Eric McDermott
Eric McDermott on the TEDx stage, one hand open to the audience.

Eric McDermott

Business leader, financial strategist and international keynote speaker.

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Eric’s record

  • 3×International TEDx speakerUSA, Europe and Asia
  • 3×Best-selling authorUSA Today and Amazon
  • 2×Stevie Award winnerNational “Best Business Influencer of the Year”
  • 9×Published in ForbesBusiness articles
  • 500K+TikTok followers
  • $4B+Assets under managementAt his financial services firm
  • 60K+Clients servedBy the firm
  • 8×Advanced financial designationsIncluding CFP® and TPCP®

Biography

25+ years

Eric McDermott is a business leader, financial strategist and international keynote speaker who has spent more than 25 years working in complex business environments and turning complicated ideas into practical action. As a Managing Equity Partner at Pacific Advisors, a financial services firm serving more than 60,000 clients, Eric has first-hand experience of what happens when information, competing priorities and complexity get in the way of clear decisions and coordinated action. Today, he brings those lessons to organizations around the world, helping leaders and teams cut through the noise, understand what matters most and mobilize around it, so they can move together, move faster and outcompete.

Eight designations

Eric’s ability to simplify complexity was developed in an environment where getting things wrong has consequences. In financial services, he has spent nearly two decades helping business owners, executives and professionals navigate complex financial decisions and turn them into clear, coordinated strategies. He holds eight advanced financial designations, including CFP®, TPCP®, WMCP®, RICP®, ChFC®, CLU®, CEPA® and CLTC®.

Beyond finance

But Eric’s expertise extends well beyond finance. His career has spanned business ownership, marketing, leadership, strategy and team development, giving him a practical understanding of how organizations work and, just as importantly, why they sometimes fail to move. He has taken the approaches he uses inside his own businesses and tested them across different organizations, roles and generations, distilling them into simple frameworks that people can actually use.

SketchMaps®

At the heart of Eric’s work is a distinctive form of visual storytelling. Through his proprietary SketchMaps®, he takes complicated subjects and breaks them down into memorable, actionable frameworks, helping audiences see connections, priorities and next steps that previously felt difficult to grasp. Audience feedback repeatedly comes back to the same point: they can now do something with an idea they previously struggled to act on.

Recognition

That ability has earned Eric a substantial audience and international recognition. He has built a following of more than half a million people on TikTok, been named National Best Business Influencer of the Year, written three best-selling books, published numerous articles in Forbes and delivered three TEDx talks across the USA, Europe and Asia.

Mobilization, not motivation

Eric describes his work as mobilization, not motivation. His aim is not simply to leave people inspired or thinking differently. He gives them a way to make sense of complexity, create shared understanding and take coordinated action.

Eric makes complexity actionable so organizations can move together, move faster and outcompete.

Why Eric?

Eric brings two things to the stage that make him unusually bookable: lived experience and a completely distinctive way of making ideas stick.

He is not a commentator looking in from the outside. He is a practising business leader who has spent decades working in complex organizations and is still doing it today, leading, advising, making decisions and dealing with the same pressures his audiences face. That real-world experience gives his ideas weight.

Then he makes them memorable through his proprietary SketchMaps® and visual storytelling, turning complex concepts into clear, practical frameworks audiences can understand quickly, remember easily and act on immediately. It is mobilization, not motivation, delivered in a way audiences are unlikely to have seen before.

Inquire about booking Eric Explore keynote topics

Frequently asked questions

How long are Eric’s presentations?

Tell us the time slot you have in mind when you inquire, and Eric will fit the session to your agenda.

Does Eric offer customized presentations?

Eric’s keynotes start from his six topics, and every one comes with his proprietary SketchMap® framework as a deliverable your people can reference for taking action long past the event. Tell us about your audience and what you need them to do next when you inquire.

Does Eric engage with the audience during his talks?

Eric’s keynotes are highly visual. Through his SketchMaps® and visual storytelling, audiences see the connections, priorities and next steps that previously felt difficult to grasp.

Does Eric speak in person, virtually or both?

Eric is an international keynote speaker and has delivered three TEDx talks across the USA, Europe and Asia.

Does Eric guest on podcasts?

Podcast hosts can reach out through the inquiry form.

What is Eric’s availability and booking process?

Start with the inquiry form. Share your event date, location, audience and the topic you’re interested in, and we’ll come back to you with Eric’s availability.

Who does Eric speak to?

Each of Eric’s six keynotes is built for a specific audience:

  • Team Amplifiers®: organizations, teams and leaders
  • Career Amplifiers™: college students and young professionals
  • Financial Amplifiers™: individuals, families and business leaders
  • Sales Amplifiers™: sales professionals, managers and leaders
  • Marketing Amplifiers™: individuals and teams building brand and opportunity in a crowded marketplace
  • Communication Amplifiers™: professionals, managers and leaders who want their communications to be uncommonly effective
What sets Eric apart from other speakers?

Lived experience and a completely distinctive way of making ideas stick. He is not a commentator looking in from the outside. Eric has spent more than 25 years in complex business environments, is a Managing Equity Partner at Pacific Advisors and holds eight advanced financial designations. He has also delivered three TEDx talks, written three best-selling books and published numerous articles in Forbes. His proprietary SketchMaps® turn complex concepts into frameworks audiences can understand quickly, remember easily and act on immediately. It is mobilization, not motivation.

How can we make the most of Eric’s appearance at our event?

Tell Eric as much as you can about your audience and what you need them to do afterwards, so he can pitch the content at the right level. Every keynote includes his SketchMap® framework as a deliverable, so share it with attendees and use it as a common reference for the work that follows.

Can we record or stream Eric’s presentation?

Mention any plans to record or stream when you inquire, including how the recording will be used and where it will appear.