David speaks in Norway at TEDx Tromsø

David Parrish was one of the speakers at TEDx Tromsø on Thursday 10 September 2015.

His TEDx talk was about “Empowerment through Creative Entrepreneurship”

 

A listed TED Speaker, David was the keynote speaker in Italy at TEDx Napoli on the theme of ‘Crisis and Creativity’ with his talk entitled ‘a-Creativity : i-Creativity’.

David also gave a TEDx talk in Morocco at TEDxENCGJ on the theme of ‘Power is Illusion’ with his talk ‘Marketing: Power by Illusion?’ (See associated article: “Is Marketing a ‘Paper Tiger’?”)

David is a keynote conference speaker, business adviser, and the author of two books and other publications. He works internationally helping creative entrepreneurs to become even more successful by combining their creative passion with smart business techniques that fit with their values and objectives.

David speaks at conferences, conventions and other events on a wide range of topics and themes relating to business strategy, marketing, communications, international business, creativity and entrepreneurship.

See the Media Pack summarising David’s expertise and track record as a keynote speaker, testimonials from clients about his speeches, presentations and lectures, plus a range of topics on which he can speak.

As a TEDx speaker, David can deliver a TED talk for your TEDx event on subjects such as:

1. “Local and Global”
The distant is often regarded as more exotic and the local overlooked as ‘ordinary’. We can sell and collaborate online globally, yet sometimes close contact is required to build trust and co-operate effectively. How do we get the best from both global and local? David discussed these issues in an article for the City Tribune, Liverpool.

2. “Are you busy?”
We are often proud of how busy we are, but why? Are we in danger of becoming “busy fools”? Being busy can be a form of laziness. By keeping busy with trivial things, we can consciously or unconsciously distract ourselves from the more difficult and more important task of thinking about what’s really important for our lives and our enterprises. This is one of the subjects in David’s latest book ‘Chase One Rabbit’.

3. “Imagination and Rationality”
We need to be hopeful and imaginative, yet rational and realistic. How do we reconcile this paradox? We can use right-brain creative thinking then left-brain logical thinking in a complementary ‘yin/yang’ fashion. David talks about creating ideas and possibilities, then using a ‘feasibility filter’ to assess which ones are most important and achievable. David developed the idea of a ‘feasibility filter’ in his first book ‘T-Shirts and Suits: A Guide to the Business of Creativity’.

4. “How to Make Money While You Sleep”
Business models which are based on intellectual property have the potential to generate income from licensing and other commercialisation techniques. David talks about commercialising our creativity with many interesting examples from the world of the creative, cultural and digital industries internationally.

5. “Authentic Marketing”
How strategic marketing is different than the commonly-understood meaning of marketing as ‘glitzy sales techniques’ and allows a person or enterprise to be authentic, connecting only with the most appropriate customers. Authentic marketing isn’t a separate “selling” function to delegate to ‘marketing people’; it’s something the business owner is best qualified to do – whether or not they recognise this!

6. “How to use creativity (both a-Creativity and i-Creativity)”
Both kinds of creativity can be used by individuals, organisations and enterprises to achieve greater success.

7. “How to avoid the wrong kind of success”
It’s dangerously easy to follow the conventional wisdom on achieving success defined by other people and society at large. What’s more important is to devise your own unique definition of Success and then design a plan to achieve it.

8. “Why a Business Formula beats a Business Plan”
Business plans are often written for an external audience then ignored internally because business owners don’t actually believe in them. What’s more important and much more useful is to create your own Business Formula.

9. “Strategy, Power and Pricing”
Pricing is a complex and difficult issue faced by entrepreneurs in the creative industries and elsewhere. Pricing can be regarded as a function of the power relationship between seller and buyer, based on demand and supply. The businesses that are in a powerful position with regard to pricing are those which have devised a business strategy based on competitive advantage and careful targeting of customers.

10. “Leading Creative People”
Many entrepreneurs in the creative industries unexpectedly find themselves in the position of being a ‘leader’ of their people without ever having been training for this role. So how does a business owner or manager become an effective leader? And is it even more difficult to lead ‘creative’ people?

11. “How International Marketing can go wrong”
Marketing internationally requires a sensitive understanding of other people’s cultures, customs and business etiquette. When international marketers fail to see things from their customers’ point of view, tragic, amusing and expensive mistakes can happen. A talk with amusing examples – plus sound advice to ensure you don’t fall into the same traps.

12. “The Art and Science of Communication”
Effective communication is both an art and a science. Communication in business, within organisations, and in personal relationships, can be improved using an imaginative blend of learning from both art and science. Learn a number of ‘rules of thumb’ that you can use to improve your ability to communicate well.

13. “How to Design a Business”
Ironically, businesses in the field of design, those that offer design services to clients, often don’t use their skills to design their own business model. Designing a business means thinking in advance about the size and shape of the enterprise you want to build, like a builder uses a blueprint, rather than ‘making it up as you go along’ and growing unthinkingly. This talk tells you how to take control of your destiny by positively and consciously designing your own business.


Read more information about David’s experience as a speaker at events around the world, plus testimonials from clients.

Download information about David’s experience and expertise as a speaker, further topics and themes of presentations, and what clients say about his keynote speeches, presentations, talks and lectures.


Some conferences and events at which David has been invited as a creative industries speaker are listed below. He is also often invited to give keynote speeches, presentations, talks and workshops. David also delivers university lectures as a guest lecturer.

  • TEDxENCGJ, Morocco. TEDx talk on marketing, focusing on authentic marketing and strategic marketing, within the TEDx event theme of ‘Power is Illusion’.
  • Digital Ecosystem 2014 Conference organised by EIKEN in Bilbao, Spain.
    Keynote speech on New Business Opportunities for in the Digital Age for AudioVisual and other Digital Enterprises.
  • GrowthAccelerator. The UK’s premier business growth programme.
    Presentation on Strategic Marketing for Business Success.
  • World Summit of Creative Industries 2014
    at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC), Moscow
    Speech: “How to be a Creative Entrepreneur”
  • 2014 International Conference on Entrepreneurship, Philippines
    Speech on ‘Creativity and Business: T-Shirts and Suits’
  • Creative Business Cup International Finals. Denmark 2013
    Presentation: ‘T-Shirts and Suits”
  • Creative Industries Agency, Moscow, Russia
    Presentation at Summer School for Russian creative entrepreneurs
  • Korea Creative Industries Forum 2013
    Keynote speaker on Creativity and Business at event in Seoul
  • Samsung Conference. Lisbon, Portugal
    Keynote speaker on “Creativity and Business”
  • TEDxNapoli. Italy
    Keynote speaker on theme of Crisis and Creativity
  • Ministry of Culture. Santiago, Chile
    Conference speech on Creativity and Business
  • SATU, Finland’s organisation for producers of TV and audiovisual content.
    Keynote speaker on New Business Models in the Creative Industries

TEDx Tromsø speakers and organisers