SPEAKING
Whether you're planning a live, in-person gathering or a virtual event, Minette will deliver an inspiring, engaging, and thought-provoking talk.
Minette combines real-life stories, research, and actionable advice to spark new ideas and behavior in any audience.
Minette's Speaker Topics Include
The Boldly Inclusive Leader
Today’s leaders recognize the imperative of building more diverse workplaces but often don’t put the same effort towards creating an inclusive culture. Minette knows that an inclusive culture is the backbone of any thriving workplace. Drawing from her award-winning book, The Boldly Inclusive Leader, Minette shares actionable advice to help cultivate an inclusive working environment where innovation and breakthrough ideas can emerge. She helps leaders develop heightened self-awareness, challenge biases, and model inclusive behavior in every interaction.
The Psychological Safety Playbook
Psychological safety is the belief that we will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes. Teams that have a high degree of psychological safety are the highest-performing teams, the most inclusive teams, the teams that innovate, and the teams that people want to be part of. Drawing from her award-winning book, The Psychological Safety Playbook (co-written with Karolin Helbig), Minette demystifies the topic and offers practical ideas to create a team culture where everyone knows their voice matters.
Leading with Empathy
No organization today can succeed without empathy at the core of its business strategy. But empathy isn’t just about compassion and consideration for customers. It also means making sure all employees feel valued, heard, and appreciated. And that takes work. Minette helps us abandon ‘us vs. them’ mentalities, engage in empathetic listening, and make time for the challenging conversations we’ve been putting off. As Minette helps us understand, the people we struggle the most with are our “empathy teachers.”
An Unexpected Career
Minette shares lessons she learned from her largely unexpected and wildly successful professional career. Graduating from university with a double major in Drama and French, she found her way into Silicon Valley’s software industry and rose from technical writing roles to senior leadership roles. In the course of her 30-year tech career, she learned important lessons in leadership, human connection, and how to craft a more meaningful job no matter where you are in your career journey.
Video clips from some of Minette's recent talks
Inclusive Leadership Workshops
Leaders set the tone for their organizations. This workshop gives leaders a new awareness of how their own behavior can contribute to a healthy, inclusive workplace where everyone has a sense of belonging and where innovation and new ideas can emerge.
Facilitator
Minette Norman brings her expertise in inclusive leadership to life through engaging, hands-on workshops designed to inspire transformation. With a focus on fostering psychological safety, collaboration, and innovation, her workshops empower teams and leaders to create workplaces where everyone can thrive.
Psychological Safety Workshops
Teams that have a high degree of psychological safety are the highest performing teams, the most inclusive teams, the teams that people want to be part of, and the teams that innovate. Using material from The Psychological Safety Playbook, co-written with Karolin Helbig, Minette offers workshops to help leaders and their staff members increase the level of psychological safety in their team.
Inclusive Meetings Workshops
Meetings, where everyone spends so much of their time, embody a company's culture. This experimental workshop helps participants gain awareness and practical skills for making all meetings more inclusive.
Fearless Organization Assessment and Debrief Sessions
Using a survey tool based on the work of Amy C. Edmondson of Harvard Business School, Minette will administer an anonymous survey for your team and will then hold one or more debrief sessions to explore how your team can improve conditions for learning, inclusion, and innovation.
TESTIMONIALS
"Thank you for your work with our team. I have received tons of positive feedback on your professionalism, your knowledge, and your presentation style. Looking forward to our continued partnership."
Joe Morelock Ed.D., Superintendent, Willamette Education Service District
"Minette's presentation was down to earth, engaging, and just right for a mixed room (varying role, experience, etc.). Our team members rated her highly and were excited to use what they learned in the workplace!”
Angelique O’Bryan, Managing Director, XenoPsi Shared Services
"Minette was a tremendous keynote speaker at our Global Ready Conference. She established a unique bond with our audience despite the virtual format and spoke with authority on the subject matter."
Head of Marketing, Smartling
"Have you ever experienced a dynamic speaker, but you couldn’t explain why or how they were so dynamic? That is the case with Minette Norman. She is one of the most engaging and heart-centered speakers I’ve seen. Her voice, her message, and her demeanor all make her a magical presenter."
Janice Litvin, Speaker and Author of Banish Burnout
"Loved your session! We have barely scratched the surface with D&I and sessions like this help the org become more aware of the distance we have to go. Thank you for the amazing session!"
Chief Product Officer, Jumio
"Your inclusive meetings workshops made a huge impact. I find that the meetings I attend these days are far more intentional, inclusive, and successful than they were before."
Leadership Operations, Karat
"I saw Minette present at an executive leadership summit. Her talk was memorable not only because of her excellent speaking skills and very digestible content, but also because of the interactions she created among attendees."
Arianne Larimer, Vice President, Client Development, Pure Spectru
"The talk could not have gone better. I had dozens of colleagues reach out after the talk, saying things like "wow that was really well done," "I could have listened to her much longer," and "she made everyone feel comfortable right away".
Head of Product Design, The Clorox Company
"Thank you, Minette! You are such a wonderful partner in creating an inclusive workplace. I appreciate the impact you’ve had on our team."
Global VP People & Culture, Jumio
"I just want to express my appreciation for that psychological safety debrief session. You did an amazing job of encouraging us, delivering meaning, and all the while moving us along. I can't think of a better way to spend two hours."
Director of Engineering, Equalize Health
"You’ve really changed my perspective on inclusion. This is what great leaders and people managers do, not the side hustle example you referenced. What an ah-hah moment!"
Sr. Employee Communications Specialist, VMware
"What an incredible talk with us today! Thank you for being a trailblazer and for paving the way for so many to advance."
Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Extreme Networks