Meet Anna (me)
I know what makes a talk get selected, what makes a room lean in, and how to find the exact words that make it sound like only you could have given it.
How? Of course I am a seasoned speaker, and unlike most speaker coaches I also have years of experience as a producer and professional writer. Special sauce.
Sometimes, I wear a conference badge even when I don’t have to.
You Can’t Fake This Experience
10
Years producing one of the top TEDx events in the country
1,000s
Speaker applications reviewed
100s
Talks written and rewritten
Millions
Views on the TEDx YouTube Channel, TED.com, & stages around the world
My very first talk was for a 17-year-old rodeo queen.
My most recent was for a hostage negotiator. In between I built a copywriting agency helping major brands tell their stories and spent a decade on the other side of the table — as the producer deciding whose talk makes the cut at one of the largest TEDx events in the country.
Here's something I've noticed again and again: people are very bad at knowing what makes them fascinating. Because it's just their life, right? It seems normal to them.
Case in point: I was working with a journalist who wanted to write a talk about the power of curiosity. She was struggling to find her unique angle on a fairly well-trod subject. Then, midway through our first session, she casually mentioned that when her dad died she learned he'd been in the KGB. Wait — what? Of course someone who grew up in a world of secrets, whose phone was tapped from the age of seven, would grow up obsessed with finding the truth. That became the lens for the talk only she could give.
If you’re reading this thinking, “But Anna, I'm not that interesting — no one in my family was in the KGB,” I’d say two things. First: are you sure? And second: everyone is fascinating. You just need someone to ask the right questions.
My job is to find where your real talk is hiding and write it with you, in your voice.
When you slip into "speech voice," I'll stop you and ask what actually happened — because the true version is almost always better than the polished one. We'll throw out the clever lines that are doing less than you think they are, and fiercely protect the strange, specific, true ones that make a room hold its breath.
A woman I’m working with on her keynote said to me recently, “I find myself really looking forward to our sessions. Is that weird?” It’s not weird. It’s necessary. When the relationship is right, the work is better. Every time.
Trust is what makes it possible to write someone's stories in their own voice — and to write jokes that land, because you actually know what makes them laugh.
So. If you’ve read this far and you’re smiling, we’re probably going to work great together.
Sample Previous & Current Clients
Diplomats
Teenage Rubik’s Cube champions
LOTS of seemingly normal people with fascinating hidden stories
TV personalities
Nationally known nonprofit leaders
Silicon Valley millionaires
So, what are you working on?
During your free 15-minute Zoom, we’ll talk about your goals and see if we're a good fit. I love working with people who are passionate about what they do, who truly enjoy the collaborative process and are confident enough to laugh when I say, “I love you, but that line is garbage.”