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Let's connect! Join Carrie Beckstrom, CEO of PowerSpeaking, Inc., as she hosts the monthly conversation that's designed to help you become a more powerful presenter and communicator. We believe that everyone's voice deserves to be heard!

Register for our next live event:

Smart Communication: Harnessing AI's Power

Thursday, December 19, 2024, 9-10:00 a.m. PT/12-1:00 p.m. ET/5-6:00 p.m. BST

 

Join CEO Carrie Beckstrom and her expert panelists as they share insights and best practices for using generative AI in a wide range of business and educational applications. They'll highlight how you can benefit by leveraging AI in your communications, while at the same time, ensuring an authentic, inclusive end product. 

 

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Check back soon or follow us on LinkedIn. We're this close to announcing all of our expert panelists!

Meet the Panelists

Avron Barr

Avron Barr

Consultant, Aldo Ventures, Inc.

Avron edited the 3-volume Handbook of Artificial Intelligence and co-founded a Silicon Valley AI startup called Tecknowledge.  He believes that AI has the potential to revolutionize education and training. As an independent consultant, he has worked with business and government clients around the world. He also shared the IEEE committee on learning technology standards, which developed SCORM, a technical standard for e-learning software.

Aimee Escalante

Aimee Escalante

Lecturer, CSU Monterey Bay

Aimee taught her first official lesson in 1987, based on increasing phonemic awareness with a student who had learning differences related to dyslexia. Since that time, she has been teaching in multiple formats and institutions in Colorado, New Jersey, Florida, New Hampshire, and California. She specializes in topics related to education including Latinx students, culturally diverse children’s literature, technology in education, and reading and writing.

Lucas Petty

Lucas Petty

Founder, Al Daddy

Lucas transforms businesses with artificial intelligence. A sought-after speaker and trusted advisor, he empowers organizations to leverage AI to develop better processes and products. With Fortune 500 clients like Adobe, to small boutique firms like Flashpoint Leadership, his team-driven approach delivers real, actionable results. For Lucas, success is connecting technology and culture to ensure AI transformation.

George Station

George Station

Lecturer, CSU Monterey Bay

Fascinated by the often-competing promises of higher education and technology, George has taught the campus’s “Technology Society” course and a range of technology, information literacy, and first-year seminar courses. He serves in the California Faculty Association on the Council for Racial Social Justice. In addition to helping develop CFA’s “Unconscious Bias” and “Interrupting Racism” workshops, he has presented on sociocultural topics across the CSU system and at professional conferences.

Julia Kraft

Julia Kraft

Founder, Speak To Inspire

Julia is the founder of the public speaking training company, Speak To Inspire. Over the past 10 years, she has trained thousands of entrepreneurs and professional women to find speaking confidence and get rid of nerves. She also provides consulting services in executive coaching, leadership development, career development coaching, and corporate training. 

Julia Kraft's LinkedIn

Monica Poindexter

Monica Poindexter

Consultant/Advisory Board Member

Over the last 25 years, Monica has worked in human resources roles across the financial services, biotechnology, pharmaceu-tical, and tech industries. She has worked for top employers throughout her career: Bank of America, Genentech, Roche Diagnostics, Meta (Facebook), and Lyft. Over the last 19 years, her expertise has been in talent management, inclusion, diversity, workforce development, and workplace compliance. 

Monica Poindexter's LinkedIn

Tara Bergan

Tara Bergan

Master Facilitator and Coach, PowerSpeaking, Inc.

Tara has more than 20 years of experience as a communication and leadership trainer, facilitator, and coach, working with sales enablement and executive development, primarily in tech and biotech. She is a Gallup Strengths Coach.

Tara Bergan's LinkedIn

Mike Sweeney

Mike Sweeney

Executive and Team Coach/Chief Strategy Officer, RallyBright

Mike is an executive and team coach and serves as lead facilitator for RallyBright, an organization that helps clients measure, diagnose, and improve team performance. He is a self-described "learning nerd" and frequently facilitates executive team interventions. His diverse background helps him discover and optimize patterns of organizational behavior to grow leaders and improve performance.

Mike Sweeney's LinkedIn

Rebecca Morgan

Rebecca Morgan

CSP, CMC, CVP, VMP

Rebecca is an international speaker, trainer, and consultant. In addition to working with corporate managers to improve their communication skills, she shares with other presenters how to enliven their virtual presentations to increase engagement, retention, and implementation. 

Hala Hachem

Hala Hachem

Product Designer

Hala's journey as a designer started in publishing and art direction for advertising, branding, experiential  design, on print and digital campaigns, for local and global brands and audiences. She now focuses on product and service design that focuses on the intuitive user experience. 

Michael Baldwin

Michael Baldwin

Founder & CEO, MICHAEL BALDWIN INC

Michael is a highly decorated creative professional and leader in the communications industry who has held posts at top ad agencies, such as Ogilvy & Mather New York. He has led coaching programs on branding, presentation skills, and storytelling for companies such as The New York Times, American Express, and Goldman Sachs. 

Karin Hurt

Karin Hurt

CEO, Let's Grow Leaders

Karin is the founder and CEO of Let's Grow Leaders, a global leadership development firm known for practical tools and techniques for human-centered leaders. A former Verizon Wireless executive, she is known for growing courageous leaders, building great cultures, and inspiring high-performance teams. Karin is an award-winning author and the host of the popular LinkedIn show, "Asking for a Friend." A masterful storyteller, she was recently named by Inc. Magazine as a Top 100 Great Leadership Speaker. 

Laura Nespoli

Laura Nespoli

Strategic Storyteller & Public Speaker

Laura has spent over fifteen years shaping brand, marketing, sales, and product stories for leading global brands and nonprofits. As a Group Strategy Director at Article Group, she shapes strategic narratives for innovative product companies. Laura also founded Meshin Movement, a story consultancy that operates in the space between strategy, social impact, and creative expression. Through Mehsin, Laura speaks about the power of story to develop people, teams and leaders, and also helps people and organizations develop their purpose stories. 

Yolanda Tate

Yolanda Tate

Technical Discovery Lead, Accenture Federal Services and Principal, Elevate 2 Wellness, LLC

Yolanda is a dynamic US Army Veteran with 30+ years of leadership experience, who now thrives as an IT professional, speaker, and wellness consultant. She's deeply committed to empowering her community, leading the Blacks In Technology VA-Fredericksburg Chapter across four Northern Virginia counties. Yolanda's mission is to connect underrepresented individuals with career-boosting resources and opportunities for thriving tech careers while championing holistic wellness for optimal well-being. 

Bill Treasurer

Bill Treasurer

Chief Encouragement Officer, Giant Leap Consulting, Inc.

Bill is an evangelist for courage, a writer, speaker, and consultant. Over the past three decades, thousands of executives have attended his keynotes and workshops. 
Bill is the author of the international bestseller "Courage Goes to Work: How to Build Backbones, Boost Performance, and Get Results" and other bestselling and award-winning leadership books. He also developed “Courageous Leadership: A Program for Using Courage to Transform the Workplace,” a program that has been taught to thousands of leaders across the globe.

David Binder

David Binder

Master Facilitator and Coach, PowerSpeaking, Inc.

David’s 30+ years of experience in corporate organizational development, leadership assessment and development, and coaching give him a savvy edge we appreciate. He has provided leadership assessment and development services to help identify talent for leadership positions. He’s also conducted leadership training workshops in emotional and social competency, leadership excellence, and communication skills.

Stephanie Moore

Stephanie Moore

Master Facilitator and Coach, PowerSpeaking, Inc.

Stephanie has over two decades of experience as a senior leader, author, speaker, consultant, and master facilitator. She created and facilitates our Achieving Meeting Excellence training program. 

Sharon Black

Sharon Black

President of Strategic Accounts, Robert Half

Sharon oversees the management of the North American sales team for Robert Half. She is an executive sponsor of BELONG, the company's LGBTQIA employee community. She is on the board of directors for the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), C200 Member for Women Executive Global Leadership, named one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Business by the San Francisco Business Times and inducted into the prestigious Forever Influential list. She is an expert speaker and presenter. 

Amy Furber

Amy Furber

Master Facilitator and Coach, PowerSpeaking, Inc.

Amy is such a stellar coach and trainer, she heads up all US trainer certifications and mentoring for PowerSpeaking. She also produces a regular virtual meeting for a nonprofit, has developed and leads public-speaking workshops for advanced ESL students, and trains elementary school faculty and students in public speaking.

Dan Molloy

Dan Molloy

Communications Manager, Concussion Legacy Foundation

Following a decade working in newsrooms as a sports reporter and anchor, Dan joined the Concussion Legacy Foundation in February 2023. As a journalist, Dan was no stranger to tough questions and challenging audiences. Today, he brings his communications expertise to a foundation that "supports athletes, veterans, and all affected by concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), to promote smarter sports and safer athletes through education and innovation, and end CTE through prevention and research. 

Staci Slaughter

Staci Slaughter

Business & Strategic Communications Advisor

Staci is an experienced communications and branding executive and board leader. She spent three decades in the professional sports industry, overseeing strategic communications and crisis management as executive vice president for the San Francisco Giants. Previously, she served as press secretary to former San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan and a communications advisor to former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and CA State Senate President Pro Tem David Roberti. 

In 2017, Staci received a "Most Influential Women in Business" award from the San Francisco Business Times and was named to the Sports Business Journal's list of "Power Players: The Communicators and Storytellers" for leadership in the field of communications crisis management, messaging, and storytelling. 

Curtis Kellogg

Curtis Kellogg

Strategic Communications Professional

Curtis is a strategic communication professional with more than 18 years of experience creating communication strategies, many for U.S. military CEO equivalents, and 28 years leading, teaching, coaching, and mentoring individuals and teams. His experience in crisis communication ranges from the tactical to strategic level, domestically and internationally, in both conflict and peacetime.

His experience has spanned public relations, media relations, internal communications, community relations, leadership development and training, and organizational leadership. He was most recently the Director of Communications at U.S. Special Operations Command. In that role, he oversaw communication efforts for the nation's Special Operations Forces enterprise and its nearly 80,000 military and civialian personnel. 

Matt Abrahams

Matt Abrahams

Author and Lecturer at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business

Matt is a leading expert in communication with decades of experience as an educator, author, podcast host, and coach. As a lecturer in organizational behavior at Stanford, he teaches popular classes in communication and virtual presenting. Outside of the classroom, Matt is a sought-after keynote speaker and communications consultant. His online talks garner millions of views, and he hosts the popular, award-winning podcast Think Fast, Talk Smart.

Dawn Bryan

Dawn Bryan

Senior Vice President of Global Practice,
The Kaleidoscope Group

Dawn is a versatile, bilingual consultant with 30 years of global work experience in Europe, Asia, and Africa, with a strong record of enabling organizations to understand the dynamics impacting their teams as they work to build trust and manage change. Through consulting, coaching, and facilitating, Dawn helps organizations assess their cultural dynamics and bridge divides that affect business. Dawn's clients include government agencies, embassies, NGOs, corporations, and nonprofit organizations.

Steven Kowalski, Ph.D.

Steven Kowalski, Ph.D.

Global Product Development, Genentech
Author, “Creative Together: Sparking Innovation in the New World of Work”

Steven is an organization development consultant, speaker, executive coach, and author. He has more than 25 years’ experience facilitating the creativity of scientists, engineers, business leaders, and professionals to deliver bold solutions that are scalable and sustainable. Steven holds a Ph.D. in adult learning and organizational creativity from UCLA, works for biopharma pioneer Genentech and is the author of over 100 workplace learning programs. Find him at stevenkowalski.com

Josh Marx

Josh Marx

Senior Program Manager of Leadership Development Sony Interactive Entertainment

Josh is a learning and development professional. After starting his career as a professional theater actor and director, he moved back to Silicon Valley to become a professor of theatre arts at San Jose State University. There, Josh got involved in communication and leadership skill building for VIPs, politicians, and corporate executives with a company called Stand & Deliver. He worked as a leadership development lead at Facebook/Meta, and Plaid prior to joining Sony (Playstation).

Sarah Palmer

Sarah Palmer

Director of Business Development, EMEA PowerSpeaking, Inc.

Having started her career in corporate law within the pharmaceutical industry, Sarah Palmer found her passion in motivational coaching, training, and development.  She has extensive experience as a conference speaker and for the past eight years has trained and coached speakers for Cisco Live, as well as for global Women in Technology conferences. Her favorite place to be is where there are lights, camera, and action!

Chris Brannen

Chris Brannen

Master Facilitator and Coach, PowerSpeaking, Inc.

Having grown up in Japan and earning undergraduate and graduate degrees in Japanese language, Chris Brannen has built a career as an international business and cross-cultural consultant. (She coaches and teaches her workshops in both English and Japanese.) She has trained and coached staff at all levels, across a variety of high-tech and biotech companies, including  Genentech, LEO Pharma, Gilead, SAP and Oracle.

Ralf Wolter

Ralf Wolter

Master Facilitator and Coach, PowerSpeaking, Inc.

Ralf is our resident “technology futurist.”  He enjoys combining visionary thinking with a practical, hands-on approach to using technology to shape the future of coaching and training. He’s been a keynote speaker on the topics of leadership, innovation, the future of technology, and the future of coaching within the business environment. He developed and co-led the talent management program for Distinguished Engineers at Cisco Europe.

Nicole Wajer

Nicole Wajer

Technical Solutions Architect, Cisco

Based in the Netherlands, Nicole is a member of the Cisco World Wide Enterprise Networks Technical Sales team. She's been a frequent presenter at various Cisco Live events around the globe. She is responsible for design, documentation, and collateral for routing and switching infrastructure and security components of enterprise networks, and says she's "passionate about the Internet of Things (IoT), IPv6, and security." Nicole has been recognized at Cisco as a "Champion of Change" for her passionate work in the industrial automation space.

Pamela Skillings

Pamela Skillings

Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer/Chief Coach, Big Interview/Skillful Communications, Inc.

Pamela is the chief coach and co-founder at Big Interview, the job interview training system that has helped millions ace their interviews and land big job offers. She has been featured as a career expert by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, ABC News, and many other media outlets. Pamela is also a coach and trainer who works with both job seekers and hiring teams. She says, “I am committed to leveling the playing field for job seekers and helping organizations make the best hiring decisions.” 

Rita Williams

Rita Williams

Master Facilitator and Executive Coach, PowerSpeaking, Inc.

In addition to her work with PowerSpeaking, Rita is Founder and Instructional designer of RDC Solutions. She’s committed to enhancing her clients' messaging. She helps clients clearly identify their brand and leverage their strengths for interviews, meetings, and presentations. She offers immediate feedback on opportunities for improvement with clear and specific exercises to strengthen communication presence.

Yvonne Kao

Yvonne Kao

Having worked with top local and international companies in the Greater China and APAC regions, Yvonne helps executives and managers be more effective sales professionals, communicators, team players, and leaders. 

Her experience includes:

  • More than two decades in the training industry, specializing in sales, customer service, and leadership. 

  • Extensive sales and leadership experience. Beginning her career in radio and television broadcasting, she created entertainment and marketing events that combined cross-industry cooperation, setting market standards that have been widely implemented by the industry in Taiwan. 

  • Master Trainer credentials with Korn Ferry’s AchieveForum & Miller Heiman curriculum. 

Fully bilingual in Mandarin and English, Yvonne has a BA in Communication Arts (Radio/TV Broadcasting) from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She also attended the National Yang-Ming Medical College’s School of Dentistry in Taiwan.

Mano Cheema, PhD

Mano Cheema, PhD

Former Head of Architecture, AstraZeneca

Mano is a global technology leader with 20+ years of practitioner and consulting experience in digital transformation and complex systems integration in numerous industry sectors. He thrives on the ambiguity of real-world business transformation scenarios and has a particular passion for addressing these difficult challenges in global scenarios with teams from widely differing cultures and backgrounds. He is a natural leader who creates a vision and roadmap to rally a team to achieve success with strategic impact. Mano takes a passionate interest in developing strong and diverse teams.

Emilio Reyes Le Blanc

Emilio Reyes Le Blanc

Technology Specialist, Microsoft

Emilio helps enterprise technology companies transform their customer experiences. Leveraging his training at PowerSpeaking, he supports technical and business teams by creating clarity and urgency around complex topics. This year, he won the ”Rising Star Award” by the Microsoft Global Speakers Bureau for his executive presentations.

John Warren

John Warren

Master Facilitator & Coach, PowerSpeaking, Inc.

John says, “I get a thrill from working with exceptionally smart people, especially engineers and scientists, to help them present their ideas in a compelling manner that boosts their self-esteem and advances their careers.” He was one of PowerSpeaking’s first trainers, and has extensive experience delivering a wide variety and ever-evolving suite of PowerSpeaking workshops and coaching sessions. He also serves as the primary speech coach for TEDx in Jacksonville, Florida

Sarah Polan

Sarah Polan

Field CTO, Hashicorp

Sarah advises customers on complex, multi-cloud digital transformations by evaluating people, processes, and products to balance cost, time to market, security, governance, risk, and compliance. She's a liaison between internal and field teams to ensure an effective product feedback loop. No stranger to technical presentations, Sarah has been a speaker at international conferences.

Dan Albaum

Dan Albaum

Marketing Leader, Market Impact

Dan is an accomplished marketing leader with experience launching new products and driving world-class results in global technology companies including Verizon Wireless, Cisco, and Honeywell. He is passionate about having a servant-leader mindset in enabling teams to create more impact by building stronger internal and external customer relationships with a clarity of purpose. He is the host of the weekly podcast series Market Impact Insights, recognized by Forrester as a Top 100 Channel Podcast, sharing leadership best-practices from around the world.

Mary Oleksy

Mary Oleksy

Associate Director, Strategy & Curricular Support, Stanford Graduate School of Business

As a leader in Stanford’s Graduate School of Business MBA and MSx Programs for nearly 12 years, Mary is committed to creating opportunities where everyone can thrive. She manages the Women In Management Groups Program and the MBA and MSx Communication Programs. She leads by building strong partnerships, growing inclusive communities, and creating efficient operations. Mary is also a life and leadership coach; a diversity, equity, and inclusion strategist; and a dynamic community and culture builder.

Brent Kedzierski

Brent Kedzierski

Chief Learning Officer, HumanWRKS

Brent is a dynamic and sought-after speaker, author, and industrial thought leader. Brent's insights have garnered recognition from prestigious publications such as Harvard Business Press, Chief Learning Officer Magazine, Workforce.com, and BBC News, as well as leading podcasts. Prior to founding HumanWRKS, Brent was an award-winning learning and innovation executive at Shell, who was the driving force that envisioned, designed, and operationalized many of Shell’s most critical global HR transformations of the 21st century.

Anshu Arora

Anshu Arora

Master Facilitator and Coach, PowerSpeaking, Inc.

Anshu brings 26 years of diverse and cross-cultural experience as a Global Master Facilitator and Coach. She is a Pecha-Kucha Coach, Speaker Coach, C-Suite Coach and a Train the Trainer specialist. She is also a certified storyteller who has authored a book on 11 inspirational biographies and runs a podcast show. Recognized for her zeal and high engagement, she works with 85+ partners across EMEA, APAC, US, CWAR, UAE, Australasia, Nordic Region and Sri Lanka.

Payal Gandhi Hoon

Payal Gandhi Hoon

Master Facilitator and Coach, PowerSpeaking, Inc.

Payal has over two decades of experience as a Global Facilitator, Executive Coach, professional speaker, business conference host, TEDx speaker, and a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) Coach. She has hosted 21 Senior Executive interviews in the ‘Guiding Light’ Series, and has insights into the executive mindset and what matters to them. In her last full-time engagement with Ernst & Young she trained and coached presenters to present to decision makers. 

Carrie Beckstrom

Carrie Beckstrom

CEO, PowerSpeaking, Inc.

Carrie is passionate about leading the talented PowerSpeaking, Inc. team in helping organizations—at corporations like Genentech, eBay, Autodesk, and Gilead Sciences—develop powerful communication skills that inspire people and get results. “Our purpose is to make great people even greater at what they do every day. That includes becoming effective global communicators who build positive relationships and drive business forward.”

 

Liane Davey

Liane Davey

Co-founder and Principal,
3COze, Inc.

Liane is Co-founder and Principal of a small firm with a big vision: to radically change the way people communicate, connect, and contribute so they can achieve amazing things together. She’s a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and HBR contributor. She specializes in team effectiveness, strategy, and leadership development.

Mitesh Kapadia

Mitesh Kapadia

Master Facilitator and Coach, PowerSpeaking, Inc.

Empowering clients to find their own confidence and share their truths with their audiences is what drives Mitesh every day.  With a BS in engineering and an MS in information systems, he has helped clients with communication skills ranging from business writing to negotiation, to team building and presentation skills.

Janell Payne

Janell Payne

Master Facilitator and Coach, PowerSpeaking, Inc.

Janell’s self-described mantra is, “Improvement doesn’t come from comfort zones.” She stresses that speaking isn’t about perfection—it’s about engagement. Janell brings a unique lens to each workshop and coaching engagement, backed by additional experience in television and higher education.

Rebecca Mackenzie

Rebecca Mackenzie

Global Director, Product Marketing at Salesforce

Rebecca is an international marketing leader with 10+ years of experience in UK, Europe, and US markets. Based in London, she leads the Salesforce Service Cloud EMEA Experiences team. Mackenzie is passionate about public speaking and storytelling, frequently presenting on-stage keynotes and hosting in-studio programming. She believes presentation skills are fundamental to improving confidence, visibility, and your personal brand.

Bonny Shapira

Bonny Shapira

Corporate Event Planner, Cisco

Bonny manages the program content for the annual Cisco Live EMEA conference. He also leads a team of super-passionate events professionals to plan, design, and execute the event. Cisco Live attracts thousands of customers, partners, and employees year after year, delivering education and inspiration to technology innovators worldwide through large-scale events, as well as on-demand education.

Christa Gannon

Christa Gannon

Coach, Consultant, Founder, FLY

Christa is a Coach, Consultant, Special Advisor to Stanford’s Center for Racial Justice, Co-Founder of the Leadership Transition Community (LTC), and the Founder of Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY), which she created with incarcerated youth. Christa served as FLY's CEO for 22 years and along the way received numerous awards including the James Irvine Leadership Award, Human Rights Award for the City of San Jose, Stanford Law School’s Inaugural Alumni Public Service Award, and the Law Foundation’s, Youth Advocate of the Year.

Geoffrey Kasangaki

Geoffrey Kasangaki

Uganda Country Director,
Asante Africa Foundation

Geoffrey is the Uganda Country Director for Asante Africa Foundation, a nonprofit that partners with local schools and communities in East Africa to provide youth the educational resources and support they need to reach their full potential. With deep leadership experience in the philanthropy industry, Geoffrey says his and Asante’s mission is “To educate and empower the next generation of change agents, whose dreams and actions transform the future for Africa and the world.” 

Kevin Yates

Kevin Yates

Owner, L&D Detective,™
Nonprofit Founder

Kevin is known in the global training, learning, and talent development community as the L&D Detective™. He investigates impact and solves measurement mysteries with facts, clues, evidence, and data. With 25+ years’ industry experience serving in diverse roles across multiple industries, Kevin examines fulfillment of purpose for training and learning. He is also founder and president of Meals in the Meantime, a nonprofit providing food support and assistance with pop-up food pantries.

Neema Uthappa

Neema Uthappa

Head of Engineering, Cloud Analytics & AI, McKinsey & Company

Neema says her career and expertise have always been about transforming companies through advanced technologies. She was one of the first three women executive officers in the works/infrastructure branch of the Indian Navy. And she is the published author of “The Cinderella Elephant,” a book for young managers about finding purpose, power, and potential in unexpected places.

Eleanor Deal

Eleanor Deal

Tech Lead for Digital Publishing, Office for National Statistics, UK

Eleanor was the only female Technical Lead when she joined the Office for National Statistics, but quickly set about changing that by using statistics to highlight the issues women face. Being from a non-traditional tech background and a woman in STEM, she is an outspoken advocate for diversity and inclusivity in teams and how women can fight biases they face.

Karen McDonagh Reynolds

Karen McDonagh Reynolds

Transformation Director & Board member, London Market Joint Ventures

Karen is at heart, a technologist who is passionate about ensuring that people are centric to all successful transformations. With experience in both nonprofit and financial services, in 2021 she was awarded CIO 100, which recognizes groundbreaking leaders in IT. One of her key passions is working toward true equity in both the technology and the insurance market.

Paul van der Lingen

Paul van der Lingen

Director, Cloud Solutions Architects Office of the CTO, NetApp

Paul suggests that you "Start with the why—your customers and your own. Find the common ground and tell the stories that bring you closer. Engage intelligently. Be respectful, but challenge: perceptions, limitations and barriers. Make each moment count."

Mark Fleischer

Mark Fleischer

Founder and Executive Director, StoryBoard Memphis

With over 25 years of experience in learning, consulting, presenting, communications, writing, and storytelling, Mark is a native Californian who now calls Memphis home. He is founder and executive director of the nonprofit multimedia magazine StoryBoard Memphis, which through the power of storytelling features community-contributed Mid-South content focused on local and regional arts, culture, community, and history.

Isabel Walker

Isabel Walker

Master Facilitator & Coach, PowerSpeaking, Inc.

Isabel began her career as a journalist and (later) editor, specializing in medicine, health, and science. Since 2005 she has worked as an independent trainer and coach, with a focus on communication skills training, message development, and storytelling for business.

Most recently, she has helped executives develop and articulate their unique value propositions in the workplace.

Jenny DeVaughn

Jenny DeVaughn

VP, Transformation Communications, ADP

Jenny leads communications for ADP’s transformation office and oversees global internal communications. She creates and executes multi-channel communication strategies for leaders to inspire, connect, and energize more than 60,000 associates who serve 1 million clients in 140 countries.

Amy Riley

Amy Riley

Master Facilitator and Coach, PowerSpeaking, Inc.

Amy is an internationally renowned speaker, author, and leadership development consultant. She’s worked with organizations such as Deloitte, Cisco Systems, and Aon Hewitt and has over 25 years of experience working with leaders at all levels. Her second book, The Courage of a Leader (2021), has been an international #1 best-seller.

Kristin Lincoln

Kristin Lincoln

CEO, LiveWire

Kristin’s LiveWire is a leadership development and executive coaching firm. A former corporate executive and Stanford MBA, Kristin uses her education and experience to help her clients build skills in self-awareness, emotional intelligence, tackling tough conversations, and coaching and developing others. She is an expert in personal branding and executive communications and specializes in helping her clients improve their self-confidence, executive presence, and perception within their organizations. Kristin is also a Certified Dare To Lead Facilitator™ for Brené Brown.

Amy Powell

Amy Powell

VP Leader Development, The Marcus Buckingham Company

Amy leads a team of executive-strengths coaches, facilitators, and content creators who help individuals and organizations activate their unique talent.  Amy has two decades of experience in the leader development and learning space, including 10 years in sales and marketing leadership roles with global enterprise responsibility for sales training and leadership development. Her passion for driving results through developing people has contributed to her success in a variety of industries and organization types, including Fortune 500s, startups, and nonprofits.

Morgan A. Wider

Morgan A. Wider

Founder, Wider Style

As a wardrobe stylist and speaker, Morgan Wider advises executives, entrepreneurs and college students on how to build wardrobes that convey confidence and competence.  

Morgan is the author of the best-selling book, The Worthy Wardrobe: Your Guide to Style, Shopping & Soul. Her podcast, The Worthy Reveal, is available on all streaming platforms.  By sharing her knowledge about the retail industry and her passion for fashion, Morgan helps her clients feel more powerful in all areas of their lives.

Andrew Blotky, JD, ACC

Andrew Blotky, JD, ACC

Founder, Azure Leadership Group

Andrew has a wealth of experience in leadership, culture-building, and communications in the corporate, political, and nonprofit worlds. He has successfully built and led organizations during periods of unprecedented growth, change, and impact—including the first global employee communications team at Facebook, as the company grew from 5,000 to 30,000 employees worldwide. 

Andrew’s work focuses on building and maintaining vibrant cultures; steady, effective leadership across functions and teams; and consistent, clear communications. He is the author of the book, Honestly Speaking: How the Way We Communicate Transforms Leadership, Love, and Life.

Brad Whitworth

Brad Whitworth

Senior Advisor, Strategic Services, Haiilo

Brad is a pre-eminent thought leader, lecturer, and author in organizational communication. He has led global internal and executive communication programs at HP, Cisco, Hitachi, PeopleSoft, and MicroFocus. 

Brad is a past International Association of Business Communicators International Chairman, an IABC Fellow, and an author of the IABC Handbook of Organizational Communication and The IABC Guide for Practical Business Communication: A Global Standard Primer. Brad is a communications coach for Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and California State University at Chico’s Engineering Leadership Program.

Elizabeth Bachman

Elizabeth Bachman

Principal, Strategic Speaking for Results

A sought-after speaker and strategist in Silicon Valley–as well as nationally and internationally–Elizabeth works with leaders and influencers who need to become concise and compelling presenters. Fluent in five languages, she is adept at working with presenters from many countries, bringing her global experience to her clients. Host of the award-winning international podcast “Speakers Who Get Results,” Elizabeth interviews experts from around the world on presentation skills, leadership and visibility, as well as communication challenges that range from presenting internationally to gender misunderstandings.

Rajani Shailender

Rajani Shailender

Vice President of Sales, Tech Mahindra

Rajani is a transformational, people-oriented, and results-driven leader with experience across the US, Europe, and Asia, and currently at Tech Mahindra, a leading IT Services company specializing in digital transformation, consulting, and business reengineering.  A firm proponent of the value of diversity and inclusion in every walk of life, she regularly speaks with high school and college students on the impact of diversity in the workplace. She is the chairperson of the “Women in Technology @TechM,” San Francisco Bay Area chapter.

Mary Schafer

Mary Schafer

VP, Strategic Advisory Services, ADP

Mary is responsible for helping clients across all industries with transformation, change management, and communication. She works with clients to provide strategy, advice, insights, and effective communication solutions to help organizations meet their HR goals. Mary is also a regular speaker for industry and ADP events.

Sandia Ren

Sandia Ren

Chief Transformation Officer, Vitech Systems Group

Sandia is responsible for Vitech’s System Group transformation initiatives and driving growth and change. Prior to joining Vitech Systems Group, Sandia was Vice President of Cloud Transformations at Guidewire Software and served many other roles during her 18 years there.

Jon Billett

Jon Billett

Storyteller, Salesforce

Jon, who was a solution engineer for 15 years before his current position with Salesforce, says, “I am obsessed with magic and stories and have been for a long time.  I have been deepening my understanding of stories and storytelling to deliver workshops that help global teams create and tell stories in the business environment.”

Bei Wang

Bei Wang

Media and Communication Consultant

Describing herself as a “culture broker and brand interpreter,” Bei is also the co-founder and CMO of StraightFire, an NFT platform and production company helping global brands and IPs to capitalize on untapped financial and promotional opportunities in the metaverse.  Bei is also an engaging public speaker and storyteller.

Reci Schmellick

Reci Schmellick

Master Facilitator and TEDx Coach

Reci's background was in medical and computer sales and sales management before she decided to dedicate more than 20 years to leadership training, executive coaching, and presentation skills training.  She has coached 50 TEDx speakers.

Space Policy Analyst, IDA Science and Technology Policy Institute

In her TEDx Talk, “Space is for Everyone,” Rachel explains how exploring “the last frontier” affects our everyday lives on earth; and she makes a compelling case for encouraging children who dream of reaching for the stars.  (PowerSpeaking, Inc’s Reci Schmellick coached Rachel for the talk.)

Cindy Solomon

Cindy Solomon

Leadership Development Consultant, Author, and owner of the Courageous Leadership Institute®

Put simply, Cindy Solomon builds Courageous Leadership at Scale for organizations, teams, and individuals. With over 350,000 leaders participating in Cindy's Courageous Leadership programs and over 1.8M TED views, Cindy's formula for creating courageous organizations and teams has resonated around the world with clients like Oracle, Salesforce, Dow, The Cleveland Clinic, and over 400 others.  CourageousLeadershipInstitute.com

Joao Vasconcelos

Joao Vasconcelos

Senior Content Producer, Ascend Global Media

Joao is a Senior Content Producer at Ascend Global Media, creators and organizers of the Women in Technology World Series where he leads the research and development of the USA portfolio with events in San Francisco, Houston and Boston.

Donnie Hill

Donnie Hill

PowerSpeaking Master Facilitator and Coach

Donnie loves helping business leaders cultivate their influence and advance their communication skills, so they stand out in their organization or field. He’s a business and marketing strategist, as well as a leadership development coach for social impact entrepreneurs, plus business and community leaders. Donnie holds a drama degree from Stanford University and has worked as a professional actor.

Brian Moore

Brian Moore

PowerSpeaking Content Manager and Master Facilitator and Coach

Over a decade of experience in theater and the performing arts makes Brian Moore one seriously dynamic professional trainer, facilitator, and coach!  His years of experience as a senior leader within corporations adds to his creds, along with his passion for recognizing and nurturing talent. Brian holds a BFA in acting from Long Island University, New York.

Lisa Rothman

Lisa Rothman

Lisa Rothman

Lisa brings her love of performing virtually and in person to the workshops she teaches as a way to engage participants and demonstrate effective presentation skills.  Her critically acclaimed one-woman shows sell out theaters and raise funds for worthy causes.

Missed a live event?
You Can Watch Past Episodes Here!

Season 1

Episode 32, November 2024

Communicate a Powerful Presence!

Episode 31, October 2024

Level Up Your Facilitation Skills!

Episode 30, September 2024

Elevate Your Talk With Powerful Visuals

Episode 29, August 2024

Make Storytelling Your Power Skill!

Episode 28, July 2024

Engage Your Audience With a Delivery Style That Connects

Episode 27, June 2024

Less is More: Learn How to Be More Concise!

Episode 26, May 2024

Master the Art of Q&A

Episode 25, April 2024

Best-Practice Crisis Communication

Episode 24, March 2024

Spontaneous Communication!

Episode 23, February 2024

Communication Strategies That Foster Creativity

Episode 22, January 2024

From Boring to Brilliant: Powerful Openings

Episode 21, November 2023

Make the Most of 1:1 Speaker Coaching

Episode 20, October 2023

Upscale Your Interviewing Skills

Episode 19, September 2023

Next-Level Technical Presenting

Episode 18, August 2023

Lessons in Powerful Leadership Communication

Episode 17, July 2023

Effective Presenting to Decision Makers

Episode 16, June 2023

From Fearful to Courageous Presenting

Episode 15, May 2023

High-Impact Conference Speaking

Episode 14, April 2023

Use Your Voice to Make a Difference

Episode 13, March 2023

Powerful Communication for Women in Tech & Science

Episode 12, February 2023

Storytelling Drives Business and Community

Episode 11, January 2023

Let's Talk Best-Practice Hybrid Communications

Episode 10, December 2022

Lessons From the Stage: What Speakers Can Learn From Actors

Episode 9, November 2022

Building Your Personal Brand

Episode 8, October 2022

C-Suite Communication Matters

Episode 7, September 2022

Cross-Cultural Communication: A Global Skillset that Drives Business

Episode 6, August 2022

Making a Major Change? Communicate!

Episode 5, July 2022

The Power of Storytelling

Episode 4, June 2022

Is TEDx in Your Future?

Episode 3, May 2022

Goodbye Computer Screen, Hello Conference Scene!

Episode 2, April 2022

The Power of Sponsors in the Workplace

Episode 1, March 2022

The Power of Mentors and Sponsors

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