Chinua Achebe described the story as society’s escort, without which everyone is lost.
In this talk, Lala Akindoju explains the importance of telling our stories today to serve as a guide for the future. “Why do I need to make the same mistakes when there are people who have gone before me that I can learn from?” she asks. But importantly, how do Nigerians leverage the tools of today to document the day’s stories for the benefit of the future? She adds, noting that more can be done today seeing the diverse opportunities that abound for story-telling.
Karen Eber believes storytelling is one of the most impactful ways to shape culture, and engage people.
How do the world’s best leaders and visionaries earn trust? They don’t just present data — they also tell great stories. Leadership consultant Karen Eber demystifies what makes for effective storytelling and explains how anyone can harness it to create empathy and inspire action.
Why you should listen
As the CEO and Chief Storyteller of Eber Leadership Group, Karen Eber helps build curious and empathic leaders and teams, and healthy cultures. Determined to no longer make people sit through boring meetings, she also helps leaders learn the art of storytelling.
Karen first realized the power of storytelling at age five when telling her first story about her eyes turning two-different colors after eating crayons. Karen has used storytelling throughout her career to point out moments from everyday life to help leaders learn to respond vs. react. While a head of culture in a General Electric business, she used stories to connect 90,000 employees in 150 countries and as a way to reinforce what was encouraged or discouraged in the culture.
In addition to keynote speaking and consulting on Storytelling, Leadership, and Culture, Karen writes for major publications and often guest lectures at universities.
Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses — and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person “being” a genius, all of us “have” a genius. It’s a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.
iPad storyteller Joe Sabia introduces us to Lothar Meggendorfer, who created a bold technology for storytelling: the pop-up book. Sabia shows how new technology has always helped us tell our own stories, from the walls of caves to his own onstage iPad.
We use stories to give meaning to our lives, to make sense of what we’ve accomplished, and to establish connection with others. The power of a story is not just in the story itself but it is in the fact that a story can change the way people perceive us. But is building your personal story as your ‘brand’ – your external identity – as simple as the story of you just being you? How do you reconcile an authentic personal story with a carefully crafted professional image? How do you stay believable yet unique?
Bianca shares her experiences – and experiments – with stories, and explains why your personal story – your ‘brand’ – is ultimately about knowing who you are, what you stand for and finding an authentic and innovative way to make that visible.
Three tips right now to make yourself more creative!
CREATIVITY IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS IN ANY FIELD
“Growing up makes us less creative. Therefore we have to re-learn creativity, and luckily there are multiple ways to do so,”
– says Balder Onarheim, PhD. In everyday language, ‘creativity’ is often used in relation to artistic creation. But amongst scholarly researchers it is acknowledged that creativity is one of the most crucial human traits.
Balder is PhD and creativity researcher at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and the founder of the Copenhagen Institute of NeuroCreativity – an institute devoted to understand and disseminate knowledge about the neurological underpinnings of creativity.
“Creativity is not just about art – it is one of the most crucial human traits. It lies at the heart of innovation, thus it is not a superficial skill but a necessity for human survival,”
This Nike advert is superb. It is a professional DST that is more like a short film but the main elements of DST are still there. Emotional content, personal tone and great images. By putting the play back in fitness, the company encourages the audience to tie up their (Nike) shoelaces, go out and try something new, even if they aren’t great at it right off the bat. As our narrator says, “Here’s to going for it, and being terrible.”
