Shankar Vedantam
Shankar Vedantam on Preparing for a Future You Can’t Predict
Shankar Vedantam
WSB Exclusive Speaker
Founder of Hidden Brain Media; Host and Executive Editor of the Hidden Brain podcast and radio show; Former NPR social science correspondent; Former Washington Post correspondent; 2009-2010 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University; Author of The Hidden Brain: How our unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, and Save our Lives
Shankar Vedantam helps leaders see the hidden psychological forces shaping behavior and decisions so they can reduce friction, improve judgment, and lead change more effectively, using rigorous science delivered through deeply human storytelling that creates shared understanding at scale.
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Shankar Vedantam is a rare voice who brings intellectual authority and emotional authenticity together in a way that resonates powerfully with senior leaders and large, diverse audiences. As the creator and host of Hidden Brain, he has spent his career uncovering the invisible forces that quietly shape how people think, decide, and behave, especially in high-stakes environments like modern organizations.
What makes Vedantam exceptional on stage is not just the insight he delivers, but how he delivers it. He combines rigorous behavioral science with storytelling that feels personal, honest, and disarmingly relatable. Audiences recognize themselves in the research. They see their teams, their cultures, and their blind spots reflected back to them without accusation or ideology. This lowers defenses and creates the conditions for real reflection and conversation.
Vedantam’s journalism background gives him extraordinary credibility, while his delivery creates moments of shared realization that linger well beyond the event itself. His talks reliably spark meaningful post-event dialogue about decision-making, culture, fairness, and trust, precisely the conversations many organizations struggle to initiate internally.
For companies navigating complexity, transformation, or internal strain, Vedantam does not offer slogans or prescriptive frameworks. He gives leaders a clearer way of seeing human behavior, enabling better decisions, healthier cultures, and leadership that aligns intention with impact.
Why Audiences Are Better Off:
- Leaders and teams gain a shared, non-threatening language for discussing bias, culture, and decision-making, making difficult conversations more productive and less polarizing.
- Audiences leave both intellectually engaged and emotionally connected, driving higher engagement scores and sustained post-event discussion.
- Organizations benefit from leaders who make better judgments and design smarter systems because they understand how people actually behave under pressure.
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Shankar Vedantam
Shankar Vedantam on Preparing for a Future You Can’t Predict
Shankar Vedantam’s Speech Topics
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Building Your Best Team
Being a leader is like steering a ship in the midst of a hurricane. Things are breaking all around you, and clashing voices tell you to go in different directions. Leaders can become the focal point of anger and distrust. How do you keep your team – and yourself – focused on long-term goals? This keynote presents three powerful techniques to increase engagement and reduce burnout (including your own.) By the end of this session, you will learn how to turn the culture of your team/organization into your biggest asset.
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The Talking Cure
In a crowded, chaotic marketplace of ideas, how do you get heard? In workplaces that span many generations, multiple time zones and different languages, how do you help people communicate across silos? At the heart of every great business story – and most debacles – is the story of communication. Done right, things usually go well. But communication gone haywire can cause failures big and small. This presentation showcases the three techniques used by great communicators, including what Vedantam calls the “telescope effect.”
Learn how to get on the radar of your boss and your customers. Get your teams talking, instead of arguing. Learn how to wow the board. (And woo your spouse, using the same techniques.) This presentation includes the option of a live exercise, if the group has lots of people who don’t know each other well.
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The Challenge of Change
The central challenge for all organizations is adaptation. How do you build a new plane while flying the old one? How do you bring your people along – when the path is difficult, uncertain and risky? This talk explores the hidden psychological barriers that make organizational change difficult, and then offers specific, actionable ideas (including one “ninja” technique) to bring about real change.
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Charting The Path Forward
Organizations face two key challenges. One involves uncertainty – not knowing the path forward. The other looks easier, but isn’t: A leader knows what to do, but can’t get their organization to execute the solution. This presentation looks at both challenges. What should you focus on when the future looks murky and confusing? And once you figure out which way to go, how do you convert insight into action? (As a bonus, you will also learn why your personal resolutions keep failing – and what to do about it.)
Works by Shankar Vedantam
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Shankar Vedantam
Hidden Brain Podcast -
Shankar Vedantam
Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain
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Shankar Vedantam Topics & Types
- Authors
- Business Speakers
- Change Management Speakers
- Communication Speakers
- Corporate Culture Speakers
- Emotional Intelligence Speakers
- Entertaining Speakers
- Journalists & Broadcasters
- Keynote Speakers
- Personal Growth Speakers
- Productivity Speakers
- Psychology Speakers
- Science Speakers
- Thought-Provoking Speakers
- Virtual Speakers
- Work Life Balance Speakers
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