Clive Myrie
BBC News, Mastermind
Stephen Sackur
HARDtalk
Before chairing the BBC's global set-piece interview show, Stephen reported from Brussels, the Middle East and Washington covering conflicts, political intrigues and history-making events.
JLA Agent - Allan GrantI really enjoy working with Stephen. Though he's a hard-hitting journalist who interviews world leaders on a regular basis, he's incredibly affable and clearly 'gets' corporate events. It's a given that he quickly gets on top of a tricky brief - what's more unusual is that everything's always so easy to arrange.
Biography
Stephen Sackur is a broadcaster and foreign correspondent whose career has taken him from the Middle East and eastern Europe to Washington and Brussels, to the studio of HARDtalk - the BBC's long-running current affairs interview series - and more recently to Times Radio, where he is part of the presenting team.
For more than two decades, HARDtalk brought Stephen face to face with heads of state, cultural figures, scientists and business leaders from across the world. Among his subjects were some of the world's great innovators, from James Dyson to Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia and bioscientist Craig Venter. Distilling those conversations into a series of articles, Stephen identified five qualities they all seemed to share: an indestructible will, passion almost beyond reason, outrageous optimism, a super-sized ego and a 'rebel yell.' Those interviews also gave him a clear-eyed view of how organisations can best foster innovation. As he has put it: "You need to find ways to assess individuals on their merits, and give rewards for innovative thinking rather than play-it-safe mediocrity. You should encourage insiders to get outside and bring back fresh insights. And you shouldn't confuse seniority with creativity."
Away from the studio, Stephen built his reputation as a foreign correspondent. He served as Washington Correspondent, where his coverage and analysis of 9/11 won widespread recognition, and before that reported from Brussels, the Middle East and eastern Europe. Across an eventful career he has covered the first Gulf War, the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the fall of Saddam Hussein, the Lewinsky affair and the reunification of Germany.
Drawing on decades of interviews and frontline reporting, Stephen examines what drives leaders, innovators and decision-makers - and what separates those who shape events from those who merely react to them.
‘Stephen Sackur was excellent pulling the session together.’
Perfectly in line with expectations and maintaining his habitual professional style.
He handles the high level speakers we invite with extreme professionalism, respect and humour to make everyone feel at ease.
The audience reaction is Always very positive to Stephen.
Stephen was a very interesting speaker that covered the subject matter and shared many interesting stories. The event was meant to be casual and somewhat light-hearted and Stephen met this brief excellently.
I would definitely hire him again for an appropriate event.
Stephen was first rate. Well prepared. Met the brief. Handled the panel, audience and webcast situation well. We would consider inviting him back next year.
The feedback was unanimously positive, both from delegates and internally from the board. We hope you’ll be available to come back and work with us again.
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