Wendee Lee Curtis

Culture Isn’t What You Say, It’s What You Reward is a keynote about the hidden systems that truly shape workplace culture. Drawing on Wendee Lee Curtis’s background as a Broadway performer, former TV news anchor, executive coach, and Cornell University facilitator, this session helps leaders identify the behaviors, habits, and norms their organizations are unintentionally reinforcing; and how those patterns affect belonging, trust, visibility, and performance. Audiences leave with a clearer understanding of how culture is actually built and how to create environments where inclusion is strategic, meaningful, and aligned with results.

Ideal for:

Leadership teams, HR and people leaders, culture and talent teams, and organizations that want to strengthen belonging, improve trust, and align workplace culture with performance.

Takeaways:

● Identify the hidden signals and reward systems that shape workplace culture every day.

● Understand how cultures unintentionally reinforce exclusion, invisibility, or disengagement.

● Learn how belonging, voice, visibility, and influence drive stronger performance and collaboration.

● Leave with practical ways to align values, behaviors, and outcomes more intentionally.

Most leaders are carrying a quiet fear: that they are being watched more closely than they realize, that their words may be landing differently than intended, or that the polished version of leadership they’ve been taught to perform is not building the trust they need. Stop Performing Leadership is a keynote for leaders who are tired of mistaking image for influence. Drawing on Wendee Lee Curtis’s experience as an executive coach, Cornell University facilitator, and communication expert, this session helps audiences replace over-rehearsed leadership habits with clearer presence, stronger judgment, and more authentic authority.

Ideal for

● Executives and senior leaders.

● Managers and people leaders.

● Emerging leaders and high-potential talent.

● Women’s leadership programs and leadership development events.

● Organizations where trust, communication, and leadership credibility matter.

Takeaways:

● Recognize the difference between performative leadership and effective leadership.

● Learn how to communicate with authority without overexplaining, shrinking, or posturing.

● Understand how power dynamics, bias, and perception shape the way leadership is received.

● Develop a more grounded leadership presence built on clarity, trust, and strategic self-awareness.

● Leave with practical tools for reading the room, navigating pressure, and leading more authentically in real time.

The Broadway Blueprint Experience is a highly interactive keynote that helps organizations build belonging by removing the unspoken guardrails that keep teams playing small. Rooted in the unique ethos of Broadway, this experience shows what becomes possible when people are expected to go full out — bringing their talent, perspective, and presence fully to the performance of the work. Drawing on ensemble tenets like deciding what’s sacred, contribution over credentials, taking the note, and shared spotlight, Wendee Lee Curtis helps audiences experience how belonging can unlock untapped talent and make teams more powerful, connected, and nimble.

Ideal for:

Leadership teams, people and culture departments, and cross-functional teams that want to unlock untapped talent, strengthen collaboration, and build a more connected, nimble culture.

Takeaways:

● Learn how the Broadway principle of going “full out” helps teams unleash untapped talent and stop playing small.

● Discover how unspoken guardrails suppress contribution and what leaders can do to remove them.

● Practice ensemble habits like contribution over credentials, taking the note, and shared spotlight to strengthen trust and agility.

● Build a culture where belonging fuels performance because people are expected (and rewarded) for bringing their gifts fully to the work.

Connected Confidence is a high-energy keynote that helps professionals communicate with confidence in the moments that matter most — on camera, onstage, in client meetings, and in high-stakes rooms. Through her signature Anxiety Reappraisal framework, Wendee teaches audiences how to transmute anxiety into excitement so nervous energy becomes a source of connection and momentum rather than self-doubt. Informed by her experience in broadcasting,

Broadway, and executive presence facilitation at Cornell University, this keynote blends practical performance tools with real-world communication strategy.

Attendees leave with immediately usable techniques to strengthen delivery, deepen audience connection, and communicate with greater confidence under pressure.

This keynote is ideal for:

Sales teams, emerging leaders, executives, and client-facing professionals who want more than vague confidence advice. It delivers practical, usable strategies for showing up with more presence, stronger delivery, and clearer influence in virtual and live environments.

Takeaways:

● Learn Wendee’s Anxiety Reappraisal approach for transmuting anxiety into excitement before high-stakes communication moments.

● Improve on-camera and in-room presence through practical adjustments to environment, wardrobe, energy, and delivery.

● Strengthen vocal delivery with pacing, vocal variety, pauses, and script formatting techniques that make communication more dynamic and memorable.

● Communicate with greater authenticity by understanding