Keynote speaking
An Interactive Keynote Speaker Your Audience Won’t Forget
Your audience won’t just sit and listen, they’ll laugh, participate, and leave with tools they’ll actually use on Monday.
Based in Oregon — Aden speaks to audiences worldwide in person or virtual.
Why Interactivity Matters
Most keynotes are a person talking at a room. These aren’t.
Here’s the problem with sit-and-listen: for old habits to break and new skills to stick, it’s not enough to expose people to an idea and send them on their way. Real change takes practice. Grounded in improv, Aden’s keynotes will get your audience doing things, laughing, trying something new, talking to each other, because a room that participates is a room that remembers.
Signature Keynotes
Embracing Change – Making New Choices Instead of Safe Choices
Adapted from Aden’s TEDx Talk
It’s human nature to cling to familiar choices because we think they’re safest. But that’s fear talking, not reality. This talk shines a light on the internal obstacles people use to block their own forward momentum, and offers practical ways to make braver choices instead. It’s personal, it’s interactive, and it sends your audience out inspired to take real action.
GREAT FOR: conference plenaries, kickoffs, and all-staff events that need an uplifting, motivating open or close.
Making it up as we go – An Improvisers Toolkit for Choosing What Comes Next
can be paired with a live SHOW from a world-touring Musical improv group
Nobody gets a script for what’s coming next at work or anywhere else. This keynote hands your audience an improviser’s toolkit for meeting uncertainty with confidence instead of dread. It’s practical, funny, and genuinely energizing — and for events that want a true showstopper, it can be paired with a live performance from a world-touring musical improv group your audience won’t stop talking about.
GREAT FOR: conferences and kickoffs for people who are facing change, uncertainty, and wondering “what now?”
Reason in an Outraged World – How to have meaningful Communication even when you disagree
Useful at work and in life
Disagreement isn’t a matter of if — it’s when. And with so much of our communication happening on screens, your people are primed to misread each other’s intent and meaning more than ever. This keynote gives your audience a framework for making sense of even the most baffling things people say and do, offering five pillars of reasoned dialogue for when emotions run high. These tools will teach you to build understanding fast, so disagreement strengthens your culture instead of fracturing it.
GREAT FOR: divided teams, charged moments, and any group that needs to learn to disagree better.
Topics Available as Keynotes or Interactive Breakouts
Demystifying Difficult People
Practical, hilarious tools for lowering stress and improving communication with the people who test your patience.
The BIG IDEAS Playground
Fun & useful Improv techniques for generating new ideas and unlocking your team’s brilliance.
Across The Divide
Bridging the communication age gap across as many as five generations at work.
Say It Like You Mean It
Presentation skills to help you speak with competence, confidence, and influence.
Don’t see an exact fit listed? The best talks start with your goals. Tell Aden what your audience needs, and she’ll shape the right one.
What Event Organizers Say
“Your closing plenary speech was exactly what we wanted. Instead of shoving the idea of positive change down people’s throats, you gave a beautiful invitation. Such a meaningful way to close the day.”
Marcus Mitchell, CA Child Support Training Conference
“Aden is professional, fun, smart, and cool under pressure. She can handle every part of a speaking engagement — connecting with clients, dazzling presentation visuals, being present with the audience, and following up afterward.”
Shana Merlin, collaborator
“Aden did a superb job keeping our employees engaged and tying the whole day together seamlessly. I’m looking forward to having her back.”
Katie Powers, Fibre Federal Credit Union
Make your event one they’ll remember!
Tell Aden about your event — your date, your audience, and what you want them walking out feeling, knowing or doing differently — and you’ll get an honest answer about whether she’s the right fit.