meet miles hilton-barber
Miles Hilton-Barber went blind in his early twenties, but has not let that stop him from achieving his dreams. As a popular after-dinner and corporate speaker, Miles weaves together rich anecdotes and humour with powerful life-lessons he has learnt whilst overcoming his blindness. He reminds his audiences that “attitude is what determines altitude” and that we too can live our dreams, because “the only limits in our lives are those we accept ourselves"
Miles has been blind since his early twenties, but has not let that stop him from challenging barriers. He has sought adventure and succeeded on expeditions to deserts, mountains and the polar regions.
He is an exceptional storyteller and corporate motivational speaker whose messages of "never give up", "expect the unexpected" and "think big to achieve big" come wrapped in a package of humour and profound personal insight.
He uses his experiences as an international adventurer to motivate and inspire others to achieve their potential. His words are not hollow generalisations - he offers practical ideas that work for everyone.
Miles' managerial background complements his skills as a speaker, enabling him to tailor his talks to your particular business and personnel.
His presentations are entertaining, motivating and inspirational, sharing with his audiences the things he would want to hear if their roles were reversed. "I want them [the audience] to feel they are looking inside the hearts and minds of the people who worked together as a team, took risks, extended the envelope, and made an impossible dream a reality," he says.
Whether Miles is giving a keynote corporate presentation or an after dinner speech, his humour, timing and use of material is exceptional. He mixes in laughter, telling stories from his own rich experiences as a blind person covering such life-lesson themes as;
He has shared the speaking platform with such individuals as Rudi Giuliani, New York Mayor on 9/11, Olympic Medallist Roger Black, Jeremy Paxman, Melvin Bragg, and Lord David Puttnam addressing corporate and celebrity audiences around the world.
Achievements
Miles has achieved more than many others would even dare consider.
Despite being blind for over 25 years, Miles has still lived his dreams, encouraging us to realise that "The only limits in our lives are those we accept ourselves."
His remarkable adventures in recent years, setting numerous world records in the process, include:
He is an exceptional storyteller and corporate motivational speaker whose messages of "never give up", "expect the unexpected" and "think big to achieve big" come wrapped in a package of humour and profound personal insight.
He uses his experiences as an international adventurer to motivate and inspire others to achieve their potential. His words are not hollow generalisations - he offers practical ideas that work for everyone.
Miles' managerial background complements his skills as a speaker, enabling him to tailor his talks to your particular business and personnel.
His presentations are entertaining, motivating and inspirational, sharing with his audiences the things he would want to hear if their roles were reversed. "I want them [the audience] to feel they are looking inside the hearts and minds of the people who worked together as a team, took risks, extended the envelope, and made an impossible dream a reality," he says.
Whether Miles is giving a keynote corporate presentation or an after dinner speech, his humour, timing and use of material is exceptional. He mixes in laughter, telling stories from his own rich experiences as a blind person covering such life-lesson themes as;
- Dream big to achieve big
- Expect the Unexpected
- Never Give Up
- The Importance of Teamwork
- Don't let your Past Determine Your Future
- Facing your fears
- Taking advantage of adversity
- Benefiting from failure
He has shared the speaking platform with such individuals as Rudi Giuliani, New York Mayor on 9/11, Olympic Medallist Roger Black, Jeremy Paxman, Melvin Bragg, and Lord David Puttnam addressing corporate and celebrity audiences around the world.
Achievements
Miles has achieved more than many others would even dare consider.
Despite being blind for over 25 years, Miles has still lived his dreams, encouraging us to realise that "The only limits in our lives are those we accept ourselves."
His remarkable adventures in recent years, setting numerous world records in the process, include:
- First blind pilot to undertake a 55-day, 21,000 kilometre microlight flight from London to Sydney, relying on revolutionary speech-output technology (developed by Software Express) on his instruments for navigation, accompanied by his sighted co-pilot
- Man-hauling a sledge over 250 miles across Antarctica
- Completing "The Toughest Foot-race on Earth" - 150 miles across the Sahara Desert.
- Climbing to 17,500 feet in the Himalayas
- Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt. Blanc- Africa's/Europe's highest mountains
- Running the 11-day Ultra-Marathon race across China from the Gobi Desert to the Great Wall
- Completing the "Coldest Marathon on Earth"- the Siberian Ice Marathon
- Competing in the hottest ultra-marathon on earth across Death Valley California.
- Crossing the entire Qatar Desert non-stop day/night in 78 hours without sleep
- Circumnavigating 38,000 miles around the world using 80 different forms of transport
- Setting the Malaysian Grand Prix lap record for a blind driver in a 230kph Lotus
- Setting a new British high-altitude record for a tandem microlight (20,300 feet) with -55 Centigrade open-cockpit temperatures
- White-water rafting down the Zambezi River
- Completing more than 40 skydiving jumps
- Cage-diving with Great White Sharks
- First blind pilot to undertake a sortie of extreme aerobatics in a +600 MPH Hawker Hunter fighter jet with an ex-Red Arrows co-pilot
- Becoming the first blind person to do the solo kamikaze skeleton run down the 5G Olympic bob-sleigh track in Lillehammer, Norway
- First blind person to pilot a 340 BHP performance rated Zap Cat power boat in ocean time trials
- First blind aviator to break sound barrier- attaining speed of Mach 1.4/1,060 MPH during vertical climb to 50,000 feet in just 90 seconds in an English Electric Lightning fighter jet.
- First blind person to participate in a drag-racing event, driving a supercharged machine at Britain’s Santa Pod drag track.
