Speaking

I talk about how leaders and organizations engage with their audiences in the networked age — and stay (mostly) human along the way.

Rob has the uncanny ability to convince us we’re just having a good time, when secretly he’s implanting the game-changing secrets we’ll need to help our organizations change the world.

Holly Ross

NTEN, Drupal Foundation, New Relic

I speak on…

  • Staying human in the digital era, and finding the humour in our online lives.
  • Online engagement between organizations, leaders and their publics
  • Leadership communications — from finding your voice, to delivering powerful presentations

Some of my talks

Finding your authentic leadership voice: in person and online

Leaders can’t hide behind institutional roles any more. Your message only has power if the people it reaches can see and hear the genuine person behind it. But authenticity isn’t always easy to attain — especially in an era where retweets and Likes are easier to count than minds changed. Rob shows you how leaders can avoid the temptation of pandering, and speak with the kind of conviction and honesty that reaps long-run personal and professional rewards.

Alignment: Communicating to lead

Managers, CEOs and political and community leaders alike have a dilemma: how to lead an emerging generation with no apparent interest in being led? The answer lies not in commanding compliance, but inspiring alignment based on shared values and purpose. See how alignment means that what organizations lose in control, they can more than make up for in the passion and loyalty of employees, supporters and customers

Talk like a human

We have an incredible gift for making an instant connection with each other: conversation. It can earn trust and deepen relationships. So why do so many people turn into soulless robots the moment they have to communicate to the world? Rob shows you where so many communicators and leaders go wrong… and how to keep talking like a human.

Who killed social media? (And how can we bring it back to life?)

Remember when the social web first launched? That hierarchy-flattening, silo-busting revolution of authentic expression, creation and connection was going to transform the world. But instead of a revolution, we got a more efficient way to shop — and all those “authentic” relationships are being strip-mined for marketing data and monetization. Rarely has such enormous promise been betrayed so thoroughly… but Rob argues it isn’t too late. We can still reclaim an open web with room for both human connection and honest commerce.

Oversharing: from TMI to OMG

In the era of tweeting what you just ate and taking selfies at funerals, is there such a thing as TMI? Rob delivers a ringing defence of conscientious oversharing… and he may just convince you to forgive that next here’s-what-I’m-having-for-lunch photo.

Rob has the uncanny ability to convince us we’re just having a good time, when secretly he’s implanting the game-changing secrets we’ll need to help our organizations change the world. He’s like that movie you enjoy the heck out of and think about again and again for years, as opposed to anything by Michael Bay. Substance PLUS fun.

Holly Ross

NTEN, Drupal Foundation, New Relic

Thank you! You got us all thinking and laughing, and set the perfect tone.

Julie Szabo

Capulet

Rob is inspiring. Once he’s on the stage, everybody relaxes, knowing they’re about to be stimulated intellectually AND laugh their heads off.

Linda Solomon

National Observer

You were very well received by our team and I’m glad you enjoyed them as much as they enjoyed you. Your energy, honesty, humility, humour and insights into the complex dance of facilitation were a perfect combination for what we were needing at this event.

Kelly Angelius

BC Ministry of Children and Family Development

An excellent instructor, drawing on his industry expertise and skill as a facilitator of social media. Our students who are professionals in their own careers benefited greatly from Rob’s insights, strategies and references to real-world situations in the social media realm.

Fiona McAuley

UBC Continuing Studies

Rob has spoken to…

  • Rogers
  • Canadian Institute
  • Canadian Marketing Association
  • International Association of Business Communicators / BC
  • NTEN Nonprofit Technology Conference
  • Northern Voice
  • Canadian Public Relations Society – Vancouver Island
  • NetSquared
  • Acuity Forums
  • Ragan Speechwriters’ Conference
  • Professional Employees’ Association
  • Persuading to Win
  • Fireworks Factory conference
  • Massive Technology Show
  • BC Technology Industry Association
  • Special Libraries Association WCC
  • CUPE BC
  • BC Teachers Federation
  • Women’s Franchise Network Vancouver
  • Vancouver Twestival

Let’s talk about your next event

Rob Cottingham

778-995-7622

Audience photo credit: Interesting Vancouver. Used under a Creative Commons attribution license.

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