Joel McKerrow
A leading voice on Creativity, Storytelling and Communication
Professional Speakers Australia (PSA) VIC/TAS Chapter President
Australia's only certified APPLIED NARRATIVE-INTELLIGENCE specialist
Director of The School for Creative Development
Represented Australia at the Individual World Poetry Slam Championships.
Author with Penguin-Random House.
With over 300 presentations in 2025 alone,
he is one of Australia's most booked presenters.
Who is Joel...
– Visionary Speaker – Creative Strategist – Storytelling Expert – Highly-Acclaimed Educator – Best-Selling Author – Award Winning Performance Poet – Engaging MC –
Joel McKerrow is a creativity, storytelling and communication specialist who has inspired hundreds-of-thousands people across the globe with his passionate performative style, highly inspiring keynotes, strategic training and dynamic event-hosting. Full-time in this work for over sixteen years, delivering more than 300 presentations in 2025 alone, Joel is one of Australia's most booked speakers and presenters.
A prolific writer himself, Joel is an author with Penguin Random House and Larrikin House. He has published seven spoken word/music albums, eight books of poetry, a graphic novel series with Larrikin House and a trilogy with Penguin-Random House. Joel is the host of the The Deep Place: On Creativity and Spirituality Podcast and the artist Ambassador for the aid and development organisation, TEARFUND Australia.
Australia’s only certified Applied-Narrative-Intelligence specialist, Joel works with organisations in many different industries, to leverage the power of STORY and CREATIVITY in their communication, marketing, innovation, customer-service, leadership, well-being, culture-building and so much more. Joel empowers leaders to transform their organisations through visionary thinking, narrative-driven leadership and creative-problem solving. Alongside this he engages extensively with the education sector, inspiring and equipping both school teams and students.
Joel McKerrow is an award-winning Australian author, bestselling writer, highly-acclaimed educator (speaking in over 80 schools in 2025), and one of the country’s leading spoken word artists. He is the 2025-26 VIC/TAS president for Professional Speakers Australia (PSA), the Director of The School For Creative Development, an author with Penguin Random House, the Artist Ambassador for Tearfund Australia, host of The Deep Place Podcast and the third ever Australian representative at the Individual World Poetry Slam Championships.
Trusted by clients like: Village Roadshow, Westpac, Korda Mentha, Dulux Group, Ord Minnet, MOAD (Museum of Australian Democracy), Mumbrella, Australian Business Events Association, State Library of Victoria, The Learning & Development Collective, International Transforming Education Conference, Sydney Writers Festival, Hager Electric, AIME, Istoria Institute, The Design Coach, Global Health Summit, Tropical Innovation Festival, Southstart, Melbourne Writers Festival, Banyule City Council, Glen Eira City Council and many, many more.
Joel has also shared the stage with leaders such as Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King), Krista Monson (Cirque du Soleil), Seth Godin, Ken Black (ex.Nike Creative Director), Annabel Crabb, Lisa Wilkinson, and Kate Ceberano.
Whether it is keynotes, MCing, training or conference performance-poetry sure to knock the socks off your audience, Joel brings the creative-edge, inspiration and training that your event needs.
"Joel is an absolute sensation to
work with and total professional."
Angela Schmidt – State Manager – HAGER