Bailey Parnell

In today’s fast-paced work environment, the essence of employee engagement lies not in grand gestures but in the everyday actions of leaders. In fact, the greatest contributor to an employee’s engagement has been shown to be their direct manager. Even so, managers are not taught how to engage their employees through every day actions and conversations.  This talk designed to transform the way leaders motivate, recognize, and empathize with their teams on a daily basis. Bailey Parnell leverages her extensive experience to present a hands-on guide that centers on Motivation, Optimism, Recognition, and Empathy as key drivers of daily engagement. This session offers actionable strategies that leaders can immediately implement to create a more engaged, resilient, and purpose-driven team environment. Drawing on compelling stories from her background as well as an extensive research base, Bailey showcases how simple, daily interactions can become powerful tools for building an engaged workforce a sustainable way.

By the end of this talk, your people will be able to…

• Understand how motivation and mindset contribute to engagement and purpose in the workplace.
• Practice techniques to motivate colleagues in tailored ways.
• Cultivate an optimistic outlook that causes a ripple effect in others.
• Implement strategies for meaningful recognition in everyday interactions.
• Use empathy as a tool for employee engagement.
• Engage with interactive exercises that reinforce these concepts, enhancing team cohesion and purpose.

Why people book this talk:

• Your people leaders want to learn practical ways to engage employees.
• You want employee engagement to be intentional and not a hopeful byproduct.
• You have a group of managers who are new to this and don’t know how to enact these skills.
• You’ve observed that traditional engagement strategies don’t fully meet your team’s needs or adapt well to modern challenges.
• You aim to empower your leaders to create a positive, optimistic workplace culture that thrives through change.
• You’re looking for effective methods to recognize and celebrate your team’s efforts in a way that feels meaningful and personal.
• You desire to deepen the connection between your employees’ work and the greater purpose and mission of your organization.

Nearly 90% of job seekers and employees alike value “workplace culture” as vital. At the same time, decentralized hybrid and remote work setups are increasingly becoming the norm in the future of work. But one does not have to cancel the other out. If your teams predominantly interact with each other virtually, then your virtual culture IS your company’s culture. Once we understand this, we can do what’s necessary to make that culture great. We all want vibrant organizational cultures where our people have good relationships, are engaged, and feel their work matters. When hybrid and remote workplaces are done well, these things can happen along with a boost in productivity and well-being. But how do we translate our offline values and culture to an online world? How do we foster collaboration and relationship-building when people don’t see each other anymore? How do we make these tools work FOR us? In this interactive keynote, Bailey Parnell combines her years of experience advising workplaces on culture (and the skills needed to do it well) with her background in online communications to truly provide you with a holistic take on creating a culture in your organization. She will explore strategies for working effectively when remote and hybrid, key differences in online culture-building, action-oriented strategies for improving this yourself, and all while keeping inclusion front of mind.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates short interactive engagement exercises otherwise known as “high-impact practices” or HIPs to help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

By the end of this talk, your people will be able to…

• Recognize how organizational culture is built in remote and hybrid environments
• Understand the strategies to seamlessly transfer an organization’s core values and culture from traditional settings to virtual settings.
• Implement practical techniques to enhance collaboration, communication, and camaraderie within remote and hybrid teams.
• Understand the link between a robust digital culture and its direct impact on productivity, employee satisfaction, and overall well-being.

Why people book this talk:

• You’ve experienced the shifting landscape of work and want to ensure your organization’s culture remains strong, irrespective of the physical setting.
• You value workplace culture and want to ensure your remote team members are as engaged, connected, and satisfied as they would be in person.
• You seek actionable insights on how to build and nurture relationships in an increasingly decentralized work environment.
• You believe in inclusivity and want to ensure that all members of your organization, irrespective of their role or location, feel integrated, valued, and heard.
• Oh known digital tools can help make people more productive and healthier, but you want to know how.
• You’re committed to future-proofing your organization, ensuring that as the nature of work evolves, your company remains at the forefront of best practices for fostering a vibrant, effective, and inclusive digital culture.

Studies show the average person spends up to 6h/day on social networking sites, and even more the younger you go. While social media enables connections and collaboration at an unprecedented scale, there’s also a dark side to this networked world that’s laced with addiction, depression, harassment, and more. By every measure, social media is a risky behavior like sex, drugs, alcohol, or even driving. Since it’s not going anywhere, abstinence might not an option, but you can still practice #SafeSocial. How is this activity we spend so much time doing actually affecting how we think and feel? What is happening out there in the social media world and how does it influence the mental health of us and our youth? Adapted from her original TED talk with nearly 4M views, Bailey Parnell will draw from research and exclusive experience to illustrate the current social media landscape as it related to mental wellbeing, explain the effects it has on us every day, and provide 5 steps towards #SafeSocial.

After this talk, your people will be able to…

• Make the connection between risky behaviors like driving or drugs, and social media use.
• Describe at least 3 major factors on social media that create the environment for mental health issues to arise (stressors)
• Explain up to 6 negative effects or “risks” of using social media to your mental health
• Identify 5 Steps Towards #SafeSocial for improving your experience online
• Identify the steps you can take to improve the online community for everyone.

Why people book this talk:

• You have noticed the effect social media is having on your community.
• You want to promote wellbeing and you realize that includes digital wellbeing.
• You’re running a wellbeing/wellness/mental health program in your workplace.
• You want to give your community tools they can use to make social media work for them instead of against them.
• You care about the mental health of your workforce in general, and you know this is a big part of their life they may not have considered before.
• You want people to think differently about social media, perhaps to see it as a positive tool or to see it as a risky activity.

The age of generative AI has been unlocked. The genie is out of the bottle and there is no going back. This should excite you and terrify you at the same time. Like many human-made tools before it, this technology can be used either to support our organizations and people or tear them apart. Bailey Parnell is here to help you ensure the former. AI is already used in many helpful areas of our lives and businesses: smart assistants, recommendation systems, customer service, marketing and social media, resume screening, algorithmic trading, precision farming, and so much more. Similar to Parnell’s pivotal research into social media and wellbeing, AI is not the problem we’re afraid of. People’s misuse of AI is. So let’s get ahead of this conversation. How can we use AI to boost our organization’s productivity and our people’s wellbeing at the same time? How can we harness the benefits of generative AI without compromising on the ethical treatment of our people? How can average people already use this to make their lives easier? In this dynamic and unbelievably cutting-edge keynote, Parnell combines a decade of experience researching digital wellbeing with another decade teaching businesses the skills they need to succeed. In an accessible and engaging way, she will cover the 101 of generative AI, where we are today, and how your people can use these tools for professional effectiveness and wellbeing. She will also explore ethical considerations of AI and how we can work together to build a better future not only for our organizations.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates short interactive engagement exercises otherwise known as “high-impact practices” or HIPs to help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

By the end of this talk, your people will be able to…

• Grasp the core potential and challenges of generative AI in contemporary settings.
• Understand how generative AI will affect your specific industry and function.
• Explain just how generative AI connects to employee wellbeing.
• Strategically integrate AI to bolster your own daily productivity and wellbeing (at the same time).
• Proactively navigate ethical questions associated with AI technologies.
• Feel more confident navigating the future of AI.

Why people book this talk:

• You want your organization to be future-ready. You realize understanding its potential and pitfalls will help your team.
• You see the potential this can have for your people’s efficiency and performance.
• You want to drive creativity and innovation within your team.
• You want your people to feel more confident as these inevitable changes come.
• You “see the writing on the wall” when it comes to generative AI”. It’s here to stay, so you may as well learn more about it.

In today’s fast-paced business landscape, leaders face the challenge of reacting to change, driving change, and preparing for change at the same time, and all while helping employees navigate those changes effectively. That’s a lot of change! As leaders, we want our teams to be able to make full and successful transitions to life post-change. We want them to perform well in their roles and be well as people during these transitions, and to do this, it is useful to understand how transitions work in the first place. In this talk, Bailey Parnell uses the science of Transition Theory paired with years of experience leading her skills development company to teach leaders the 4S’s of successful transitions (Situation, Self, Support, and Strategies) and how leaders play a role in each “S” in the workplace. Parnell will teach you the strategies you can implement right away so that your teams will more easily transition through the rapid and endless changes coming your way. Ultimately, you will get closer to creating a change-friendly culture in your organization. This talk is designed for people leaders. For individual contributors, see Parnell’s “Inviting M.O.R.E.: Building Change-Friendly, Adaptable, and Resilient Teams”.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates short interactive engagement exercises otherwise known as “high-impact practices” or HIPs to help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

After this talk, your leaders will be able to…

• Understand the biological and psychological factors behind human reaction to change.
• Identify the 4 S’s of successful transitions (Situation, Self, Support, and Strategies) and connect leadership’s role in each “S”.
• Apply practical strategies for supporting your teams at individual and organizational levels.
• Empower your teams with a more self-reliant change-friendly mindset.
• Take proactive steps to ensure smoother transition processes for your people in the future.
• Engage in experiential activities (HIP exercises) that have them practicing these skills in real-time.

Why people book this talk:

• Your organization is undergoing many transitions
• You have a specific change coming up (i.e. moving to hybrid, layoffs, etc.) and you want to proactively set your people up.
• Your people are going through many changes in life/society and want to help them
• You want to build a culture of change-friendliness in your organization
• You want your leaders to lead by example when it comes to change
• You want your leaders to have very practical strategies they can use to get their people through transitions.

Humans are not biologically built to love change, but organizations must change to thrive in the future of work, and here lies the conundrum. As the world changes at a pace that feels more rapid than ever before, what is the role we play as individuals in how our teams navigate changes? How can our personal change-resistance or friendliness affect others we work with? To thrive in the face of change requires the right combination of soft skills – the ones not taught in school – and no one knows these better than Bailey Parnell. As someone who leads a soft skills development company that works with the world’s leading organizations and having gone through many changes herself, Parnell asks audiences to invite M.O.R.E. in times of change. We can control how we experience change more than you might think, but only with a growth Mindset, Optimism, Resilience, and Each other! In this talk, Parnell shares a science-backed playbook of practical strategies, stories, and experiential moments that help people understand how change-friendly people come together in an interconnected way to make change-friendly teams. This talk is designed for individual contributors (including leaders as individual people). For leaders, see Parnell’s “4 S’ of Leading Through Change”.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates short interactive engagement exercises otherwise known as “high-impact practices” or HIPs to help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

After this talk, your people will be able to…

• Understand the biological and psychological factors behind human reaction to change.
• Recognize the role of individuals in influencing team reactions to change.
• Evaluate their own change-resistance or change-friendliness mindsets
• Apply practical strategies for integrating a growth mindset, optimism, resilience, and each other into daily practice
• Engage in experiential activities (HIP exercises) that have them practicing these skills in real-time.

Why people book this talk:

• You’ve seen people negatively react to change or manage it poorly
• You want to foster a positive attitude towards change within your organizational culture.
• You want to empower your team with the necessary skills and mindset to adapt to constant change.
• You want to boost employee morale and resilience in the face of present or upcoming challenges and uncertainties.
• You’ve observed how some influential people pull others down emotionally.
• You want to provide practical strategies and tools for individuals to effectively cope in challenging times.

For the first time in history, we have 5 generations in the workforce at the same time. While age plays an important part in our perspectives and upbringing, it is often left out of workplace conversations around culture and diversity. More than that, we often tell people to actively NOT ask about age, but this cannot be ignored anymore. From Gen Z to Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers, these differences must be explored together or a misunderstanding and divide will grow. Organizations will find it harder to retain young talent and will risk marginalizing and deactivating their older talent. So, how do we increase empathy and understanding between generations? How do we motivate different generations? How do we bridge generational divides as the world or work moves toward hybrid and remote settings? In this dynamic and humorous keynote, Bailey Parnell combines over a decade of research into multigenerational dynamics with practical experience in global workplaces to teach audiences how to foster intergenerational understanding so that all feel welcome and productive, regardless of AND because of age.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates short interactive engagement exercises otherwise known as “high-impact practices” or HIPs to help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

After this talk, your people will be able to…

• Describe the defining characteristics of each generation, with historical context.
• Recognize everyday language and behavior that furthers generational misunderstandings and divides.
• Apply practical strategies for fostering strong intergenerational relationships
• Implement strategies for leading intergenerational teams
• Recreate a real-life intergenerational HIP exercise woven into the talk itself.
• Transfer all of these strategies over to hybrid and remote workplaces.

Why people book this talk:

• You want to understand how to attract and retain early and young talent.
• You want to improve your workplace culture and collaboration across all generations.
• You’ve noticed different generations react differently to changes you make.
• You want to help leaders better motivate and lead different generations.
• You want to explore the unique challenges that come from age as an identity.
• You want to include age in your diversity conversations with more intention.

In a rapidly evolving labor market, where hybrid models, multigenerational dynamics, talent shortages, and AI integration are becoming the norm, how can organizations not only attract, but also retain the best talent? When talent have a choice in where they will dedicate their working hours , building a magnetic culture that entices bright minds and hard workers alike is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity. With a degree in communications and culture and a decade of experience teaching organizations the skills they need to build great cultures, Bailey Parnell is uniquely positioned to understand both how cultures form and attract people as well as what that looks like when an organization puts it into practical application. In this enlightening and interactive keynote, Parnell unveils what talent are drawn to now, the secret ingredients of creating irresistible organizational cultures, and what steps people can take to enact this right away.

Bailey Parnell’s unique keynote style incorporates short interactive engagement exercises otherwise known as “high-impact practices” or HIPs to help ensure attendees retain what they learn! Imagine a keynote speaker with a bit of what you love about workshops all in one.

After this talk, your people will be able to…

• Identify the core components of a magnetic culture that attracts and retains exceptional talent in the evolving landscape of work.
• Connect the fundamentals of attractive culture-building anywhere to an organization.
• Understand and apply the secret ingredients of creating an irresistible organizational culture that resonates with diverse talent pools.
• Implement actionable strategies that align organizational culture with the values and aspirations of modern professionals.
• Make better predictions for how large shifts such as hybrid models, multigenerational dynamics, talent shortages, and AI integration will affect your organization.

Why people typically book this talk:

• You are facing challenges in attracting or retaining top talent and seek transformative insights to gain a competitive edge in the modern labor market.
• You are undergoing a major shift such as moving to a global setup or experiencing a generational shift in your workforce and need strategies to create a culture that appeals to different people and life stages.
• You are determined to turn your organization’s culture into its most important asset in attracting bright minds, fostering loyalty, and achieving long-term success.
• When hiring a speaker, you value a balance between research-backed expertise and professional experience to guide your organization in creating a magnetic, positive culture.
• You are seeking actionable, concrete strategies that you can implement immediately, turning the theory into practice and insights into measurable outcomes.
• You want to prepare your organization for the future, equipped with tools to anticipate and adapt to significant shifts like multigenerational dynamics, AI integration, and hybrid work models.