Speak with heart,
connect with impact.
Rashad is a keynote speaker who helps companies solve
culture, communication, and engagement problems
by turning storytelling, brain science,
and spoken word poetry into unforgettable business strategy.
"Rashad's style is unique, engaging, inspiring and informative...
I highly recommend him."
-Hal Lawton CEO Tractor Supply Co
"Rashad brought the house down!"
Ann Pruitt
-Executive Director TALS
"I bring Right brain ideas, into Left brain spaces."
Signature Talks
These talks resonate deeply, igniting both hearts and minds.
Rashad uses his voice to speak your language, captivating audiences and leaving them energized and equipped for action.
His unique blend of spoken word poetry, storytelling, and business insight keeps audiences on the edge of their seats.
With his rare skill set, Rashad crafts each talk to fit your industry, your company, delivering tailored messages that move people to action.
The Sound of Leadership:
How Listening Fuels Innovation
(Leadership is Listening)
In a workplace full of noise, the real leaders are the ones who know how to listen.
Your people don’t need more talking points they need listening skills that unlock innovation, build trust, and drive collaboration. In today’s world, the leaders who win aren’t the ones who speak the loudest they’re the ones who hear what others miss.
In The Sound of Leadership, Rashad Rayford unpacks the competitive edge of listening. With storytelling that moves, research that sticks, and a delivery that engages from start to finish, Rashad shows your team how to use intentional listening to fuel creativity, strengthen relationships, and turn moments of silence into strategy.
This keynote is a masterclass in unlocking breakthrough ideas by first tuning into the room. Whether you're leading teams, driving culture, or innovating the next big idea it all starts with how well you listen.
Because leadership isn’t loud. Leadership is tuned in.
Three takeaways:
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The Listening Advantage – Learn how active listening builds trust, drives engagement, and accelerates team-driven innovation.
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Transform Silence into Strategy – Equip your leaders with tools to turn conversations into insights and uncover what others miss.
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The Leadership Amplifier – Gain simple techniques to build a culture of listening that sparks better decisions, deeper collaboration, and bolder thinking.
The Heartbeat of Belonging,
why we seek, why we stay
Retention isn’t just a strategy , it’s a feeling.
People don’t stay at companies because of paychecks alone. They stay because they feel seen, heard, connected, and part of something that matters.
But in today’s fragmented workplace, belonging often gets treated as a buzzword when in truth, it’s the heartbeat of culture, performance, and retention.
In The Heartbeat of Belonging, Rashad Rayford takes your audience on a journey through the human side of the workplace unpacking the real reasons people leave, and the even deeper reasons they stay.
Using captivating stories, research-backed insight, and poetic precision, Rashad helps teams and leaders rethink what it means to build cultures that feel like home not just work.
Whether your company is hybrid, remote, or on-site, this talk gives your people the tools to build belonging from wherever they are, and keep your best people right where they want to be.
Three takeaways:
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Lead with Empathy – Equip leaders with tangible ways to show care, listen deeply, and create psychological safety that keeps teams engaged.
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Build Real Teams – Discover practical team-building strategies that strengthen bonds and reduce siloed work, even across departments or distance.
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Create Shared Ownership of Culture – Help both leaders and employees understand their role in fostering belonging, so culture isn’t top-down...it’s all-in.
Lead with your story:
Crafting Narratives that inspire career growth
Every career is powered by a story the question is, are your people telling the right one?
In fast-paced organizations, people don’t rise just by working hard they rise by communicating with clarity and confidence. But too many talented professionals stay stuck because they don’t know how to own their story.
This keynote flips that script.
In Lead With Your Story, Rashad Rayford shows your team how to turn their personal and professional journeys into powerful tools for influence, growth, and leadership. This isn’t about oversharing it’s about storytelling with purpose.
Whether your people are stepping into leadership, growing their visibility, or navigating career pivots, Rashad’s practical and energizing approach helps them unlock the narrative skills that move them forward and move others with them.
Because the story they tell determines the opportunities they attract.
Three takeaways:
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Learn how to identify and articulate career-defining stories that position your team for growth.
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Gain a framework to tell stories that build trust, boost confidence, and increase influence.
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Discover how personal narratives can improve communication, leadership, and visibility across the company.
InKNOWvation NOW!
How stories lift innovation
Innovation NOW is positive disruption!
It's all about rethinking our approach to innovation.
While innovation itself isn't a new concept, the way we practice it needs to evolve. In this high-energy keynote, Rashad shows how innovation begins with the individual, how personal growth and self-innovation are the keys to achieving powerful breakthroughs at work.
Attendees will leave feeling inspired and ready to act, understanding that the time to innovate is now.
Three takeaways:
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Self-Innovation as the Catalyst: Attendees will discover how personal transformation
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adapting habits, mindsets, and approaches lays the groundwork for greater innovation within teams and organizations.
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Breaking Through Barriers: Techniques for identifying and overcoming personal and professional barriers that prevent true innovation, allowing individuals to unlock more creative solutions.
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Action-Oriented Innovation: Practical methods to ignite immediate action, encouraging attendees to stop waiting for the perfect moment and start innovating now, both personally and within their teams.
We're Off to See The Wizard
(The Art of Storytelling)
We’re Off to See the Wizard (The Art of Storytelling) reveals the magic of storytelling in business. We all tell stories every day, yet many hesitate to use them in selling or building professional relationships. In this keynote or workshop, Rashad illustrates how storytelling has the power to transform both our personal lives and our business success. Attendees will learn how to harness their natural storytelling abilities to forge deeper connections, influence outcomes, and inspire action.
Three takeaways:
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Stories as a Business Tool: Attendees will understand why storytelling is essential in sales and relationship-building, learning how to break down the misconception that stories are not suitable for professional settings.
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Crafting Transformative Narratives: Practical guidance on how to craft and share stories that resonate with clients and colleagues, leading to more meaningful engagement and trust.
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The Power of Personal Stories: Attendees will learn how to leverage their own experiences to create authentic connections, using personal narratives to inspire action, build credibility, and enhance communication.
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Moments that Matter:
Transforming customer
engagement into loyalty
Your brand isn't defined by what you sell it's defined by how you make people feel.
In an age of endless options and short attention spans, the companies that win are the ones that master the moments that matter. Whether it's a first impression, a follow-up email, or a conversation that feels like more than just a pitch those moments create loyalty.
In Moments That Matter, Rashad Rayford energizes your sales team with a fresh perspective on how everyday interactions become long-term relationships. With a dynamic blend of story, strategy, and soul, this keynote shows your people how to elevate customer engagement by creating experiences that feel personal, valuable, and unforgettable.
This isn’t just about hitting quotas, it’s about creating customers who don’t just buy, but believe.
Perfect for sales kickoffs, customer experience events, or culture-building conferences this talk will remind your people that the small moments are the big ones.
Three takeaways:
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Spot the Moment – Learn how to identify and maximize critical touch points that make or break customer relationships.
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Move from Transaction to Transformation – Get practical strategies to deepen engagement, build emotional connection, and drive long-term loyalty.
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Elevate Sales Culture – Equip sales teams with tools to turn satisfied customers into brand believers and repeat buyers.
I Pledge Allegiance to Healthcare
Before healthcare can heal others, it has to remember its own humanity.
Healthcare professionals are stretched thin by systems, by stress, and by the sheer volume of it all. But beneath the policies and protocols lies a truth too vital to ignore: people stay where they feel seen.
I Pledge Allegiance to Healthcare is a passionate call to action for healthcare leaders, caregivers, and frontline workers to return to what matters most people. Through bold storytelling, practical insight, and moments that reconnect the heart to the mission, Rashad Rayford delivers a message your team won’t just hear they’ll feel.
This keynote helps your organization re-center on empathy, re-energize your teams, and re-imagine what’s possible when we put people over numbers. Because healing begins the moment someone feels cared for not just treated.
Whether your team is in the ER, the boardroom, or the breakroom, this is the pulse they’ve been waiting for.
Three takeaways
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People Over Numbers – Reignite the patient-first mindset by seeing individuals, not just data, and drive better outcomes through empathy.
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Empathy as a Leadership Standard – Equip healthcare leaders with tools to foster compassion, reduce burnout, and lead from the heart.
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Culture that Cares – Learn proven strategies to build healthcare environments where respect, connection, and humanity are woven into daily operations.
Perfect for:
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Healthcare conferences
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Nurse leadership summits
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Hospital culture initiatives
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DEI + patient experience events
L.E.A.R.N. to inspire:
Innovative Leadership
for today's world
L.E.A.R.N. to Inspire: Innovative Leadership for Today’s World is a high-energy keynote tailored for both emerging and seasoned leaders. Rashad introduces the L.E.A.R.N. framework, designed to equip leaders with powerful tools to inspire their teams to innovate, execute, and grow. This engaging session empowers leaders to spark creativity, drive results, and foster continuous development within their teams—meeting the challenges of today’s dynamic work environment.
Three takeaways:
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The L.E.A.R.N. Framework: Attendees will discover a structured yet adaptable framework to lead with inspiration—helping teams innovate, take action, and achieve sustainable growth.
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Inspiring Team Innovation: Practical techniques for sparking creativity within teams, creating an environment that encourages fresh ideas and problem-solving.
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Execution and Growth Mindset: Strategies for motivating teams not only to generate ideas but to execute them effectively, promoting a culture of continuous learning and development.
Rashad tha Poet
Elevate Your Vibe
Testimonials
New Video
As Seen in and partnered with:
Want an engaging Virtual Talk?
I want your virtual experience to feel like a stage experience.
Elevating the Vibe at TEDx Nashville
A story on students similarities
Elevating the Vibe at Tivity Health's Summit
with a talk entitled:
"I pledge allegiance to health care"
Covered by NPR
Groundbreaking of
5th and Broad
The National Museum of African American Music
With bold narratives and creative vision
shared onstage,
every barrier breaks,
every purpose ignites.
Elevating the vibe with Healthways
Corporate Narrative Training
S.T.A.R. is a proprietary framework that helps companies expand and explain their narrative.
"A business without an ability to tell their story isn't a business at all."
S.T.A.R. focuses on four building blocks
SAFE- We must create safe environments for stories to grow and be nurtured. Our business story should be ever evolving, but are we fostering a place for that growth?
TEAM- When we build our personal narratives we don't always depend on teammates but our businesses thrive on TEAM-work, but when we have so many different backgrounds and stories how do we connect these dots? Our abilities or inability to work as a team, dictate our business story.
AUTHENTIC- We believe stories that are told from an authentic place, we also ( as customers) can tell when it isn't. We will unpack how to be more authentic in our narrative approach.
REASSURE- When people work for us or spend money with us, one of the biggest things we leave on the table is our capacity to reassure them. People just want to feel and know that they are valuable to you. They want to know they aren't just another person on an assembly line or just another dollar in your pocket.
My frameworks will help you retain employees and also build long lasting relationships with customers and clients.
The S.T.A.R. method can be broken into smaller segments or for better results instituted for a calendar year.
S.T.A.R. building blocks
These units below can be added into the S.T.A.R. curriculum.
To maximize these trainings a 3 month commitment is recommended but not required.
