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
The D.O.S.E. Dealer for Corporate Culture
"I bring Right brain ideas, into Left brain spaces."
Speaking clients:
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.
A D.O.S.E. of Story™
Engagement isn’t just a goal, it’s a chemical reaction.
People don’t take action at work because of data points alone.
They act because they feel something, a connection, inspiration, trust, momentum.
We know in today’s distracted workplace, most messages miss the mark.
They inform, but they don’t move.
In A D.O.S.E. of Story™, I deliver a high-energy, brain-based keynote that shows how the right story, told the right way, activates the four brain chemicals that drive connection and performance:
Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins.
Using spoken word precision, research-backed science, and unforgettable narratives,
I help leaders and teams understand how to create messages that don’t just land...
they linger.
Whether your people are in sales, leadership, culture, or communication roles, this talk transforms the way they think, feel, and speak, on stage, in meetings, or behind the screen.
Because when your people learn how to tell stories that spark chemistry,
your culture starts to move.
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, I unpack the competitive edge of listening. With storytelling that moves, research that sticks, and a delivery that engages from start to finish, I show 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, I take 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, I 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.
Customized and Bespoke pieces available upon request.
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Rashad Rayford
Elevate Your Vibe
www.Rashadthapoet.com
Testimonials
New Video
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.
