Keynote talks for people in midlife
Chad Petersen gives four keynote talks for people in midlife who have spent years meeting everyone else's expectations. Each talk starts with a problem your audience will recognize right away, and Chad tailors each one to your event, in person or online.
The four talks
What are Chad Petersen's keynote talks?
Four keynote talks, each built around a problem people in midlife recognize: not knowing what they want anymore, saying yes out of habit, thinking in circles, and wondering how to live differently.
Talk 1
I Don't Know What I Want Anymore
For people who have spent years meeting everyone else's expectations and can no longer tell what they want for themselves. Chad shows how to find your own direction again, starting with the questions you have been setting aside.
The problem it starts with
Someone asks what you want, even for dinner, and you go blank. After years of being what everyone else needed, your own answer is hard to find.
What the talk covers
- How years of meeting everyone else's expectations can quiet what you want
- Telling your own direction apart from the one you were handed
- Starting with the questions you have been setting aside
Talk 2
Why Do I Keep Saying Yes?
A keynote for people in midlife who keep saying yes when they want to say no. Chad shows how to recognize when you are agreeing out of habit, at work and at home, and how to make room for an honest answer before the yes comes out.
The problem it starts with
You agree before you have even thought about it, and you still make decisions based on what will keep the peace.
What the talk covers
- Recognizing when a yes comes from habit instead of choice
- Where the habit of keeping the peace comes from
- Making room for an honest answer, at work and at home
Talk 3
Writing When You Can't Think Your Way Clear
A practical, participatory talk from Chad's journaling work. The audience writes along and leaves with a simple way to get unstuck on paper when thinking in circles stops working. It also runs as a hands-on journaling workshop.
The problem it starts with
You have turned the same question over and over, and you are still going in circles.
What the talk covers
- Why thinking harder stops working when you are stuck
- Putting the question on paper instead of carrying it in your head
- A simple practice the audience can keep using after the event
Talk 4
What Living in the Andes Taught Me About How to Live
Chad's own experience of rebuilding his life in Ecuador, with the animals and Andean ideas that support it, and what an audience can take from it without moving anywhere.
The problem it starts with
Your life looks fine from the outside and feels off on the inside, and you wonder whether there is a different way to live.
What the talk covers
- Chad's story of rebuilding his life in the mountains of Ecuador
- The animals and Andean ideas behind it
- What an audience can take from it without moving anywhere
Audiences
Who are these keynote talks for?
People in midlife who have spent years meeting everyone else's expectations and want to figure out what they actually want, at events like these:
- Conferences and summits
- Retreats
- Companies and employee groups
- Professional associations
- Community groups
- Adult-learning programs
- Online summits and podcasts
Questions
Questions about the keynote talks
What event planners ask about Chad's talks before they book.
Can Chad tailor a talk to our event?
Yes. Talk lengths are flexible, and Chad tailors each keynote, workshop or virtual talk to your event.
Can these talks be given online?
Yes. Chad gives virtual talks for online summits and podcasts anywhere in the world, and he is available to speak in person worldwide.
What will our audience take away?
A practical way to notice what has been driving their choices, room for an honest answer to a question they have been setting aside, and one small choice they can make differently the same week.
Is Chad Petersen a speaker or a coach?
Both. As a keynote speaker, Chad talks to groups about the problems people in midlife recognize, and he coaches people one on one and through his program, Reignite 90, on thestorycatcher.com.
Your speaker
Chad Petersen is the Story Catcher, a keynote speaker and narrative coach based in Baños, Ecuador. He started at a newspaper as a kid, moved into TV and radio, then spent 11 years running social media for three hospitals before rebuilding his own life in the mountains of Ecuador.
Bring Chad to your next event
Tell Chad your date, city, audience and the format you want, and he will come back to you with availability.
WhatsApp +1 409-350-7865 | [email protected]