2012 Virtuoso Travel Week Opening Session Keynote Speaker

Sally Hogshead is the Chief Fascination Officer of Fascinate, Inc., a company in Orlando, Florida, that teaches people and companies how to fascinate.  She has taught more than 100,000 people how to use their natural strengths to instantly persuade and captivate. 

Sally’s research on fascination uncovered that the average attention span is only nine seconds, and that the brain is hardwired to focus on seven specific types of messages.  As a result, she created The Fascination Advantage personality test — the world’s first measurement of how a person fascinates.  

Fascination is an intense emotional focus and the most powerful way to influence behavior. When customers are fascinated by you, they’re more likely to trust, believe and respect you. Sally offers tools and assessments to apply this force of persuasion.  For any goal requiring communication — from selling a product to motivating top talent — the Fascinate system outlines the shortcut to persuasion.

Sally is the only keynote speaker and author on this topic, and has addressed prestigious international events.  Her first book, RADICAL CAREERING: 100 Truths to Jumpstart Your Job, Your Career, and Your Life, outlines how to build a no-compromises career with a fascinating personal brand. Her most recent book, FASCINATE: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation, has been translated into 14 languages. 

Sally frequently appears in national media including NBC's Today Show and the New York Times. The press has described her as "the marketing mistress of fascination" who has "changed the face of North American advertising."

While studying at Duke University, Sally lived with an African tribe inside a goat dung hut. After graduation, she began a career in advertising, and in her second year, won more awards than any other writer in the U.S.  In her early 20s, Sally was named "the most successful junior copywriter of all time," winning hundreds of awards for creativity and effectiveness.

At age 27, she started her own ad agency, and next founded the West Coast office of the legendary agency CP+B. Clients included cultural touchstones such as Nike, Coca-Cola, MINI Cooper, Godiva, Aflac, and the Wall Street Journal.