Keynote Talks

Your Bursts of Brilliance® Menu

Choose here from any of these short inspirational talks. Teresa can then use them to kick off or close out your conference, meeting, retreat, or event, or sprinkle them in throughout your gathering to provide inspiring lifts to your audience when they need it most.

Or combine these talks to create 30, 45 or 60-minute keynotes, complete with activities and takeaways. Teresa will work with you to customize the keynote so that it most closely meets the needs of your audience.

Whose Voice Do You Need in Your Head?
If your idea is your baby, you must treat it like one. You must protect it from anyone who wishes it harm. Far too many ideas fall by the wayside because people listen to the wrong person at the wrong time. Let Teresa show you how to seek out the advice you need at each stage in your idea development process.

It's About Time Finding You
Are you or your team finding it hard to pursue the projects or goals that really excite you? If so, you may be misunderstanding how prioritization works. It's not about you finding the time, it's about time finding you.

How to Fail Successfully
No one knows better than an artist that in order to succeed, we must often first fail. We have to trust that there is no such thing as wasted effort! Everything we try, whether it succeeds or fails, leads us on the path we are meant to take. Every rejection brings us one step closer to acceptance, and every failure brings us one step closer to success.

It's Only True If You Believe It
How do the limiting stories we tell ourselves keep us from reaching our full potential? Does what we believe determine our fate? If so, how do we cast aside the beliefs others have thrust upon us and find out what's true for us?

You're Only a Starving Artist If You Choose to Be
Are there times in your life or career when you need to step back from the status quo, when you need to jump off the hamster wheel and get back in touch with your inner artist? Is it okay to sometimes choose to "starve" in order to become better at what you do? Do we sometimes hold ourselves back because we believe we're not worth more? This talk is not just for artists, but anyone seeking to fulfill their true potential.

What's the View from Your Ladder?
Where are you on your ladder to success? The first rung? Halfway up? Almost to the top? Why is it that some people seem to leap up the ladder and others get stuck on one rung? What can we learn from pausing now and then and taking in the view from where we are?

It's All About Me
Is this thought really selfish or arrogant? Or is it sometimes true that in order to do our best work and reach our highest potential, it really does need to be all about us? If you can tap into what really drives and excites you, you can add value to this world beyond what you can currently imagine. To do that, you must sometimes push everything else aside and get a bit selfish with your time, energy, and passion.

We Make What Matters, Matter
No industry can tell every one of us what to buy, no activist can convince us all to embrace change, no religion can tell us all what to believe. We decide what matters. Understanding what matters to you enables you to find the right job, attract the right relationships, and do your best work.

An Open Apology to My Creative Self
An exploration of all the ways we hold ourselves back, fail to give ourselves credit, push ourselves too hard, and become our own worst enemies.

I'm Done With That
How to know when it's time to let go so you can finally move on. We do our best work when we lean into our passion.

We Make What Matters, Matter

This talk is ideal for businesses, groups, conferences, or organizations who want to inspire their members to grow through adversity. And for book festivals, conferences, or events who want to inspire book lovers and writers to believe that stories matter.

In this keynote address, Teresa shares her author's journey to find, research, and tell the moving stories of World War II's everyday heroes. The men, women, and even children who gave their all for the war effort and learned in the process what really matters.

In this keynote, audiences will discover:

• The amazing true story of how Teresa met the survivors of the Battle of Wake Island and determined to tell their little-known story.
• How times of great challenge in our lives can lead to great growth.
• How to apply the wisdom of these everyday heroes to help them determine what really matters in their own lives.