Doug Manuel

President, Doug Manuel USA Inc. Founder and CEO, Doug Manuel International sàrl. President, Lighting Up Lives (my NGO)

Doug Manuel is a speaker and performer specialising in bringing collaboration to life. He has performed at TED Global and with Oprah, and for nearly 3 decades he has been delivering interactive virtual and in-person programs for clients such as IMD, Harvard Business School, P&G, The World Economic Forum, and LVMH. An ex-BBC documentary producer, he has spent extensive periods of time pursuing and sharing his passion for African music and culture, whilst focusing on his personal and professional development. He is the creator of ‘Do You Speak Djembe?’ an award nominated stage show (Chicago JEFF Awards). His is currently producing a documentary called BEATS AS ONE which explores the need for timeless indigenous African wisdom for our boardrooms and beyond. His not for profit ‘Lighting Up Lives’, encourages partnerships with rural villagers in Senegal inspiring and supporting local action to solve local problems, fostering collaboration, and putting words into action.

  • Doug Manuel Keynote Speaker Fee Fee range is for U.S. events, depending on location and organization type

    $20,001 - $30,000

  • Languages Spoken

    English

  • Travels From

    United Kingdom (UK)

  • Doug Manuel Keynote Speaker Fee Fee range is for U.S. events, depending on location and organization type

    $20,001 - $30,000

  • Languages Spoken

    English

  • Travels From

    United Kingdom (UK)

Suggested Keynote Speaker Programs

Beats as one - the solo: a highly interactive keynote to engage and unite

Employee engagement and talent retention are at an all-time low. How can you revitalize your organisation? The Experience: This keynote unearths the positive effects that ancient philosophies can have in our modern boardrooms, and can be tailored to ...

Employee engagement and talent retention are at an all-time low. How can you revitalize your organisation?

The Experience: This keynote unearths the positive effects that ancient philosophies can have in our modern boardrooms, and can be tailored to any environment, time slot or audience. Infused with music, rhythm and with featured excerpts from his documentary ‘Beats As One’, Doug guides participants through a transformative process. Through personal reflection, small group sharing, and collective music making and performance enhancing exercises, your teams will discover a new level of collaboration.

The Transformation: Beats as One – the solo brings engagement and collaboration to life in new and dynamic ways. It allows participants to readdress common human values, explore their personal purpose, and to tie that to the purpose of their organization.

Making It Happen: This keynote can be tailored to groups of any size in a live, hybrid or virtual environment. Ideal as a short, interactive session in a workshop or as part of a longer exploration of togetherness and collaboration.

“An excellent experience and demonstration of teamwork, cohesion, and the importance of clear communication. I would not hesitate in recommending.” – PETER VAN BLADEREN NESTLÉ Research Centre

Learn More

Beats as one - the drums: A shared experience to connect and collaborate

With teams no longer truly working together, there is little human connection, mutual understanding and empathy are lost. Organisations today face the challenge of dealing with this lack of engagement and spirit of collaboration. The Experience: With ...

With teams no longer truly working together, there is little human connection, mutual understanding and empathy are lost. Organisations today face the challenge of dealing with this lack of engagement and spirit of collaboration.

The Experience: With Djembe drums for each participant or audience member, this keynote is a highly engaging, energetic musical experience. Your audience will rediscover the power of communication using the most primal form of technology.

The Transformation: Beats as One – the drums breaks down silos and leaves groups emotionally connected and feeling that they are one. True collaboration is restored and the foundations laid for a high-performing team.

Making It Happen: This is an ideal breakout session for a conference or meeting. Working with groups of up to 3000, teams can also work in sub-groups learning complimentary rhythms, before bringing all the participants together in a plenary session. The program can be delivered in one block of time or as 3 or 4 shorter sessions during the course of a day.

“Perfectly communicates the concepts of team-working, the ability to listen and leadership tools in a very innovative and fun way.” – ENRIQUE BARTHE Senior Manager Communications & High Tech, ACCENTURE Madrid

Learn More

Beaats as one - the show: the ultimate unifying experience

Music and rhythm have the power to unite, energize, rediscover a shared purpose and build team spirit. The Experience : Chosen by Oprah to lead her 3rd SuperSoul Sessions and by TedX Hollywood, Beats as One – the show (Formally ‘Do You Speak Djembe...

Music and rhythm have the power to unite, energize, rediscover a shared purpose and build team spirit.

The Experience : Chosen by Oprah to lead her 3rd SuperSoul Sessions and by TedX Hollywood, Beats as One – the show (Formally ‘Do You Speak Djembe?’) is a very different kind of live event. Through the power of rhythm and the drum , it makes the audience the star of the experience. Customised to your organisation’s vision and themes, Doug combines powerful storytelling with uplifting music from his diverse on-stage band.  Audiences of any background and ability will be energized, inspired and involved in this unifying musical experience for corporate teams. Together they learn to play djembe to the music of their favourite songs. They will explore the very roots of music in our shared ancestry and discover that we have more in common than what we believe separates us.

The Transformation: Generate audience-wide collaboration, inspire, motivate, and unite audiences of any size. Beats as One – the show brings a unique spirit of collaboration to your conference or meeting. Create a positive vibe and team spirit, strengthen a sense of purpose and brand, experience a powerful moment of collaboration in action.

Learn More

About Keynote Speaker Doug Manuel

Doug Manuel is a keynote speaker, workshop leader and performer and is known for fostering purpose driven engagement and collaboration.

Creator of the internationally acclaimed stage show ‘Do You Speak Djembe?’ nominated for two JEFF awards, for more than 25 years, Doug has been delivering keynotes and leading learning laboratories for multinationals, sports teams, leading business schools and NGOs – not to mention TEDx, TED Global and Oprah Winfrey. His talks, workshops and breakout sessions use stories, music, and rhythm to break down barriers and create an interactive, multi-sensory learning experiences.

In 1995 Doug’s love of Africa was born. At that time he was working on BBC documentary about African elephants, and in parallel he attended a djembe (drumming) workshop. In 1997 he gave up his 8 year career as a BBC documentary producer to travel to West Africa to study the djembe.

What began as corporate drumming workshops aimed to boost team effectiveness has evolved and developed into a deep dive into the wisdom of West African indigenous culture and the positive effects that these philosophies can have in our Western boardrooms. He is currently making a documentary on this subject entitled ‘Beats As One’ which is due to be released in December 2023.

Doug also leads his charity ‘Lighting Up Lives’, whose pilot project partners with the villagers of Abéné in Senegal, inspiring and supporting local action to solve local problems such as energy, health, sanitation and education. The charity builds bridges between Africa and the occident, fostering collaboration and putting words into action.

Doug’s methodology has been endorsed by IMD Business school in Lausanne, Switzerland and he continues to work with clients in every sector to help teams connect purpose to performance.

Whether it be tired and disengaged virtual teams, or reuniting fragmented teams in person post pandemic with meaning and purpose, Doug’s programs and keynotes drive energy and passion and enhance active listening, communication, empathy and ultimately performance.

Close

My Catalog

PDF

    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

    Submit Clear All

    You have not added any speakers yet.