Transformative
experiences combining
a depth of learned-wisdom and creative expertise with the story-telling of a passionate, seasoned poet.
Speaking
Take your event to the next creative level...
Conferences/Conventions/Summits/Symposiums
Staff Retreats/PD days
Well-being/Creative retreats
Galas/Fundraisers/Dinners.
Literary Festivals
Music Festivals
Educational Settings
Joel McKerrow is a highly sought after speaker/performer at events all over the world. With an engaging and motivational style, whether he is speaking to creatives, to educators, to students or to business clientele, he combines his poetic performance talents and storytelling ability with his wealth of experience from 15 years full-time within the creative industries.
Joel has worked with such clients as Village Roadshow, International Transforming Education Conference, Global Health Conference, Story Gathering (Nashville), Greenbelt Festival (UK), Once Upon A Festival, Somerset Storyfest, The Creativity Conference, The Design Coach, Tearfund Australia, Arrow Leadership and many more.
"I know how to tap into creative flow and I know how to teach you and your people to do the same…to innovate… to break through creative blocks, whether we are talking creative practice, our individual lives, or workplace culture…the creative process will show you the way forward.. sailing on through the constantly changing ocean, until that dot on the horizon becomes the very island of significance that you have been searching for."
"Our community of storytellers are among
some of the most creative people in the world,
and Joel displayed a unique ability
to inspire and move them deeply.”
~ Harris III ~ Director of STORY GATHERING- Nashville ~
Major Events in 22/23
Story Gathering (Nashville)
Somerset Storyfest
The Creativity Conference (Global)
Whitsundays Youth
Literary Festival
Village Roadshow Executive Retreat
Little Scribe
Greenbelt Festival (UK)
National Celtic Folk Festival
Graceland Festival (Netherlands)
Storyfest OutWest
Once Upon A Festival
The Design Coach Retreat
SacredEdge Festival
Arrow Leadership Retreat
Capricorn Coast Writers Fest
CYA conference
Confluence Retreat
Major Keynote Presentations
When change and disruption come, like a violent storm, only those ships ready to embrace what creativity has to offer them, are the ones able able to keep afloat.
This is because, in-built into creativity, are the very tools that you will need to keep sailing on these ever changing seas.
An inspiring keynote transposing the learnings from the Creative Process of writers and artists into lessons for how organisations and individuals can keep afloat
whatever the weather.
flow:
the vital work of creative innovation
Creativity doesn’t just happen. Neither does transformation. Every successful writer, storyteller and artist goes through a risky, uncomfortable and yet incredibly fertile creative process that transforms germinating ideas into reality. The individual and the organisation must embrace creative process in the same way if they too are seeking innovation. Based on the very intentional process of Joel Mckerrow’s creativity this presentation gives people a practical framework for developing their burgeoning ideas into existence.
fertile:
creative process and the germination of ideas
For anyone seeking innovation,
creative blocks are most often the product of our fears. To push past these blocks, to confront the fear, takes a great deal of courage. Yet, every time they show up at the page or the canvas, this is where the artist plays, just outside the comfortable, in the world of RISK. It is in this place too where inspiration is found, not as some elusive thing, but rather through the very intentional choice of slowing down to be present to both the inner world and the outer world. This presentation gives people the courage and the practical steps to both push through their fear and to tap into the inspiration
all around them.
blank:
where to go
when inspiration
has left the building
Story-telling is not just something writers and film-makers engage in. Story sits at the very heart of the individual, of organisations and of society as a whole. The stories that we tell become who we are. It is imperative then to understand how story constructs both individual and corporate identity, and how the frameworks within narrative, from books to films to mythology, can give us a way to live out a better story as people and as organisations. This presentation invites listeners into a narrative process of re-thinking their individual or corporate identity and re-storying who they are desiring to be.
story:
The power of
re-storying the old narratives
"Joel is in the uppermost tier of speakers I've worked with, so much so that I hired him again, and again.”
~ Brooke Shaden – Promoting Passion Conference ~
Other Presentations/workshops
Evoke:
Communication that moves
Creatives live always on the edge, on the border between normalcy and difference. They see things slightly askew. It is this posture that allows them to challenge the way we have always seen things. And it is this unique way of knowing that is much dneeded to remake our settled ways of seeing.
Evoke:
Commucation that moves
CALLING:
Learning how to Listen
A sense of purpose and meaning and contentment in life does not come from having the biggest toys. It comes from the choice to listen to what your life is trying to tell you that it wants and then connecting this desire up to something larger than oneself. For they who have ears to hear.
CALLING:
Learning how to Listen
SUBVERSIVE:
Creativity and Social Change
The society we live in is a story-telling society. The values upheld, the shape of relationships, the search for meaning, all of these things are influenced by the stories that we listen too. Our creativity, therefore, when it seeks to tell a new story, actually has the potential to change the society around us.
SUBVERSIVE:
Creativity and Social Change
Testimonials
“Joel McKerrow is one of those people you discover and know you need to hold onto forever. He is a masterful wordsmith, a transfixing performer, and is one who’s words flow out of all that is in his heart.I am excited for the rest of the world to discover Joel McKerrow.”
Vickie Reddy- Executive Producer, The JUSTICE Conference
"Joel is a powerful presence in any room. He makes each individual feel seen, valued, and connected to a deeper place. His poetry is booming, spectacular; but his message even more. He is in the uppermost tier of speakers I've worked with, so much so that I hired him again, and again.”
Brooke Shaden – Founder, Promoting Passion Conference
Very few people can engage people like Joel can. After seeing him present in varied contexts over many years, I am sure that he is one of Australia's most compelling speakers. His ability to capture the attention of an audience in a moment is remarkable and breathtaking. I always look forward to when has Joel the stage.
Helen Parker OAM- CEO, The Babes Project
Joel is a master craftsman with words, able to tell stories to entertain any audience, making them laugh, imagine, wonder, and think. He engages with secondary students well, leading students to laugh at the quirkiness of life, while moving them to think deeply about social issues. Joel is a skilled communicator and I highly recommend him as a keynote presenter.
Dr Fiona Partridge- CEN Executive Officer | Professional Learning Presenter
Joel Mckerrow is a captivating, engaging, poignant, challenging, passionate speaker who takes his audience on a soul-searching journey, leaving them wondering how words could hold so much power and evoke such emotion. He comes highly recommended.
Jenny Willetts - Managing Director, StableOne
Joel makes creativity and poetry come alive. Through his large group presentations and workshops he discusses what inspires him, how he writes and, best of all, he actually gets students writing poetry!
Marissa Joyce- Head of English- Siena College
Clients
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