Terry Beckstrom
Founder and CEO
Books
About
Terry spent twenty-five years with the U.S. Department of Justice (DEA) as a special agent and supervisory special agent, investigating international criminal organizations at the highest levels. Terry held domestic assignments in the Atlanta and Miami Field Divisions and completed temporary foreign assignments in the Caribbean, Asia, and Europe. Terry enjoyed a highly successful and distinguished career, which included experience in executive protection, investigating international smuggling cases, complex conspiracies, and transnational organized crime cases. Following the attack on 9/11, Terry was temporarily detailed to the FBI to assist with counter-terrorism investigations. He also conducted highly sensitive international operations with Scotland Yard and MI-6 (British Foreign Intelligence Service) while TDY in the United Kingdom. Additionally, Terry coordinated and participated in domestic and international joint military air and marine interdiction operations with the U.S. Army, U.S. Coast Guard, CGIS, and foreign counterparts in U.S. and foreign operating theaters.
Terry served on the IRS SAR Committee, the Anti-Terrorism Advisory Committee, and the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force Executive Board. Terry finished his career leading an elite award-winning task force group, which is considered to be one of the most successful operations groups in DEA history.
Terry is a nationally recognized dynamic and highly sought-after expert trainer and keynote speaker in a multitude of disciplines. Terry has trained thousands of individuals over the years domestically and internationally, including federal, state, and local law enforcement, and military personnel, to include special forces operators. Terry has also spoken and trained at corporate events, safe school conferences, bank AML conferences, as well as at numerous schools and universities. Terry serves as an adjunct instructor/lecturer at colleges in addition to designing and teaching contract professional development courses. Terry has developed and delivered training programs, courses, and seminars which have included: Security tactics, situational awareness & threat recognition, interview and interrogation, behavioral recognition, criminal behavioral profiling, people reading/body language/NVC, conflict management, negotiation tactics, persuasion and influence, communication tactics, and leadership development. Terry has been referred to as one of the country’s top body language and communication experts and is known to captivate audiences during speaking engagements.
Terry has designed and delivered training to small regional sales groups as well as to corporate C-suite executives from around the world representing international corporations, including Fortune-500 companies.
Terry is the author of four acclaimed books; Livesafe, A Practical Guide to Personal and Family Security (2014), Spoken Silently, The Art and Practice of Reading People (2016), First Impressions, The Art and Practice of Making a Profoundly Positive First Impression (2019), and his most recent book, Fearless, Developing a Mindset of Courage (2021). Terry has authored numerous published articles on nonverbal communication, leadership, security, and communication, and has been featured in magazine and newspaper articles. Terry has also developed online professional development courses, and is the host of the podcast Life Moments, which publishes weekly episodes focusing on personal development.
Terry graduated from the University of South Carolina-Columbia, attended graduate school at Florida International University, and holds certificates in Executive Leadership and Advanced Negotiations from Cornell University and The Harvard Negotiation Institute at Harvard Law School respectively.
Terry is currently writing manuscripts for several additional books on communication, leadership, business body language, behavioral profiling, and deception detection.