#1 Storytelling & Influencing keynote speaker
Looking for an inspiring, informative, and high-impact keynotes on the power of business, brand, marketing, and leadership storytelling at your next event?
World-class communicator and storyteller Nick Jankel delivers with tools and hacks to craft and tell great stories and influence and persuade others in ethical and empathic ways.
seasoned specialist at senior leadership & top 10-500 events
Classic high-impact keynotes or interactive formats with time for reflection & participation—alone & together
optional workshop sessions with takeaway tools that build leadership skills
Cutting-edge content but also engaging
journies that Boost coherence, challenge complacency & build momentum
AN Unprecedented ROI:
4 reasons to book Nick as your leadership KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Electrifying, Energizing & HYPER-ENGAGING "WOW" Keynotes —including
immersive & Experiential formats
Nick is a virtuoso speaker who harnesses the science, art, and craft of storytelling to open up portals of possibility for your audience. His emotional courage, passion for his work, and conviction in his science-backed, ground-in-gritty-reality ideas will invite attendees of all persuasions to enter possibility spaces with him and experience their work and the world anew. His style can engage even the most tired and cynical"seen-it-all-before" attendees and spark fires of resolve in their bellies. His keynotes ignite meaningful conversations and memorable connections between attendees that can last well beyond the keynote.
ORIGINAL Science-BACKED IDEAS, ACTIONABLE Ah-HA! INSIGHTS & Real-world EXAMPLES
Each keynote Nick gives blends evidence-based and neuroscience-powered thought leadership, bold yet useful ideas, and hard-won experience drawn from 30 years of work on the frontlines of disruption, supporting 100+ Fortune 500 corporations, major institutions, and start-ups crack innovation, transformation, change management, and exceptional leadership. Nick is particularly good at getting smart people (e.g., execs, engineers, scientists, professionals, technologists, etc.) to engage in a keynote fully and always holds the intention to ignite multiple Ah-Ha! moments for each attendee.
Exquisitely Customized KEYNOTES to fit your brief & ELEVATE YOUR EVENT
Every keynote Nick designs and delivers is crafted to fit your specific event goals and context, speak to your business needs and strategy, and connect with your unique audience type and culture. The resulting tailored keynote content and delivery style is intended to amplify and accelerate your specific event ambitions, drive the biggest impact possible for you and for your attendees, and deliver beyond expectations for the work a keynote can do.
TAKEAWAY TOOLS & PRACTICAL HACKS THAT TURN INSPIRATION INTO ACTION
Nick can include and share powerful tools and short yet effective mindset practices (from his world-class leadership and innovation firm) that attendees can put to work in the hours, weeks, and years after your event. His tools and practices can turn inspiration into action out in the world and are designed to ignite meaningful change. Attendees will be given a way to access his materials, which they can use to switch on their teams and colleagues to some of Nick's ideas, cascading the impact across their organizations.
Why storytelling is the optimal solution for how to make all information and communication compelling, sticky, and effective for any audience—whether investors or prospective customers, whether consumers or or team members.
The essentials of
storytelling for leaders, people managers, and marketers—focusing
on the neuroscience and
psychology of story to influence and change hearts and minds.
How our brains engage in and digest stories, what kinds of stories our brains likes, and the critical power of combining emotion with reason to win hearts and minds and propel the change you want to see.
Ways to package up and present complex business cases, innovation pitches, sales messages, or team communications in narrative form to drive the desired behavior change.
How to use influencing and persuasion techniques ethically to bring people along and make change happen—without using manipulation, coercion, or deceit.
Top presentation and pitching hacks from a virtuoso speaker, long-time innovator, and serial entrepreneur—how to read a room, get the support of your audience, and keep them engaged throughout.
How to present a deck or share a story effectively, whether at the
front of a room, on a webcam, or via email—and how to find and use your authentic voice.
Take away a series of transformative tools for structuring a story— whether at the level of a quick email, an intro to a team meeting, a business case, or a major speech to a large audience.
A standing ovation! I am already sharing the insights with my leaders. Thank you!
CEO,
Unilever USA
Nick was the highlight of the 2-day conference. He made it worth going to. Thought-provoking, insightful, and very enjoyable.
SVP
Investment Bank
Nick had a pronounced and profound impact. Exceptional!
President,
Kellogg’s North America
Nick transformed our event with an engaging and evocative talk that hit all the nails that we put out there. It set a perfect scene for the remainder!
Head of Marketing,
Syngenta
Top Keynote Speaker On Storytelling & Influencing
Nick Jankel is a top 50 global professional keynote speaker who shares penetrating and inspiring insights into how to craft, tell, present, and back up powerful stories that inspire and influence all kinds of people, attract resources, and change systems.
Although once painfully shy after years of childhood bullying, through
committed self-development, Nick has risen to become one of
the world’s pre-eminent professional keynote speakers with over 1000
keynotes under his belt for organizations like Google, No.10 Downing
Street (speaking to the heads of every government ministry), and
Merck (speaking to the CEO and the top 500 global leaders).
Nick is an accomplished communicator who can shift his style and content to inspire intimate groups of C-Level leaders or engage enormous conference audiences of 5000+ techies. Nick has taught storytelling and ethical influencing to many groups, from Intel managers to Hilton Hotels marketing teams.
Nick has been a TV presenter on two network shows for MTV and BBC (combined audiences of 5 million+ viewers) and has been interviewed on over 100 podcasts and radio shows, including CBS, Sky News, and the BBC.
Nick has a background as a creative strategist in a top 5 global
ad agency (TBWA Chiat|Day), where he worked on the communications strategy and commercials for Nike, Apple, and PlayStation. He is a storytelling geek who has studied everything from Hollywood scriptwriting genius to Aristotle’s seminal thinking on rhetoric. Nick is an award-winning author of multiple books on story, transformation, and leadership.
storytelling keynote taster VIDEo
Seventy-seven percent of leaders believe they excel at engaging their people; however, a staggering 88% of their people disagree. Meanwhile, the cost of capturing attention has risen significantly in the last 20 years, posing a challenge in influencing audiences across the board, from board members to investors to customers. Brilliantly crafted stories have the power to transport us, painting pathways of possibilities for leaders skilled in storytelling. Effective storytelling inspires individuals to leave the old behind and embrace the new, guiding them towards a vision.
Influence, when done effectively, ensures both resistors and advocates of change embark on the journey and are guided towards an ideal outcome without coercion or manipulation. Despite our innate wiring for engaging stories, packaging complex business cases, innovation pitches, sales messages, or team communications to drive behavior change is astonishingly hard, especially when we have only a few minutes of attention, often broken at best.
Drawing from experience in a top-five ad agency and contributing to the growth of video gaming for PlayStation, specifically reshaping the narrative that gaming is just for teenage boys, I’ve become enamored with the power of storytelling. Through numerous attempts to influence and persuade senior executives, I learned that mastering the art, science, and craft of storytelling and ethical influencing is paramount.
I’ve developed a unique framework and set of tools for crafting and telling powerful narratives of change, innovation, and inspiration. When you provide your brief, I commit to working tirelessly to amplify your messages and elevate your ambitions. Remaining independent as a thought leader, challenger, and aspirer, each of my keynotes is customized to exceed expectations and connect with your specific audience.
I can delve into various aspects, from how our brains engage in and digest stories to the critical power of emotion and reason in transporting an audience. I’ll share insights on structuring and sequencing a story for clarity, coherence, and compelling impact while avoiding the lurking dangers of confusion, resistance, and disengagement. Ethical influencing and persuasion techniques will be explored to bring people on board without manipulation.
I offer a unique set of tools to craft powerful stories, whether it’s a short but effective email or a major strategy or innovation pitch. I’ll share techniques and hacks for gaining and keeping the attention and connection of an audience on stage and in meetings. Ultimately, I’ll guide you on using story crafting and storytelling influencing and persuasion to lead people and organizations towards a far brighter and bolder future.