speaker spotlight
CM&E: What do you think makes for a 
good keynote?
CB: It has to be that you know the topic better 
than anybody else – backwards, forwards, inside 
out – that you’ve researched it, like with those 
Renaissance or Greek philosophers, you’ve gone 
down that rabbit hole and you’re passionate 
about it. You understand that you have a gift to 
offer the participants in the audience. You have 
something to give – your point of view – and [you 
know] how you can give that to your audience.
CM&E: Do you have a favourite keynote 
in your repertoire at the moment, and do you 
have one that’s maybe more in demand  
than others?
CB: I think I’m known now as kind of the 
psychological safety person. The keynote is 
called Safe Enough to Speak, and I customize 
that to the audience – last week was to a school 
board. I’ve done a version for law firms, and I do 
a lot with law firms, which is interesting because 
that industry is very hierarchical. Do I feel safe 
enough to speak as a legal assistant to a lawyer? 
Probably not. And so, what I do is I come in and 
say, “Hey lawyers, everybody’s voice matters,” 
including everybody that has a different role in 
the organization. So, Safe Enough to Speak is 
probably my favourite and the one that’s the most 
in demand right now as well, and I think the one 
that makes the biggest impact on the audience.
CM&E: Generally speaking, what do you 
hope attendees gain from your presentations?
CB: I wrote a book called 365 Must-Know 
Talks of All Time, and I wrote it because I wanted 
to study talks, and so I’ve looked at probably 
most TED Talks out there. The ones that were the 
most successful for me made me do something 
different, and that’s what I hope the audience will 
do with me. I’ll give you an example: there’s a 
TED Talk by Stephen Duneier, and from that talk, 
I picked up probably three to five good habits 
and released a bunch of bad habits – from one 
20-minute talk. So, my hope is that after the end 
of a session in front of a group of people, they 
too will be inspired to do something different and 
make their lives better, whatever that looks like.
My hope is that after the end of a session  
in front of a group of people, they too  
will be inspired to do something different and 
make their lives better, whatever that looks like.
- Caroline Berglund
14
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