David Allison

Speaking topics

Presentations listed below include in-person and virtual keynotes, as well as workshops, fireside chats, and other presentation formats.

• 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 two-time bestselling 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 Allison says, “If we let them, our values will unite us. Because we are all values driven.”

  Key takeaways include:

  • 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.
  • Allison’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.

  Key leadership insights explored include how to:

  • 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.
  • Employ values-based conflict resolution: Find out how to use values to navigate and resolve conflicts effectively.
  • Lean into diverse leadership styles: Discover how to tailor leadership styles to meet the values of diverse teams.

  This presentation is great for leaders and managers at all levels, organizations that want to cultivate great leaders, founders and entrepreneurs.

• Passion and Purpose — Not Ping Pong and 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 two-time bestselling 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, Allison 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 Allison’s game-changing research and 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.

  Key takeaways include:

  • 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.

  Key employee engagement and retention insights explored include how to:

  • Align policies with values: Gain insights into creating policies that resonate with what employees value most, fostering a culture of belonging and motivation.
  • Create values-driven communication: Acquire strategies for communicating with your team in a way that honours 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.

  This presentation is great for people and culture professionals, senior strategy-level leadership in any industry, pension and benefits providers.

• 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 two-time bestselling 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 Allison’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. Allison’s keynote will show you how.

  Key takeaways include:

  • 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.
  • Allison’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.

  Key sales insights explored include how to:

  • Build 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.

  This presentation is great for sales teams and leaders. marketing departments and agencies, organizational leaders looking to revolutionize their businesses from the ground up.

• 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, David Allison knows the limits of demographics when it comes to inclusion and belonging. You can’t engage, motivate, or inspire people simply by speaking to their demographic labels. That’s nothing more than stereotyping, and it doesn’t work. You need to understand their values — the things that make them who they are deep inside their 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 two-time bestselling author, I’ve conducted nearly a million surveys on human values in 152 languages featuring hundreds of millions of data points. Along the way, Allison has identified 912 types of belonging, and this keynote pinpoints which ones — in your unique situation — will move the needle most. And that’s not where it ends. Allison will dive deep 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 his keynotes, Allison shares proven, data-driven methods for building cultures 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!

  Key audience takeaways include:

  • 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.
  • Allison’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.

  Key workplace culture insights explored include how to:

  • 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.

  This presentation is great for CPOs and culture leaders, human resources teams, and organizations of all sizes.

• 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.

  Allison’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, Allison’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, 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. Allison will show you how to put them to work.

  Key takeaways include:

  • 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.
  • Allison’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.

  Key AI and the future of work insights explored include how to:

  • 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.

  This presentation is great for people and culture professionals, senior strategy-level leadership in any industry, organizations faced with ai threats and opportunities and ai technology creators.