Every time I am hired to create a talk, I am grateful for the opportunity to delve deep into the intellectual fabric of the client company and the culture of its people. Every talk is custom-created, tailored to connect with issues that are key to the client and their industry, and examine those issues from perspectives such as team creativity, digital transformation, and communication. And yes, if there’s an opportunity to drag a jazz musician onto the stage, I will gladly take the opportunity!
“Ralph is the kind of speaker you wish you had every time. He informs with a light touch and without overloading with data, and is as entertaining as he is serious. He speaks about creativity and communication with the quiet confidence of an experienced professional, and can deal with the complex subject of innovation on many different levels. I had the pleasure of having him as our keynote speaker for the What’s Next conference and look forward to working with him again.”
Inga Norke, Editor-in-Chief at SEEN magazine, former Curator at What’s Next
“We have engaged Ralph as a keynote speaker on innovation and creativity for several of our specialized industry events. Every time we have been delighted with the broad high-level context and the fascinating details he has been able to present.”
Aneta Kłodaś, Managing Director, Bluevine Consulting
“I had the great good fortune to plan and undertake with Ralph a conference called #DisruptionBankingHR, where Ralph was the Moderator and the Keynote Speaker. Ralph had the audience truly engaged in the subject matter especially when presented with a colourful panel to moderate. Ralph has a lot of understanding of the Digital Revolution and is very much able to talk about wide subjects with anything from IoT, to Digital Competences, to Cyber Security to the latest trends in Singapore. His Polish is also pretty good! I highly recommend Ralph as a speaker.”
Andrew Samu, Co-founder at Digital Startup, Editor at #DisruptionBanking
The pandemic has of course dramatically increased the amount of work delivered in a “virtual” format. That is something of a misnomer since the work is not any less real – if anything it is much harder to connect with the audience which is virtual. Luckily, over the years I’ve had the great good fortune of having worked with some excellent production professionals who always make it as easy as possible to achieve high quality end results with the least amount of stress.
(For “self-service” video streaming I highly recommend StreamOnline.)
Some past speaking engagements:
Human connections in the age of machines (DokuTech, Pristina)
Industry 4.0 and the banking industry : (ABSL/CitiBank)
ETTalks : ongoing global series of conferences and interviews about sustainability, design and technology (Danfoss)
Public speaking is not just speaking in public (PKO BP Bank)
The future of retail in the digital era (European Economic Congress)
Constant learning and digital transformation in the insurance industry (Nationale Nederlanden)
Pitching for startups (Warsaw Booster)
Creativity and constant learning for executives and managers (Royal Bank of Scotland)
Trends governing development of entrepreneurial ecosystems (Google)
Design in the context of sustainable business (Lodz Design Festival)
Psychology and creativity as building blocks for sales (Google)
Where Capitalism might be heading (The Next Web, Amsterdam)
Three things your startup needs more than money (MatchIT)
Ideation for a creative industry professionals (Swedish Institute, Stockholm)
Creativity as a strategic business value (Volkswagen)
Pitching for your life (Founder Institute)
Smart cities / livable cities: series of public discussions (Heineken)
The Polish business environment for European media investment professionals (TVN Ventures)
Your number one priority, and most crucial skill in a startup (Wolves Summit)
Technology trends governing food supply chains (Meyn)
Banking and fintech CEO discusion about trends in finance and banking (FutureTech)
Technology trends and strategic background for the whitegoods industry (Mueller Die Lilla)
Public-facing communication fundamentals (Estimote)
Innovative ways for creatives and business to work together (What’sNext, Vilnius)
Strategy and identity (Warsaw University’s Digital Economy Lab)
Trends and strategies for the logistics industry (Future2to5)
Design thinking and the unknown future (Lodz Promotion Forum)
Fundamentals of public speaking (HP)
Programme development for Warsaw University’s 200th anniversary conference
And then, of course, there was the ten years of leading the TEDxWarsaw team. From the start, this was a complex, rewarding project which offered insights into many worlds and opportunities to learn from truly remarkable individuals. We were one of the first teams outside of the US (though, admittedly, following in the footsteps of my friend Michel Levy-Provençal whose TEDxParis was the first) and grew the event series to include the first TEDx ever held inside the seat of a head of state (TEDxWarsawPresidentialPalace), several TEDxWomen and TEDxWulkan – put together rapidly in 2010 while Eyjafjallajökull (how do you say that, again?) was erupting and covering Europe with a cloud of ash.
Due to my work as a speaker, I am often asked to assist executives, scientists, diplomats, entrepreneurs and others to prepare for their own public talks. This is, invariably, fascinating as it gives me a great opportunity to look deep into the workings of their organisations, and their minds. I act as something between an editor and a sounding board, and together we craft both the content and the delivery for impactful public-facing communications, for both internal events and external conferences such as investor meetings. I have worked with CEOs and directors from major financial institutions, telecommunication companies, and FMCG operations, public administration professionals, culture and arts leaders, and startup founders. These engagements are always confidential, so no, there will be no name dropping. If you are preparing to give an important talk, be assured that it is entirely natural to feel apprehensive when faced with an auditorium (or even a room) full of people who are sitting more-or-less quietly, expecting to hear something interesting, informative and even maybe entertaining.
Here are a few notes I give to help make this process easier for participants of my workshops or coaching sessions: /READ MORE on my blog…
To discuss your requirements in confidence, please head for the contact page. We’ll be back to you in no time.