Jessie Shternshus is a high impact speaker who talks to audiences around the globe, providing them with memorable and actionable experiences. She excels at tailoring specific content to her audience needs. Jessie will have you engaged and excited to incorporate what you’ve learned from her talks into your life and work environment.

Unlearning- The Challenge of Change

The world we live in requires us to acquire new skills and absorb new knowledge in order to stay afloat. We must learn to SHIFT as things around us are changing. We see this on an individual, team, and organizational levels. We feel the pushback when we try to implement new technology or when we are making an Agile transformation. However, we are leaving out one crucial piece of the puzzle: we are forgetting to forget, or rather, UNLEARN. Even though old habits are hard to break, the more we can unlearn the more likely we are to experience a sense of growth.

In this interactive talk, Jessie will share learnings and unlearnings from her own career, stories from some of the companies she has worked with, and techniques she teaches in order to make breakthroughs and forge ahead.

Consciously Curious: Why Curiosity is the Key to Success

Our fast-paced, screen filled lives seem to leave us with hardly any space for curiosity. Yet, it is curiosity that allows us to think clearly, solve problems and make better decisions. So therein lies the dilemma. We must make a conscious decision to be curious. Why is curiosity so important? Curiosity is the starting point of where ideas come from. It fuels imagination, creative work and innovation, and it is the driving force behind discoveries in all fields, and yet we tend to lose our ability to be curious as we grow up.  How can we all be more consciously curious? How can you help instill a culture of curiosity at your company? What are the benefits of a curious mind and culture? Jessie will bring her innate and learned curiosity to this talk. She will walk you through the things she does to constantly be on the lookout for new and different ways to connect people, connect the dots between ideas, and how to ask more inquisitive questions. She will share stories and ideas that will give you multiple ways to help your curiosity take flight.

The Social Playground- Shifting the Way We Collaborate

Today belongs to those of us with heightened powers of observation who excel at teamwork, playful creativity and know how to adapt in order to achieve our goals. We understand that our opportunities for success are tied to the success of others and that great ideas come from diverse minds that are all working together towards the same vision. No longer can we throw a bunch of smart individuals in a room and expect them to be great collaborators. We must create environments that steer away from evaluation, promotion and compensation systems are based on individual achievements and go toward building trusting environments where every voice is heard.

In this interactive talk, Jessie will share learnings from her own career, stories of companies she has worked with and techniques on how to Shift the Social Playground from superstars to super teams.

It’s All A Matter of Perspective- Using Play to Solve Problems

To encourage open-ended behavior and flip perspective on a problem, it is important to incorporate play. I have learned a lot about how to infuse play into problem solving through a lifetime of doing and teaching applied improvisation and through watching how my children look at the world. This interactive talk will be about my personal narrative at home and at work on how we can use play to be better problem solvers. I will teach you a couple of techniques that you can use after you leave the conference.

Individuals, Interactions and Improvisation

As Agile Practitioners, we strive to make ourselves, our team and our delivery better. We can do this by being open to learning new ideas from other disciplines. Jessie’s keynote, “Individuals, Interactions and Improvisation” will be fun and interactive. In it, Jessie will share stories and exercises from the world of Improvisation.

There are many parallels between agile team principles and the principles of Improvisation. Effective improvisers give their teammates unconditional support. They practice active listening and accept and build on each other’s ideas. Jessie will explore these ideas and more. She will help and guide you in making your agile interactions more effective.

Talk the Talk – Making Your Message Stick

Having a superior product or service does not guarantee business success. As business leaders, we have to get people to understand our brand and rally behind it, as well as speak to the change that is always around us.

Therefore, the ability to improvise, craft a presentation, and deliver it effectively is crucial.
In this experiential talk, Jessie will share her personal stories of applying her improv background to her life as a business owner.

You will hear about insights and learn exercises that can be used when casually speaking to your team, sharing an idea with the CEO, pitching in the elevator, presenting to a prospective client, or addressing an audience at a conference.