KEYNOTE SPEAKING
““It was an absolute pleasure working with Jenny! She was one of the keynote speakers for Top Talent Summit and the audience not only loved her content but her sense of vulnerability that made her relatable and memorable. I’m looking forward to the next opportunity to invite her back to rock our stage again with authenticity, while taking our delegates on an unforgettable journey to discover themselves.””
My passion is helping people move beyond burnout to create sustainable, dynamic careers they love. I empower audiences to embrace what’s already working to shift methodically into what’s next, which often starts right within one’s existing role or business. I help people ditch the rigidity of yesterday’s career ladder, instead treating their careers (and lives) as dynamic, constantly customizable apps on a smartphone.
Whether talking about small career pivots to plan for the year ahead or teaching managers how to have better career conversations, beyond just inspiration it’s the interactive format, immensely practical tools and templates, and encouragement that keep people coming back for more.
After 5+ years in Training & Development at Google and now 6+ years into my career as a keynote speaker, I have worked with tens of thousands of people and road-tested exactly what works. My philosophy and passion as a facilitator is to keep everyone's energy up and engaged throughout the session, while giving ample time for personal reflection, getting to know their peers, and creating their own customized plan for how they want to grow in the coming year. Participants will leave inspired, empowered, and clear on exactly what small steps to take next.
I love working with audiences of all shapes and sizes—ranging from a room of 30 managers looking to have better career conversations, or 1,000 individuals ready to map their next move. I have worked with companies like Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn, and Forbes to keynoting at conferences for entrepreneurs.
I look forward to working with you to customize an interactive keynote for your organization! Get in touch here.
“I just wanted to thank you once again for being part of our event in New York. You killed your session—and I heard later that our CEO was listening from the green room and liked it very much. :)
I personally took away some actionable steps toward my own goals and want to continue to work your method, and I heard similar things from others in attendance.”
Keynote Speeches
Pivot: The Only Move That Matters is Your Next One
No matter your age, life stage, bank account balance, or career level, you can learn how to pivot strategically into your next opportunity or grow within your current role. Your best chance of success lies right under your feet. By doubling down on what is already working, you can cut through confusion and move more quickly in a new direction. Pivoting is a mindset and a skill set, and it is one we can all get better at.
This interactive keynote workshop will resonate with anyone facing the question of what comes next by providing a methodical plan to move forward, one that you can cycle through as many times as necessary.
The Pivot Method is a 4-stage process that will help you:
Identify existing strengths, interests and experiences, and define success one year from now, even within your current role
Scan the horizon for new skills, people and opportunities, without falling prey to analysis-paralysis or compare-and-despair
Reduce risk by running small experiments that can provide feedback and help determine resonant next steps
Launch with confidence, bolstered by the skills and methodology to adjust seamlessly and continuously as you move in a new direction
Keynote Includes:
45-90 minute workshop
Time for Q&A
Optional book signing
“The Pennsylvania Conference for Women conference was wonderful. The best session I attended was Jenny Blake ‘s session on her Pivot method. It was about how to make your “next” move in your life, which we are doing much more often. I was scribbling furiously the entire time. It is a wonderful step by step method that (I find) is based in actual reality, psychology, and neuroscience. Unlike other books or sessions that sometimes can give you inspiration, but sometimes little by way of a true actionable plan, her session was refreshing and based on a very deliberate way of taking that risk.”
“Jenny really impressed me with her talk at TEDxCMU. Her strategies to success find the delicate balance between optimism and pragmatism and her success and enthusiasm are testimonial to her ideas. Jenny’s thought process and intellect are aspects of her character that really make her stand out.””
Pivot for Managers: Best Practices for 1:1 Career Conversations
Managers, mentors, and coaches will learn the powerful four-stage Pivot Method for helping others explore career development options, navigate change, and quickly work through situations in which they feel stuck or uncertain. Pivot is a simple framework you can share with the person sitting across from you.
In addition to learning how to apply the four-stage Pivot Method to their own career growth goals and as a coaching framework, participants will learn how to make rapid progress in any conversation, through deep listening and powerful questions.
You will walk away with strategies to support individuals’ learning, growing, and career development, specific tools to quickly align individual goals and career aspirations with team and company needs (to help employees see that these do not have to be mutually exclusive), coaching language to help foster a culture of adaptability and fluidity, and tools to help people develop and explore opportunities within their roles.
What’s included:
Highly interactive, experiential 3-hour training session
Optional add-ons:
Private coaching for individual managers and coaches
Observation triad calls (Jenny + 3 participants) for participants to practice the Pivot Method as coaches and receive feedback
“It was a privilege to work with Jenny as our keynote speaker for the UC Academic Advising Conference in Spring 2014. She demonstrated authentic enthusiasm for our event from the very initial contact I had with her as one of the conference coordinators. She was very thoughtful in seeking out our input to make sure that her talk was customized to the needs of our audience—-a diverse group of student and academic affairs professionals who work with undergraduate students.
Her vibrant spirit, good humor, and sharp wit come together in a way that allows Jenny to engage people through her speaking. In receiving feedback from the conference participants, many people said that the highlight of the 3-day conference was her keynote and were confident that they would apply her relevant and insightful concepts into their own lives as well as when working with their students. And this is the true goal for any keynote speech- to not just inspire people, but inspire people to take action.
I cannot recommend working with Jenny enough; I believe that having her as our keynote speaker raised the overall caliber of our event in an invaluable way!”
Speak Like a Pro: Practical Tips to Propel Confidence and Delivery
Take it from a woman who used to get hives when presenting at important meetings during her time at Google: we all get nervous before major speaking opportunities — our body is going into a predictable fight or flight response from being isolated on an open plane, with dozens of eyeballs staring at us. The question is, do you know the insider tips and tricks to harness those nerves and use them to your advantage?
In this interactive keynote, based on years of international speaking experience and over five years on the Training & Development team at Google, I share practical tips to improve your confidence and delivery while speaking in front of others.
Participants will learn:
How to influence behavior change
How to structuring a presentation effectively to enact positive change
The brain science behind how to practice your delivery to nail your content without notes
Physiological tips for calming nerves, and
Pointers for delivering your speech in an engaging, concise manner (with examples from the last presidential election)
These skills will help you with everything from internal presentations to client meetings to larger speaking engagements, and ensure that your audiences walk away feeling inspired and motivated to action.
To get a feel for the content of this keynote, view the slide deck here or watch a recent 40-minute webinar version of the workshop.
“I had the privilege of getting to hear you speak this year at the Adelante conference in San Antonio. Your presentation has literally changed my life. I no longer view life or my career the same any more and I have been doing real deep life-searching and examining. I realized that I was no longer a human being but rather a ‘human doing.’ What you said at the conference has really challenged and provoked me mentally and opened my eyes.””
Keynote Pricing
My speaking fees for virtual keynotes and in-person engagements range from $15,000 to $35,000, depending on the location, duration, and level of customization.
My speaking fee typically covers:
A 30-minute pre-event strategy planning call with event organizers
A 60-90 minute interactive keynote presentation
An optional book signing following the keynote
Optional additional breakout session or panel facilitation depending on the event
Unless otherwise quoted, I charge a flat fee that includes travel, including airfare, ground transportation, and incidentals, which makes booking and reimbursement easier for all involved :)
I do sometimes make exceptions and speak for less than my quoted fees, depending on the nature of the organization, date availability, and distance. Feel free to reach out and we can discuss ways to make it work; if it's not a fit for me, I'm always happy to recommend other great speakers that fit your budget!
Speaking Resume
Sample of previous events:
Corporate Training & Workshops
Google – Pivot is the core career development framework globally. Events include Authors@Google, Speak Like a Pro, Career in the Age of the App, Pivot for Internal Coaches (Mountain View, New York, Singapore), G2G Summit
Microsoft – Career Month partnership (several years now); Pivot keynote for individuals, career conversation training for managers, virtual sessions for Career Advisors (internal coaches), strategy coaching for Early-in-Careers talent team
Booking.com – Keynote for BKX series, educational talks that increase employees' knowledge and stimulate inspiration. 400 in the room, live streaming to 1,500.
Boston Scientific — Kickoff keynote for Women's Resource Group
Best Buy – Series of 4 workshops on goal-setting, career and money
KPMG – Know How To be the CEO of Your Career
Two Sigma Investments – Panel coaching for executives
Intuit – Tech talk for Mint.com
Center for Association Leadership – Career Development workshop
Universities
Stanford Graduate School of Business (CA) — Strategic Pivoting (Pivot is the curriculum framework; guest lecturer along with Alex Rodriguez)
Parsons (NYC) – Speak Like a Pro Workshop
MIT Society of Women Engineers & Work-Life Center
Yale Masters Tea: Career in the Age of the App
Pratt Find & Follow Your Passion – Closing Keynote
TEDxCMU – Opening Speaker, Career in the Age of the App
UCLA workshop for women
University of Calgary – Graduating this Year program – Closing Keynote
Conferences & Breakout Sessions
Host, SXSW Comcast Social Media Lounge 2016 and 2017
Keynote — Pivot, Persevere and Prosper: American Society of Journalists and Authors
Keynote, AIIP Annual Meeting
Keynote, Elevate, Empower and Engage: Women’s Business Summit at New Orleans Entrepreneur Week
Keynote and panel facilitator for 4 Conferences for Women: Texas, Boston, Philadelphia and Silicon Valley
HMG Strategy Group Conference Breakout (for 200 Chief Information Officers)
Adelante Leadership Conference workshop
United Women in Business panelist
Emerging Women NYC Rally
Moxie Camp conference for women
Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship
Book Breakthrough NYC workshop
American Journalism Society – Book Marketing panel
Columbia University – Social Media weekend
20 Under 20 Thiel Fellowship Retreat
Cancer & Careers – Young Adult session