Bill Carr

Acting up to our greatest authentic potential, in this ever changing, always challenging world, isn’t easy. Many people wait for inspiration but there are ways to find inspiration and stay actively and consistently inspired. Acting Up: Lessons from the theatre of life shows how to do just that.

In this keynote, Bill shares research into how the brain works to create our experience of the world around and inside us, an environment filled with creativity, enthusiasm, and inspiration. Bill focuses on empathy and what he calls “contagious inspiration” and how nurturing our relationship with our better selves can re-wire our neural pathways. Living authentically changes surviving into thriving, and tragedy into strategy.

Bill helps people understand that important moment between action and reaction where character and authenticity become a critical choice. And how resilience in times of change becomes a vital aspect of our true character.

The actor’s truth lies in the knowledge that they are performing a role and attempting to portray the deep honest reality of the character. We should be striving to do no less with our own authentic character in our own living story on our own stage.

Bill’s Acting Up: Lessons from the theatre of life keynote will reignite a passion and desire to find and develop inspiration and authenticity in your own life, and in the lives of those you work with and for. Bill believes that how we see the world, determines our thoughts and motivations for action, and ultimately our destiny. To see the world with an inspired mindset, determined to find and nurture joy and creativity, transforms the mundane into the amazing.

Why settle for less?

Ancient cultures from around the world have gathered people in circle to share stories and dialogue on issues of mutual importance; to create, celebrate, restore and solidify community. Talking in Circles is a practice for evolving healthy and productive group and tribal connection.

The need for circle dialogue has never been greater; broken relationships, broken communities, broken societies surround us every day. The need for deep meaningful relationship is a vital aspect of mental health. We spend so much time with our work colleagues and our customers having healthy relationships is vital to our wellbeing.

Bill also shares the significant neuroscience of interpersonal neurobiology behind how Talking in Circles works. Active entrainment occurs with effective listening and mirror neurons serve to create real empathy and compassionate action. This compassion and empathy occurs in structured circle dialogue and can be shared with everyone with whom we come in contact in our daily living.

The axiom, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” is never more true than when we are Talking in Circles.

Talking in Circles celebrates diversity, belonging and inclusion and helps nurture compassion and connection. The implications of this practice at work and in our society are vast and transformative.

This keynote What’s On Your Mind? is about self-talk; that constant chatter that is our ‘thinking’. It’s about how to learn what’s “really” on your mind, where it came from, and whether it is valid or not. It is about learning what is useful and what is harmful.

Robin Williams once said “Reality, what a concept!” In a deep exploration of this statement, Bill starts to unpack the neuroscience about the everyday experience we have of the life around us that constitutes our ‘reality’.

From his readings of ancient philosophies and theologies through modern psychology and interpersonal neuroscience, Bill assembles a set of accessible ideas that help each of us to better answer the question “What’s on Your Mind?” It is all about learning how to work with the mind in a healthy and productive way.

Bill talks about the skills needed to ‘focus your attention on your intention’, and help address the mental dissipation we so often fall prey to. Bill explores; the value of creativity and its dark side, the simple technique of critical thinking, nurture versus nature, and the use of ‘deliberate perception’ – to help in our understanding of how the mind works for us or against us at any given moment.

Hot and Cold thinking, the neuroscience of mirror neurons and neural pathways, the ancient practice of Epoche’ and its modern applications, entrainment, empathy, rumination – all these ideas and more are explored as ways of being and thinking to make our lives and the lives of those around us richer and more joyful. The neuroscience, ancient ideas and a vast number of humorous anecdotes make for a fun and informative journey towards answering the question “What’s On Your Mind?”

Just For YOU! is a keynote and/or workshop developed and created in close consultation with you the organizer of the event. Bill thoroughly researches the needs and desired outcomes for the conference or day event that you are developing. He asks questions and then deep dives into your organization and the audience and creates material that directly relates to the people gathered.

Working closely with you and people in your organization Bill makes sure he touches on the themes and specific outcomes that you are after. The title and content of the presentation is developed with each conference organizer.  Bill does develops the material with wit and insight born of years of working with a vast variety of industries and organizations.

Bill starts with questions such as:

• What is the theme of your event?
• What are the immediate outcomes you are looking for?
• What are the long-term outcomes you would like to see?
• What are some of the priorities you would like addressed?
• What are the main challenges your people and your industry are facing?
• What are the sensitivities he needs to be careful of?
• Who do you serve and what are their needs?

From there, he researches your audience and using language familiar to them, illuminating the issues and themes of the event. Bill adds previously undiscovered insights he brings to the table as an experienced outsider and keen observer of industries and organizations over the last thirty plus years. A common sentiment shared after Bill’s keynotes is “How do you know us so well. It’s like you work here!” It’s Bill’s favourite review.

Just for YOU! is just for you and your people and will add a richness of insight and humour to the experience of your event creating a unique, fun and moving experience that will be talked about and celebrated long after the event is over.

In his Deep Service keynote, Bill explores the meaning of the word ‘service’ as it needs to be understood in a rapidly changing marketplace. Bill coined the term ‘Deep Service’ to describe that service which is based in empathy and ultimately “love.”

Using stories from a lifetime working with companies, organizations, associations and governments, Bill illustrates the key issues involved in Deep Service. He explores the interpersonal neuropsychology behind such things as ‘mirror neurons’ and how Deep Service can be deeply infectious in a very good way.  Bill he contends that ‘empathy’ needs to be the most important consideration in business and society in the 21st century and beyond. To that end Deep Service also explores the idea of servant leadership in your specific context.

Bill says “We are all interconnected and ‘Deep Service’ is a way of celebrating and enhancing that interconnectedness.” In a world where it seems like conflict and feelings of alienation dominate our culture, Deep Service bridges the gap and allows for a richer experience of our own humanity and the humanity of others. Whether it is an internal customer, an external customer, or our colleagues – connecting with ‘Deep Service’ makes for a richer more productive and happier personal and work life.

This keynote is a call to the Deep Service we all so need.

Essential Selfishness works for the premise that we need to restore ourselves before we can restore others.

In this workshop, Bill explores how ‘self-directed compassion’ allows us to achieve an even a greater level of service to others. By taking the time to nurture a healthy mind, body and spirit, we develop a deeper inner strength, resiliency and are better able to stay the course without burn out. As Gandhi taught, we must embody the change that we wish to see in the world. The journey of compassion and service must always begin within.

To extend compassion to the self is the beginning of extending real compassion to the rest of the world and do both in a good way. To do so we need to understand that we are often holding a number of tensions at the same time: competing priorities between the needs of others and the needs of self. We must learn to dance in this awareness and rejoice at the contrasts and challenge of each moment. We are the architects of our own growth and expansion and knowing how to direct tension is a life-long practice. And it is one that can be mastered.

If we believe in our interconnectedness as human beings, then to abandon the “self” as being somehow unworthy of our care is an act of gross negligence. We need to believe that we are worth caring for as well as the other and then we need to start that self-caring. In “Essential Selfishness”, Bill offers both the perspective and the practical tools to do just that.

Essential Selfishness is offered in both keynote and workshop formats. Bill works directly with clients before each event in order to create material of vital interest to each individual audience.