Todd Sampson was formerly the CEO and Chairman of Leo Burnett, the most awarded agency in Australia, whose clients include AAPT, Amstel, Australia Post, Caltex, Canon, Colgate Palmolive, Colonial First State, Diago, Energy Australia, Fairfax, Heineken, Macquarie Bank, Nestle, NRMA, Procter & Gamble (Herbal Essence & Max Factor), Rabobank, Samsung, Scope, Vero Insurance and WWF.
Current work
He's an adventurer, award-winning documentary-maker, television presenter and businessman. The Financial Review and News Limited ranked him as one of the most influential executives in Australia. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of both Fairfax and Qantas. He is also the co-creator of the Earth Hour initiative, one of the largest environmental movements in history reaching over 1 billion people in 5500 cities worldwide. the coveted Titanium at Cannes and Yahoo Chair for Innovation in 2008. That same year Earth Hour was awarded B&T's Creative Campaign of the Year in Australia and in 2009 it became the biggest environment movement in history with over one billion participants.
He is now the writer, producer and host of a number of international documentaries including Discovery Channel's Redesign My Brain which won Documentary of the Year, BodyHack which has been nominated for Best Factual Series and Most Outstanding Documentary of the Year and more recently Life on The Line. One reviewer colourfully captured Todd's unique approach, “If Bear Grylls, Louis Theroux and Brian Cox had a love child together, it would be Todd Sampson.”
Away from work, he enjoys mountain climbing and has completed an unguided ascent to the summit of Mount Everest.
Previous experience
TV: Todd started his television career on the critically acclaimed ABC series GRUEN which is still one of the most popular shows on television today. He
Advertising: The Financial Review called Todd the most influential advertising executive and a News Limited poll ranked him as the most influential leader in Australia. He has also been named one of the most influential men under 45 by Men's Style and nominated for GQ's 'Man of the Year'.
TV: He is also the breakout star of the smash hit ABC show Gruen , a regular host of Channel 10 news program The Project.
Talking Points
Brain Power
The premise of Todd's award-winning Discovery Science series Redesign My Brain was simple. For over 70 years, science has told us that our brains are fixed. You are born with the brain you have, which develops rapidly until the age of seven, and then it starts a steady decline from age 30 until you die and there was nothing you could do about it. But science has now proven that to be false. In fact, modern science has shown that our brain is plastic and that we all have the ability to improve it at any age and at any time. This presentation will show you how to boost your brain power.Brain Power
Todd will not only take you behind the scenes of this extraordinary scientific journey, he will also provide you with the practical tools, strategies and techniques to improve your brain. We are all capable of more than we realise, and modern science is showing us how.
Video
Todd Sampson | The difference a good teacher can make | Anh's Brush With Fame
Todd Sampson was never really an academic student. In fact, he failed most of his classes. That is, until his science teacher saw his potential, gave him an aptitude test and moved him into a higher graded class.Todd Sampson | The Project | Saxton Speakers
Todd Sampson’s new season of 'Mirror Mirror' kicks off tonight, but in the show there is one website that kids keep bringing up, and this is why parents should be worried.He was fantastic! Everyone loved him and followed him out of the hall, buzzing with questions. He was so friendly, down to earth and engaging. He was not only inspirational, but funny and ap ... keep reading Golden Key
Todd was excellent, such a lovely guy. His message was very powerful and he really validates it by his own example in his personal and work life. It was really great of him to stick around after the event and speak to the queue of people who patiently waited for his attention. He is a very warm and compassionate person and his intelligence and sense of humour was evident throughout his presentation.
Todd was obliging & worked with the audio crew & support team ahead of delivering his speech. His performance was outstanding & engaging. We received great feedback from our attendees after the conference. Todd even hung around after his speech and spoke to delegates, taking photos etc.
Todd Sampson provided a highly energetic, well considered and insightful presentation that had the audience hanging off his every word. The use of video and sound added a really engaging element to the presentation, particularly after having the ‘behind the scenes’ comments from Todd prior to each of the videos. He was really generous with his question time and his honest and insightful answers were much appreciated by everyone in the room. Everyone left with a least one practical tip on how they could improve their brain power. Couldn’t recommend him highly enough, and would gladly have him back in the future to hear about the behind the scenes findings from other documentary series such as Body Hack.
Todd Sampson provided a highly energetic, well considered and insightful presentation that had the audience hanging off his every word. The use of video and sound added a really engaging element to the presentation, particularly after having the ‘behind the scenes’ comments from Todd prior to each of the videos. He was really generous with his question time and his honest and insightful answers were much appreciated by everyone in the room. Everyone left with a least one practical tip on how they could improve their brain power. Couldn’t recommend him highly enough, and would gladly have him back in the future to hear about the behind the scenes findings from other documentary series such as Body Hack.
Todd Sampson was our guest speaker at our Mid Year Sales meeting in Sydney. Everyone in the audience were captivated from the moment he started talking. An inspiring amazing speaker. Everyone left with a lot to think about. Thanks Todd.
Todd provided an energetic, engaging and thoughtful presentation that had the crowd on the edge of their seats for the entire duration. The content tied in extremely well to our event's narrative and we wouldn't hesitate to book him again for the right event.
Todd had our team on the edge of their seats with his stories. He was interesting, engaging and inspiring.
