Name: She just is really engaging and funny.
Rating: 5

Overview

Former Muppet-maker, and Emmy award winning creative director, Gwen Gordon gets audience members thinking, laughing, and learning about the importance of play and its impact on their lives and work. As a play expert, author, Huffington Post blogger, and filmmaker, Gwen weaves state of the art research on play from evolutionary biology and neuroscience with real world examples, and sloshes of humor to convey a compelling vision for what’s possible when your workplace becomes a play space. With clients ranging from MIT Media Lab designers to TSA security officers Gwen gets people out of their chairs (and their heads) to feel, think, and know in their bones the power of play for a productive, creative, agile work place. Think Ellen Degeneres meets Einstein meets Elmo!

Speaker Reel

Pausefest 2018

TESTIMONIALS

TEDx talk

GWEN’S SPEAKING KIT

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SPEAKING TOPICS

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The Power of Play

Most of us were raised to think of play as a frivolous distraction from serious business. In this lively presentation, Gwen turns the work ethic on its head and shows how our success actually depends on play. With cameos from an irrepressible Labrador retriever, and an 80 year-old cheerleader, the keynote brings home why play is a superfood of behavior and the key to our success. We learn what makes play possible, what stops it, and the attitude and perspective that can make anything play.

The Future of Work is Play

Our world is changing. And fast. New workforce, new management practices, new demands on business. The drum beats for relentless innovation, greater agility, and more engagement. In this practical presentation, Gwen describes why play is to the 21st Century what work was to the Industrial Age, and how profit is linked to play. Audiences learn the difference between play washing and real cultures of play, leaving with seven (no, eight) steps for creating their own at work

Creativity

In this highly interactive presentation, the audience experiences first-hand how play is the shortest distance between a problem and a creative solution. They learn how to enter the “zone” alone and together. Drawing from chaos theory, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology, along with her experiences making Muppets, Gwen reveals how to access the mindset that is the secret sauce behind every great discovery and invention.

Mindfulness in Motion

In this highly experiential presentation Gwen builds on mindfulness research, taking the audience on a journey to discover how mindfulness not only makes us more playful, but how playing can cultivate mindfulness. She then leads the group in direct experiences of play as a dynamic meditation that enables us to surf through chaos with joy, grace, and leadership.

The Playful Leader

If the universe were a static, rigid collection of solid objects, then good leadership would be characterized by rigidity and control. But in fact, the universe is a fluid flux of messy, ambiguous, paradoxical, creative, full-on play. That means that good leadership is fluid, flexible, and playful. In this presentation, Gwen outlines the five habits of a highly playful universe and shows how, when we go with the grain of the cosmos, everything becomes easier.

TESTIMONIALS

“She just is really engaging and funny.”

February 2, 2016

“I love how there was a combination of science, reference to different thought leaders…”

February 2, 2016

“It was FUN!”

February 2, 2016

“…Informing, interesting, engaging.”

February 2, 2016

“…Wonderfully interactive”

February 2, 2016

“It was a wild ride through neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and leadership practices.”

February 2, 2016

“Gwen is pure magic. Her presentation lit up our minds and hearts and we left seeing the world differently.”

Dondeena Meadows SVP Nutrition, PepsiCo February 2, 2016

“I think Gwen’s just presence and delivery, her in depth knowledge of the topic and the way she shared that with us in such an engaging way…was the highlight for me.”

February 2, 2016

“I like that it was a meta conversation, so I could really take away the concept and apply it to my life as a whole, instead of it being just a project.”

February 2, 2016

“I really liked how much of a dynamic presenter [Gwen] was. At one point she was pretending to be a husky and showing us how engrained play is in our system.”

February 2, 2016

“I particularly liked Gwen and her use of imagery… cause we all get so tired of it really lent itself to the topic where she was showing us pictures that got us thinking in a playful way.”

February 2, 2016

“Gwen’s facilitation of our board retreat was fantastic! Her combination of playfulness and depth opened up possibilities for creativity and insight, as well as vulnerability and trust, that were crucial in terms of meaningful team building and valuable strategic planning. As a result of Gwen’s guidance we were able to have a more enjoyable and productive retreat than we have ever had in the past.”

Stephen H. Sulmeyer, J.D., Ph.D February 2, 2016