Non-binding request for Erik Wahl
Erik Wahl
Globally acclaimed artist and bestselling author Erik Wahl inspires audiences to unlock creativity and embrace change through unforgettable, art-fueled keynote experiences
Why you should book Erik Wahl for your next event
- His book The Spark and the Grind became a #1 bestseller, guiding readers on how to harness creativity and persistence to turn ideas into real-world results.
- Recognized as one of the most in-demand corporate speakers of 2025, Erik’s unique blend of art, inspiration, and insight leaves a lasting impact on every audience.
- He’s delivered more than 1,500 keynotes globally for clients including Disney, Microsoft, XPrize, and Ernst & Young—earning consistent acclaim for his originality and energy.
Non-binding request for Erik Wahl
From Blank Canvas to Breakthrough Thinking
Erik Wahl is a renowned artist, bestselling author, and TED speaker who blends creativity, performance, and strategy to ignite innovation. Through live art and powerful storytelling, he inspires audiences to embrace change, think differently, and take bold action. His high-impact keynotes spark creativity, resilience, and lasting transformation.
Erik Wahl is a globally acclaimed artist, TED speaker, and No. 1 bestselling author, widely recognized as one of the most sought-after keynote speakers of 2025. Known for his bold blend of artistry and business insight, Erik delivers unforgettable keynote experiences that inspire organizations to embrace creativity, navigate disruption, and unlock innovation.
With a background in business and a passion for visual expression, Erik left a successful corporate career to pursue creativity as a catalyst for transformation. His journey led him to become an acclaimed graffiti artist, using live performance art to deliver powerful messages about leadership, reinvention, and creative thinking.
He is the bestselling author of The Spark and the Grind, a guide to turning ideas into action, and Unthink, which Forbes praised as “the blueprint to actionable creativity.” His keynotes seamlessly fuse storytelling, live art, and practical takeaways—leaving audiences energized, inspired, and ready to think differently.
Erik has delivered more than 1,500 keynotes around the world for leading organizations such as Microsoft, Disney, AT&T, FedEx, ExxonMobil, Ernst & Young, and XPrize. His dynamic style, emotional depth, and actionable insights make him a favorite for leadership conferences, innovation summits, and cultural transformation events.
Keynote Speaker Erik Wahl redefines the keynote experience with his unique combination of performance and purpose. If you're ready to spark innovation and ignite bold thinking, book Erik Wahl for your event today.
Customer Reviews
5 of 5
Erik’s presentation was one of the highlights of our three day conference for financial institutions! People were not just inspired, they were challenged to look at things differently, which I believe will make a positive impact on the financial service’s industry. Erik and his entire team were wonderful to work with and I would definitely hire him again and highly recommend him to others!
Gwen PetersSenior Event Manager, Digital Insight, an NCR company
Rated 5.00/5 based on 1 customer reviews
Keynotes
Keynote by Erik Wahl:
The Art of Vision®
The best sustainable edge in business is the ability to differentiate yourself from your competition. Through this entertaining and highly practical program, we will uncover new ways to make your organization more creative, innovative and profitable, but more so, help your employees see the need to become better storytellers within and for your company and industry.
By embracing innovative strategies, professionals at all levels can achieve superior levels of performance by creatively and visibly differentiating themselves from the competition. No matter what kind of organization you have—from a small company to a large corporation—employees at all levels will better able to embrace the future by becoming more innovative, more productive and ultimately more profitable.
Organizational Excellence
Differentiation, differentiation, differentiation.
Telling a better story.
Outthinking the competition.
Embracing Change
Working smarter, not harder.
Sustaining excellence in a changing economy.
Leveraging chaos to capitalize on opportunities.
By embracing innovative strategies, professionals at all levels can achieve superior levels of performance by creatively and visibly differentiating themselves from the competition. No matter what kind of organization you have—from a small company to a large corporation—employees at all levels will better able to embrace the future by becoming more innovative, more productive and ultimately more profitable.
Organizational Excellence
Differentiation, differentiation, differentiation.
Telling a better story.
Outthinking the competition.
Embracing Change
Working smarter, not harder.
Sustaining excellence in a changing economy.
Leveraging chaos to capitalize on opportunities.
Keynote by Erik Wahl:
The Art of Leadership
Today’s leaders face a pressure to innovate—or else perish—unlike any other time in history. Advances in social, mobil and cloud technology, coupled with fierce global competition has made the business landscape nearly unrecognizable from what it was a mere 10 years ago.
Erik Wahl’s entertaining and invigorating Art of Leadership presentation paints a compelling new portrait for what the successful leaders of tomorrow will look like. He inspires audiences to shed old ways of thinking and “business as usual” processes that are outdated, inefficient and detrimental to productivity. Audience members learn new ways to build an emotional connection to drive future employee engagement. Erik’s presentation stretches traditional assumptions on leadership.
The end results include:
Innovative solutions to further your organization
Attracting and engaging quality employees
New efficiencies and the end of detrimental redundancies
Growth and comfort cannot co-exist. When leaders come from a place of authenticity, curiosity, exploration and purpose, this leads to more meaningful connections among team members and with clients and customers—and ultimately, a more profitable organization. An engaged employee equals an engaged customer.
Erik Wahl’s entertaining and invigorating Art of Leadership presentation paints a compelling new portrait for what the successful leaders of tomorrow will look like. He inspires audiences to shed old ways of thinking and “business as usual” processes that are outdated, inefficient and detrimental to productivity. Audience members learn new ways to build an emotional connection to drive future employee engagement. Erik’s presentation stretches traditional assumptions on leadership.
The end results include:
Innovative solutions to further your organization
Attracting and engaging quality employees
New efficiencies and the end of detrimental redundancies
Growth and comfort cannot co-exist. When leaders come from a place of authenticity, curiosity, exploration and purpose, this leads to more meaningful connections among team members and with clients and customers—and ultimately, a more profitable organization. An engaged employee equals an engaged customer.
Keynote by Erik Wahl:
Unthink™
Somehow we’ve come to believe that creativity is reserved for the chosen few: the poets, the painters, the writers. The truth is bigger and better than that. Creativity is in all of us. We simply need to rediscover the keys that will unlock our potential. UNthink is the keynote experience that will push members of your organization beyond their traditional thought patterns and habitual levels of performance. UNthink will inspire audiences to realize they are capable of so much more than they have been led to believe.
The UNthink program helps reframe your organization’s thinking so that new creative actions become possible. Learning how to UNthink will inject your daily grind with new passion, allowing employees to see how the organization wants and needs all of their talents and energies, not just the ones they’ve been using so far. You’ll begin the process of rethinking your life as a blank canvas of limitless opportunity on which to create your masterpiece.
This program will allow your organization to:
Step outside convention to discover new and unexpected solutions to business challenges.
Challenge pre-conceived notions about what’s possible.
UNthink your way to increased creativity, productivity and passion.
The UNthink program helps reframe your organization’s thinking so that new creative actions become possible. Learning how to UNthink will inject your daily grind with new passion, allowing employees to see how the organization wants and needs all of their talents and energies, not just the ones they’ve been using so far. You’ll begin the process of rethinking your life as a blank canvas of limitless opportunity on which to create your masterpiece.
This program will allow your organization to:
Step outside convention to discover new and unexpected solutions to business challenges.
Challenge pre-conceived notions about what’s possible.
UNthink your way to increased creativity, productivity and passion.
Keynote by Erik Wahl:
The Discipline of Creativity
It’s one thing to understand the importance of creativity to the success of your business, but what most people don’t understand is to how to put a structure in place so that innovation can find its way. The paradox of creativity is that structure creates freedom. Even the wildest minds require extreme orderliness and attention to detail so that they have the space and discipline to create.
Consider:
Beethoven sat down everyday at daybreak, regardless of season, and composed until 3:00pm.
Kafka started writing at 11:30pm each night.
Mozart taught lessons by day and composed only in the evenings.
Picasso ate lunch each day with his family in silence and only allowed visitors one day per week.
Mark Twain awoke at 5:30 am, ate a hearty breakfast, and wrote until 5:00 pm.
This program will allow your organization to:
Deconstructs the discipline of the creative process to ignite ideas to action.
Explores The Psychology of Success and the Science of Innovation to achieve superior levels of performance.
Harness The mental toughness required to navigate ambiguity and master complexity in a rapidly changing business environment.
Disruption is the new normal. Are you creating or reacting?
Consider:
Beethoven sat down everyday at daybreak, regardless of season, and composed until 3:00pm.
Kafka started writing at 11:30pm each night.
Mozart taught lessons by day and composed only in the evenings.
Picasso ate lunch each day with his family in silence and only allowed visitors one day per week.
Mark Twain awoke at 5:30 am, ate a hearty breakfast, and wrote until 5:00 pm.
This program will allow your organization to:
Deconstructs the discipline of the creative process to ignite ideas to action.
Explores The Psychology of Success and the Science of Innovation to achieve superior levels of performance.
Harness The mental toughness required to navigate ambiguity and master complexity in a rapidly changing business environment.
Disruption is the new normal. Are you creating or reacting?
Erik Wahl Keynote Speaker Reel
Watch Erik Wahl in action
The Future of Virtual - Erik Wahl
Watch Erik Wahl in action
