Memorable & powerful speeches to inspire change

Speaking on Celebrity Eclipse – Courtesy of Bo Mathisen (http://www.bomathisen.no/)

With 35 years of public speaking and international travel experience, Shane Dallas provides a unique insight into the people and places of this planet. He has visited and photographed more than 100 countries, including destinations not often visited by other travelers – such as Afghanistan, Yemen, Kurdistan, and Somaliland.

He has felt the power that travel brings an individual. Travel can transform lives by nurturing such attributes as courage, confidence, appreciation, awe, and respect. His experiences can inspire others to undertake a similar path of transformation.

People who have seen Shane’s presentations call him the ‘Master Storyteller’ due to his extraordinary range of pace, pitch, power and pause when speaking. Combined with his lyrical speech writing, he provides a remarkable presentation that will be remembered by attendees for many years.

Shane shares his incredible travel photographs during presentations that visually reinforces the spoken message.

Shane has spoken at events in Australia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, India, Latvia, Malaysia, Netherlands, Philippines, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United States, and on Cruise Ships.

If you are interesting in having Shane speak at your event, including inhouse corporate sessions, please visit his speaking website:

Speech Topics (25-60 minute customised presentations)

Nurturing courage and confidence to reach your full potential

Summary: Courage and confidence are two of life’s most important attributes. Without them, it is difficult to reach our full potential, and our lives feel more limited. In this inspiring session, you will understand how travel increases courage and confidence at a faster rate than almost any other activity. Once this courage and confidence has been gained when you travel, it will positively influence every part of your business and personal life when you return home.

Target audience:

• Anybody who wants to increase courage and confidence in their life
• Businesses who want to nurture a culture of courage and confidence in their workplace
• Anybody seeking to travel to overseas destinations – whether similar or very different to one’s own culture

The audience will leave with:

• How to start and continue on the path to courage and confidence
• How to use travel to increase courage and confidence
• How courage and confidence unlocks the door to our full potential

How appreciation and awe leads to a profound life

Summary: Have you ever stopped to deeply consider and appreciate the wonders of the world that surround you? Our lives are filled with experiences, people and objects that we should appreciate, but we mostly take them for granted. Once a person learns to appreciate, awe can follow – and moments of awe can define a person’s life. In this inspiring session, hear how a near-death experience and extensive travel have shown the profound importance of a life abundant with appreciation and awe.

Target audience:

• Anybody seeking to renew their life in a positive way
• Anybody wishing to better see and experience the beauty of the world

The audience will leave with:

• A greater appreciation of the things in our lives that we take for granted
• How one can seek out moments of awe in life
• Learn from a first-hand near death experience and the impact of a second chance of life

Embracing the humanity that unites us all

Summary: Travel brings the world together. Interactions between people when travelling puts a human face on different nations, and it replaces fear and suspicion of the unknown with knowledge and understanding. Travel makes us realize that the similarities that unite us as people are far more significant than the differences that divide us. In this inspiring session, learn from experiences gained from travel through more than 100 countries that show why we should embrace the humanity that we all share.

Target audience:

• Anyone seeking greater knowledge and understanding of the world
• Community, business and government leaders
• Global thinkers

The audience will leave with:

• A greater understanding of the humanity we share with other people
• First-hand stories that show the strength of humanity
• A shift from of seeing the world as ‘us’ and ‘them’ to just ‘us’

Challenging and changing perceptions through travel

Summary: The reality of the world is very different to our preconceptions, and our preconceptions about different people and places are almost always incorrect. These preconceptions build a wall that prevents us from seeing what the world is really like, and this wall is built of bricks about danger, culture, race, and politics. In this thoughtful session that may challenge the way you think, listen to stories that explain how the world is far different from what we believe. (A video of this presentation can be found further down the page.)

Target audience:

• Anyone seeking greater knowledge and understanding of the world
• Community, business and government leaders
• Global thinkers

The audience will leave with:

• A greater understanding of how preconceptions impact the way we think
• How critical and independent thinking changes the ways we view the world and its people
• How travel brings a global understanding to our lives

Providing memorable experiences for visitors to your destination

Summary: People are increasingly looking for richer experiences when they travel. They want to avoid peak-hour crowds that seem to follow them everywhere, and they are less interested in streets filled with souvenir shops totally devoid of local culture. Instead, they seek unique experiences that provide them with a sense of place that they cannot find anywhere else. In this informative session, hear practical examples of how the tourism industry can manage and provide a better visitor experience.

Target audience:

• Hospitality and tourism industry (hotels, tour operators, attractions)
• Destination marketing organizations
• Convention bureaus
• Tourism associations

The audience will leave with:

• An understanding of the type of activities that can bring memorable travel experiences
• Practical examples of how to implement memorable travel experiences
• How to avoid traps that lessen the travel experience

Deeper, greater, richer – the power of transformative travel experiences

Summary: One of the greatest benefits of travel is the opportunity to immerse within another culture. The best way to immerse in a place is to become an explorer – to seek out sights and experiences away from the main attractions, and to meet local people that you find there. In this informative and inspiring session, listen to practical steps as to how to become an explorer when you travel. When you explore, it can lead to travel experiences that can transform your life.

Target audience:

• Potential, new or experienced travelers
• Anyone pursuing self-improvement
• Anyone seeking new and challenging travel experiences
• Anyone seeking greater knowledge and understanding of the world

The audience will leave with:

• Practical steps on how to seek transformative travel experiences
• Learn the benefits of being an explorer when traveling
• Be inspired to either commence or continue exploring the road less traveled

This video from September 2019 entitled ‘Challenging and Changing Perceptions Through Travel‘ is my most important and thought-provoking presentation. It was a keynote speech delivered at iNOVUSS in Riga, Latvia.

To book Shane as a speaker, including inhouse corporate sessions, please follow this link:

My recent public speaking engagements and speech subjects (not speech titles) – excludes virtual presentations. Since 2023, I have worked mostly on in-house corporate speaking that is not included below:
Langkawi Social Media Week – Social Media Success Stories – Langkawi, Malaysia – December 2019
ICTT India – Tips to Becoming a Good Digital Photographer – Kochi, India – September 2019
iNOVUSS – How Travel Challenges and Changes Perceptions – Riga, Latvia – September 2019
Travel Massive – Effective Photography Tips for Social Media – Webinar – May 2019
Arabian Travel Market (ATM) – Organised and Moderated 3 Social Media Sessions (How to Use Social Media to Reach Russian and Chinese Tourists, How to Positively Change the Perception of Destinations Using the Power of Social Media, Using Social Media to improve customer service and encourage your staff to become your online ambassadors) – Dubai, UAE – April 2019
Theme Parks & Entertainment Development Forum – Conference Chair – Dubai UAE – April 2019
Nigeria Social Media Summit (NSMS) – Presentation on Social Media Conversation and Conversion, Workshop on Social Media Communities. Abuja, Nigeria – August 2018
Arabian Travel Market (ATM) – Organised and Moderated 3 Social Media Sessions (Branding & Selling on Social Media, Mastering Your Social Media,  Successful Social Media Influencer Partnerships) – Dubai, UAE – April 2018
Malaysia Social Media Week (MSMW) – Using Social Media to Build Sales & Workshop on Becoming a Thought Leader on Social Media – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – November 2017
Travel Massive – Global Trends for Online Travel Partnerships – Nairobi, Kenya – November 2017
ATM – Using Social Media to promote less travelled destinations – Dubai, UAE – April 2017
Conde Nast Traveller Middle East Luxury Forum 2016 – Moderated sessions on Destinations, Technology, Social Media – Dubai, UAE – November 2016
Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) Asia – Reaching Millions With Google+ – Manila, Philippines – October 2016
Pangkor Dialogue – Sustainable Travel and Tourism for Global Peace (Keynote) – Ipoh, Malaysia – September 2016
TBEX Europe – Reaching Millions With Google+ – Stockholm, Sweden – July 2016
ATM – Social Media Campaigns for Success (3 sessions) – Dubai, UAE – April 2016
MSMW – Dreams Are Born on Social Media (Keynote) and Using Social Media to Reach Millions (Workshop) – Putrajaya, Malaysia – March 2016
Vakantiebeurs – Making Money from your Online Presence (Keynote) – Utrecht, Netherlands – January 2016
Namibia Network 2015 – Social Media Overview – Windhoek, Namibia – June 2015
Arabian Travel Market (ATM) – Social Media for the Travel Industry (4 sessions) – Dubai, UAE – May 2015
Social Travel Summit – Public Speaking Workshop and Closing Session – Hamburg, Germany – April 2015
Ping Helsinki – Social Media is Where Dreams Are Born (Keynote) – Tallinn, Estonia – March 2015
Middle East Food & Travel Blogger Conference – How to be a Professional Blogger – Dubai, United Arab Emirates – February 2015
MATKA (Nordic Travel Fair) – Social Media and the Travel Industry (Keynote) – Helsinki, Finland – January 2015
Celebrity Cruises – Tales from the road less travelled (5 lectures) – Exotic Southern Caribbean Cruise – December 2014
Celebrity Cruises – Tales from the road less travelled (6 lectures) – Broadway & Beaches Transatlantic Cruise – November 2014
Club Worlds – African Adventures and Travelling Tips – Moscow, Russia – September 2014
Celebrity Cruises – Tales from the road less travelled (8 lectures) – Celebrity Eclipse Trade Winds Transatlantic Cruise – April 2014
The Social Travel Summit – Public Speaking Workshop for Bloggers – Leipzig, Germany – April 2014
Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents (MATTA) Academy – Relationship between travel bloggers, social media and the travel industry – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – March 2014
Malaysia Social Media Week (MSMW) – How to promote your travel blog – Petaling Jaya, Malaysia – February 2014
Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) Europe – How to nurture and grow your online community – Dublin, Ireland – October 2013
Malaysia International Tourism Blogger Conference & Awards (MITBCA) – Can social media change perceptions of destinations – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – March 2013
Malaysia Social Media Week (MSMW) – Can social media change perceptions of destinations – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – February 2013
University of Sulaimani – Responsible Tourism lecture – As Sulaymaniyah, Kurdish Region of Iraq – February 2013
Malaysia International Tourism Blogger Conference & Awards (MITBCA) – How to write an effective blog – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – April 2012