Michael Kurn Speaker | Sports & Careers & Media

Michael Kurn

Whatever you want in life... if you want it bad enough you can get it!

Michael Kurn is a broadcaster, author, founder and British Army Reserve Officer. His TV career has included work BBC One, Sky Sports and talkSPORT, his ambition growing up was to become a professional footballer but when he realised that dream wasn’t going to happen, he made a decision that now underpins everything he teaches: don’t quit on what you want … find another route!

That mindset became Desire Dream Vision (DDV): a practical philosophy for achieving goals through clarity of purpose, disciplined use of time, learning from failure, weighing opportunity and making the sacrifices required to move forward.

Broadcasting became Michael’s new path to elite sport. By the age of 24 he made his Premier League debut, not as a player, but as a presenter and has since hosted major events around the world, including the Cricket World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.

Alongside his media career, Michael is a British Army Reserve Officer, commissioned from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2022. He now brings together lessons from high-pressure live broadcasting and Sandhurst leadership training to deliver talks on achieving your goals, beating adversity, finding your purpose and leading with values.

In his keynote talks, Michael shares his journey and helps audiences start to build a clear blueprint for success. Covering topics such as turning ambition into action with a plan and purpose, discussing how to be adaptable and the importance of resilience to keep going when it gets hard.

He also delivers leadership sessions for young leaders, using DDV’s three principles, You, Inspire, Your Team, to explore what leadership really is, how values and standards shape culture, and how to empower others to perform at their best.

Testimonials from Teachers

"Michael arrived early, set up his presentation and was able to meet with 8 of our senior students in Year 11 for a Q&A session. He gave them each one of his books and did messages and signed them for them as well; they really liked that. Michael's presentation was spot on and he provided a well delivered motivational talk; from the heart and also allowed the students to relate to him. A very successful event and we were very pleased he was able to come as many people have provided positive feedback."

– Denis McCabe, Headteacher, Aldworth School

"Michael was great, the students got a lot from that!"

– Chris Purnell, Business Director, Miltoncross Academy

“Michael Kurn is a young man who has the right attitude to do well in life. He delivered an excellent speech at the Hamble School awards that inspired not only the students but their parents as well. We all enjoyed his story of progression in his career, that highlighted the challenges he faced in making his goal a reality and key to this was the values that he shared from his personal mantra. I, like many parents was delighted with the examples of sacrifice he shared to make things happen in his life and where he challenged the perceptions of the students on what was important, especially in the head-spinning world of social media. Michael is well placed to speak to all, as a role model for discipline and influence, as well as how to navigate the modern world. If you get a chance to see his presentation you might walk away with a lot more thinking than you thought possible.”

– Tim Marshall, Learning Consultant, SkillSet Ltd

“You should be congratulated for your most inspirational talk, it was extremely motivational and just what the students need to hear. It was a great start to our day and really set the scene to help the students to think about their future career paths.”

– Ryde Academy, Lyn Wakeford Project Manager, EBP South Ltd

"We really enjoyed Michaels enthusiasm during his recent inspirational Desire Dream Vision talk; he was engaging and approachable with a very grounded attitude. He made some very useful points and students enjoyed hearing how he learnt from his failures. Let’s hope students can take on board his work ethic (and energy!) and learn that if you want something, then with your own determination and focus you can ensure you succeed. He has!"

– Ginny Green, Careers, Bohunt School

"The session was fantastic! Really engaging and interesting! He had a tough crowd on hot day after 2 weeks work experience but he held them so well for 90 minutes. Staff also really enjoyed the talk!"

– Millie Pollard, Careers and Aspirations, Admiral Lord Nelson School

"The feedback from both students, parents and staff has been very positive. We also had some Sixth formers attend Michael’s talk as they had an interest in his career path. Thank you!"

– Danielle Williams, Bohunt School