Nick Westergaard

Helps leaders and marketers harness the power of story to connect with their audiences.

Expert on

  • Branding
  • Communication
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Storytelling

Fee Range

$8,000–$12,000

Travels from

IA, US

Biography

Nick Westergaard is an author, educator, and speaker. He’s spent his career building standout brands at organizations of all sizes—from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies to President Obama’s Jobs Council. Nick teaches at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business, where he leads the Story Lab program—helping students stand out through the power of storytelling.

Nick is the author of the books Brand Now and Get Scrappy, a contributor to the Harvard Business Review, and a Moth StorySLAM Champion. He is a go-to source for the press including US News & World Report, Entrepreneur, Forbes, Mashable, and more.

As host of the popular On Brand podcast, Nick has interviewed thought leaders like Seth Godin and Guy Kawasaki as well as brand builders from companies like Adobe, Ben & Jerry’s, HBO, Maker’s Mark, Salesforce, and Whole Foods. An in-demand keynote speaker at conferences throughout the world, his work helps those struggling to stand out in our crowded, distracted world.

Speaker Videos

LEADING WITH STORY: Using Story to Connect and Inspire

Communication consistently ranks as a top leadership skill, and storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to stand out, connect, and inspire in today’s crowded, distracted world. In this actionable keynote, you’ll learn the science behind storytelling, explore five essential types of leadership stories, and discover how to use your own story to build trust and lead more effectively.

After Nick’s talk, your audience will be able to:

  • Craft and share your own personal story and integrate it as part of your personal brand as a leader.
  • Employ the five leadership stories at work — trust stories, teaching stories, action stories, values stories, and vision stories.
  • Lead with story — creating a shared vision of the future and empowering others to follow it.

SCRAPPY DIGITAL MARKETING for Businesses Big and Small

Marketing today is both exciting and overwhelming—with more ways than ever to reach customers but tighter budgets and nonstop distractions. The answer? Get scrappy. In this myth-busting, actionable talk based on the book Get Scrappy (a Mashable Best New Marketing Book), you’ll learn how to simplify your strategy, do more with less, and put brains before budget in today’s complex marketing world.

After Nick’s talk, your audience will be able to:

  • Create a scrappy marketing strategy grounded with solid business objectives that shows what channel or platform works best when.
  • Simplify content marketing with four easy-to-employ hacks.
  • Measure what matters in social media and digital marketing for continuous improvement.

STANDOUT BRAND STORYTELLING: Using the Power of Story to Build Brands

Technology has made marketing easier—but also noisier, making it harder for brands to stand out. The solution isn’t more interruption, it’s mastering the oldest, most powerful tool we have: story. In this entertaining and actionable keynote, you’ll learn the brain science behind storytelling, explore examples from pop culture and top brands, and walk away ready to use story as a strategic tool—not just a trendy buzzword.

After Nick’s talk, your audience will be able to:

  • Define the key elements of brand story including protagonist, antagonist, and world building.
  • Capture attention by creating empathetic stories based customer challenges.
  • Create marketing gravity through compelling content and an engaged community internally and externally.
  • Craft captivating stories that drive profitable actions and long-term brand loyalty.