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Colette Carlson Business Communication & Human Behavior Expert

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Colette is a truly world-class keynote speaker. Her message and ability within the presentation to connect with our audience of Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub leadership was extraordinary. I was impressed by her preparation prior to the conference which was evident in the relevance of her material woven through her time on stage. The feedback was universally positive with many referencing elements of the presentation through the rest of the conference. I highly and wholeheartedly recommend her!!!

Craig Barber, CEO, Restaurant Growth Services, LLC

Colette delivered two keynote addresses at our National Sales Meeting, "Stress less, Connect more" and "Stop transacting, start connecting"- I'm not quite sure which one resonated more with our team- they were both exceptional! I have hosted and attended sales meetings for over 3 decades, Colette's presentations were the best. Colette was able to connect with our Account Executives on an entirely different level than other keynote speakers with ALL in attendance feeling that Colette was talking directly to "them". This connection was the result of Colette working directly with me and others within our organization to understand our culture, sales strategy, differentiators and customers. Colette was able to seamlessly incorporate many of these points into her keynote. I would highly recommend Colette as a keynote speaker at your next sales meeting,

Greg Wittlinger, VP Sales at MDC Wallcoverings

Colette recently spoke for us as the Opening Keynote Speaker and Virtual Chat Emcee/Moderator of our first virtual IAEE Women's Leadership Forum and as always, she was AMAZING! I have used Colette numerous times in my career and she never disappoints; True professional when it comes to presenting virtually. I always know I can count on her to do what's needed to make our program as huge success! Always on point, providing leadership tips to women; she is top notch, has a true pulse on what our attendees need and always able to engage! We love Colette!

International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), Stacy Riddler, Senior Education Manager

Colette was the keynote speaker at our annual meeting this year. Our group is a team of 75 seasoned consultants who spend a significant portion of their waking hours supporting clients in transformative and stressful situations. Ahead of her session, Colette made sure to speak with selected members of the team to understand our circumstances, gain familiarity with our vocabulary, and customize her talking points to address our needs. This attention to our specific situation led to a highly effective discussion. The event itself was high energy, engaging, and impactful (I did not see anyone looking at their phones). Following the session, I was approached by many team members who reflected on the applicability of the content and the high energy way Colette delivered the message. I am happy to recommend Colette. She is now part of our extended friends and family.

Jeff Shaffer, Manager Director at Alvarez & Marsal

“I have been working with guest speakers for company events for over 10 years and Colette was one of the best and easiest we've worked with. She is not only professional to deal with and an exceptionally engaging and funny presenter, she also took the time to research our company and interview some of our people to customize her remarks to our audience. I have found that level of preparation rare in the professional speaking circuit. Colette spoke about becoming a woman leader to a group of our company's women, and the reviews were fantastic. I would strongly recommend Colette!”

Jody Kaminsky, Chief Marketing Officer, Ultimate Software

Colette's ability to connect with McKesson's US Pharm leadership team was truly remarkable. Her expertise in resilience and leading through change is unmatched. Colette skillfully guided us through the importance of connection and navigating the ever-changing landscape of life and business. She provided practical strategies and actionable steps that empowered us to not only survive, but thrive in the face of adversity. What truly set her apart was her ability to infuse positivity and optimism into her message, along with tailoring it for our audience and business. Her energy was infectious, leaving us all feeling invigorated and eager to embrace change as an opportunity for growth and success. Her skit was also unmatched and really got the audience engaged and laughing! I wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone seeking guidance and inspiration in navigating the challenges of life and leadership.

Joe Urby, Director, US Pharm McKesson

Colette spoke recently at the LeadingAge PA Virtual Conference Experience. Colette has received rave reviews from our membership. Senior living providers have been under attack in the media lately and Colette's keynote was the perfect way to celebrate the amazing work they have done! She offered a way for all of us to realize that taking care of ourselves is just as important as taking care of others. Colette did extensive research into our field and was able to reach through the virtual environment to make each person feel like you were having a personal conversation with a friend. We laughed, we cried and we learned. If you want a great keynote to celebrate people, have fun and walk away uplifted, book Colette for your event, you will not be disappointed.

LeadingAge, SVP and COO Luanne Reese

Colette recently spoke to our team about the importance of relationships and how to better cultivate and manage them. She had her work cut out for her - she was asked to present via Teams and it was a mixed audience including sales, engineering, department heads and senior management, and yet she found a way to deliver a message that resonated with the entire group. Everybody took something from her presentation. Leading up to the event, she did her work with pre-calls, email and text exchanges to ensure she understood our business, culture and challenges. She was engaging, relatable, high energy and an absolute professional. I enthusiastically recommend her as a speaker if you are looking for someone to deliver a message with lasting impact.

Michael Newcome, VP of Sales, JLS Automation

Colette's engaging style and the creative presentation made our virtual event a great success! The post-event survey identified her as the most highly rated session and rated as the "highlight" of the entire 2 days of the Learning and Development program. It was no surprise given her ability to tailor the content to meet the needs of our team members!

Microsoft CELA

We had the pleasure of having Colette speak to our sales team of about 1000 people, and she was fantastic! She worked really well with our leadership team before the meeting to tailor and personalize her message and that really separated her from other speakers. Additionally, she has a great blend of serious content mixed in humor to keep the audience engaged the whole time. We polled our team after our meetings on all content and Colette scored as "highly impactful" and the comments were all extremely complimentary. I would highly recommend her as a speaker for your next engagement!

Ryan Steck, Executive Director, Strategic Marketing, Henry Schein

Who wants a speaker that is witty, intelligent and engaging? We did and we found her! Colette nailed the opening keynote presentation at our annual management conference. She spent time tailoring her presentation to our participants, not only meeting with us, but also contacting several of our members prior to completing her presentation. It was the next best thing to having her boots on the ground in our district. Participants loved the presentation and left with several take-aways. Working with her was a fantastic experience.

Susan Day, CMP Meeting & Event Mgr, Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka

Select Client Feedback

Colette was great! Her session was fun, entertaining, humorous and most importantly educational! Our attendees loved her session. Colette connected with the audience and engaged them. It was wonderful to see a speaker like Colette who had really done her research about our organization, our attendees and who they are and what they do. She just didn’t throw a few key words into her presentation so that it would sound like “it fit”. She actually did her research and knew what she was talking about in terms of this audience. That really helped the audience connect with her as she was able to relate to them, their businesses and our industry! I had a number of our attendees come up to me and tell me how much they enjoyed her session. I personally enjoyed her session very much! She is a high energy, well –spoken, professional speaker/trainer.

Kim Specht Ensemble Travel Group

4.60/5.00 weighted feedback score. See full survey results under "files" tab.

Kelly Stahl Wisconsin Realtor's Association

Colette was fantastic! everyone really enjoyed her presentation and continued to speak about her content throughout the retreat. I would highly recommend Colette to anyone.

Stacy Coleman SSM Health Care of Oklahoma, Inc., an Oklahoma nonprofit corporation, owning and operating St. Anthony Hospital