Keynote speaker · TEDx · Musician
Small encounters change what becomes possible between people.
Keynotes, interactive sessions, workshops and film screenings on belonging, prejudice and loneliness, in English and German. There may be singing. There will be a chance to take part.
Watch
The Power of Small Encounters · TEDx Linz, 2026 · 18 minutes
Noch einmal Walzer · official trailer of the documentary, 2023
In the room
At half past nine one morning, a thousand people in a conference hall in Łódź sang “Hey Jude” together.
I had asked them to. They joined in.
That is what I bring to a stage: a talk built on true stories, and a moment where the room stops being an audience. People sing, they turn to the person next to them, and they leave with something they did together, not just something they heard.
What I offer
“The Power of Small Encounters”: how small, repeated encounters can challenge prejudice and create connection, told through personal stories and music. Suited to conference openings and plenary sessions.
A session where the audience takes part: singing together, meeting the stranger in the next seat, and talking about what it changed. Suited to plenaries, breakouts and community events.
Hands-on sessions with music, dance and storytelling, for young people, intergenerational groups or teams.
Hosting sessions and guiding audiences through a programme, as at the opening session of Urban Future in Ljubljana.
“Noch einmal Walzer” with a conversation afterwards: 38 screenings so far, in care homes, clinics, universities, community centres and parishes.
Topics: belonging · prejudice and assumptions · loneliness and social isolation · migration and integration · intergenerational connection · civic engagement · building community
Selected stages
“The Power of Small Encounters”. An 18-minute talk on belonging, prejudice and human connection, watched more than 39,000 times. Watch parties followed in Germany and Nigeria.
Opening keynote at Europe’s largest conference on sustainable cities, with 1,000 people in the room.
Host of the opening session.
Keynote for a youth leadership programme on dialogue, identity and peacebuilding.
Workshop lead for a music and dance project with children, for the festival’s 35th edition. Ongoing: three of four sessions delivered, with the final session and presentation still to come.
38 screenings for 1,618 people in three countries, from a sold-out premiere at the Bauhaus Museum Dessau to care homes, clinics, universities and parishes.
What people say
“Thank you Adetayo ‘Tutipsy’ Manuwa for showing 1,000 attendees of Urban Future 2025 how to change lives with compassion and empathy.”
Gerald Babel-Sutter, CEO, Urban Future“I am delighted that Adetayo Tutipsy Manuwa is committed to our city and that his work is now receiving such recognition. This makes him a role model for others and an ambassador for civic engagement.”
Robert Reck, Mayor of Dessau-Roßlau, in the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, 20 September 2025 (translated)“They dance and talk together, and what does it do to people? It gives the audience goosebumps.”
Heidi Thiemann, Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, on “Noch einmal Walzer” (translated)“This is a powerful blend of speech and poetry… Your vocal delivery was excellent, engaging, dynamic, and full of emotion.”
@DJwithaPhD, on the TEDx talk, YouTubeThe story
When I moved from Nigeria to Germany in 2017, I thought I was leaving music behind. An invitation to sing brought it back. Later, visits to a care home became friendships. Horst, one of the residents, taught me German folk songs. I kept coming back. So did the music.
In 2019 I founded the One Community Project in Dessau-Roßlau, bringing generations and cultures together through music and dance. It grew into a gala with performers aged 9 to 96, five months of weekly intergenerational dance classes and the documentary “Noch einmal Walzer”. Those experiences are at the heart of everything I bring to a stage.
1st place, Integration Prize of Saxony-Anhalt (2019) · Prize-winning project, Federal Agency for Civic Education, “Aktiv für Demokratie und Toleranz” (2023) · Guest of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Bürgerfest, Schloss Bellevue (2025)
Also
As Tutipsy I write and perform Afro-influenced songs that open conversations across languages. Music is often how I bring people together.
I am a Social Media Manager at Hahnair, where I co-wrote and sang the song for the company’s 25th anniversary and was creative lead on its brand film “We Go the Extra Mile”.
Booking
Tell me about your event: the date, the audience, and what you would like people to leave with. I will reply personally.
adetayomanuwa39@gmail.com
Press photos, a speaker bio and technical requirements on request.
Photos: Moritz Reisinger and Sabine Kneidinger (TEDx Linz); Adam Słowikowski (Urban Future); One Community Project. Film key art: “Noch einmal Walzer”.
