James Knight

Travels From:
Sydney

Fee Range: B

James Knight was raised on a farm on the outskirts of Gunnedah, country NSW. With a bag-pipe playing vet as a father, and a poetry writing painter as a mother, he had a colourful childhood that dashed between calved cows, charcoal thumbprints, and many, many words. And all the while he flourished a cricket bat that he dreamt would one day sweep him to international stardom. Now, with years of hindsight he acknowledges only one ingredient stopped him from achieving this dream: talent!

However, when he launched into a career, he soon discovered the cricket world was still within reach, although it wasn't so much at his feet, but his fingertips. As a television reporter for the national TEN Network, he travelled with the Australian Cricket team to cover matches in India, Pakistan, South Africa, the West Indies and England.

In a media career spanning nearly twenty years James has worked as a reporter for all three commercial television networks, and Fox Sports. He has appeared as a guest on CNN's Q and A program, watched by tens of millions across the globe, and among many other achievements, he obtained a world exclusive interview with Rupert Murdoch at the height of the Superleague war. In addition to this he has read breakfast news at radio stations 2SM and 2GB, and written for the Sydney Morning Herald.

He began writing books in 2001. Two best-sellers soon followed: Lee2—the story of Shane and Brett Lee; and Mark Waugh-The Authorised Biography. In 2004 he released The Dragon's Journey, a remarkable story about a Vietnamese boat person. The foreword was written jointly by Rupert Murdoch and Frank Lowy. James's latest book ‘Just Doing My Job' will be released in mid 2006. It is a collection of short biographies about officers in Australia's Police, Fire and Ambulance services.

James has been described by the Australian newspaper's literary critic Murray Waldren as ‘a nomadic story teller who runs marathons for fun.' He is an intrepid traveller whose life motto underlines his achievements:

‘Try the impossible because you just might succeed.'

He is a born story teller, and through this, he has become an unforgettable motivator of people from all walks of life. He has spoken in front of as many as 45 thousand people and as few as a handful of pre-schoolers.

Presentation Titles:
*How to get the most out of your colleagues *How to identify your strengths and weaknesses and improve both *It's all about teamwork *Who are you? Where are you going? How will you get there? And what happens when you arrive?