The Official Bio
Simon Banks: NOT your ordinary keynote speaker
Creative, Experienced, Engaging.
…And (dare we say it), FUN!
If you want your audience engaged, the energy high and your people raving about your event, Simon’s for you.
Simon is an international keynote speaker and author, podcaster on creativity, innovation and design and a recovering professional artist. He has delivered over 1300 events across the globe.
His book, A Thousand Little Lightbulbs: How to kickstart a culture of Innovation in your Organisation, is out now and providing a guide to leverage the greatest innovation tool in your business: your people. His podcast, The Occupational Philosophers is a not-so-serious business podcast to spark imagination, creativity and curiosity and is downloaded across the globe.
Simon describes his geek-out spot as the intersection of creativity and design, people, learning and passion which he sees as essential building blocks for innovation.
With a foot planted firmly in both the creative and corporate sectors, he brings a unique perspective to business as usual. Simon’s clients span diverse industries, but they all value the biggest result he delivers: a shift in their thinking that brings big results that enable them to adapt and thrive.
It all ties in with Simon’s big why: To use his artists curiosity combined with his 20-year corporate career to build a more creative world and enable people and business to thrive in the modern age.
Never have our inbuilt creativity, curiosity and imagination been more important than they are today.
As the world around us changes at a rapid pace, (who saw 2020-21 coming?), business models are upended and 2019 thinking will not provide the answers we need in 2022 and beyond. As automation continues to take away the repeatable and mundane, our essential human skills are what we need more than ever to succeed.
In almost every global survey, from the World Economic Forum, Deloitte and Adobe through to LinkedIn, CEOs list creativity as the most essential skill they need in their organisation (and this was pre-2020; this stuff matters!) The great news is that all humans have creativity in abundance, and Simon helps turn it into a resource that can power your organisation.
If you want to kickstart a culture of innovation in your company, completely shift your thinking and break through the business-as-usual or ‘heard all this innovation stuff before’ boredom, then you need Simon’s book in your life.
Click below to find out more about A Thousand Little Lightbulbs.
What magic does Simon weave for you?
Simon speaks at, facilitates and MC’s conferences and events and delivers a large variety of innovation and design programs. These include visual storytelling programs, exploring and developing strategy, co-design programs, rapid prototyping and design sprints and design thinking workshops.
The ‘Simon effect’ is a unique combination of his ability to meld the corporate and creative sectors, bringing a completely different perspective to curly business conundrums. His way of shifting thinking galvanises forward-moving, creative outcomes which outperform business-as-usual thinking every time (and it’s the asset that clients buy).
His solutions cover both digital and face-to-face offerings, both online and offline programs and events.
He works with companies who want to develop a culture of innovation every day, everywhere and who value nurturing market-leading thinking, great ideas, products and results by putting people, creativity and design at the heart of their innovation strategy.
Simon knows that if you’ve got a problem, you’ve got the solution, too. You might just need help to bring it to life.
Watch some recent footage of Simon on stage.
Creating a culture of innovation – change which adds value – doesn’t happen by accident. Nor does it happen by endlessly throwing around the latest buzz words in meetings.
You need someone who knows the terrain to help your people forge their own path to innovative, creative solutions that fit your company’s quirks like a bespoke suit.
Simon’s unique blend of energetic enthusiasm, creativity and humour (what he’s known for) is your guarantee for a program or event that lives on in the memories of your people, for all the right reasons. With his authentic passion, he engages audiences instantly; they’re along for the ride and unlocking great ideas.
He marries his creative abilities with his knowledge of the corporate world to ignite fresh, innovative thinking in his audiences… and provides a roadmap to ensure that creativity lasts long after the event is over.
He’s worked to turn creative thinking up to 11/10 and bring innovation out of teams with companies that include: EY, The Federal Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, BHP Billiton, Sportsbet, Geoscience Australia, NAB, Carat Media, University of Technology Sydney, Laing O’Rourke, and Volkswagen, to name a few.
Simon’s spoken at and facilitated an enormous range of events, running 1300+ across Europe, Asia, America and Australia, including:
- Conferences
- Events
- Innovation and Design Sprints
- Whiteboard Ninja Programs
- Creativity and Design Thinking workshops, and
- Large scale, creative team events
After a successful career as an artist and then a solid 20-year stint in corporates, Simon brought together his two specialities to create VisualFunk, his company that brings creativity and fresh thinking to organisations that want to grow, develop and foster a culture of innovation in their teams to produce great ideas, products and results.
With a high-energy, savvy approach that engages audiences instantly, Simon is a consummate, unflappable professional, without compromising on the fun. Many event clients say he’s the easiest person they have ever worked with (and that’s something that he prides himself on).
Watch Simon’s evolution from artist by night and corporate worker by day to International Keynote Speaker and innovation and creativity thought leader in the video below:
Now based in Sydney, Simon loves to travel (and like most, is waiting for travel to open up again) and live life to the fullest. When he’s not presenting, he can often be found surfing, creating and illustrating in his studio and finding new adventures with his family.
If you want to make sure you fulfil the innovation potential in your organisation and that your event, conference, training day or keynote are remembered for all the right reasons, you need Simon – or his book!
Get in touch with Simon today to have a chat about how he can bring out the best in your people at your event.
The Unofficial Bio
Hi, I’m Simon.
I’m an author, podcaster and International keynote speaker (and a little bit different) as you might have gathered. I don’t want to be a boaster but I like to subscribe to the ‘mighty fine online’ theory as well.
If you’re an event planner, you may be here because you want a speaker for your event or program who understands how important a well-run event is, isn’t a pain in the arse, connects with your audience and is fun to work with.
I’ve been on your side. I know that hiring the right person for your event is mission-critical.
You just want your event to run smoothly, your people to be engaged, their thinking shifted, and if everyone raves about it for a long time afterwards? That’s the gold standard but you’ll take that too! (Who wouldn’t?)
If you’re a leader, you may want to talk to someone who knows how to inspire your people about new thinking, ideas & innovation, even if they think they’ve heard it all before. In 2022, that’s more important than ever before. You may be wondering how to even get started with a culture of innovation in your organisation that isn’t lost in more change rollout jargon or lost in all the noise.
You may be thinking about how your team can continue to thrive and hit your sales targets in the 21st Century as disruption shapes our landscape in new ways every day. (And hasn’t disruption taken off in a way that we never expected recently?)
You may have a project where you need a really fresh set of eyes and someone who can help your team to shift their thinking and embrace their creativity and curiosity.
Well, good news! I think you’ve landed in the right place!
I come from two very different backgrounds: creative and corporate. I really like to have fun as well. Whilst I didn’t realise it at first, my left of centre mix has been a great blessing.
I know a LOT about ‘doing’ creativity and about how to get it working in a corporate setting, without scaring anyone off. It’s the foot planted firmly in both the creative and corporate worlds that sets me apart.
I love the human potential of creativity and curiosity so much, I’ve even written a book about it – and started a podcast.
Why? First let me tell you about the book…
We all come to a stage in our lives when we know that we need to do something different.
We need to break the mould.
Break out of the routine.
Maybe do something slightly rebellious or outrageous.
Some may call it a mid-life crisis. Spoiler: I got to that point too.
I couldn’t afford a Ferrari and I’m far more attracted to a Moped over a Harley Davidson, so I chose to write a book instead.
Logical? Nope. Satisfying? Well, maybe.
Whilst I wondered about the Harley Davidson vs Moped and riding into the hills, I’m glad I stuck with the writing.
Check out A Thousand Little Lightbulbs: How to kickstart a culture of Innovation in your Organisation here.
Now it’s out and at large in the world, I’ve got a lot to share.
I also create a podcast, The Occupational Philosophers, a not-so-serious business podcast to spark imagination, creativity and curiosity and is downloaded across the globe. the curious, creative, and imaginative star that you are, or would like to be? Me and John Rice chat every week in a not-so-serious business way on staying curious, creative, asking those really great questions (and leading a most interesting life in the process).
My big why? To use my artist’s ingenuity combined with my 20-year corporate career to build a more creative world and enable people and business to thrive.
The problem is, 95% of people I work with think they don’t have any creativity at all. NONE.
That’s why I love bringing fresh thinking out of a crowd; enabling a roomful of people to realise that they ARE innovative thinkers, even if their jobs and lives have told them otherwise so far.
There is just so, so much hidden potential that people can ignore.
That potential shouldn’t be – and in today’s world just can’t be – wasted.
Once a team can develop creative confidence, try new things and back their ideas, then watch out as this is when positive change happens at speed.
I know that building a team of fresh thinkers and constantly improving and adapting may be the end game, but it’s tough when you have immediate benchmarks and KPI’s to meet, and a team has heard all this innovation mumbo jumbo before.
It’s also hard when you’re up against a culture that might not be so supportive.
Using a very active and hands-on approach, I help teams rediscover their long-squashed creativity, design and problem-solving skills so that they can develop market-leading products, services and ways of working that delight their clients and can make a real difference.
Absolutely, each organisation is different, but I have never met a team that doesn’t want to develop the very human skills they need to thrive in the 21st Century.
I believe that innovation is EVERYONE’S job – everyone, every day, everywhere.
We all have a role to play in making the world a better place.
If you’d like to talk to me to figure out how your next project, workshop, online or offline event can have your people raving and really shift the innovation capabilities/the way you think in your organisation, give me a call or contact me today.
Here’s to your next event, workshop or keynote address knocking the ball out of the park and getting the outcomes you’ve dreamed of; well into the future.
Happy Days,