Your audience
needs more
than a
speech.
The era of being talked at is over. Join leadership and learning expert David Preston on a trip through ideas and experiences that change the way we look at everything.
CLICK HERE to chat with David
David has given transformative keynote speeches around the world for three decades.
In addition to his organizational development work with clients, David is the world’s foremost authority on the strategies and practices that became known as Open-Source Learning. His keynotes invigorate audiences with a rich, interdisciplinary approach to familiar topics, combined with forays into neurology, quantum mechanics, and pop culture that make every topic entertaining and immediately applicable to business and life.
Here are some examples:
Learning to Fly
Have you ever felt stuck on the ground when you really wanted to fly?
In 2004 I took a sabbatical from my management consulting practice and teaching positions at UCLA to teach high school English at one of America’s largest high schools in Los Angeles. My students included gang leaders, teen parents, and suicidal introverts. And lots of perfectly normal, everyday kids who just thought school sucked, including one chronic underperformer who wanted to become a pilot.
In Learning to Fly I share how the core principles of Open-Source Learning helped students transcend the constraints of their environment to expand their imaginations and perform at unprecedented heights. In just a few short months our explorations took us to Yosemite, Mongolia, and even – thanks to the world’s newest pilot – to the sky.
If a high school student can learn to fly, just imagine what you can do.
Build Your Open-Source Learning Network
We know that we work faster and more effectively when we learn together. This talk is designed to help you design your own interdisciplinary exploration and recruit a community of critique and support that supercharges your learning.
In Build Your Open-Source Learning Network I provide the Open-Source Learning framework, entertaining examples, hands-on activities, and a step-by-step guide to help you create your own road map for success.
The Five Fitnesses
It’s hard to watch the news. Every week seems to bring a new crisis.
Through it all, we have the capacity to heal and achieve.
How?
In The Five Fitnesses you will learn how to build your mental, physical, civic, spiritual, and technological fitness. Every audience member will leave with an Open-Source Learning strategy for sustaining their newfound learning strength.
Learning to Lead / Leading to Learn
Leading today’s organizations and cultures requires the willingness and skillful ability to learn.
Most of us first learned about leadership in school, where there is an abundance of structure and rules that tell us to stay quiet and keep our eyes on our own papers. Then we wonder why graduates aren’t motivated to take risks or collaborate in teams.
In Learning to Lead / Leading to Learn, I flip the script: Everyone at every level of your organization is an active learner. Leaders are stewards, guides, and mentors who model the art of learning and transparently practice what they preach.
This keynote includes a working demonstration – every audience member will demonstrate their understanding of at least one new leadership practice and curate their learning in ways that create real-time value.
Participants Come Away Energized
“It was amazing to watch David not just describe best practices but model them in real time– bringing students and colleagues online from around the world took the promise of learning from ideal to real.”
MacArthur Foundation Digital Media & Learning Conference
“David brings cutting edge research and practice together with humor and humanity to deliver a message of learning, value, interdependence, and hope.”
TEDxUCLA
“Dr. Preston’s energy and compassion brought us into a world of motivated learners who design their own interdisciplinary journeys and create high value networks all over the world. Welcome to the Learning Economy.”
Institute for the Future
“Dr. Preston delivered a vision of Open Source Learning that made an immediate impact. This is the future of education.”
O’Reilly OSCON
“David’s unique perspectives on management, leadership, vision and strategy breathed new life into familiar topics and energized an executive audience who thought they’d seen it all.”
The Employers Group
“Dr. Preston takes collaboration and engagement to a whole new level. Our members loved his talk and took his messages to heart in ways that will help their organizations, communities, and constituents. This is a cultural foundation we can build schools on.”
California Charter Schools Conference
