Leaders and changemakers:
🔸Are you unclear about how to promote your organization without sounding like a commercial?
🔸Do you rely on volunteers to spread awareness about your cause, who need support to share your message successfully?
🔸Is your leadership team great at management, but not so great in front of an audience?
🔸Are your employees too wordy, too technical or too unclear when they speak to colleagues, executives, community members and other stakeholders?
🔸Are you seeking public speaking training for your team that teaches more than just how to make eye contact and where to put their hands - and allows them to immediately practice new skills?
🔸Are you seeking a workshop that digs deeper and allows your team to bring their best and most authentic selves to their presentations?
🔸Are you ready for your team to fully connect with and engage their audiences in order to get your desired results?
Download PDF of programs
"Lisa is an engaging and entertaining speaker who fully immerses herself into whatever event she is attending.
Tailoring her presentations to the audience, industry, and/or themed event makes her ability to connect to all who attend unparalleled.
Taking control of any situation presented, Lisa’s interactive talks provide essential takeaways that increase her value as a speaker and presenter. "
Wendy Miller, CAI EDBP, CACM CCIP
"A fun interactive session, with lots of good tips on how to interact at networking events."
"Great tips even if you’re already comfortable with networking!"
"A lot of actionable items that can be implemented easily."
"This was incredibly valuable. I am not good at networking because I am an introvert, but I feel I have the tools to be more comfortable and confident in these situations. "
"High energy, very interactive."
"Lisa is bubbly and knows how to make people feel comfortable. In a room full of (obvious) introverts she made us feel open and welcome to speak."
"You’ll see networking from a new perspective and realize you can actually survive a networking event."
"The best advice on how to quickly work a room and find your most valuable connections!"
"Engaging and educational."
"A must-attend session. Definitely came out of here with such valuable tips and advice for networking."
"I cannot say enough great things about your presentation on 'Conversations to Make an Impact' at our professional training day at Camarillo Public Library. It’s been remarkable to hear all the positive things about your talk from staff members. I’ve heard a lot of people say 'that 90 minutes went by really fast!,' which I think attributed to your preparation, professionalism and thoughtfulness. It went beyond my expectations. 😊"
Mandy Nasr, Library Director, Camarillo Public Library
"Lisa helped me to see my potential as a trainer by showing me how to use my natural personality to convey my message more authentically, and gave me tools to tailor my message to the audience!"Katherine Stewart, Training and Organizational Development Specialist, Tri-Counties Regional Center
"Lisa's trainings (I've attend multiple trainings over more than a decade) have always exceeded my expectations. In content, in engagement, and in usefulness.
I have found her to be especially up to date on technological enhancements as well as knowing a multiplicity of ways to thoughtfully engage with an audience as well, as to elicit meaningful responses from your audience such that their learning is enhanced."
Steven M. Graff, Ph.D. (he/him/his), Director of Clinical Services Tri-Counties Regional Center
Speaking clips
Lisa does keynotes, training, storytelling and, well, anything that gives her an opportunity to get on a stage and keep growing her skills! Here are some short snippets.
"You were the BEST way to kick off the weekend and get everyone engaged. We couldn't be more pleased. They had literally never had a speaker come to the annual meeting and talk to them about a non-legal subject. You may have altered their lives forever."
Tracey Booth, Association Manager
California Association of Legal Document Assistants
One of the most critical skills for today's professionals, in just about every field, is public speaking.
Your employees, volunteers or team members are leading meetings, facilitating trainings, networking in the community, pitching vendors and customers, asking for donations, making sales calls, advocating for your cause, speaking at conferences—participating in every possible form of public speaking.
Yet most of them have no idea how to express themselves effectively to these audiences and, more importantly, to get the results you desire.
Click the image to download a PDF of my current program offerings
Click the image to download my current one-sheet
Find more resources below.
Speak to Engage®: Audience-Centered Presenting
Sometimes your audience is not there by choice. Sometimes your audience is skeptical or hostile. Sometimes your audience just needs their first morning coffee!
Whatever the reason, we don't always receive the level of attention and interest we hope for as presenters. And if they're not interested, and they're not paying attention, they're not engaged.
Why does this matter?
You have a valuable message to share.
You have something they need or want.
You -- ultimately -- want to make the sale, get the client, teach the student, persuade the colleague and change people's attitudes or behaviors.
If your audience isn't engaged, you can just forget about all of that.
This interactive 1 1/2-day virtual or in-person workshop gives tools and tricks for getting your audience's attention and keeping it, and creating a memorable and engaging experience that will make them want more!
The time frame offers plenty of room for group discussion and the opportunity for each attendee to deliver and revise a short presentation. Public speaking training topics we'll cover include:
- Determining what your audience needs, wants and cares about
- Setting objectives and desired outcomes
- Creating an effective, practical and relevant message
- Building a presentation structure that flows seamlessly
- Creating a strong opening and closing
- Incorporating audience engagement and interaction
- Answering your audience's question “What’s in it for me?”
- Developing a genuine approach that fosters audience connection
My training audiences have shared the following in surveys 3-5 months after their training:
95% say they're 50%-300% (yes, 300%!) more confident about public speaking than they were before the training.
89% say they’re still using the skills and concepts they learned either daily, weekly, or monthly
Trainings with live presentation practice deliver the best results!
"Lisa took the time to understand our organization as well as come up with a training that would meet our needs."
"I recently used Lisa's services for the training of a volunteer group within the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation. While I had interviewed a few different organizations and trainers for this opportunity, I was drawn to Lisa's style and services after our first interaction.
Right away, I could tell that Lisa understood the nonprofit world and would be able to interact with, teach and support a group of volunteers from a medical nonprofit organization.
During the training, Lisa delivered a presentation that was engaging and interesting. I was impressed that her presentation also included multiple examples specific to our organization, showing that she took the time to further research our organization and was sincerely interested in connecting with her audience.
Most importantly, her training offered ample opportunity for those in attendance to practice their new skills. Lisa provided helpful feedback and support to attendees during the practice portion of her training. Speakers of all levels can learn and benefit from Lisa's style, teaching and coaching."
Laura Devitt
Manager, Volunteer Programs
Pulmonary Fibrosis FoundationFrom participants in the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation training:
"Lisa was a great help in putting my thoughts and ideas together in a professional easy format. Knowing how to start and end the presentation with a call to action was so helpful."
"Lisa, between what you taught us in class and your book, I think my presentation is going to be really good and my anxiety will be in control!!"
"The session was fun and enlightening. Learned many way to speak in public. I will use techniques that were learned, and will improve."
"Lisa, I gained a lot of confidence with your training. We are all human, make mistakes, not a big deal, and connecting with our audience was huge for me."
"Even the introverts among us immediately participated in the exercises."
"The training we had with Lisa was awesome. It was amazing to see how our team opened up within minutes and started toying with the concepts introduced.
Personally, my main takeaway was the connection to be made with the crowd we speak with. I complete this through a number of approaches, both before and during the sessions. Also I always remember to keep my empathy levels tuned to the crowd's pain points. Thanks for the great training!"
Oded Dvoskin, Sr. Program manager, Azure App Service
Microsoft
"I took the training one week before my four sessions at Microsoft Ignite. The training helped me a lot with confidence and preparation.
I got really good reviews for all my talks; I wouldn't have been successful without Lisa's coaching.
Ahmed Elnably, Program Manager, Azure App Service
Microsoft
"The outcomes were tenfold our expectations."
"Thank you so much for the assistance this past winter. AgWest has recently accomplished our winter growth goals for the company and I truly believe Lisa had a big hand in making it possible.
Lisa connected to our small group in the only way that counts. She gained our trust and confidence very quickly and allowed each of us to come out of our shells and perform.
Lisa gave each of our presenters the ability to show the outside audience (big or small) what we so desperately care about inside. All 14 that completed Lisa’s workshop are not only producing better results, they are less apprehensive about themselves and now can focus on the task at hand, the customer and their service. Our only regret is waiting too long.
Whether we’re speaking one-on-one or in front of a larger audience, the tools and techniques that Lisa shared with us shine through. Prior to Lisa, we thought our talks were for the audience; now after Lisa’s help, we know it’s only about the audience. This has led to more direct business and additional speaking events. Thank you Lisa!"
Paul Mussman, President
AgWest Commodities
"It was such a pleasure having you back to train our new LEADers."
"I am looking forward to seeing everything they accomplish this year and I know they will be starting off on the right foot."
Denise Manriquez, LEAD Coordinator
Transitions-Mental Health Association
Santa Maria, CA
Transitions-Mental Health Association LEAD group
"Lisa had a friendly, engaging presence as a speaker that participants found easy to follow and enjoyable."
"Over the past several years, Lisa Braithwaite has provided several presentations for entrepreneurs through our organization.
Most recently, Lisa presented to a group of small business owners and it was an exceptionally valuable experience for all participants.
She spoke about how to use your voice to authentically connect with your target client, and provided practical tips and challenges for the audience to put in to practice right away. Feedback from those who attended included:
• 'Great advice on building
confidence for giving a speech.'
• 'Very useful.'
• 'I really was inspired by Lisa.'
• 'Very funny and engaging!'
• 'Tools I can use right away to tell my story in a compelling and connecting manner'Lisa’s expertise is very relevant for small business owners who are looking for ways to build their confidence, improve their ability to communicate clearly and, in turn, market themselves and their businesses more effectively. We are so grateful that she has shared her expertise with our organization and look forward to continuing to work with Lisa in the future."
Nicole Raden
Thrive in Five Program Coordinator
Women’s Economic Ventures"I now have confidence when promoting my business! Thank you!"
"Super important lesson -- will change everything!
"You have inspired me to move forward with my business."
"Thank you for all the valuable info... professional intro done in ten minutes. Love it!"
"I have a professional introduction. Yippee!"
"Inspiring, sassy, compassionate. Thank you!"
"Thanks for making me feel better about how I speak."
"Thanks so much for helping us with our speeches. It's not at all scary now!"
"So helpful! Really got me thinking on how to describe my business well and short."
"After all these years, I can finally say what I do. Where were you ten years ago?"
Students in Women's Economic Ventures' Self-Employment Training program
Go Virtual: Take Your Presentation From Stage to Screen
Virtual training can be easy, fun, and rewarding, and you only need a few basic essentials to get yourself started. Most importantly: You CAN keep your audience engaged, intrigued, interested and wanting more, with just a few tools in your toolbox.
In this public speaking training, attendees learn:
- What are the benefits of virtual programs?
- What are the important differences between live and virtual training?
- How do we restructure our presentations for the virtual environment?
- How do we engage audiences virtually with all the distractions they face?
- What tools and equipment will improve your presentations?
"Lisa brought to our virtual meeting what you hope any virtual presenter would - engagement, education, and enthusiasm!"
"Lisa was incredibly prepared with content that was targeted to our audience that allowed her to showcase her knowledge and experience with the topic of how you engage audiences when working remotely/virtually.
As a professional speaker, she's extremely easy to work with to ensure engagements provide mutual benefits while showcasing her obvious expertise in her area of helping others speak and present well to an engaged audience.
I would highly recommend reaching out to Lisa for any needs on presenters who can not only present well and capture an audience, but she is also extremely knowledgeable on HOW to speak online and still provide that valuable connection with your audience!"
Jamie Champagne
Vice President, Speakers Association of Hawaii
Speakers Association of Hawaii
"Just when I was beginning to give up after seeing one horrible online presentation after another you showed it could be done and done well.
Plus interactive — which is the hardest thing for an inexperienced speaker to figure out. Great lessons. I will not steal but will learn. Thanks again."
Tom Nixon, Presentation Designer and Coach
Micro-Presentations | Five-Minute Message: Maximum Impact
Are you a business or nonprofit leader who's being asked to give increasingly abbreviated presentations?
Are you finding your speaking slots shrinking from 60 minutes... to 30 minutes... to 5 minutes?
Are you struggling to fit your content and engagement into smaller and smaller containers?
If so... you can breathe a sigh of relief. My new public speaking class has got you covered!
This public speaking training will show you exactly how to...
- Get crystal clear on your presentation's
purpose - Determine your most critical core points
- Develop a tight structure
- Plan your interactions and timing
- Prepare to adapt on the fly
"As someone who goes down multiple rabbit trails when I'm speaking, I found Lisa Braithwaite's seminar, Micro-Presentations: Tighten Your Talk to Maximize Impact really hit home.
Her message on how to shorten your presentation is concise and best of all....it's extremely do-able. As an elected official, I'm often before the public and her class made me very aware on how I can fine tune any speech I may be giving.
Lisa Braithwaite made the class fun and the learning experience invaluable. I highly recommend Micro-Presentations: Tighten Your Talk to Maximize Impact to everyone in the business world!"
Linda Harvell, CTP, CTIS College Station City Council
Attendee at American Bus Association Marketplace 2022
"Your educational program on micro-presentations was awesome. It helped me so much because I'm attending ABA, and we have seven minutes to make a presentation. And, oh, my gosh, what am I going to say in that amount of time?
And you just made it so clear and concise about the way we should look at our information. 30 seconds opening, 30 seconds closing, 1 minute 20 seconds in between for three things. And so it really, really helped me to determine what three things are important to our clients. And then go from there. So thank you."
Kelly Burd-Adams, attendee at American Bus Association Marketplace 2022
Networking Works: Build Relationships to Build Your Business
Networking strikes fear into the heart of even the most confident business leader.
What if you don't know anyone? How do you introduce yourself? How do you enter a group conversation in progress, and how do you exit when you're ready to move on? How soon should you follow up and what's the best way to stay in touch?
And: “Can't I just stay home, sit at my computer, and network on Facebook?”
Networking is a critical tool for spreading your message and growing your organization, yet many business and nonprofit leaders don't represent themselves or their companies effectively.
This workshop covers the nitty gritty of talking to strangers and building relationships and partnerships through networking, including:
- Preparation
- Being a giver, not a taker
- Professional introductions
- Engaging and building relationships
- Standing out in the crowd
- Working the room
- Dealing with anxiety
- Following up
"Networking may never feel the same."
"Lisa Braithwaite breathes new life into old habits to supercharge who, how and why you engage—to create real connections! Get out there and practice your newfound skills."
Professional BusinessWomen of California
IgniteCHANGE Conference
"Simultaneously highly inspirational and eminently practical."
"You more than achieved your stated goal of creating a rich learning environment, clearly showing the participants vividly how they could quickly and easily create their own tailored exercises, and providing them with a readily applicable framework for them to use going forward, so as to enable their effective sharing of their own content.
In the course of your engaging presentation, you modeled how to interweave simple, low-key, non-technical exercises seamlessly into a talk, neatly aligned with one’s own voice, style, and content.
Your warm, accessible, light-hearted approach immediately put the members of the group at ease, while also fostering a sense of a learning community.
You led us to consider the questions behind and purposes of exercises, helping us understand how they should be built from our calls to action.
Your witty way with words intrigued and delighted us, inviting us to involve ourselves fully in the moment of learning."
Ethan Allen, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Daniel K. Inouye, Asia-Pacific Center for Security StudiesThea Marshall
President, Speakers Association of Hawaii
"Lisa Braithwaite is a phenomenal presenter, especially online. She knows how to create and deliver rich content and keep participant engaged. Her easy, fun, authentic style resonates with the audience.
Her 'Create Your Own Exercises' program is chock full of unique, innovative ideas for entrepreneurs, consultants, and keynoters to create memorable and meaningful activities based on content. Everyone in my chapter association loved her!"
Angela Buttimer, National Speakers Association
Path to Best Self
"She took the time to really understand the League."
"Lisa led a workshop for the Junior League of Santa Barbara that was engaging, insightful and I am certain will make a lasting difference in our members.
She customized her presentation to truly benefit the group. Her vast knowledge and experience shown through in her ability to be educational, while also keeping it really fun"
Jenna Rogers, Junior League of Santa Barbara
"Fun and engaging."
"Lisa Braithwaite, because of her enthusiasm and passion for coaching, makes her public speaking classes fun and engaging.
But more importantly, her passion for her subject and life in general infects everyone in her classes, resulting in entertaining and engaging teaching experiences that help her students strip away the self conscious mannerisms that can be a speaker’s worst enemies."
Leeana McNeilley, Director of Home Care Services
Help Unlimited
"It was our pleasure to work with Lisa. Her coaching proved to be invaluable to our members at our event.
She most certainly brings impactful results to her audiences, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with her for many years to come.”
Robyn Shutak, Senior Director, Programs and Member Services
The Global Equity Organization
"I feel sooo much more at peace when public speaking. Thank you so much."
Jacob McDuffee
Lived Experience Advocacy Development Project
Transitions-Mental Health Association
Lompoc, CA
"Although this wasn't my first training, it was definitely the best!! I came out much more confident! I love telling my personal story of recovery and perseverance. Thanks Lisa Braithwaite!!"
Cathie Ortiz
Lived Experience Advocacy Development Project
Transitions-Mental Health Association
Lompoc, CA
"This training changed my life. Lisa's training made it easy. The one thing I hold on to is 'Have fun in your own skin.' Now I enjoy speaking. Thank you, Lisa
."
Girlie Ford
Lived Experience Advocacy Development Project
Transitions-Mental Health Association
Lompoc, CA
"Lisa did a fantastic job speaking at NAWBO (The National Association of Women Business Owners), Ventura County. She helped us all to think about elevator speeches in a different way. Her presentation was interactive and engaging. Comments from the attendees included:
'Liked the interactivity.'
'Great! I absolutely enjoyed it. I will take what I learned and implement.'
'Very Relaxed, fun presentation. Made me think differently about elevator speeches.'
Thank you Lisa for taking the time to visit us and for sharing your wisdom. I hope that our paths cross again soon!"
Alison Balter, Best Selling Author and Owner of InfoTech Services Group, Inc.
Venice, CA
"It seems every day since our training, we at the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara are finding ways to incorporate the many techniques, suggestions and guidelines for effective public speaking taught by Lisa Braithwaite into our work.
While we all admitted to being nervous at some level about public speaking, Lisa managed to break the process into manageable steps that allowed one and all to feel confident and ready, providing us with an assortment of tools and skills with which to build an interesting, well-organized, and memorable presentation. Who would have thought this would be fun?!!
As staff, we were so motivated by the training that we immediately began the process of reworking our longstanding PowerPoint presentations, with a goal of creating concise, interesting, factual and relevant new slides that will serve as our 'talking points' to share this fall at schools and in other public forums across the county.
We highly recommend Lisa’s training to any organization that hopes to improve the quality and effectiveness of its public speaking presentations."
Vicki Wedmore, Director of Student Programs
Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA
"Great job. Lisa really has a calmness about her that comes across when she speaks. I really enjoyed her style. She only had one hour to get us the main points which she did well. I still have a long way to go on my own. :-)"
Doug Kirton, Hockey Director
Sno-King Hockey
Kirkland, WA
"I attended your Power Point webinar a little while back and made good use of the info you provided.
I do regular presentations at schools for CEC’s Rethink the Drink program and have been using the same PP for a few years now. Your webinar inspired me to update it and to use your 1 idea/1 slide guideline.
I used the new version at FOUR assemblies this morning and not only did it go over great with the kids, it was easier and smoother for me to stay on topic.
Thanks for the guidance!"
Kathi King, Donor Relations Manager
Ditch Plastic Program Manager
Community Environmental Council
Santa Barbara, CA
Some of my training and speaking clients
Ameriflex
American Bus Association
Antioch University Santa Barbara
Association for Women in Communication
Association of Fundraising Professionals
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
California Society of Association Executives
Camarillo Public Library
Canadian Association of Professional Speakers
Channel Islands YMCA Youth & Family Services
City National Rochdale
Community Associations Institute, Bay Area & Central CA Chapter and California North Chapter
Community Environmental Council
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
Lesbians Who Tech Debug Conference
ECG Management Consultants
Employees Retirement System of Texas
Filene
Foodbank of Santa Barbara County
Global Equity Organization
International Society of Hotel Associations
International Special Events Society
Junior League of Santa Barbara
KARL STORZ
Leading From Within
Lt. Governor's Tourism Summit, Louisiana
Marymount of Santa Barbara
Massachusetts Association of RealtorsⓇ
Microsoft
Mission Wealth Management
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
National Speakers Association
NAWBO Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties
Nonprofit Resource Network
Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing
Orfalea Foundations
Partnership for Excellence
Professional BusinessWomen of California
Project Management Institute
Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation
Santa Barbara Foundation
Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara
South Central Los Angeles Regional Center
Speakers Association of Hawaii
Transitions Mental Health Association
Transportation Association of Maryland
Tri-Counties Regional Center
UCSB Associated Students; Bren School of Environmental Science & Management; Housing and Residential Services; Professional Women's Association; Women in Science and Engineering
USA Hockey
Women's Economic Ventures
Women in Aviation International
WorldAtWork Total Rewards conference
World Tea Expo
WriteGirl
Grab your free program "Create Your Own Exercises: Transform Your Audience from Spectators to Participants" and maximize your engagement!
