Keynote speaker for communities, companies, conventions, conferences, and colleges
Sam Davidson frequently speaks at conferences, conventions, and colleges to help audiences build and strengthen community. His messages approach community building through the lenses of leadership, storytelling, entrepreneurship, service, innovation, and how you can have a better impact through each.
As an entrepreneur, consultant, father, and author, Sam knows the unique challenges faced by anyone trying to chase down a dream and live a meaningful life. His talks are funny, uplifting, full of energy, and focused on actionable steps so attendees can take what he says and use it in their own personal and professional lives.
Browse a sample list of past events here.
Above all, Sam's messages are always uniquely tailored to the audience and the event so that listeners get a speech that is fresh and perfect for who they are and where they are in life, making sure they talk about what they heard, long after he finishes speaking.
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Bring Sam Davidson to your next event
Sam's most popular keynote speeches
Community Wins
Die with a lot of cash and you’ll leave behind some money; die with a lot of community and you’ll leave behind a legacy.
In this inspiring and informative session, Sam Davidson will dive deep into the idea of social capital and while all of us need if we’re looking to create meaning, wealth, and belonging for ourselves and others.
In a world where it seems like so many of us must do so much more with so much less, the only way to accomplish personal, organization, or societal dreams is by working together, building alliances, and sharing resources. The myth of the solitary leader or entrepreneur who built his or her empire with their own two hands and nothing more? It’s a big fat lie and Sam Davidson is here to expose it.
In this energetic and memorable presentation, speaker, author, and entrepreneur Sam Davidson will prove that the height of your success is directly related to the depth of your community. The takeaway? If you want to be more successful than ever before, then you’ll need to be more anchored in community and your team than ever before.
Davidson will detail not just why we must begin working together (with allies, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and yes - even rivals and enemies), but how we can do that. Drawing upon personal experience and proven examples from the worlds of media, education, business, sports, and the arts, Davidson will show how humans were made to work together and how working together drastically increases outcomes for all involved.
The time for territorialism and isolation is over; the time has come to work together to accomplish more. Davidson - with his signature blend of humor and education - will walk the audience through memorable and replicable steps so that they can build value-based alliances, increase visibility and impact in their community, and begin to create a legacy that others can emulate. Davidson will then leave the audience with the 4 hallmarks of deep community so that anyone can apply these principles at work or at home.
The Case for Community
Slow communities create fast companies. Organizations that focus on people have greater returns and faster growth than those who merely focus on products. Yet so many businesses neglect what could be a growing core asset.
In this presentation, Sam Davidson will make a compelling case for how to measure the ROI of community. (Spoiler alert: it’s not immediate and you can’t always easily measure it in dollars and cents.) This will of course drive your CFO crazy, but delight your CCO (Chief Community Officer). Oh - you don’t have a CCO? Then you’re already behind; time to catch up.
The ROI of community can be measured in three core ways and Davidson will walk you through the depths of each:
In story
In relationships
In impact
Davidson will then help you understand the kinds of investments needed today to grow deep and lucrative community and the pitfalls team and companies need to avoid. Whether you’re responsible for creating the community or not, this presentation will arm you with the tools to advocate and make the case for community to your boss, your clients, your board, and your network.
The best time to start building a community was yesterday. The second best time is today.
What We Repeatedly Do: Choosing Excellence Every Day
Choosing excellence everyday can get lost in the details of work, life, and everything in between. That’s why, in this high-energy and practical speech, Davidson will share the hallmarks of organizations that are succeeding in the marketplace and winning the war for talent due to their culture and commitment to excellence. Davidson will walk attendees through case studies and proven methods so that those in attendance will be able to apply what he shares to strengthen their teams. Ultimately, attendees will leave with practical, actionable ideas they can apply no matter their job title, pay grade, or career ambitions so that their teams and companies achieve successful and excellent results day in and day out.
How to Lead Different: The hallmarks of servant leadership
Today’s leaders - whether they’re leading legacy companies or helming a fast growing startup - must understand people as much as they understand balance sheets, supply chains, or strategic planning. But how can leaders who have focused on a bottom line for so long begin to look at the return on their biggest asset: human capital? In this keynote speech that brings the human side of management to the forefront, Sam Davidson challenges his listeners to begin to think differently about how they are recruiting, onboarding, training, managing, and challenging employees. Drawing upon examples from the worlds of servant leadership, entrepreneurship, media, art, and big business, Davidson provides key lessons that can be implemented immediately in nearly every workplace.
Making a Living: Entrepreneurship with heart, mind, and soul
Equal parts primer, inspiration source, and field manual, “Making a Living” is an honest look at what it takes to create something new in America today. This talk analyzes the rapidly growing world of entrepreneurship and helps any aspiring or current entrepreneur consider their (potential) work in terms of three key ingredients:
Heart (your passion - what keeps you going when it’s tough)
Mind (your talent - what can earn you money)
Soul (your purpose - what makes it more than a job)
Rest assured: this talk is not for those purely interested in business or commercial entrepreneurship for a potential career. Because of its three core areas (heart, mind, soul), it is also suited for social entrepreneurs, nonprofit founders, volunteer leaders, and anyone who wants to take their passionate idea and bring it into reality. The principles needed to start a million-dollar company are remarkably similar to the ones needed to start a neighborhood clean up day, youth soccer camp, or campus wide fundraiser.
What My 2nd Grade Girlfriend Taught Me About Leadership
Whether you're a new leader or an experienced veteran, leadership is urgent work. Good leaders are those who make the most of their time at the helm to motivate others to join the cause, replicate themselves in order to grow a large movement, and end up accomplishing great things. In this highly energetic and honest talk about leadership, Sam shares why leaders have a core story they use in order to attract new followers, why the work of leadership often looks like cleaning up, and what legacy means for today's leaders.