Wade Jackson. Results

Speaker & Trainer on Organisational Storytelling

Jane Davis, Head of Talent Management, The Warehouse

"Wade's storytelling work with some of our senior leaders was one of the highlights of our recent leadership development programme. To now have a group of leaders equipped to tell great stories and engage our team members at an emotional level will have huge benefit for our business."

Melissa Muirhead, Organisational Development Consultant, Sealord

"I have been delighted with the storytelling workshops Wade has been doing with a group of people managers. His style easily wins them over and as a participant myself as well I can attest to the enjoyable nature of these workshops and the skills and shift in thinking in relation to storytelling as a key leadership tool that resulted from this."

Sharon Thompson, Area Manager, Westpac

"I've received a huge amount of positive feedback regarding the 'customer service' session you ran. I've even received unsolicited commitments from the team to improve the communication and rapport with our customers which is fantastic! In particular the team felt that the humour of the presentation meant the message was easy to absorb and the group exercises meant they were actively engaged in developing some next steps. You took a fairly general concept of what we wanted to achieve and turned it into reality - with minimal input fro us. The evening captured the key messages exactly as we'd hoped. Thanks again - the session will be a hard act to follow."

Sarah Hawker, Executive Manager, National Australia Bank

"Thank you for being a huge part of our NAB Retail Conference. We have had so much awesome feedback in regards to your presentations, they provided a great comedic touch whilst still being able to provide key learning on Storytelling and how our behaviours, emotions and thoughts impact those around us. Its exactly what our Leaders need now to keep the momentum going for our journey ahead!"

Judy Nicholl, General Manager HR, Auckland Airport

"Thank you for a great day spent with the Auckland Airport leadership team. You facilitated a journey for the team that took us through an understanding of the components and value of storytelling within a business context, then gave us time to explore and sharpen our own story telling skills and finally we put it all together by coming up with the "stories behind the vision". Which connect powerfully to our strategy and provides a vehicle for understanding and motivation. You also provided insights on giving and receiving feedback as a team and allowed us to progress and deepen the connections within the team on the day. Likewise, your work with our wider leadership team provided us with "quick check" leadership insights and energised the team through a series of activities and insights that we are still reflecting on. Your work on the day undoubtedly contributed to the feedback we've received that it was the best wider leadership team meeting held so far."

Paul Toomey, General Manager, Product and Pricing, Vodafone

"In Product Marketing we are in the ideas business. Many great ideas are never realised through poor engagement and 'sell in' to Senior Management. The lack of a coherent and impactful "story" has seen many rip snorting ideas destined to anonymity. Enter Wade! Firstly by understanding the dynamics and challenges within our organisation, Wade designed a half day session for the team with the objective of 'making people think about the story they want to tell, and how they deliver it!' Wade quickly created a high trust environment through his highly engaging and fun delivery. Wade supplied the tools and techniques through a hands-on action oriented approach to learning. And the outcomes following the session were immediate. There has been a real change in the way the team approach their selling of ideas (it is no longer just about slapping a few facts in a PowerPoint template), the story and the theatre of the delivery are now firmly considered, with a commensurate improvement in the outcomes expected."

Scott Pollard, Head of Retail Operations and Marketing, New Zealand Post

"Wade stretched my team beyond their comfort zone by creating a supportive environment through, group exercises, an engaging presentation and humour that they could relate to. We set out to grow our abilities as a team so that we could present effectively and engage the audience, Wade took us through an interactive process that got each individual thinking and set us up for further team development. My team have been developed in several development sessions; they enjoyed Wade's session and valued the investment in them personally. As a result our team engagement has increased and it sets a good foundation for further team development."

David Pearce, CEO, CanTeen

"I write to express our thanks for your wonderful support in facilitating a highly successful session (storytelling & high impact face to face communication) at our recent leadership development programme in Otaki. I'll share with you a couple of members quotes below so you can hear it from the horse's mouth, additionally from where I sit I have also heard many complimentary remarks from the staff who attended and indirectly from the members.
. They loved your energy and how you really connected with them as young people (aged 13-24)
. They were fascinated by your storytelling technique and your entertaining anecdotes that made your messages memorable. The handout booklet will also be a treasured resource.
. You impressed them with the way that you joined in and became engaged in the whole process, not just when you were scheduled to present.
. They found your material very relevant to their roles as emerging member leaders in our organization and many have been inspired to commit to follow up actions to employ the learning and stretch themselves in various ways.
. Jarnia our National Programmes Manager found you a pleasure to deal with, as did your member 'buddy' Lane.

Participant quotes;
"I felt this workshop was very inspirational and had a lot of interesting forums around taking the reins in the leadership role. I found Wade's sessions were very thought provoking and helpful in the tasks at hand not only the leadership roles, but also in real life situations."
"I loved Wade Jackson on storytelling, I thought it was very relevant to CanTeen."
I trust you can see from the above that your commitment to come down to Otaki was well worth while from the perspective of our organization. I suspect too, positive guy that you are, that you enjoyed doing it as well. We sincerely appreciate your support and hope that as your full life permits, we may again benefit from sharing your wisdom and wide array of skills."

Cath Lomax, Head of Sales and Service, ANZ

"I wanted to take the opportunity on behalf of the ANZ Retail Leadership team to thank you for your attendance at our 3 roadshows in Auckland, Palmerston North and Christchurch. Having someone of your calibre talk to us about storytelling, which is a fundamental part of our business, made our days a huge success and was very engaging for our participants. Your session challenged our thinking and strategy around stories all while having a huge amount of fun. Upon reflection we all agreed that by reminding us of the importance of storytelling and more importantly how to construct those stories, really resonated with us and where we are wanting to take our business moving forward. Myself and my team have already started to put some of our learning's into place! Thanks again for your time Wade and we hope to work with you again in the future."

Hayden Glass, General Manager Strategy, Vodafone

"For us Wade was a highly-engaging, thought-provoking but extremely practical advisor on how to use storytelling for internal communications. We were most interested in talking about how to consistently, passionately and repeatedly talk about our business plans to help align people internally in our organisation. But with Wade's simple models and a couple of hours of enjoyable but challenging practice, I can see how his approaches can be used in a myriad of different applications.While the skills he taught are highly practical, he also provided us with a compelling explanation of why storytelling is useful and important, and how to take advantage of stories in everyday communications. We found the structure of his storytelling approach very helpful and directly applicable to our day to day communications challenges."

Kelly Hawkins, Internal Communications, Bank of New Zealand

"We engaged the services of Wade Jackson for a storytelling session to a large group of senior leaders. Traditionally the conference had been very standard and an interactive workshop was seen as somewhat risqué. The involvement with the project team through the entire process was superb and the confidence and professionalism continued through in to the day. He was able to be flexible to suit the diverse range of participants and he took time to fully understand the nature of our business and therefore made the storytelling relevant to what we do. The group were sold from the very beginning. The sessions were fun, light-hearted and interactive. The objective was for our senior leaders to gain an understanding in to why storytelling is important and how to construct and tell an effective story - critical skills for leaders and managers. The outcome was well and truly achieved with the fantastic feedback after the event reinforcing how much people gained from the workshop. Wade was exceptional at what he taught and was easy going and approachable. He created a safe environment to work in and that way gained the trust and enthusiasm of the participants. Storytelling is an integral part of our business and this session certainly enabled us to further develop those skills."

Megan Whitaker, Leadership Development Consultant, ANZ National

"Thank you for being the keynote speaker at our recent leadership programmes' Alumni Event. The feedback from the groups, both in Auckland and Wellington, was extremely positive, with people contacting me days later, expressing their enjoyment of your session. People said how informative and practical the session was, with many implementing your suggestions, with great success. It was a risk delivering a session on 'Storytelling' to this particular group, and yet you were able ground the concepts and ideas so they made good business sense, as well as showing what a useful tool storytelling is to inspire and lead others. The session was also great fun, lively and entertaining. With your use of group participation, the room was buzzing at the end of the hour. Thank you once again and I look forward to working with you in the near future."

Jessica Saunders, Event Coordinator, Westpac Australia

"Thank you for putting on a highly memorable session for our conference delegates. The feedback has been very positive and we have even heard in subsequent sessions since our return that various people have been using your Storytelling tools and techniques. That's feedback in itself! Thank you for being so flexible with times at the very last minute - it was highly appreciated and you delivered the shortened session seamlessly. Thanks again for all of your hard work!"

Simon Walter, GM Marketing Director, Beca Engineering

"Wade Jackson judged our audience of 180 senior managers perfectly and led them through an inspirational and highly effective workshop on storytelling as a management tool. He made very effective connections to the importance of practical emotional intelligence in leadership and made the whole workshop energising and fun."

Leslie Hamilton, Programme Organiser, International Coach Federation

"Thank you very much for presenting at the monthly meeting of the Auckland Chapter of the International Coach Federation. You programme was extremely well received and I would highly recommend your business as well as your presentation services to others. Your ability to create rapport with the group, share information and create action learning experiences was excellent. What made the evening so valuable was the combination of both theory and practice that you provided. The theory enabled participants to add value to their own learning by knowing the structure of the work well enough to understand how improv can be used effectively in a group for communication and team development. The practice enabled participants to experience the development, giving them a deeper understanding of the impact and the effectiveness of the model. Your presentation was also a lovely blend of fun, perfect for a relaxing evening as well as a practical and interesting way of supporting professional development. It was a great way to end the year on a positive and productive note."

Hannah Samuel, National Speakers Association NZ

"When Wade spoke at one of our events recently he provided valuable insights into how to engage with people at all levels effectively and memorably. His relaxed, friendly manner, coupled with his openness and willingness to share created the perfect environment for learning. His quick wit, humour and keen observations make him a lively and stimulating speaker. I'd have no hesitation in recommending Wade to anyone seeking a highly experienced and professional speaker and facilitator."

Speaker & Trainer on Collaborative Creativity

Paul Alexander, Business Manager, AsureQuality

"We engaged Wade to run two creativity sessions for our field teams.  The interactive sessions delivered ensured that the creative muscle in everyone's brain received a good workout and the interactive delivery style engaged even the most skeptical present, making sure that they were soon engaged in the process.  Post session feedback from our teams was very positive and it was great to see the diversity of interesting ideas coming forward on day two of the workshop.  Some of these we have now incorporated into our wider Business strategy."

Ross Ferguson, Area Manager, AsureQuality

"Thanks for a really great session last week! I haven't laughed so much in years, and all the time through the session was learning more about myself. I haven't experienced a "teacher" like you before, you managed to get the whole group to create a positive energy with plenty of laughter and then very cleverly had us learn simple practices that are truly transformative. The simplicity of the practices hides the depth of understanding behind them. I know the crew here in the south will be equally impressed and I can't wait to enjoy this experience again!"

Conrad Flinkenberg, Manager, SOLGM Opus Business School

"The conference was priceless and you were the stand-out presenter. You got great evaluations and every one of those who completed the questionnaire gave you the highest rating, which has to be pretty flattering.  There was only one brief comment about you on the forms but it seems to sum up the mood: "Wade 'rocks' - fantastic presentation" You were one of the contributors who really kept the energy and enjoyment levels high and it made a big difference."

Davin Brown, Customer Service Manager, Goodman Fielder

"Thanks for a great night our team really enjoyed themselves, especially the exercises. We were using them the very next day to help inspire us in a group workshop. I have another team event coming up and will be looking to utilise you again. Once again thank you very much and I look forward to our next event."

Melanie Moorcroft, Staff Development Manager, The University of Auckland

"Thank you for your keynote speech at our ASPIRE Conference. The feedback from your presentation was very positive and your approach was a fun and invigorating start to the second day of what turned out to be a successful event. The laughter that rang through from Level 0 was a sure sign you triggered the imagination of participants. On behalf of the organising committee we would like to once again thank you for your wonderful input into advancing the career development of our General Staff."

David Smith, Chief Executive, NZ Society of Local Government Managers

"Thank you for conducting an entertaining, yet informative workshop on Creative Leadership at the 2009 SOLGM Annual Conference in Palmerston North. Your workshop was well attended and well received by the conference delegates who are Chief Executives, senior managers and key decision makers in local government. Your energetic delivery and the creative presentation of your key messages were very much needed for an after lunch session! Leadership as a topic has been discussed many times, but you still managed to inject some practical ideas in your presentation that delegates found very relevant and helpful. Some of the comments we received from delegates include:

"Wade Jackson was very good and stimulated a lot of thought"

"Wade had lots of energy and gave me some great ideas."

Again, thank you for a job well done and bringing some creative and fresh perspective to our SOLGM Annual Conference."

Geoff Mason, North Shore City Council

"Wade Jackson arranged and performed an informative, engaging and fun filled event to 86 staff to launch the North Shore City Council Eureka Innovation Challenge, a programme which aims to create a more innovative culture in the Council and provide ways for staff improvement suggestions to be developed. Wade drew upon his improv and business expertise to reinforce key messages about how we can change our thinking and behaviour to be more creative and innovative."

Barry Fisher, President, IEDA

"Wade Jackson was the guest speaker for the IEDA, AGM Dinner Function and spoke about the importance of creativity in every avenue of life. Our attention was held by Wade's humorous and motivational presentation. Wade's unique way of interacting with the audience had the members of our organisation in hysterics and all members could relate the topic to aspects of their lives. Feedback from our members has been very positive with most members saying that Wade's presentation was motivational, enjoyable & memorable. Wade was happy to stay on after the function and answer any questions relating to the many different personal qualifications he has. I would definitely recommend Wade to anyone who may require a motivational guest speaker. I would like to thanks Wade for a very pleasant evening and a night that will be remembered for both the quality content of his presentation and the humour."

Barrie Cooper, Executive Director, NZ Security Association

"On behalf of the Association, thank you for your presentation. It did everything that we, as organizers, wanted it to do and more. We have received outstanding feedback with people commenting that it was very informative, stimulating and made relevant to our industry. My favourite piece of feedback was 'We needed this for those who are stiff neck wankers. Your inspirational and thought provoking topic was only exceeded by your enthusiastic and engaging delivery. You're a very impressive speaker and superbly managed to take everyone outside their comfort zone. We appreciated your flexibility to adapt your message to the audience and everyone had great fun. Thank you once again for your excellent presentation."

Colleen Dennehy, Northern Region Training Consultant, AMP

"I would like to express my appreciation for your after dinner session at our recent Conference. It was a difficult spot to fill. You managed to engage the audience and take people outside their comfort zone. It is not often that a group can be both entertained and caused to think at the same time. You will be pleased to know we continued to challenge them to think differently for the rest of the Conference."

Julie Stevens, National Manager, PLAN NZ

"On Behalf of the PLAN New Zealand team and all the members who attended our conference, we wish to convey our sincere appreciation of your workshop at this year's PLAN NZ conference 'Raising the Bar'. The feedback we have received from the 130 participating members that attended the conference was fantastic and they all took something of value for their businesses from this session. I have detailed below some of the feedback from our members below.

"This was another 'Oh No' participation coming session but he was superb, eased us in gently and gave a very good message to explore doing things differently"

"Loads of fun, had the group communicating, interacting and learning all at once. Very clever. Would love to have this workshop again."

"Made me go outside my comfort zone and realise it wasn't that scary."

"Interactive and fun. Better than sitting on seats all day."

This conference forms part of our ongoing vision for our members to look at measures that ensures survival and implementing processes and initiatives that will enable them to 'Raise the Bar'. What our members took away from this conference and your session shows us we are on the right track for making this happen. Thank you again for helping to make the conference a successful one."

Lisa Barraclough, Executive Administrator, Sales & Marketing Institute of New Zealand

"Thanks for your great presentation, it certainly got the room buzzing! The response forms filled out were all very positive, and I know a lot of people were discussing your ideas as they left. You certainly got people thinking about their business in an unusual and creative way, and I'm sure everyone will be mentioning your ideas at their next marketing meeting."

Speaker & Trainer on Resilience & Wellness

Chris Meade, Executive General Manager Human Resources, Downer

"We engaged Wade, through recommendation from another large company, to be part of the Downer Leadership Conference and inject our leaders with energy and understanding of how to get the best from themselves and their teams. That's just what Wade did. This was not a sit in your chair, cerebral exercise – it was more like a physical workout where laughter and fun was underpinned with practical examples of how to motivate, engage and refuel. We left on a high and have taken with us some of the serious messages you imparted."

Ambassador David Huebner, US Embassy

"Please accept my great thanks to you for taking part in our Connecting Young Leaders conference. Your participation and engagement contributed in a significant way to the success of the event and I know the students found your remarks insightful and valuable. Again, thank you."

Brent Evans, Regional Executive Corporate Banking, ANZ

"Just a quick note to thank you very much for the recent session on Stress Management that you presented to our Auckland Team. I have had a lot positive comments and feedback from our staff following your presentation. The skills and tools that you shared during the two hour session certainly provided us with some practical take outs that we can put into practice immediately. Given the current economic climate we all need to be more mindful of stress and how this is not only impacting on our staff, but more importantly, how they are dealing with it. The timing of your presentation was ideal and I would have no hesitation in recommending it to others. Thank you once again for sharing this very informative presentation with our Team."

Jason Stephens, Auckland Regional Manager, Westpac

"Wade is energetic and able to mix theory, practical exercises and learning into very interactive sessions, whether it's developing one's creativity, communication or understanding why we do what we do. Participants always leave invigorated with new tools to help with their own and teams personal development. Wade connects well with the audiences and has a good ability to pitch key messages in a way that is clear and concise for the participants, while also stretching their own personal boundaries."

Michelle Kean, Manager, Air New Zealand

"Wade Jackson presented a keynote on Embracing Change prior to our Air New Zealand Holidays brand launch. Wade was fantastic, he grabbed everyone's attention within the first 5 seconds and kept it. His session was innovative, motivating and interesting. The presentation was tailor made to our needs and the content was invaluable. Wade has a real knack for dealing with people. Everyone was engaged, felt at ease and the session was a lot of fun. I heard nothing but positive feedback from all involved and the presentation gave me new ideas and skills to share with my team. Wade Jackson is excellent; I'd recommend him for any company who needs to work with their staff, leaders or on their work environments."

Amanda Briggs-Hastie, Fundraising Director, Greenpeace

"Wade ran a Creative Leadership course for new and middle managers. There have only been good reports from our team about the training they undertook. In particular they enjoyed Wade's energy, enthusiasm and humour. As many of my team are kinaesthetic learners Wade's ability to turn the session into a highly interactive and energetic learning environment made a huge difference. My team have come away from the training, more empowered, feeling like they have more tools available to assist them and more confident on taking forward their role responsibilities."

Jennifer Wyatt Sargent, Leadership SIG Chairperson, Human Resources Institute of NZ

"Wade Jackson's topic was Creative Leadership and was presented to an audience of around 70 people including human resources professionals, consultants and other business professionals. Wade was well prepared and organised, and was very easy to work with. From the very beginning of the session, Wade actively engaged the audience and kept them entertained and informed. His skilful and unique use of improvisation activities involved the audience and created immediate and important learning as well as loads of fun and laughter."

Stephen McLellan, Northern Regional Manager, New Zealand Automobile Association

"Wade Jackson is a natural. His years of international experience with improvisation and acting really comes to the fore in what can only be described as a unique blend of full bodily participation and education. Where self discovery through participation becomes the key to personal development. Where there are no rules or parachutes, just clean a slate and an opportunity to shine."

Annie Whitley, Programme Director, RYLA

"Thanks so much for your contribution to the RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) opening evening. You provided a high energy and thought provoking session to a group of 18-25year olds who were feeling a little shy, nervous and unsure of the week ahead. As always you delivered an engaging session and quickly connected with the participants. The participants were also fascinated and inspired by your passion for what you do and your dedication to learning. As the participant who introduced you said, "he knows everything!". Thanks again Wade for providing yet another successful workshop."

Jane Edwards, Training Manager, Foundation for Youth Development Waitakere

"Thank you so much for the wonderful work you did with our Peer Mentors. I believe it was a significant challenge to present on leadership to a group of around 90 Year 11/12 students and it was a real privilege for me to be present to observe the process throughout. Within minutes the students were completely engaged, present and motivated and you continued to hold them like that for the entire session. The students were curious throughout and the experiential learning activities enabled them to draw out the learning themselves. You have such an amazing gift and you certainly made a significant impact on the lives of those Stars students. A sincere and huge thank you and we can't wait to have you back again."

Speaker & Trainer on Mind-Body Power

Josh Comrie, Managing Director, Potentia

"Wade has the unique ability to inform, educate and inspire simultaneously. I gave him a clear (and ambitious) brief for our company conference and he delivered upon my expectations. He is quick on his feet, entertaining and intelligent. The feedback from my team was fantastic and they're a difficult bunch to impress! I'd highly recommend Wade."