Keynote speaker for conferences and associations
Darryl helps your attendees keep moving through fear and uncertainty, so they leave steadier for the people they serve and for each other.
Uncertainty is the new normal
- Funding and policy changes that shift under their feet from one year to the next
- People doing two jobs because the open seat never got filled
- New rules, new tech and new expectations, faster than anyone can keep up
- Scrutiny from every direction, where one mistake feels like it could end a career
- Travel budgets shrinking, so the days they do get together have to count
You can't control all of it.
You can change what fear does in your room.
What education professionals wrote on their cards
These are real cards from conference rooms full of education professionals, shared without names. The people in your seats are carrying some of these too.
hey, I'mDarryl!
I've been the opening keynote, the closing keynote and the after-lunch keynote, which is the one everybody is scared to book. For more than ten years I've asked the room some version of the question: what do you fear?
The cards from association conferences, from admission counselors to transportation directors to student access teams, sound a lot alike. I use a decade of what they wrote to build a keynote that gets your attendees talking to each other before the first break and leaves them more connected than when they walked in. It also keeps the room awake, which matters when your slot is right after lunch.
What the
experience looks like
This isn't a sit-and-listen keynote. Here's how it works, from the weeks before to the days after.
SAMPLE PRE-EVENT VIDEOBefore the day
Darryl sends a pre-event video, and your attendees have the option to share some of their challenges beforehand.
energy & interactiveIn the room
From the walk-on song to the fear cards to the fire pit, everyone takes part. Nobody just sits and listens.
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03picture worthy toolsTools they can use
Simple steps your attendees can take back to their school, their campus or their office the next week, not just a good feeling.
04Fear(less) bandAfter they leave
Everyone leaves with a Fear(less) band and one next step, so the conversation keeps going long after the conference ends.
You're in good company
Associations and conferences
- Alabama Association of School Boards
- Association of Independent Schools in New England
- Colorado Education Initiative
- Communities In Schools
- EdTrust-West
- Education First
- Fraternity Executives Association
- Higher Education Consultants Association
- Indiana Association for College Admission Counseling
- Montana Post Secondary Educational Opportunities Council
- National Association for Pupil Transportation
- National Association of College and University Residence Halls
- National Organization for Student Success (national and Ohio)
- New England Association for College Admission Counseling
- NIRSA
- NC Department of Public Instruction
- Portico
- Strada Education Foundation
- Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association
You will hear back within hours on business days.
