Speaking

Talks That Change How People Show Up on Monday

Your audience will see their own team dynamics in a new light, laugh at patterns they recognize, and leave with language and tools for issues they felt but couldn't name. Hands-on, highly interactive talks shaped by 25 years of Fortune 500 leadership and improvisational comedy experience.

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Speaking Topics

What I Talk About

The Meeting After the Meeting

Every team has two conversations: the one in the room, and the one that happens after. This talk introduces collusion, the silent agreements that let problems fester, and shows leaders how to surface what's really going on.

Best for: Executive teams, board retreats, VC portfolio events

Beyond "We're Family"

Family cultures feel warm until they don't. This talk explores what real belonging looks like at work: clarity over comfort, feedback as investment, and trust built through action rather than assumption.

Best for: Leadership offsites, all-hands meetings, culture initiatives

Building a Feedback Culture

Most organizations train feedback skills. Almost none build feedback cultures. This talk shows the difference, and what it actually takes to create an environment where honest input flows naturally.

Best for: Manager trainings, L&D conferences, team workshops

HR as Relationship Coaches

What if "let's talk to HR" meant opportunity, not trouble? This talk reimagines the HR function: from policy police to the team that helps relationships get stronger. For HR professionals who got into this work to help people thrive.

Best for: HR conferences, SHRM chapters, People Ops teams

Relationships as Infrastructure

We build systems for everything except how people work together. This talk makes the case for treating relationship health as seriously as we treat financial health, and introduces practical ways to measure and improve it.

Best for: C-suite audiences, strategy offsites, investor summits

Custom Topic

Have a specific challenge your audience is facing? I develop custom talks based on your organization's context, whether that's scaling through hypergrowth, recovering from a leadership transition, or building inclusion that doesn't trigger backlash.

Best for: Organizations with specific culture challenges
Formats

How I Work

Keynotes

30-60 minutes. High-energy, story-driven talks that shift how your audience thinks about culture and relationships.

Workshops

Half-day or full-day sessions. Interactive, hands-on learning with practical tools your team can use immediately.

Panels & Fireside

Moderated conversations, Q&A sessions, or panel participation. Flexible format, candid discussion.

Marcus Stephens

About Marcus

Marcus Stephens has delivered over 400 workshops to global teams across the U.S., India, and China, including sessions during some of the most volatile social and political periods in recent corporate history. His NPS scores consistently hit 92+, even when the topics were uncomfortable and the audiences were skeptical.

His background is unusual: 25 years in Fortune 500 companies (including Director roles at Coca-Cola in both Software Architecture and Learning & Development), combined with 25 years of improvisational comedy. That combination shows up in his delivery: technically rigorous enough for engineers, human enough for everyone else, and unexpectedly funny throughout.

Marcus doesn't lecture. He creates experiences where audiences discover insights for themselves. People leave with new language for dynamics they've felt but couldn't name, and practical tools they can use the following week.

Experience: 400+ workshops delivered globally, 92 NPS during difficult times

Background: Director of L&D and Director of Software Architecture at Coca-Cola

Framework: Creator of C-FASTR™, a diagnostic for workplace relationship health

Let's Talk About Your Event

Whether you're planning a conference, offsite, or internal session, I'd love to hear what you're working on. No pitch, just a conversation about what your audience needs.

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