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David Allison      

Human Values Expert & Keynote Speaker; Author of "The Death of Demographics"

David Allison is a human values expert, international speaker and 2X best-selling author. He is focused on changing how we understand ourselves, the people around us, and those we hope to engage with in our work. As the founder of the Valuegraphics Project – the first global inventory of core human values – he has transformed human values into measurable data and created an entirely new type of human-centric insights. Allison helps big brands like PayPal, Five Star School Supplies, the United Nations Foundation, and Google connect with people by honoring their values.

His work is included in college textbooks used worldwide, and has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and INC Magazine. His latest book The Death of Demographics was hailed by critics as "Convincing, insightful, and...revolutionary."

Speech Topics


Boosting Sales by Being Human

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 it 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.

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 it 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.

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 it 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.

The Superhuman Add-On 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 it 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.

Cracking the Customer Experience Code

Master the transformative and science-backed method for giving customers what they value most.

What is customer experience? In this era of instability, it’s a more complicated question than ever. Today’s customers want more than just seamless functionality; they want a customer journey that aligns with their values. But there’s never been a way to identify and measure which values are shared by your customers. Until now.

Human values expert, customer experience keynote speaker, and 2x best-selling author David Allison has done exactly that, conducting nearly a million surveys in 152 languages featuring hundreds of millions of data points.

The result? He and his team have turned shared human values into hard data that’s readable, meaningful, and actionable.

As businesses seek to create stand-out customer experiences, David Allison’s punchy and fascinating keynotes will show you how to transform CX by leaning in to CV: customer values. He’ll reveal the exact values that will work, and show you how to use them to motivate and inspire the people you want to engage. The CX secret code is all about values. Because we are all values-driven.

Who is it for? - Customer experience professionals

  • Product managers and product designers

  • Organizational leadership

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.

Founders & entrepreneurs

The Next Step: DEI Beyond the Stereotypes

Unlock the most meaningful benefits of diversity, equity, and inclusion by diving deep into human values.

Here’s the truth: marginalized groups around the world have not been treated fairly, and there’s a great deal of work still to be done to achieve diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. But a strong foundation can only be built on common ground. Nothing good has ever come from doubling down on what makes us different.

The answer is to shine a light on what unites us.

Human values expert, DEI keynote speaker and 2x best-selling author David Allison — himself an Indigenous Canadian and member of the LGBTQ+ community — 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. What does that mean for DEI efforts? It means that now we know what connects us. And we can use that data to move beyond what divides us. It means we can see ourselves in each other, and celebrate what makes us unique. It means we can finally retire the hurtful outdated demographic stereotypes, and see who people are in their hearts.

Who is it for?

  • DEI, culture, and HR leaders

  • Marketing departments and agencies seeking to authentically embrace DEI in their messaging

-Organizations looking to revolutionize their business 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.

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Avoid the Bud Light Blunder

Do a lot of good – and do very well – with values-aligned sustainability and social responsibility.

Values drive customer decisions more than ever: people today expect the brands they support to reflect their values. In fact it’s safe to say we live in the Values Economy now. But the road of good intentions can be a perilous one. Just ask Budweiser, whose social responsibility efforts caused outrage across their customer base. Dangerous corporate missteps like this will always be known as “Bud Light Blunders” after the number one beer in the USA dropped to number two as a result of their values-alignment mistake.

How can you avoid a Bud Light Blunder of your own?

David Allison’s dynamic and entertaining keynote will help your organization or industry identify and embrace the specific shared values of your customers, your employees – whoever you want to engage.

He’ll show you how to use those values as a guiding star to clearly see the sustainability and social responsibility strategies that will unite people, not divide them. You will learn how to bring people together, do a lot of good, and do very well. Because we are all values-driven.

Who is it for?

  • Sustainability, Social Responsibility, and ESG leaders

  • Nonprofits and NGOs working to make the world a better place

  • Purpose-driven organizations and executives

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.

The Science of Values-Based Leadership

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.

LGBTQ+: More Than Alphabet Soup

Engage the LGBTQ+ community authentically – by abandoning outdated stereotypes and embracing shared values.

The acronym LGBTQ+, or in it’s fullest version LGBTQQIP2SAA, is more than a string of letters. These letters represent communities worldwide that continue to face systemic challenges and injustices, and there's a significant journey ahead to achieve true recognition and inclusion. But how can we find shared values and understanding by focusing on what makes us different?

The first step is to shine a light on what we have in common: our shared human values.

David Allison’s passionate and dynamic keynotes deliver breakthrough thinking about what connects us, providing a bridge for your organization to connect people in a truly authentic way.

David will help you transcend traditional demographic categories, uncover deep insights into our shared motivations and values, and illuminate not just who people are – but why they do what they do.

LGBTQ+ is more than an acronym. It represents real people who can’t be summed up by a letter of the alphabet. Values are the way to understand who they truly are, on the inside, where it counts.

Who is it for?

  • DEI, culture, and HR leaders

  • Marketing departments and agencies seeking to authentically understand the LGBTQIA community

  • Organizations looking to revolutionize their business from the ground up, built on genuine inclusion

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 identify the shared values of anyone you want to engage and inspire.

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