Keynote speaking

Insight Agents’ Founder & MD, Sam Knowles, is a Master Data Storyteller. He’s advised some of the world’s biggest and best businesses on how to make smarter use of data. With a rare and distinctive blend of analytical prowess and storytelling smarts, Sam helps all sorts of organisations turn raw data into compelling narratives that drive action and inspire change.

With more than three decades working in the front line of data storytelling, Sam is also a renowned and sought-after keynote speaker. With a warm, engaging, and deeply human delivery style, he’s at home in front of audiences from eight to eight hundred, and regularly gives top-rated talks at industry conferences, seminars, and internal company meetings.

Sam giving the keynote at the Cambridge University Development and Alumni Relations (CUDAR) annual conference at Jesus College, June 2023

Three of the central premises of Sam’s approach to data storytelling are that:

  • Less is more when it comes to blending numbers into narrative – you need to find and use only truly relevant data to persuade others to act.
  • Most data storytelling fails are the result of the Curse of Knowledge – defined by the Harvard psychology professor, Steven Pinker, as: “the difficulty in imagining what it’s like for someone else not to know something that you know”.
  • Empathy’s what matters most of all – that all-too-rare ability to put yourself in the mind, mindset, shoes of those you seek to influence, respecting their data tolerance.
Sam running a data storytelling masterclass at the 2018 Brighton Summit

Sam giving the opening keynote at Copy Con X, October 2023, Royal College of Physicians

Sam believes that, when it comes to keynotes, the medium is very much the message. As well as getting plenty of practical, actionable guidance, delegates are guaranteed to enjoy a keynote where less is more, the Curse of Knowledge is nowhere to be seen, and empathy abounds.

If you’d like Sam to speak at your event, please visit his speaker page here, complete the form on that page, and book a call to discuss. This page includes a video vault of selected talks, so you can get a good idea of what a Knowles Keynote is like before we meet.
Alternatively, just complete the contact form below.

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