"First let me say--BOOK HIM--It's not easy to hold the attention of 8500+ guests in an arena, but Kyle had our members from the moment he stepped on the stage."
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Kyle Scheele
The Patron Saint of Crazy Ideas
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Kyle Scheele
Biography
Kyle Scheele has been called "the patron saint of crazy ideas". Whether he's having a Viking funeral for the regrets of 21,000 people, hosting the world's first fake marathon, or gaining a million TikTok followers in just 25 hours, Kyle is always on the lookout for crazy ideas that produce wildly outsized outcomes. Over the last decade, his projects have been featured in outlets like Fast Company, WIRED, The Washington Post, Yahoo!, BuzzFeed, UpWorthy, Goalcast, and more. His videos have been viewed over 250 million times, and he has spoken to hundreds of thousands of audience members across the United States. More than anything, Kyle hopes that his story can inspire others to chase their own crazy ideas and become the people they were meant to be.
Kyle Scheele
Featured Keynote Programs
Becoming An Idea Factory
How to turn yourself (and your organization) into an innovation machine.
If there’s one belief that is holding you back from getting the most out of your team, it’s this one: some people are creative, and some people aren’t.
That belief is based on outdated ideas about what creativity means, where it comes from, and who gets to harness it.
The truth is, creativity is a skill like any other: it can be learned.
In the same way that we teach employees how to track expenses, process invoices, and jiggle the lock just right to get into the supply closet, we can teach them how to be more creative, how to have better ideas, and how to build a culture where innovation is a natural byproduct.
Objectives:
In this talk, Kyle will:
• Inspire audience members to harness their own capacity for creativity and innovation.
• Give practical tips for how to get more (and better!) ideas out of yourself and your team)
• Share the 5 things that every idea needs
• Help you avoid common idea-killers in
your organization
Thinking Inside the Box
How tough times fuel true creativity and innovation.
We’ve all said it: “If only I had ________, then I could do __________.”
We’re convinced that the only thing standing between us and our best work is more money, more time, more resources, more buy-in, a better team, a better boss, a better piece of software… the list goes on.
But the truth is, real creative work thrives within constraints.
True creative work exists in the gap between what you have and what you think you need. After all, if you had everything you needed, you wouldn’t need creativity at all.
True creativity showed up when the Apollo 13 astronauts had to make square filters fit round tubes. It showed up when a global pandemic made in-person work a liability. And it’ll show up for you too, once you let go of your misguided beliefs about what true creativity requires.
Objectives:
In this talk, Kyle will:
• Show how constraints are the breeding ground for creativity.
• Identify the difference between constructive constraint and restrictive contraint.
• Help reframe the constraints in your organization and find the solutions you’ve been searching for.
• Walk through tools and exercises to break through creative blocks.
It Only Takes One
Rediscovering the power of individuals to drive meaningful change
The first time Kyle Scheele thought about taking his own life, he was in second grade. He was alone, without a friend, and he thought the world would be better off without him. Then a new kid showed up and Kyle learned an important truth: it only takes one person to make you feel like you matter. As time went on, Kyle learned more:
• It only takes one person to make you feel like you matter, and it only takes one person to make you feel like you don’t.
• It only takes one person to lift someone up, and it only takes one person to tear someone down.
• It only takes one person to make someone’s day, and it only takes one person to ruin someone’s day.
In time, he learned that almost all of the most meaningful things in life – the things that truly matter, that truly last – are done by one person.
Objectives:
In this talk, Kyle will:
• Share the story of his own mental health journey and the people who helped him along the way.
• Show audience members that they are not alone in their struggles, nor are they defined by them.
• Remind audience members of the power they have to make an impact on the people around them.
• Share practical tips for making a positive difference in the lives of others.
Target Audiences
Kyle’s talks are perfect for:
• Bold companies who want to tap into the creative power of their people
• Industries facing massive change (like healthcare, staffing, banking, sales…)
• Associations that want a powerful, hilarious, inspiring, energetic keynote to kick off or close their conference or event.
You should talk to Kyle if:
• You're a leader who wants to get more (and better) ideas out of your existing team.
• You believe that some people are creative and some people aren't (He'll prove you wrong).
• You came to the corporate world with big dreams, but now you're in a rut and you're doubting if your ideas matter (they do).
Kyle Scheele
Featured Book
How to Host a Viking Funeral: The Case for Burning Your Regrets, Chasing Your Crazy Ideas, and Becoming the Person You're Meant to Be
by Kyle Scheele
An inspiring speaker and artist asked 20,000 people around the world to share the regrets they wanted him to burn in a mock Viking ship.
This is the story of what he learned about letting go of the pain of the past and embracing the future with hope.
Turning 30, artist and speaker Kyle Scheele wanted to do something unusual to mark this milestone. Instead of a birthday bash, he decided to hold a funeral to memorialize the decade of his life that was ending. Building a 16-foot Viking ship out of cardboard, he invited friends to help him set it on fire--a symbolic farewell to his 20s and all the grief, regret, and mistakes that accompanied those years.
When video of his Viking funeral went viral, it encouraged many others to let go of past hurts as well. Moved by the response he received, Kyle planned a second funeral (this time with a 30-foot cardboard Viking ship) and asked people to share the things they carried--the bad choices, disappointments, heartaches, and negative thinking that they wanted to lay to rest. He received more than 20,000 responses from around the world--stories both heartbreaking and hilarious, painful and inspiring.
In this entertaining and wise book, Kyle reflects on what he discovered about freeing ourselves from the pain of the past, interweaving anecdotes from those who participated with the story of his own journey of renewal. "This story involves multiple Viking funerals, thousands of square feet of cardboard, and enough hot glue to supply your mother-in-law's craft night for the rest of time," he writes. "But it also involves regret, self-doubt, insecurity, and ultimately, redemption. So buckle up. It's about to get bumpy."
How to Host a Viking Funeral is the story of letting go of the people we used to be, but no longer want to be. It's about renewal; where there was once regret there is now blank space--an opportunity for a fresh start.
Kyle Scheele
Featured Reviews
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