Colette Carlson
Colette Carlson , founder of Speak Your Truth, Inc., is a human behavior expert, author and keynote speaker who inspires leaders and teams worldwide to strengthen behaviors that impact their relationships, resilience, and results.
With a master’s in human behavior and twenty years of experience in the personal development field, Colette understands the psychology, mindset and skills required to thrive during times of uncertainty, ambiguity, and stress.
She excels at developing leaders’ social emotional intelligence creating empathetic, inclusive environments where teams flourish. She is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), and in 2017, Colette was inducted into the CPAE Speaker Hall Fame®, a lifetime award that honors professional speakers who have reached the top echelon of platform excellence.
Her articles on mindful communication, stress management, leadership and the power of connection have been featured in Success, Business Management Daily, and Working Mother magazines. Trusted clients include Microsoft, Procter & Gamble , and Federal Express.
Speaking topics
- The Connected Leader
Successful, effective leaders recognize the need to authentically connect on a human level, whether virtually or in-person, to create influence and impact. Connected leaders model courageous behaviors that create a culture of clarity, transparency, inclusion, and accountability, even in the most challenging times. In this engaging, uplifting, and research-based program, attendees will master their ability to communicate and connect on deeper levels, creating an environment where people thrive.
In a digitally-distracted, constantly-changing world, become a Connected Leader to:
- Drive positive change through intentional and impactful communication, thoughtful questions, and empathetic listening
- Earn trust, respect, and loyalty from your teams and colleagues
- Learn specific communication techniques that will inspire action and cooperation, address conflict, and extract more value and productivity from your teams
- Seek and encourage healthy feedback
- Create a culture of open communication where people connect, grow, and flourish
Results?
- Employees stay more engaged in work environments with sincere communication and clear expectations. After attending a program with Colette, your organization will benefit from managers who received the tools to lead and employees who are motivated to succeed.
- Colette’s programs act as a mini coaching session: blending the theoretical with the practical, sound research with qualitative reasoning, objective insights with descriptive applications. Individuals walk away with easily assimilated action steps to triumph.
- Many Communicate, Few Connect
The common denominators of the most successful individuals are their ability to effectively communicate and connect, regardless of situation, location, or audience.
In a competitive world filled with a global workforce, numerous communication channels, and daily digital distractions, getting your message heard has never been more challenging.
Clear, concise communication is no longer enough to get results: connection must be part of the equation. Amplify your impact and form crucial relationships that drive productivity, engagement, and collaboration by learning how to:
- Up your emotional quotient to increase your credibility and gain support Foster healthy communication through focused, dedicated behaviors
- Align your thoughts, words, and actions to build trust and increase influence
- Communicate with candor and clarity while maintaining a respectful, human connection
- Be a human highlighter who champions the accomplishments and strengths of every individual on your team
- YOU Management: Strategies to Avoid Burnout, Boost Resilience, and Accelerate Success
Regardless of your title and role, people experience everyday stressors while they are expected to stay agile through constant change. In today’s world, people are required to exceed expectations, and produce more in less time with fewer resources, all while staying positive and engaged with colleagues and customers.
New challenges have collapsed the boundaries between work and home, leaving people juggling opposing demands for time, energy, and attention. It’s no surprise, even with the best of intentions, leaders and teams feel stressed out, disconnected, and emotionally exhausted. Enough! It’s time for You Management!
Join Colette in this laugh-out-loud program as she shares practical, yet powerful, science-based strategies to remain resilient and accelerate your success during the most challenging of circumstances by learning how to:
- Minimize worry, stress and angst by knowing when to let go or take control
- Manage devices, distractions, and demands to stay focused, present, and productive
- Lean in to change by mastering your mindset to increase mental toughness
- Build in daily self-care strategies to avoid burnout and create more joy
- Maximize health and wellness through the power of connection
- SINCERE SELLING: Stop Transacting, Start Connecting
In order to make a sale and earn a customer, you must first make a connection. In today’s virtual selling environment with shorter meetings and distracted customers, the ability to quickly connect and captivate is paramount.
In this engaging, research-based program, learn how to adopt a sincere selling mindset to cultivate authentic relationships that lead to increased sales, repeat customers, and powerful referrals.
As a former national sales trainer who cut her teeth in straight commission sales, Colette will show you how to up your personal connection quotient to maximize relationships, revenue, and results by learning how to:
- Awaken your awareness to maximize your emotional connection
- Ask deeper, richer questions to identify customer pain points
- Listen empathetically to create a collaborative environment conducive to problem solving
- Align your thoughts, words, and actions to build trust
- Demonstrate value and gain emotional buy-in through effective storytelling
- Women Leading with Impact: Accelerate with Confidense
When women show up, stand up, and speak out, positive change happens. In this engaging, uplifting, and research-based program, specific to women in leadership, participants gain the strategies and skills necessary to become authentic, credible, and confident leaders.
Be recognized, respected, and rewarded in your career by learning how to:
- Cultivate connections that count Identify, access, and develop strategic relationships
- Express your success to advocate for yourself and others
- Conquer self-imposed limits to take risks and accelerate growth
- Breakthrough barriers by mastering the power of the ASK
- Stay resilient through constant change and challenges
Video clips
Speaker testimonials
“Colette’s engaging style and creative virtual presentation made our event a great success!The post-event survey identified her as the most highly-rated session, and rated her as the”highlight” of the entire two-day Learning and Development program!”
Colette’s playful spirit and passion for her subject engaged the audience, and her humorous delivery was infectious. She didn’t hesitate to take on the role as moderator for our Successful Women of Costco panel making it equally as engaging.”
“Just two examples of the positive feedback we received from attendees: “Not only did her Balance/Stress Less keynote have attendees laughing out loud with her truthful insights, but her break-out session on Leadership was packed with solid content and takeaways.” “Both of Colette’s presentations were phenomenal! I took so many notes on the leadership session in the morning and then I laughed so hard at the lunch stress less keynote, I actually started crying! She really nailed it, and I was thoroughly entertained and impressed by her level of professionalism, poise, ind intelligence.”
Colette is an amazing speaker! She did a keynote for 2300 franchise owners, general managers, and managers and a breakout session for 1500 general managers and managers. She did a great job researching our business and sharing stories and examples that the participants could relate to. The participants found her funny and insightful. The vast majority of the participants rated her as Excellent! She was also a delight to work with in planning the conference as well as on-site. I highly recommend Colette as a speaker!
Colette was a huge hit at our Leadership Series, and people are still talking about it! We were all so impressed by the way she researched and got to know us. As a result, she nailed it, gained immediate credibility and connected with everyone! Colette was knowledgeable, relatable and down to earth… what more could you ask for.
Colette’s enthusiasm, humor and very practical advice were a huge hit with our group of women General Counsel and senior level in-house counsel. Colette fully committed to our program – spending time with our attendees and other speakers to gain a deep understanding of our challenges and goals. She made sincere personal connections — as a result, her session fit perfectly within our program, and our attendees left energized and better prepared to address the obstacles that impede their success and the success of the organizations they serve.