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Keynote Speaker

Using humor and mostly bullet-free slides, Alisa Bonsignore is a keynote speaker who educates and informs audiences of all sizes. She delivers presentations that are engaging and approachable, and makes herself available to attendees even after the formal Q&A has ended.

She has spoken at in-person conferences and virtual events in the U.S., Europe, Middle East, and Asia, and delivers workshops and keynotes for corporate clients.

Invite Alisa to speak at your event

Upcoming engagements

  • Corporate workshops
  • Seventeenth International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts and Responses. January 2025.

Sustainability

Leadership and business

  • What I Didn’t Know I Didn’t Know About Freelancing. STC Online Careers Seminar. October 2022.
  • Non-traditional Paths to Leadership. Spectrum Conference. Rochester Institute of Technology. Rochester, New York. September 2020.
  • Polymath Communicators: The Future of TechComm. STC Summit. Denver, Colorado. May 2019.
  • The Value of the Polymath Communicator. TCUK. Northamptonshire, UK. September 2018.
  • Won’t You Please, Please Help Me Find Non-Traditional Paths to Leadership. STC Summit 2018. Orlando, Florida. May 2018.
  • Interactive session for freelancers with 10+ years of experience. AMWA Pacific Coast Conference. Pacific Grove, California. April 2018.
  • Introverted Entrepreneurship. STC Technical Communication Summit. National Harbor, Maryland (Washington DC area). May 2017
  • The Business of Freelancing. American Medical Writers Association, Delaware Valley Chapter: Freelance Workshop. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. March 2017.
  • Client Relations: You Don’t Get What You Deserve, You Get What You Negotiate. The Lavacon Conference on Content Strategy and TechComm Management, Las Vegas, Nevada. October 2016.
  • Saving Your Sanity Through Better Client Relations. STC Silicon Valley, Santa Clara, California. October 2016. (You can also view a recording of this talk.)
  • Closing the Deal. AMWA Medical Writing and Communication Conference, Denver, Colorado. October 2016.
  • Closing the Deal. STC Technical Communication Summit, Anaheim, California. May 2016.
  • Winning the Project with an Effective Proposal. STC Technical Communication Summit, Columbus, Ohio. June 2015.
  • Advanced Client Relations: Asking the Tough Questions to Get What You Need. AMWA Annual Conference, Memphis, Tennessee. October 2014.
  • Everything You Wanted to Know About Client Relations. AMWA Pacific Coast Conference, Pacific Grove, California. April 2014.
  • Saving Your Sanity Through Better Client Relations. Society for Technical Communication, Technical Communication Summit, Phoenix, Arizona. May 2014.
  • Strategies for Creative Freelancers. Virtual Event. April 2014.
  • Improving Client Relations. Society for Technical Communication, Santa Barbara chapter. November 2013.
  • Saving Your Sanity Through Better Client Relations: How to stop apologizing, say “no” tactfully, and know when to shut up and listen. Creative Freelancer Conference (CFC). San Francisco, California, June 2013.
  • If Looks Can Kill… Your Career. American Medical Writers Association (AMWA). Sacramento, California, October 2012
  • Don’t Worry, I’m a Professional. American Medical Writers Association (AMWA). Jacksonville, Florida, 2011.
  • Growing Your Freelance Business. International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). San Francisco, California, 2011.

Panel discussions

  • Panelist: “Comm and Get ‘Em: We Have Answers to Your Questions.” STC Summit 2023. Atlanta, Georgia. May 2023.
  • Panelist: “The Future of Work and Post-Pandemic Career Planning.” STC Knowledge XChange. Online. September 2022.
  • Host of weekly coaching calls for Content Coachvising. 2020-2021.
  • Host/moderator for Demystifying the STC Board: Ask your questions. STC Virtual Summit. May 2020.
  • Panel discussion: The Skinny on Working With Corporate Clients. Creative Freelancer Conference (CFC). San Francisco, California, June 2013.
  • On-stage participant: Pitch Perfect with Dyana Valentine. Creative Freelancer Conference (CFC). Boston, Massachusetts, 2012.
  • Roundtable discussion: Making Time to Stay Healthy. Creative Freelancer Conference (CFC). Boston, Massachusetts, 2012.
  • You: The Brand. American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA). New York, New York, 2012.
  • Panel discussion: Information Security in the Age of Wikipedia. International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). San Francisco, California, 2011.
  • Panel discussion: Freelance Lessons Learned. Creative Freelancer Conference. Denver, Colorado, 2010.

Corporate engagements

Alisa routinely presents workshops and keynote talks to corporate audiences.

Thoughts on the business of content

  • Comm and Get ‘em: We Have Answers to Your Questions. Panel discussion with Bernard Aschwanden and Kirsty Taylor. STC Summit 2023, May 2023. Atlanta, Georgia.
  • Meet the Editors. STC Summit. Chicago, Illinois. May 2022.
  • Closing panel, “The Future of Content.” LavaCon 2021. October 2021.
  • Meet the Editors. STC Summit. June 2021.
  • Cause of Death: PowerPoint. American Medical Writers Association (AMWA). Sacramento, California, October 2012

Podcasts, webinars, and interviews

  • Why is Professional Development Important? STC Roundtable. May 1, 2019. “I think that the biggest risk for any career is stagnation. If you don’t feel like you’re growing and learning, you’re not going to be inspired. Uninspired people are bored. That’s terrible for your team, your employer, but most importantly, for your career.”
  • In the STC Spotlight. May 1, 2019. “The Board uses my skills and experience in a completely different way than my day-to-day work. There’s a lot of focus on strategy and finances that’s on a completely different scale than what I get to experience in my own business.”
  • Demystifying the STC Board. May 3, 2019. “I think that’s the important thing to know about Board service: it’s not about what you get from being on the Board, it’s about what you think you can give.”
  • Hope for the Introvert podcast: Growing as a leader. A conversation with Alisa and Ben Woelk. “But none of that (career growth) would have happened if I had just sat back and been the quiet one. I had to look for new approaches to my career, where I had to find those alternative leadership opportunities.”
  • Hope for the Introvert podcast: On public speaking. A conversation with Alisa and Ben Woelk. “They’re in your talk for a reason, and they’re not there to criticize you or to grade you or to challenge you. They’re there because you have something that they want to learn about. And when you shift that mindset — that you have something valuable to say — it really changes your perspective on speaking.”
  • Hope for the Introvert podcast: Being an introverted entrepreneur. A conversation with Alisa and Ben Woelk. “I tended to be extremely quiet in meetings for many years… almost to the point of invisibility, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t have ideas.”
  • Saving Your Sanity Through Better Client Relations. Recorded at STC Silicon Valley, October 2016.
  • Freelancer Forum: Creative Freelancer Conference 2010 News and Updates. Featuring Alisa, Dyana Valentine and Ilise Benun. Hosted by Colleen Rice Nelson.
  • How to stop scope creep in its tracks. A conversation with Alisa and Ilise Benun.
  • The Art of Saying No. A conversation with Alisa and Ilise Benun.
  • The Reflex Blue HOW Design Live conference special, featuring Alisa, Cami Travis-Groves, Julie Goldsberry and Crystal Reynolds. Hosted by Donovan Beery.
  • AMWA: Medical Writing 911 pilot webcast, featuring Alisa, Eve Wilson, Karen Steinhilber, Tracy Bunting-Early, and Anne Jacobson. Hosted by Scott Kober.
  • AMWA: Medical Writing 911 premiere webcast. Hosted by Scott Kober.

Random fun stuff