The Keynote on Speaking Engagement

In this episode of Keynote, Ryan is joined by Michael Latsko, Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Arizona State University, for a conversation that challenges a core assumption in advancement: that engagement starts with alumni.Michael offers a different perspective — one rooted in workforce strategy, culture, and institutional design. We explore how employee experience shapes long-term relationships with alumni and donors, why engagement should be viewed as a system rather than a set of programs, and how leadership philosophy — shaped in part by President Michael Crow — influences how organizations scale connection and community.This episode reframes engagement as something that begins long before graduation, and raises an important question for advancement leaders: if the internal experience isn’t strong, what are we really asking alumni to stay connected to? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.speakingengagement.org/subscribe

The Closing Keynote remarks is a reading from a weekly newsletter that wraps-up the week on Fridays. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.speakingengagement.org/subscribe

In this Breakout episode, Ryan is joined by Annie Quade to unpack a provocative question from the Harvard Business Review article “Has AI Ended Thought Leadership?”— and what it means for professionals trying to build credibility in an increasingly crowded digital world.They explore the tension between thought leadership and what the article calls “thought doership,” questioning whether AI has lowered the barrier to entry for ideas while raising the bar for real expertise. Along the way, they challenge whether this is actually a new problem or just a familiar one —confidence vs. competence — now amplified by technology.The conversation also connects back to Ryan’s Keynote with John Hill, including the idea that if the future of work is about being the job, then the ability to articulate and prove your value in public becomes essential. But in a world flooded with content, what actually separates signal from noise? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.speakingengagement.org/subscribe

Hey Listeners! I have an updated Keynote podcast hitting your feed.Note on format: Beginning with this episode and moving forward, we’ll be publishing a condensed ~30-minute version of Keynote conversations here in the podcast feed. If you’d like to watch the full-length, edited version, you can find it on YouTube as part of the Speaking Engagement channel.Link here: https://youtu.be/IahIhJsPXE8On this episode of Keynote, Ryan Catherwood sits down with John Hill, Vice President of Story at Whop, for a conversation on how AI, entrepreneurship, and shifting workforce dynamics are redefining the value of higher education.Drawing on his experience at LinkedIn and Techstars, John shares a forward-looking perspective on what it means to “be the job” in a world where traditional career paths are no longer guaranteed — and why institutions need to rethink how they prepare students for what comes next.The conversation explores the growing importance of entrepreneurial thinking, the role of alumni communities in a rapidly changing economy, and the structural challenges universities must address to remain relevant in the years ahead. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.speakingengagement.org/subscribe

In the first-ever Breakout episode, Ryan is joined by Kristin to unpack the biggest ideas from the debut Keynote conversation with John Hill—and what they actually mean for leaders building communities today.They dig into a provocative shift: what happens when it’s no longer about finding a job, but being the job—and how that reality is already reshaping higher education, alumni engagement, and the way organizations think about lifelong relationships. Along the way, they challenge conventional thinking around content, strategy, and institutional priorities, including whether universities are solving the wrong problems altogether.This is a fast-moving conversation about signal vs. noise, strategy vs. tactics, and why the future of engagement may belong to those willing to rethink everything. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.speakingengagement.org/subscribe