99: Why Some Speakers Move You and Others Don’t with Joel McKerrow

The real power of your speaking isn’t in your story but in the moment someone realises it’s their story too. This episode with poet, performer, author, and creativity-driven speaker Joel McKerrow is one of those rare, breath-catching moments that stays with you.

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The real power of your speaking isn’t in your story but in the moment someone realises it’s their story too.

This episode with poet, performer, author, and creativity-driven speaker Joel McKerrow is one of those rare, breath-catching moments that stays with you. If you’re an emerging or aspiring speaker, lean in. 

Joel pulls back the curtain on what actually creates connection on stage – not the polished lines, not the clever structure, but the place where your story meets someone else’s story and something in them quietly rearranges.

He talks about how creativity becomes a responsibility, why specificity is the doorway to universality, how to build the discipline of deep listening, and why your inner life is your most underused speaking tool. 

You’ll hear how slam-poetry taught him stagecraft under pressure, how fiction reshaped his worldview, and why the best speakers are the ones who stop performing and start witnessing. 

This is a reminder that your story, when shaped with intention, doesn’t just inform an audience. It moves them. And that’s the real work of a speaker who wants to make a mark.

Inside, you’ll learn how to:

• 01:11 – Build a multi-dimensional speaking career without confusing your message 
• 03:43 – Become the speaker nobody expects (but everybody remembers)
• 05:09 – Move people beyond the cognitive level (the heart-level space where transformation actually happens)
• 07:41 – Connect your personal narrative to something bigger to create lasting influence
• 10:20 – Wake your audience out of the “anesthetic life” and help people feel, see, and reconnect again to meaning 
• 14:36 – Transform pain into expression by sharing vulnerably without oversharing
• 29:55 – Build a “half-communication” that invites the audience to bring their story forward
• 33:01 – Strengthen deep-listening skills to make your speaking unforgettable
• 41:25 – Make your talk feel both intimate and widely relatable
• 46:28 – Build a ritual that sharpens your voice over time
• 47:58 – Know which stories belong on stage (and which don’t) to keep your speaking grounded and responsible
• 51:39 – Protect your creative voice in an AI-heavy world
• 59:56 – Stay creatively alive while growing your speaking business 
• 01:08:48 – Practice and refine your delivery out loud before stepping into the arena

If you’ve ever doubted your creativity, felt pressure to “sound like a speaker,” or wondered how to make your story serve your audience instead of overshadowing them, this episode is exactly what you need.

You don’t need a gimmick and you don’t need perfection. You need presence, specificity, and the courage to listen as deeply as you speak.

QUOTES

“Poetry is teaching you to see like a poet – to have your eyes open to the aesthetic beauty in the world, the aching pain, and the delicious hope.” – Joel McKerrow

“Most good things in life are a tension to balance, not a problem to solve.”  – Joel McKerrow

“Specificity leads to universality. The more specific we get, the more people are invited into their own story.” – Joel McKerrow

“Stories need to have a universality. It’s not about your story. It’s about the emotion so people can meet you there.” – Jacqueline Brooker

“If you want to keep creative genius, stay away from AI. Use it to research, use it to de-plumb, use it to summarise. Don’t use it to write.” – Jacqueline Brooker

“You shouldn’t speak about something until you can speak about it with strength, power, and grace.” – Jacqueline Brooker

RESOURCES

WHERE TO FIND JOEL MCKERROW

• Website: https://www.joelmckerrow.com/ 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joelmckerrowcreative/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-mckerrow-creative/ 
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joel.mckerrow/ 
• Podcast: The Deep Place Podcast

Joel McKerrow has spent the last fifteen years captivating hundreds of thousands of people on stages worldwide with his passionate performative style, highly inspiring keynote presentations, dynamic MCing and in-depth training.

Joel is an award-winning writer, performer, educator, keynote speaker, Master of Ceremonies and was the third ever Australian representative at the Individual World Poetry Slam Championships. Currently he is the Director of The School for Creative Development. the VIC/TAS president of Professional Speakers Australia (PSA), the artists ambassador for Tearfund Australia and the host of The Deep Place podcast.

From the Sydney Opera House to Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Centre to The Metropolis in Montreal, Joel has presented at some of the most esteemed global venues. Renowned singer Kate Cebrano describes Joel’s work as, ‘completely free, reckless and unbound in his expression.’ whilst the CEO of Village Roadshow lauds Joel as, ‘a true creative genius’ and says of his work with their executive, ‘His impact on my team was nothing short of extraordinary.’

A Creativity and Narrative-Intelligence expert Joel champions the belief that CREATIVITY and STORY are far too important to be confined to those traditionally labeled as ‘creative’ and rather urges they are actually THE source for both professional and personal breakthrough. Every human behaviour is Story-driven. All culture is story-driven. Every organisation, whether it is realised or not, is driven by the stories told about it and within it. Narrative is, therefore, THE most important thing for vision, leadership, branding, culture, innovation and self-development.

Joel has published seven spoken word/music albums, eight different books and a soon to be released trilogy with Penguin-Random House.

Whether within the creative industries, the education sphere, or through keynote speaking and training Joel will not only WOW your people, he will bring next-level inspiration, breakthrough creative momentum and intentional innovation all to help them realise their own creative potential.

WHERE TO FIND JACQUELINE BROOKER

To connect and learn more about creating a Speaker Driven Business connect with Jacqueline on LinkedIn. You can also follow Jacqueline on Instagram or join the private Facebook group

Join the Speak More Collective.