Speaking

My passion for storytelling and connecting people to new ideas and ways of thinking has translated into a robust speaking practice. I would love to speak to your organization or at your event about Flow, storytelling, users, design, leadership, career development, and more. As a former conference organizer and experienced speaker I know how to connect with an audience to create an enriching and engaging experience that leaves people feeling like they learned something new about the world and themselves. Below are a few sample descriptions of topics and talks that I’ve given. Contact me to chat more about your organization’s needs and interests.

Storytelling for Inspiration & Impact

Storytelling is a critical skill for anyone who wants to connect and communicate complex ideas and concepts with others. In this two day workshop you will learn how to tell stories that inspire others and drive change for users, customers, and organizations. We’ll start with real world problems that your team is facing and step through theory, strategies, and techniques that will help you connect to stakeholders, colleagues, and clients with impactful and compelling stories. Learning modules include training on:

  • Setting the stage for a great story
  • Understanding all the different people and perspectives in the room
  • Creating a shared understanding & language 
  • The power of motivation 
  • The fundamentals of framing
  • The three core dimensions of the storytelling experience
  • Building confidence as a master storyteller

Day 1

2.5 to 3 hours of core learning and mastery

Day 2

1-2 hours of practice, review, and practical Q&A based on real scenarios

Building Confidence for Career Success

Often we confuse confidence and arrogance. One is born of hard work, study, and time invested in development of skills and abilities, while the other is rooted in…well nothing more than fiction. Confidence is key to building individual satisfaction and value in one’s work product and one’s career progress. The secret to developing a strong foundation of confidence is to adopt a growth mindset that allows you to see yourself as an adaptive learner who is always growing and learning from failures and successes rather than someone who is acting out of fear of failure. This 90-minute training covers:

  • The 5 keys to everyday confidence
  • How to deal with imposter syndrome
  • Understanding and developing a growth mindset
  • Creating a continual practice of preparation

Creating Positive Feedback Loops

We’ve all heard the saying that feedback is a gift, so why do we always cringe when it comes time to receive feedback on our performance, our work, our designs, or our code? Developing the ability to nurture and build positive feedback loops with our peers and our leaders is critical to growing and improving as a professional and creating strong professional relationships and delivering exceptional products. This 90-minute training covers:

  • Why feedback is important to every aspect of professional life
  • The importance of empathy in building trusting professional relationships
  • What makes constructive feedback and what makes destructive feedback
  • When, where, and how to deliver clear and actionable feedback
  • How to receive and respond to positive AND negative feedback

The Power of Asking Questions

A desire for connection is the core of humanity. It’s as much a part of our professional lives as our personal lives. In order to create positive, goal oriented, and productive professional relationships we need to ask the right questions of ourselves and of others. This 90-minute training focuses on how to ask questions that build and grow shared understanding and connection:

  • Why questions are better than answers
  • The anatomy of a good question
  • How to ask open questions that elicit productive answers
  • Top 10 questions to ask clients/stakeholders
  • When to ask questions and when to listen

Rhythm & Flow Series

I’ve spent over a decade obsessed with the concept of Flow (as defined in the book Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi as “the state of optimal engagement in an intrinsically rewarding experience”). Finding Flow in design, development, leadership, or management is all about the balance of challenge and ability paired with a rhythm of recognition or achievement. This series applies the theories of Flow to the world of product design and development and illustrates how many mechanisms, tools, and techniques are all designed to help individuals, teams, and organizations to find satisfaction and value not just in the end product but in the journey along the way through research, design, development, and launch. Each 90-minute session covers how current methods, practices, and tools can be used in concert to achieve more rewarding experiences and deliver quantifiable results.

  • Rhythm & Flow: Agile & Project Management
  • Rhythm & Flow: Product Management
  • Rhythm & Flow: Mentoring & Leadership
  • Rhythm & Flow: Leadership
  • Rhythm & Flow: UX Research 
  • Rhythm & Flow: UX Design
  • Rhythm & Flow: Development
  • Rhythm & Flow: Usability Testing
  • Rhythm & Flow: Organizational Management