Biography

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After decades of helping big brands engage people, David Allison recognized that demographics weren’t working like before. Gender roles were blurred, age has nothing to do with how we behave, and our income doesn’t change what’s in our hearts. Instead, our values drive our behavior and our shared values that engage people and influence outcomes. So he launched the Valuegraphics Project to turn human values into data and create a revolutionary new approach to inspiring action – with the enormous power of shared human values.

Today, after nearly a million surveys in 152 languages, David Allison is the world’s foremost human values expert, with two bestselling books and an international speaking career. Innovative organizations like PayPal, Lululemon, and the United Nations Foundation use David’s data to connect with people in new, more profound ways – by honoring what they value. He coined the term valuegraphics to describe his unique approach to understanding people, which now appears next to demographics in textbooks used on campuses worldwide. Valuegraphics have been featured in Forbes, INC Magazine, and the Harvard Business Review, and his latest book, The Death of Demographics, was hailed by critics as “Convincing, insightful, and…revolutionary.”

David Allison has developed an entirely new and powerful way to address any issue, and seize any opportunity by leaning deep into a fundamental human truth: we are what we value. His highly engaging and passionate keynote delivery, combined with game-changing insights, make his keynote presentations entirely unique can’t-miss events.

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The Science of Values-Based Leadership

Leverage the next evolution in values-driven leadership with a scientific breakthrough in human values data.

Neurologists have known for years that leading people effectively requires tapping into their core values. But until now, there hasn’t been a way to identify, measure, and leverage the specific values shared by teams, or large groups of people.

Human values expert, leadership keynote speaker, and 2x best-selling author David Allison has turned our shared human values into accurate empirical data, conducting nearly a million surveys in 152 languages featuring hundreds of millions of data points. In his fast-paced and dynamic leadership keynotes, he isolates the values that mean the most to your teams, your entire workforce, or even the workforce of your entire industry. Then he shows you how to use values to tackle any issue and meet any goal.

Once you learn the accurate, science-backed, shared values of your people, the transformation begins. You’ll see your true self in your work. You’ll see where your values intersect with the values of people you need to engage. And you’ll find that more effective leadership comes from being more human. As David says: “If we let them, our values will unite us. Because we are all values-driven.”

WHO IS THIS FOR?
- Leaders and managers at all levels
- Organizations that want to cultivate great leaders
- Founders & Entrepreneurs

AUDIENCE TAKEAWAYS:
- The specific Power Values that will empower you to engage people and influence outcomes.
- Creative, detailed strategies to immediately put the Power Values to use.
- David’s revolutionary Values Thinking Process that turns shared values into actionable tactics.
- The Three Telltale Questions that will identify the shared values of anyone you want to engage and inspire.

LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS:
- Improve Collaboration: Learn how to leverage shared values for stronger team cohesion and enhanced collaboration.
- Align Corporate Goals with Human Values: Understand how to align organizational goals with employee values for greater engagement.
- Values-Based Conflict Resolution: Find out how to use values to navigate and resolve conflicts effectively.
- Diverse Leadership Styles: Discover how to tailor leadership styles to meet the values of diverse teams.

Passion & Purpose – Not Ping Pong & Pizza

Discover the revolutionary, scientifically proven source of employee engagement, retention, and achievement

It’s no secret that employee engagement and retention are in freefall. Companies continue to offer more perks and incentives, yet 85% of employees worldwide aren’t engaged at work. Many organizations are at a loss for how to make people do great things and feel satisfied along the way.

Human values expert, employee engagement keynote speaker and 2x best-selling author David Allison has dedicated his career to studying the core values that drive people to become engaged, inspired, and motivated. By conducting nearly a million surveys in 152 languages featuring hundreds of millions of data points, David and his team have turned shared human values into hard data that’s readable, meaningful, and actionable. It’s no wonder his work is included in college textbooks worldwide and leveraged by organizations like Google, PayPal, lululemon, and the United Nations Foundation.

Guided by David’s game-changing research – delivered in an unforgettably dynamic keynote – you’ll discover how to go beyond pointless perks to create an engaged workforce incentivized by what they value most. People don’t want ping pong tables and free pizza. Give them more of what they value, and you’ll unlock their true passion and full potential.

WHO IS THIS FOR?
- People and Culture Professionals
- Senior strategy-level leadership in any industry
- Pension and Benefits Providers

AUDIENCE TAKEAWAYS:
- The specific Power Values that will empower you to engage people and influence outcomes.
- Creative, detailed strategies to immediately put the Power Values to use.
- David’s revolutionary Values Thinking Process that turns shared values into actionable tactics.
- The Three Telltale Questions that will identify the shared values of anyone you want to engage and inspire.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT & RETENTION INSIGHTS:
- Align Policies with Values: Gain insights into creating policies that resonate with what employees value most, fostering a culture of belonging and motivation.
- Values-Driven Communication: Acquire strategies for communicating with your team in a way that honors their core values, enhancing clarity and commitment.
- Boost Team Cohesion: Explore methods to identify and leverage common values within your team, strengthening bonds and collaboration.

Boosting Sales by Being Human

Drive marketing ROI and explosive sales growth with human values, using data and insights from the world's leading expert.

Consumers today are harder to understand than ever before, behaving in unpredictable ways and failing to fit the mold of traditional demographics like age, income, gender, and education. We have more data and insights than ever, but all that data isn’t getting us closer to achieving our goals. But what if we’re measuring the wrong things?

For the first time, human values expert, sales keynote speaker and 2x best-selling author David Allison has turned our shared human values into accurate empirical data, conducting nearly a million surveys in 152 languages featuring hundreds of millions of data points. His findings align with a neurological truth: every decision we make, thousands of times of day, is determined by our values. It’s no wonder his discoveries are included in college textbooks worldwide and leveraged by organizations like Google, PayPal, lululemon, Five Star School Supplies, and the United Nations Foundation.

The result of David’s global research is a proven, science-backed method for identifying the values your audience shares. His must-see keynotes are more than a speech, they are dynamic events that teach you how to use values to drive sales and marketing efforts that really work.

You can engage any audience, deliver any message, and fuel explosive sales growth with the power of shared human values. David’s keynote will show you how.

WHO IS THIS FOR?
- Sales teams and leaders
- Marketing departments and agencies
- Organizational leaders looking to revolutionize their businesses from the ground up

AUDIENCE TAKEAWAYS:
- The specific Power Values that will empower you to engage people and influence outcomes.
- Creative, detailed strategies to immediately put the Power Values to use.
- David’s revolutionary Values Thinking Process that turns shared values into actionable tactics.
- The Three Telltale Questions that will identify the shared values of anyone you want to engage and inspire.

SALES INSIGHTS:
- Better Bonds: Discover how to align sales strategies with customer values for deeper connections and better results
- Identify Drivers: Learn how to identify key values that drive purchasing decisions in diverse customer groups.
- Speak Their Language: Master the art of values-based communication to resonate with customers' core beliefs and needs

The Blueprint for Belonging

Discover how to create a culture of belonging from the world’s leading expert on human values.

As a gay man and an Indigenous Canadian, I know the limits of demographics when it comes to inclusion and belonging. Just like everyone else, you can’t engage, motivate or inspire me simply by speaking to my demographic labels. That’s nothing more than stereotyping, and it doesn’t work. You need to understand my values — the things that make me who I am deep inside my heart. So where does that leave organizations who want to cultivate a culture of belonging?

As a human values expert, workplace culture keynote speaker and 2x best-selling author, I’ve conducted nearly a million surveys on human values in 152 languages featuring hundreds of millions of data points. Along the way, I’ve identified 912 types of belonging, and this keynote pinpoints which ones – in your situation – will move the needle most. And that’s not where it ends. Together we will dive deeper and explore the other values that will unite the people you want to engage, regardless of their demographic differences. Our values bring us together. Our values make us feel like we belong.

In my keynotes I share our proven, data-driven method for building a culture of belonging – for the people you want to engage – by honoring what they value. These are the insights you need to drive inclusion and create real cultural change. Values are the answer, so let’s put them to work!

WHO IS THIS FOR?
- CPOs and culture leaders
- Human resources teams
- Organizations of all sizes

AUDIENCE TAKEAWAYS:
- The specific Power Values that will empower you to engage people and influence outcomes.
- Creative, detailed strategies to immediately put the Power Values to use.
- David’s revolutionary Values Thinking Process that turns shared values into actionable tactics.
- The Three Telltale Questions that will identify the shared values of anyone you want to engage and inspire.

WORKPLACE CULTURE INSIGHTS:
- Build Belonging: Discover how to identify and leverage the shared values of your workforce to foster a sense of belonging.
- Discard Stereotypes: Learn how to create a values-driven workplace culture that transcends demographic stereotypes.
- Unite and Inspire: Understand how to use Valuegraphics to deeply engage and motivate diverse employee groups.

The Superhuman Antidote to AI

Learn David Allison’s revolutionary values-driven approach to help you thrive alongside AI, and the next disruptive tech too.

Businesses don't like risk, and the blend of chaos, emotion, and complexity that we call "the human factor" is one of the biggest risks any business must face. But right now, as incredibly disruptive technologies like AI emerge at a stunning pace, the only antidote is for us to become more incredibly human than ever before. To do that, we need to make “the human factor” less risky. That’s what David Allison does in this keynote.

David’s team has turned human values into data, creating boardroom-friendly facts and figures to replace subjective conversations. Now we can combine revolutionary new super-machines like AI with a revolutionary new understanding of the humans who use them. It’s the combination we need to solve any problem and achieve any goal.

Backed by nearly a million surveys completed in 152 languages, David’s transformative keynotes reveal the exact values that drive people with unprecedented detail and clarity. It’s no wonder his work is included in college textbooks used worldwide and leveraged by organizations like Google, PayPal, lululemon, and the United Nations Foundation.

As businesses strive to remain relevant in a tech-driven landscape, David Allison's fast-paced and fascinating keynotes serve as a timely reminder that to thrive in the future, we must lean into what makes us quintessentially human. To thrive alongside super-technologies like AI – and whatever comes next – we must be superhuman. Values are the answer. David will show you how to put them to work.

WHO IS THIS FOR?
- People and Culture Professionals
- Senior strategy-level leadership in any industry
- Organizations faced with AI threats and opportunities
- AI technology creators

AUDIENCE TAKEAWAYS:
- The specific Power Values that will empower you to engage people and influence outcomes.
- Creative, detailed strategies to immediately put the Power Values to use.
- David’s revolutionary Values Thinking Process that turns shared values into actionable tactics.
- The Three Telltale Questions that will identify the shared values of anyone you want to engage and inspire.

AI AND THE FUTURE OF WORK INSIGHTS:
- Identify Shared Values: Find out how to implement AI and technology solutions that resonate with the intrinsic values of your workforce.
- Reduce Fear of Innovation: Discover how to align organizational strategies with core human values for unprecedented employee engagement.
- Align Values and People: Gain insights into building more cohesive and motivated teams through shared values.

Testimonials

Phenomenal! People were raving!
– ERICA CAMPBELL, VP Global Public Relations, Hines
We've known for a long time that values reveal crucial consumer insights. Finally, we have a data-based metric to back it up. This is a global game-changer.
– DORION CARROLL, VP, Customer Engagement Technologies, Amazon
It freaks me out that David maybe knows me better than I know myself, and his gin martini vs. vodka martini case study turned my world upside down. James Bond, take note. A born storyteller and people love him!
– DOUGLAS COUPLAND, Novelist, designer, and visual artist
David is your key to a successful event. He will will change the way you work, think, and live!
– NANCY SNOWDEN, Lead Manager, Educational Experiences, MP
Our attendees will be talking about David’s presentation for years to come.
– Samantha J. Bowerman, CMP, DES, Strategic Meetings Group
Smart, relevant, engaging, and an absolute delight to work with.
– Danielle Lamothe, Canadian Society of Association Executives
David should have his own TV talk show.
– Emily Molnar, Artistic Director, Netherlands Dance Theater
This is the future of marketing, CX, UX, employee engagement... this is the future of everything.
– Peggy Anne Salz, Senior Contributor, Forbes Harvard Business Review
The best speaker we've had since Malcolm Gladwell!
– Cindy Chandler, Former Deputy Executive Director, American Gem Society

Booksby David Allison

The Depth of Demographics

We Are All the Same Now

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