Sekou Andrews believes in the power of words.

He’ll provide the opening Ed (Filene) Talk at the 2023 CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC), Feb. 26 through March 2 in Washington D.C. The session is sponsored by CUNA Councils.

In this episode of the CUNA News Podcast, Andrews shares how he developed poetic voice speaking to inspire unconventional and innovative thinking. Poetic voice seamlessly fuses inspirational speaking with spoken word poetry.

His accomplishments include two National Poetry Slam championships and the first Best Spoken Word Album Grammy nomination for a poet in 30 years. 

Andrews hopes to inspire attendees to take that “next step” or start a project they’ve delayed in a cloud of uncertainty. The inspiration to move forward is as often as not a strong human connection with the people in your life, he says.

You can listen to the CUNA News Podcast in Apple’s iTunes Store, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher Radio.

In this episode:

1:55: The meaning behind Sekou's name

3:06: The influence of his parents

4:26: Why language is so powerful

7:35: What makes Sekou's show so powerful

10:41: Explaining poetic voice

11:32: Why Sekou's content is important