Sekou Andrews

Sekou Andrews is the Founder/CEO of SekouWorld, Inc., the innovator of “Poetic Voice” and one of the most successful spoken word poets in the world.  On any given day, this school-teacher-turned-entrepreneur, who built a 7-figure company on poetry, can be found keynoting at a Fortune 500 company, inspiring thousands at a concert, or performing for Barack Obama in Oprah’s backyard. Sekou is the creator of “poetic voice” – a cutting-edge speaking category that seamlessly fuses inspirational speaking with spoken word poetry, like “Hamilton” meets “TED”. This innovative blend of strategic storytelling, thought leadership, spoken word, theater and comedy humanizes content, making it entertaining, moving and memorable. Sekou’s accomplishments include an ABA “Entrepreneur of the Year” award, two Independent Music Awards, two National Poetry Slam championships, three Helen Hayes Awards, six CLIO awards, the most JPF music awards in history, and the first GRAMMY nomination for “Best Spoken Word Album” awarded to a spoken word poet in over 30 years.

It is no surprise that Forbes has called Sekou a “polymath” and “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, Capital One, L’Oreal, Global Green, Paypal, GE, The Gap, Paypal, General Mills, the ACLU, and the NBA to name but a few. Sekou’s work has been featured ABC World News, CBS, Fox, MSNBC, HBO, Good Morning America, Showtime, MTV and BET, and he has given private performances for such luminaries as Maya Angelou, Quincy Jones, Larry King, Hillary Clinton, Norman Lear, Sean “Diddy” Combs, and Coretta Scott King. Sekou has also emerged as a powerful voice for health and wellness, routinely evoking tears, cheers, and standing ovations at events for Johnson & Johnson, United Healthcare, Mayo Clinic, Blue Shield, Kaiser Permanente, TEDMED, Life Itself, Northwell Health, Genentech, Humana, and the American Medical Association.

Sekou is a multi-talented entertainer with over two decades of experience inspiring audiences across industries and genres. He has shared event stages with such heavyweights as Drake, Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z, Carlos Santana, Kendrick Lamar, Maroon 5, Jill Scott and John Legend. He is also a voiceover artist and actor with several national commercials, four feature films, and a critically-acclaimed, two-man play on his resume. With creative partner Steve Connell, Sekou has inspired audiences from the HBO Aspen Comedy Arts Festival to The Pasadena Pops Orchestra. He has even returned to the classroom, teaching his rockstar secrets to public speakers through his highly-effective Stage Might speaker training system that helps influencers and leaders become more dynamic communicators. 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 redefining the notion of what a speaker is, and what a poet can be.

He inspires you with YOUR story.

Sekou does not inspire you with his story. He inspires you with YOUR story. As an award-winning and internationally acclaimed spoken word artist, Sekou has mastered the art of creating original, custom-written spoken word pieces that illuminate the core of your message and transform the audience from simply receivers into energized responders.

DIY Innovation  – 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 finance and human resources.

The Science Of Wave Making – 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.

Be Voiceful! How To Be Mighty On Any Stage

“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, influencers and leaders by applying the proven techniques of performers (songwriters, comedians, actors, dancers, improv artists) to business communications.

Success Through Storytelling

“As an influencer, 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.

Self-Made Success

“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 fingerprints are found on your success.

The Principles Of Pre-Success (Successful Failure)

“Failure is pre-success.” Sekou takes an unconventional and unflinching 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.

Love Affair With Healthcare

“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-filled 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 Pinky Promise Of Care

“You made me an UNspoken but UNmistakably UNderstood pinky promise when I was admitted into your care…” The provision of quality healthcare is a beautiful topic. Patient safety and medical error?… not so much. So Sekou transforms this important and challenging issue into a roller coaster ride of laughter, tears and insight that holds every team member accountable for keeping patients safe. The fact that this speech consistently leaves audiences carrying Sekou’s “Pinky Promise Pledge” back to their facilities, pinning it on their walls, and sharing it with their teams is proof of how poetic voice can turn the un-sexiest of topics into powerful anthems.

Net Health Assessment

“Your net wealth is not the best test for self-worth / The true measure of wealth is the score of your Net Health” It’s not that we don’t know what to do to be healthy, we just don’t always behave. So how do you change behavior in your community, your company or your personal life to cash in on the wealth that life offers? This speech uses a beautiful, brilliantly simple metaphor to compare the ways we calculate our wealth to the ways we can calculate our health, in order to increase productivity, extend mortality, and heighten vitality. No wonder it has been presented at Fortune 50 companies and leading health conferences, as well as used in graduate school curriculums to explore behavior change in an engaging and edu-taining way.

The End Of (Sick) Days

“We are losing the fight against the most vicious enemy healthcare has ever known … zombies.” Sekou bodly takes on prevention, workplace productivity, and preventive care with another unexpected yet surprisingly effective metaphor for a speech. Playing the character of a top general in the war against “workplace zombies”, he takes you through the fictional (or is it?) story of how the Sick Day Virus was spread, chronic disease was cured and human productivity was restored through prevention, technology, and purpose driven self-care. You will never think of zombies, paid-time-off, or healthcare the same way again!