Sekou Andrews is the world’s leading Poetic Voice - a presenter/performer who is disrupting the speaking industry in unprecedented ways. A school teacher turned actor, musician, two-time national poetry slam champion, entrepreneur, and now award-winning poetic voice, any given day may now and Sekou keynoting at a leadership conference, helping a Fortune 500 company with brand messaging or even performing pieces for Barack Obama in Oprah’s backyard.
Current work
Sekou is the creator of Poetic Voice - a new, cutting-edge speaking category that seamlessly fuses inspirational speaking with spoken word poetry to make messages more moving and memorable. His dynamic blend of strategic storytelling, business insight, spoken word, theater and comedy turns events into experiences, and transforms audiences of informed receivers into enrolled responders.
Previous experience
Features: It is no surprise that Forbes has called Sekou “the de facto poet laureate of corporate America.” His “wow-factor” is in high demand with the world’s most successful organizations, including Google, Viacom, Toyota, Nike, Cisco, Linkedin, Global Green, Paypal, ASAE, The Gap, General Mills, TEDx, L’Oreal, Autodesk, and the NBA to name but a few. Sekou’s work has also been featured on such diverse national media outlets as ABC World News, MSNBC, HBO, Good Morning America, Showtime, MTV and BET, and he has given private performances for such prominent individuals as Maya Angelou, Quincy Jones, Larry King, Hillary Clinton, Norman Lear, Sean “Diddy” Combs, and more.
Presentations: Sekou has also emerged as an inspiring voice for health and wellness, routinely evoking tears, cheers, and standing ovations at events for clients such as Johnson & Johnson, United Healthcare, Mayo Clinic, Blue Shield, Kaiser Permanente, TEDMED, Roche, Genentech, and the American Nurses Association. Sekou has now returned to the classroom, teaching his rockstar secrets to public speakers through his highly effective Stage Might™ speaker training system, that helps executives, in?uencers and leaders become more dynamic communicators.
Musician: Sekou is a multi-talented entertainer with over 2 decades of experience rocking audiences across platforms and genres. As a recording artist and producer, his last album, “Poetic License,” made him the most awarded artist in the nation’s largest independent music organization. Sekou has shared the stage with such heavyweights as Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z, Carlos Santana, Kendrick Lamar, Maroon 5, Jill Scott and John Legend. He is also a successful voiceover artist and actor with several national commercials, 3 feature ?lms, and an original, critically acclaimed two-man play on his resume. When teamed up with creative partner Steve Connell, Sekou has inspired audiences from the HBO US Comedy Arts Festival to The Pasadena Pops Orchestra. With all of the innovation and inspiration that is poetic voice, Sekou Andrews is accomplishing the seemingly impossible - bringing spoken word poetry to the world’s largest stages, while redefning the notion of what a speaker is, and what a poet can be.
Talking Points
D.i.Y Innovation
Themes: Innovation, Disruption, Leadership, Creativity, TransformationD.i.Y Innovation
Length: 20 - 45 min
“Innovation is the difference between ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ and ‘Why didn’t I think LIKE that?’” As businesses scurry in pursuit of “big I” Innovation - exponential technologies, cultures of innovation, and the like - Sekou teaches leaders to see through the “little i’s” of an innovator, by innovating from within. Offering incredibly fresh perspectives on embracing failure, bold thinking and anticipating disruption, Sekou also shares his own story about the risks and rewards of disrupting the speaking industry with a cutting-edge style of communication. This insightful and inspiring talk often surprises leaders with how much it discomforts, delights, and transforms them on a business and personal level. No doubt why it is Sekou’s most requested keynote across industries - from tech and healthcare, to ?nance and human resources.
This presentation is for audiences who want to be inspired and delighted, while also learning
How to make individual mind set shifts that make exponential company change
How to disrupt yourself as a leader in order to embrace disruption
How to “Tom Hanks in Big” yourself (another unforgettable Sekou takeaway on challenging convention)
Self-Made Success
Themes: Success, Collaboration, Leadership, Entrepreneurship, CommunitySelf-Made Success
Length: 30 - 60 min
“Being self-made means being help-made, from helpmates who help make your self-made success each day.” If you know what it’s like to be an Executive Director / IP Protector / past-due-invoice collector; or a parent of 3 getting your degree while working full time; or any type of proverbial “Jack/Jill-of-all-trades… then this speech celebrates you. Every entrepreneur, business owner or successful businessperson knows too well, the dichotomy of feeling alone while building your dream while being surrounded by the people who have helped you build it. So this speech helps you become a leader that grows from, and celebrates, everyone whose ?ngerprints are found on your success.
Success Through Storytelling
Themes: Strategic Storytelling, Engagement, Leadership, Compelling Communication, In?uenceSuccess Through Storytelling
Length: 30 - 60 min
“As an in?uencer, it is your success with stories that will tell your story of success.” Storytelling is transforming how innovative companies market themselves, engage customers and reinvent their businesses. Sekou has helped diverse divisions - from sales and marketing, to fund-raising and tech - understand how to use strategic storytelling to reach consumers, employees and leadership on a human level. Pulling key material from his “Insist On Story” corporate training, this speech is rich with actionable insight delivered through Sekou’s creative, experiential style of storytelling.
This presentation is perfect for audiences who want to be inspired and delighted, while also learning:
How to use stories to connect deeply with audiences without compromising credibility
How to embed data into engaging stories that deliver information through inspiration
How storytelling enables your company to “sequel your success”
Be Voiceful! How To Be Mighty On Any Stage
BE VOICEFUL! HOW TO BE MIGHTY ON ANY STAGEBe Voiceful! How To Be Mighty On Any Stage
Themes: Dynamic Communication, Leadership, Public Speaking, In?uence, Storytelling
Length: 30 - 60 min
“Your vision is only as powerful as your voice.” Sekou has built a successful speaking career having never been trained as a speaker. It is his training as a performer that makes him stand out as rockstar in the speaking world. So this fun and interactive keynote reminds leaders that sometimes you must learn from outside of your industry to stand out within your industry. Stage Might is Sekou’s highly effective training system that teaches rockstar secrets to public speakers, in?uencers and leaders by applying the proven techniques of performers (songwriters, comedians, actors, dancers, improv artists) to business communications.
Based on the Stage Might X training, this keynote will be the most fun your audience has ever had while learning:
How to become a more con?dent and compelling communicator
How to engage any audience in the ?rst 2 minutes of any speech
How to humanise your leadership by connecting authentically with audiences
The Science of Wavemaking
Themes: Challenging Convention, Bold Thinking, Making Waves, Innovation, Leading ChangeThe Science of Wavemaking
Length: 20 - 60 min
“Your creativity holds the power to cure your own gravity.” Big ideas and bold thinking are not traits exclusive to pioneering leaders. They have been lying dormant within each of us since childhood, waiting to be reignited. This speech is the spark that rekindles your access to the imagination and creativity required to stir the waters and make waves in your industry. Inspired by hilarious grade school theories on how waves are made, Sekou delivers a highly inspiring and informative keynote on why leaders must challenge convention to make transformational change. Sharing pivotal moments and insights from barrier breaking companies and individuals, Sekou shows leaders how to spark the big ideas that make a big splash.
This presentation is for audiences who want to be inspired and delighted, while also learning:
How to up-level your voice (sound waves) to amplify your in?uence as a leader
How to exercise creative thinking (light waves) to give big ideas their shine
How to shake things up (seismic waves) internally to shift employee behaviour
Love Affair With Healthcare
Themes: Healthcare, Quality Care, Innovation, Transformation, Patient-centricLove Affair With Healthcare
Length: 30 - 60 min
“Every trembling bone in my body is comforted each time she adds a bit of “treat” to my treatment... with care that covers the enrichment of my life, not merely the postponement of my death.” What if you could remind your audience of the moment they fell in love with healthcare? What if you could reignite the passion in providers - caregivers, executives and housekeeping alike - to connect with patients on a human, heartfelt level? What if you could take your entire healthcare community on a laughter and tear-?lled journey that renews their vows to provide the best quality care. If you could do that - write a love poem to healthcare that makes your audience fall back in love with it - this keynote is how it would sound
The Principles of Pre-Success
THE PRINCIPLES OF PRE-SUCCESS (SUCCESSFUL FAILURE)The Principles of Pre-Success
Themes: Success, Understanding Failure, Community, Storytelling, Leadership
Length: 20 - 60 min
“Failure is pre-success.” Sekou takes an unconventional and un?inching approach to the topic of success, by spending most of this presentation on failure. Not just the popular business concepts like “failing forward”, but the uncomfortable, vulnerable, human side of failure. In true poetic voice form, this speech is simultaneously inspiring, educational, and incredibly moving as Sekou reminds audiences that within community, shared stories, and the power of perspective, lie the lessons of how to fail effectively in order to succeed perpetually. They say “When one door closes, another opens. But until then... it’s hell in the hallway!” This inspirational talk helps propel those in the hallway to their next success.
This presentation is perfect for audiences who want to be inspired and delighted, while also learning:
How to harness the power of community and storytelling in order to fail successfully
How to create a success mind set that charts every failure on the time line of success
How to learn effectively from failure to stimulate greater success
Video
D.I.Y Innovation - Sekou Andrews
Self-Made Success - Sekou Andrews
Success Through Storytelling - Sekou Andrews
BE VOICEFUL! How To Be MIGHTY On Any Stage - Sekou Andrews
The Science of Wave Making - Sekou Andrews
Love Affair With Healthcare - Sekou Andrews
Principles of Pre-Success - Sekou Andrews
Sekou Andrews - HPE Video Clip
I was like, “Oh, there’s this poet coming in ... this is going to be totally lame and boring.” But when he came onto the stage... I was absolutely mesmerized with his ability to turn the aud ... keep reading Hybrid Apparel
“It’s hard to imagine the artistry of this young man; his ability to take a concept - factual information - weave it into a story, move an audience, and structure a presentation of the most complex [form], taking us up and taking us down. It’s not a single message, but a series of waves; a crescendo, and they don’t end in the beach, they end in hope and understanding. I’m in awe of his talents.”
“Our challenge is to help our organization understand how customers are experiencing [our industry’s] changes... what are the implications for us as a company. So we went to Sekou, to try to have him help us see all these changes through the eyes of our customers, and what it means for us. Sekou opened up our global leaders meeting, with a fantastic soliloquy [on] the customer of the future in a way that cut through to the one hundred top leaders at eBay... it got our whole organization and our whole leadership team focused...The reaction was very positive, both to his remarkable talent [and], even more importantly, to the messages his performance conveyed to us; it helped us have a really productive meeting thereafter.”
“Sekou was absolutely the perfect presenter for [our] environment... He left the podium, went down into the audience, he connected with all the people who were there. He did a fantastic job. He was very well received. I saw smiles coming across their faces, I saw young people saying, ”Oh, he gets it!” and older people saying, ”Oh, he DOES get it!” My 70 year old parents were there, as well as my 13 year old son and 15 year old daughter. I asked them “What presentation really struck you?” And both groups, without hesitation, start with Sekou Andrews.”
“Sekou is a true master at his craft; his ability to transform ideas and insights into powerful and compelling stories is truly an amazing gift. That gift combined with his professionalism makes him a rare talent.”
