column. It was a fascinating afternoon of discussion focused on taking big data and transforming sports and business.
Data#3 - Brisbane
Data#3 is an award-winning Australian IT services and solutions provider. Craig spoke to the team at the Brisbane headquarters about two specific topics.
- How to mine the right data for the customer/player. In an age where more and more match metrics are being created, it's vital to check their relevance to winning matches and helping customers with their goals.
- How personal excellence drives the team forward. Craig spoke about how tennis players are forming teams around them that specialize in specific tasks - such as video analysis and match analytics. Building the right team makes all the difference in today's game.
SAP - Better Together Podcast
Tamara McCleary, CEO at Thulium, Daniel Göhlen, and Craig discuss how digital transformation is improving the experience for coaches, judges, athletes, and fans. The podcast explores sports visibility and enhancement, the future potential for digital transformation in sports, and how these experiences apply to the business world, too.
