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Celeste Headlee        

Award-Winning Journalist, Radio Host, Racial Justice & Equity Advocate; Bestselling Author of "We Need to Talk," "Do Nothing," and "Speaking of Race"

Celeste Headlee is an internationally recognized journalist and radio host, professional speaker and author of bestselling book “We Need To Talk: How To Have Conversations That Matter,” “Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving,” “Speaking of Race: Why Everyone Needs to Talk About Racism and How to Do It,” and “You’re Cute When You’re Mad: Simple Steps for Confronting Sexism.” Her newest Scribd Original, “It Starts with Self-Compassion” was released in May 2023. Her TEDx Talk, 10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation, has been viewed over 36 million times. Close to 50,000 talks have been given at 10,000 events since the TED program launched in 2009, and Headlee’s talk is one of the 10 most-watched talks posted on TED’s homepage.

In her 20-year career in public radio, Headlee has been the Executive Producer of “On Second Thought” at Georgia Public Broadcasting and anchored programs including Tell Me More, Talk of the Nation, Here and Now, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. She also served as co-host of the national morning news show, The Takeaway, from PRI and WNYC, and anchored presidential coverage in 2012 for PBS World Channel. Headlee is a regular guest host on NPR and American Public Media, serves as an advisory board member for ProCon.org and The Listen First Project, and received the 2019 Media Changemaker Award.

She is the host of “Women Amplified,” a podcast from the Conferences for Women, the largest network of women’s conferences in the nation, drawing more than 50,000 people to its annual events. Headlee also hosts the "Freeway Phantom" and "Big Sugar" podcast series.

Headlee is also the president and CEO of Headway DEI, a non-profit that works to bring racial justice and equity to journalism and media through targeted training and interventions, and she serves on the board for the National Center for Race Amity. Headlee is the granddaughter of composer William Grant Still, known as the Dean of Black American Composers and she is a trained operatic soprano. She lives in the DC area with rescue dog, Samus.

Speech Topics


10 Ways to Have Better Conversations After the 2024 Election

Leading/Building Team Culture in the “New Normal”

Navigating the recent/current events radically changing an already fast-evolving work landscape

Melding insights from both We Need to Talk and Do Nothing, team culture workshop(s) are tailored to meet a company’s specific structure (fully in office workforce, fully remote workforce, combination of the two), Celeste addresses topics including:

  • Work from home stress – how work stress actually increases in a work from home scenario noting studies that reveal going into an office can provide employees with stress relief and the importance in any transition to a work from home structure to address the increased chances for burnout
  • How to communicate remotely and maintain morale and team cohesion - i.e., transactivity
  • How to remain productive despite the distractions of home - accountability of team members, etc.
  • How to give feedback to remote workers in a constructive way, how often to check in
  • Scheduling your workday to increase productivity
  • Small changes that have big impacts when it comes to creative problem solving and streamlining processes
  • How to structure a conference call to keep them short and effective

Do Nothing

Breaking away from overworking, overdoing, and underliving

Celeste Headlee’s Do Nothing examines the cult of productivity addressing long-held assumptions about time use, idleness, hard work and habits that are ultimately doing us harm, providing tangible to reverse the trend that’s making us all sadder, sicker and less productive, to return to a way of life that allows us to thrive. In her Do Nothing focused workshop(s) tailored to meet a company’s specific structure (fully in office workforce, fully remote workforce, combination of the two), Celeste addresses topics including:

  • Burnout – what it is, how to recognize it, actionable ways to avoid it
  • Work/Life Balance
  • Productivity – including the myths about it and ways to TRULY be more productive

Ten Ways To Have Better Conversations

Celeste Headlee’s Having Better Conversations presentation focuses on the science-based fundamentals of communication and includes thought-provoking topics like the smarter you are the worse you are at communicating. This highly motivational talk, with 10 practical lessons, is designed to inspire self-confidence and introduces strategies for enhancing personal and professional relationships by simply becoming better at having conversations.

Celeste's workshop offers concrete actions to improve attendees' conversational skills and to broaden their view of what constitutes a good (and civil) conversation. Having a conversation is like playing a game of catch. Communication has increased in our technological age, but meaningful conversation has plummeted. If a conversation is one-sided, the ball drops. When your job hinges on how well you talk to people, you learn a lot about how to have conversations - and that most of us don't converse very well. Celeste knows the ingredients of a great conversation; honesty, brevity, clarity and a healthy amount of listening. She argues that listening is the true power of what separates those of us who can gain a competitive advantage in whatever it is we are trying to achieve. Knowing what conversational tool should be used (and when) is critical to cultivating relationships.

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