Communication at the Center: What Would Happen if We Put Communication at the Heart of all that We Do?

In this keynote speech, Dr. Waisanen shows how many of the individual and collective problems we face stem from a lack of attention to the role communication plays in our lives. Using case studies, stories, research, and future projections, this address highlights what happens when we put communication at the center of every challenge. A sweeping array of examples bring this topic to life: the narratives that drive workplace conflicts, why communication is your most material asset (not your buildings and balance sheets), how to replace search engine mindsets and digital paths to consciousness, and what a communication-serious version of the SATs and ACTs would do. Full of before and after examples, and calling for a “communication makeover” of our social worlds, this presentation concludes by providing audiences with the tools and tactics to start using communication in ways that move beyond the “old ways of being and doing” that are still with us, toward the inclusive, emergent futures that our world desperately needs.

A Big Picture for Leadership Communication: Putting Enduring Trends and Emerging Themes into Action

This keynote provides a big picture of developments in leadership communication across the last several decades, distilling key insights and practices that every leader and manager can put into action now. Detailing what has changed in our organizational environments, while drawing from a wealth of research across interdisciplinary fields, this keynote provides participants with a framework that can be immediately put into practice by both rising and established leaders. From a high-level look at how to manage change, to on-the-ground tactics for building trust with staff or running meetings, each step of the way Dr. Waisanen activates the audience with quick exercises that make the lessons real and memorable. The address will provide an opportunity for participants to reset their thoughts and actions as they launch into new and uncertain futures.

Strategic Storytelling at the Core: A Trajectory for Narratives that Make a Difference in Work and Life

The ability to find, craft, and tell a story is an essential tool in the professional communicator’s arsenal. Contrary to the notion that storytelling is just a nice “add on” to work, this keynote will show how it should be at the very core of every part of our organizational lives. Used strategically, a well told story can convey an organization’s mission and culture, attract the attention of the media, raise funds, sell a product, influence decision makers, and even help societies embark on new paths. Stories that resonate propel political candidates into office, move a business ahead of the competition, and form the basis for social movements and causes that effect lasting changes. Your ability to tell effective stories is also a critical part of your professional development and continuing career trajectory. This keynote provides a deep and broad understanding of stories and how they can be used in professional contexts.  By the end, audiences will walk away with a new mindset and a host of strategies that can be immediately implemented in their everyday work.

Laying Foundations for Conflict Transformation: The Value of Leading with Skillful Improvisation, Inclusion, and Intangible Assets

Every professional will have to manage conflict and negotiate effectively in a wide variety of situations. For many people, these skills will be exercised almost every day of their working lives. Yet when it comes to what we actually do in conflict or negotiation, too many professionals rely on a limited range of tools based on imitation (“this is what I’ve observed others do”), tradition (“I’ve always done it this way”), or intuition (“I’ll just wing it”), when there are far more effective, tested strategies available. There’s now a great deal of social science behind these topics: effective conflict management and negotiation are inextricably linked to employee retention, expanded value for multiple stakeholders, higher job benefits and satisfaction, work environments manifesting equity and equality, and many other organizational outcomes. An additional benefit is that improving these skills carries over to many of the challenges we face in our personal lives. This keynote provides participants with a holistic understanding of conflict and its dynamics. Emphasizing cutting-edge ideas and practices related to skilled improvisation, inclusion, and intangible asset development, audiences will walk away with new perspectives and techniques that can be immediately applied in their everyday work.

Getting on the Upward Spiral: A New Paradigm for Moving Beyond Our Old Ways of Doing Politics, Democracy, and Civic Engagement

While ruptures and crises have always been with us, the accelerations of technology, global spread of infectious diseases, national populist uprisings, and environmental devastations—among so many other issues—have only amplified the unprecedented challenges humanity continues to face. Behind the scenes, many decades of thought have gone into what new paradigms could look like for building social worlds that move beyond the tired stories and unproductive ways of relating that happen when problems arise. Asking audiences to “Zoom Out,” and grounded in a definition of politics that simply means, “how it is that we’re all going to live together,” this keynote showcases how almost all the big picture attempts to build new stories and structures for societies have a high-level, updated perspective on communication at their core. In light of these standpoints, the address ultimately asks what it will take to embed and scale these understandings, with several conclusions offered and an open-ended invitation for participants to add their insights to these burgeoning movements.