This is the first blog in a series about great contemporary business speakers. I often get asked who my favorites are, so here goes.

I’m starting with a certifiable rock star of the business speaking circuit: Tim Sanders. Check him out at http://tinyurl.com/bxn4lt telling a story about Timberland from his new book, Saving the World at Work (http://bit.ly/relaunch).

Tim’s the author of two very successful previous books: Love is the Killer App, and The Likeability Factor, and he’s an amazing speaker with tons of energy, enthusiasm, and, well, likeability.

What makes Tim a good speaker? First, he’s passionate about his subject, which is putting love back into any workplace where it’s lacking. That means taking care of your workers, taking care of your community, and taking care of the environment.

Second, he’s good at working a room.  He’s all about the audience. This quality doesn’t show up as well on the tiny screen, so try to catch Tim in person. He has that charisma that comes from a genuine focus on the audience and a real concern for how his listeners are doing.

Finally, Tim’s a consummate professional. He’s always prepared, always on time, always ready to connect with each new audience. His follow-up is stellar, too. He often maintains connections with people from his audiences for years afterwards, helping them with specific issues and responding to their questions and needs. That’s real customer service, and it’s something that few other speakers do as well.

While you’re checking Tim out, buy his new book. Tim launched it last year just before the financial meltdown, and the result was that – very unfairly – his book got buried in the news of AIG and the rest.  Then concern about the environment and doing good went away – temporarily – while we all obsessed about the economy.

So he’s re-launching the book now, since we’re slowly working our way back to recovery, and we are starting to think about the environment and other planetary needs once again.

Great message, great speaker – Tim Sanders.