Karen Eber
Storytelling Keynote Speaker for Leadership and Communication
Helping leaders communicate with clarity, lead through change, and turn complex ideas into stories people remember and act on.
Karen Eber is a storytelling keynote speaker.
She helps leaders communicate with clarity, lead through change, and shape culture through story.
People rarely act on information or data alone. They act on the story that helps them understand what it means and why it matters.
Every keynote is built on the same foundation: the Five Factory Settings of the Brain, Karen's neuroscience-based framework for how people listen, remember, and decide to act. Whether she's speaking about leadership communication, storytelling with data, change, or culture, storytelling is the thread that connects it all.
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Signature Keynotes
Storytelling Keynotes
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Telling Stories that Inform, Influence, and Inspire
Using her proprietary Five Factory Settings of the Brain framework, Karen shows audiences why some stories change minds and behavior while others are forgotten within minutes. Attendees leave with a repeatable method for finding story ideas, structuring them for clarity, adapting them to any audience, and delivering them for impact, whether they're leading a team, pitching an idea, or presenting to the board.
Ideal for: Leadership conferences, executive meetings, sales kickoffs, HR and learning events, and any organization that wants ideas people remember and act on.
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Storytelling with Data: From Insights to Impact
Data alone rarely changes minds until it's built into a story people can understand and connect with. Drawing on her Five Factory Settings of the Brain framework, Karen shows audiences how to find the story inside their data and communicate it so clearly that people don't just see the numbers, they see something they can't unsee.
Ideal for: Analytics, finance, FP&A, operations, technology, marketing, business leaders, and organizations that want employees to communicate data with clarity and a point of view.
Culture Keynotes
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What Story Does Your Culture Tell?
Every organization tells a story, through its leaders, decisions, and the everyday experiences employees have. Karen reveals how culture is built, or eroded, one story at a time. She gives audiences a practical way to identify the story their organization is currently telling, and the one it should be telling instead.
Ideal for: HR, people leaders, executive teams, culture initiatives, and organizations focused on employee engagement and leadership development.
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What if Dolly Parton Wrote '9 to 5' Today?
When Dolly Parton released “9 to 5,” the workplace looked very different. What would today's workplace anthem sound like? Using the song as a springboard, Karen explores how leadership, culture, and employee expectations have evolved, and what organizations must do to build workplaces where people can do their best work. Filled with research, storytelling, and memorable examples, this keynote inspires leaders to rethink the future of work.
Ideal for: Leadership conferences, HR events, women's leadership conferences, and organizations focused on culture, engagement, and the future of work.
Leadership Keynotes
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Leading IS Change
Leaders today are navigating constant, overlapping change. They are challenged to help people understand, accept, and act on the strategy. Karen draws on neuroscience, organizational psychology, and her own experience leading culture and transformation inside Fortune 500 companies to show leaders how to communicate change in ways that reduce resistance and build momentum instead of triggering resistance.
Ideal for: Leadership conferences, executive teams, organizational transformations, and change initiatives.
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The Human Advantage: Leadership Skills AI Can't Replace
As AI reshapes the workplace, the skills machines can't replicate, communication, storytelling, empathy, curiosity, and trust, become the competitive advantage. Karen gives leaders practical strategies for strengthening these distinctly human skills across their teams, so their people, not just their tools, become the differentiator.
Ideal for:
AI conferences, technology companies, leadership events, innovation summits, and organizations navigating digital transformation.
stylus Customized
Karen tailors every keynote to the audience, so the content is relevant, relatable, and actionable for their roles and industry.
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Attendees leave with a practical framework and specific tools they can apply that day.
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Karen uses activities and volunteers to bring concepts to life instead of only lecturing.
What Makes Karen Different?
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Storytelling as a Leadership Skill
Karen combines neuroscience, leadership experience, and storytelling frameworks to help people communicate in ways the brain is more likely to understand, remember, and act on. Many speakers treat storytelling as a communication skill. Karen treats it as a leadership skill, grounded in how the brain processes information, emotion, memory, and decision-making.
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A Repeatable, Science-based Framework
Karen's signature Five Factory Settings of the Brain framework, from her award-winning book The Perfect Story, gives leaders a system for explaining complex ideas, influencing decisions, communicating change, presenting data, and building trust through stories. Going much deeper than her TED Talk, audiences leave with a practical system they continue using long after the keynote.
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Built on 20 Years of Executive Experience
As former Head of Culture and Chief Learning Officer at GE, and Head of Leadership Development at Deloitte, Karen has led leadership development, communication, and culture initiatives inside some of the world's largest organizations. Her keynotes are informed by her experiences, not theory alone.
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See for Yourself
About Karen Eber
Karen Eber is a storytelling keynote speaker, author, and leadership expert who helps organizations communicate in ways that inform, influence, and inspire. She combines neuroscience, executive leadership experience, and practical business application to help leaders explain ideas clearly, build trust, inspire action, and make complex information memorable.
She developed the Five Factory Settings of the Brain, a neuroscience-based framework that explains why some communication captures attention, builds understanding, and drives action, while other messages are quickly forgotten. The framework is the foundation of her keynotes, storytelling workshops, and executive communication programs.
Karen is also recognized for her work in storytelling with data, helping leaders turn data and analytics into narratives that drive better decisions by combining evidence with emotion.
Her TED Talk on storytelling is one of the most-watched TED Talks on the subject, and her bestselling book, The Perfect Story, has been recognized by the Axiom Business Book Awards, International Book Awards, Goody Business Book Awards, and the Next Big Ideas Club.
Before founding Eber Leadership Group, Karen served as a Head of Culture and Chief Learning Officer at GE and Head of Leadership Development at Deloitte. She has educated more than three million people worldwide and has worked with organizations including Microsoft, General Electric, Citi, Johnson and Johnson, Kraft Heinz, and PwC. Her insights have been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, Quartz, NPR, and Business Insider. She has guest lectured at MIT, Stanford, London Business School, Emory, and Purdue.
Want to learn more about Karen's speaking topics, approach, and what makes her different? Visit the Speaking FAQ
stylus Audiences Leave Able To:
Communicate ideas more clearly
Turn data into action
Lead through change with confidence
Build trust across teams
Create cultures where people thrive
Tell stories that influence decisions
Communicate effectively in the age of AI
show_chart Why Event Planners Choose Karen
Executive leadership experience
Neuroscience-backed frameworks
Practical takeaways audiences can use immediately
Customized for each audience
Engaging, story-driven delivery
Combines academic research with real-world business experience
conversion_path Featured Keynote Audiences
Karen regularly speaks for:
Executive leadership meetings
Sales kickoffs
User conferences, customer events
Annual meetings, leadership retreats
Learning conferences, HR conferences
Finance, healthcare, technology, consumer products, nonprofit, and manufacturing conferences
Additional Resources
Planning a keynote often comes with questions about topics, customization, workshops, travel, audience size, fees, and what to expect. Visit the Frequently Asked Questions page for answers to many of the questions organizers ask before booking Karen.
Book Karen Today
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"Karen infuses you with confidence while making storytelling approachable and relatable."
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"This clicked more than other storytelling experiences: excellent information, tools, and techniques."
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"Exceptional speaker with storytelling techniques that resonated across all levels."
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"The presentation on storytelling was truly captivating and resonated deeply with our audience."
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"So many a-has on what makes a great story and how they influence purchasing decisions."
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"This was the best storytelling experience: clear structure, tools, and insights!"
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A delight to work with from start to finish!
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"Phenomenal interactive session that felt intimate despite a large group."
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"Hugely impactful presentation that understood our messaging and business."
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"Keynote was the "talk of the town" with people discussing incorporating the strategies."
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"Karen's presentation was a highlight of our conference."
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"One of the highest-rated sessions ever!"
Trusted by
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Karen Eber has spoken for Fortune 500 organizations and conference including: TED, General Electric, Microsoft, The Home Depot, Citi, CNBC, Johnson and Johnson, Kaiser Permanente, Deloitte, Kate Spade, Facebook, Kraft Heinz, Million Dollar Roundtable, Stuart Weitzman, ADP, PwC, Navy Federal Credit Union, RSA Conference, Greenhouse, International Coaches Federation, EyeSouth, Ardelyx, International Academy of Mediators, United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, US Department of Energy, United Arab Emirates Prime Minister Office, MIT Sloan, Harvard Alumni Association, London Business School, Stanford University, and dozens more.