Ann Handley

These days, marketing teams are pulled in a thousand directions at once. But, fear not! Ann Handley delivers an exhilarating wake-up call that challenges everything we think we know about modern marketing effectiveness.

Pipeline. Awareness. Brand. Community. Clicks. Comments. Social platforms you’ve barely heard of. AI transformations you don’t fully understand. And everywhere—relentless pressure to deliver more, faster, yesterday.

I mean, this is exhausting, to quote Taylor Swift.

What if the answer isn’t working harder or moving faster? What if it’s about something far more radical—a fundamental reimagining of how authentic human connection can scale without sacrificing either the business results or the creative soul of our work?

In this high-energy, perspective-shifting keynote, Ann introduces the revolutionary “Authentic at Scale” framework that’s helping forward-thinking organizations generate extraordinary business outcomes while simultaneously creating work that brings genuine joy to both creators and audiences.

You’ll discover:

• The Paradox Principle: Why our desperate attempts to “do it all” actually diminish our effectiveness—and the counterintuitive approach that delivers better results with less frantic activity
• The Content Courage Framework: How to identify and amplify the authentic messages that truly differentiate your brand—creating exponential impact while eliminating exhausting marketing busywork
• How to Scale without Sacrifice: A strategic approach to extending your reach without compromising what makes your voice uniquely valuable in an AI-saturated world

Drawing from both data-backed research and intimate, behind-the-scenes stories of brands that have successfully made this transition, Ann will leave you with both the strategic vision and tactical roadmap to transform how your organization approaches marketing.

This isn’t just another presentation of tips and tricks—it’s a fundamentally new playbook for marketing that resonates in today’s hyper-distracted world.

In a culture obsessed with quick wins and immediate gratification, bestselling author and thought leader Ann Handley reveals why our most meaningful achievements require us to embrace what she calls “Slowments” – deliberate periods of deep engagement that transform superficial habits into lasting mastery.

Drawing from compelling research and unforgettable stories, Ann exposes the dangerous “Expectation Gap” that derails our most important goals. She introduces a revolutionary framework for identifying which pursuits truly deserve our deepest investment.

You’ll discover:

• The Expectation Gap Paradox: Why our natural bias toward quick results actually prevents meaningful progress and creates a cycle of frustration and abandonment
• The Hasty Progress Illusion: How to recognize when you’re mistaking motion for momentum in your personal and professional life
• The Strategic Pruning Principle: A counterintuitive approach to achievement that focuses on deliberately abandoning certain goals to accelerate others
• The Slowment Decision Framework: A practical tool for identifying which areas of your life deserve deliberate patience and which don’t

This isn’t about doing everything slowly—it’s about pushing against our impatience to make strategic choices about where and when to invest your most precious resource: time. In a world demanding we move ever faster, Ann reveals why knowing when to slow down has become our most powerful competitive advantage.

Perfect for leaders, entrepreneurs, and anyone feeling caught in the hamster wheel of perpetual busyness, this thought-provoking keynote will forever change how you approach your most important work.

Let’s face it… artificial intelligence can generate content with a simple prompt. So, what separates the extraordinary from the algorithmic? What gives your brand genuine resonance when robots are burping out “content” by the megabyte?

Ann Handley—the world’s first Chief Content Officer and Wall Street Journal bestselling author—delivers a provocative and energizing exploration of how human creativity becomes your ultimate competitive advantage in the AI revolution.

Through captivating stories and unexpected insights drawn from her 25+ years at the forefront of content marketing, Ann dismantles conventional thinking about what “good content” really means today and beyond—even in your own industry, even with Gary from HR offering his unsolicited “hot take.”

You’ll discover:

• The Authenticity Paradox: Why AI’s growing capabilities have unexpectedly elevated truly human expression as the gold standard for breakthrough content
• The Narrative Advantage Framework: How to develop storytelling patterns that no algorithm can replicate—and why these patterns trigger measurable neurological responses in your audience
• The Content Courage Principle: Practical techniques for transcending industry conventions that keep most organizations trapped in forgettable mediocrity

This isn’t just another “content strategy” talk with recycled tips about posting frequency and headline formulas. This is a fundamental reimagining of how organizations connect with humans in an increasingly automated world