Even though most of my work appears on paper or the screens, one of the most fulfilling parts of working with ideas is the chance to share and discuss them with groups of people. I’ve spoken at institutions like the University of Toronto, for organizations like CUTC and YENYR, and led workshops for companies like Shopify and Flipp. My work has been featured at outlets like Fast Company, The Fader, and The Globe and Mail. I’ve also interviewed leading recording artists like Ty Dolla $ign, Post Malone, and A$AP Ferg for my video series, Prologue.
My speaking topics:
An Introduction to Creative Doing
Life happens. People make changes in their vocation, education, and creative pursuits. They face the challenges of creative blocks, confusion and discouragement, and skill gaps or deterioration. This speech provides a flexible framework to work with the chaos of life, and actionable tactics to create greater consistency, momentum, and to learn faster. It is based on a series of articles that have been featured at The Next Web, Forge, and Fast Company, and read by over 300,000 people.
The Editor Is the New Brand Manager
The saying goes, every company is a media company. More and more, the best companies know they need to cultivate communities if they’re going to build a sustainable business. This speech is for teams and organizations who want to learn to build defensible marketing assets — books, blogs, and publications — that continue to pay off as time passes. It draws from my professional experiences with my editorial studio Wonder Shuttle, and building writing teams for companies like QuickBooks and Shopify.
High Output Creativity
“The chances are that in the course of his lifetime, the major poet will write more bad poems than the minor,” says poet W.H. Auden. This is an insight that we often forget about creative success; that when people attempt to make more hits, they also make more misses. This speech aims to provoke thought on how to improve the creative process, by weaving together insights from the academic field of historiometry, artists in all fields, the changing landscape of technology, to show artists, freelancers, and entrepreneurs how they can improve their individual and team productivity amidst perpetual distraction and disruption.
What other people have said:
“Herbert has written one of the finest and most useful books on Creativity I have ever devoured. I was so enamoured, I invited him to speak to my McGill University MBA class. He was insightful, engaging and an upbeat presence…qualities that make him not just a notable speaking presence, but a pretty fine human being.”
Andy Nulman, Co-founder and CEO at Just For Laughs
Herbert Lui is an inspiring, multifaceted creative, who is able to provide direction and reassurance to all who seek to live a life of “doing.” For those who find value in living a life in the arts, while also maintaining a presence in the corporate world, Lui shares valuable strategies of how creativity is an inherent component to all of life, and can be strengthened by giving attention to all sides of ourselves. Herbert Lui presents a valuable vision of how we can cultivate balance, joy, and meaning in all of our endeavors.
Jacqueline Jones LaMon, Author of What Water Knows