Available workshops

Storytelling

Stories are all around us, all the time. Beyond the books we read and the shows we watch, stories show up in the products we use and the places we frequent. There’s a beginning, a middle, an end. There’s drama, there’s conflict, there’s resolution. What happens when we consider who is the hero, who are supporting characters, and who we leave out all together? Approaching product development from a storytelling perspective compels us to start from a place of empathy, proceed with a ruthless editor, and connect with an audience with intention and impact. 

In this two-hour workshop, participants will take away a core understanding of storytelling and its practical application in how we build products for people. By using partner and small-group exercises, peppered with mini-lectures, participants will build empathy, get to know their team, and raise their awareness of the stories that surround us.

Rapid remote team-building

In this brief-but-efficient team-building workshop, the team will be led through two reflective and productive exercises. Each is focused on articulating a person’s strengths, as well as how best to work with them. 

“Come to me when” asks participants to identify what they’re really good at, what their strengths are. This is useful to articulate within same-role teams (i.e. Content Design, PMs), so they can tap into each other’s strengths as peers. 

“Operating instructions” asks participants to identify their own unique workstyles, affects, or even idiosyncrasies. This is useful to articulate and take back to cross-functional teams. It’s functional, fast team-building. 

In the end, the team at the workshop will get to know each other better, in an effective, work-focused way. No trust falls, no two-truths-and-a-lie. They’ll also take away a plan to conduct the “Operating Instructions” with their cross-functional team to get to know them and work with them better.

 Current talks

 “I don’t know where we’re going, but I’ll know when we’re there.”

40 min talk about the ambiguity of a content strategist, and how to define your skills in order to define your career path. Can also be adapted for a design-heavy audience. 

“The Risk of Assumption: Learning and Designing for Low Digital Literacy”

20 or 40 min talk about recognizing and narrowing the gap between people who make products and people who use them. Specific tactics on simplifying interactions and innovating without excluding. 

“How to fix your family’s tech issues without resorting to murder”

20 min talk about low-tech literacy and how to build products for people wary of the internet (like my mom). Can be extended to a longer talk or workshop. 

Appearances include:

2026

Throughline, conference

Mainstage speaker: Making Hiring and Getting Hired Suck a Lot Less

Loose Threads, online session

Featured guest: Making Hiring and Getting Hired Suck a Lot Less

How people work, Live!, podcast

Featured guest

Button, conference

Speaker: How to Survive a Volatile Job Market

2025

Writers of Silicon Valley, podcast

Featured guest: How to Ace your Design Interview

Copy Cats, podcast

Featured guest: A Content Designer’s take on hiring and getting hired

UXPA International, special session

Featured speaker :Good Job: Interviewing in Design

2023

Content Strategy Insights, podcast

Featured guest: “Getting a Job in Content Design and Hiring Content Designers”

2020

Comma-Con, conference, Menlo Park

Mainstage speaker: “I Don’t Know Where We’re Going, but I’ll Know When We’re There.” 

Utterly Content, conference, Newcastle UX

Mainstage speaker: “I Don’t Know Where We’re Going, but I’ll Know When We’re There.”

PixelUp, conference, Cape Town, South Africa

Mainstage speaker: “I Don’t Know Where We’re Going, but I’ll Know When We’re There.”

2019

Confab conference, Minneapolis, MN

Closing keynote: “I Don’t Know Where We’re Going, but I’ll Know When We’re There.”

Design Week San Francisco, CA

Panel Host: “Accessibility in Design”

Global Accessibility Day, conference, Menlo Park

Mainstage speaker: “How to Fix your Family’s Tech Issues Without Resorting to Murder.”

2016

Relate Live, conference San Francisco, CA

Panelist: “All the Feels: Designing Products with Empathy”

Infopresse, conference, Montreal

Mainstage speaker: “Don’t Take the Detour: Collaborative Content”

Confab, conference, Minneapolis, MN

Lightning talk: “Too many Cooks: On Release Notes”

2015

Confab, conference, Minneapolis, MN

Mainstage speaker: “Make the String Shorter: Designing Killer Content for Products”

2000

Appeared on CNN’s “Talk Back Live” for Rock the Vote, representing the youth vote

Additional experience includes running many internal design sprints and workshops, teaching Presentation Skills at Google and Twitter.