Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D.

Biography

Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D., helps leaders build stronger influence and impact skills. She is a sought-after international speaker who has spoken for business organizations, association conferences, government agencies, and universities in 32 countries.

Carol works with executives, managers, entrepreneurs, team leaders, and sales professionals to build that elusive but essential quality called leadership presence and to use body language to become a more effective communicator. Her speaking engagements are designed to give audiences powerful and practical strategies that can be implemented immediately with speaking topics that include her most requested: “How to Build Your Leadership Presence” and “The Power of Presence for Women Who Lead.”

Her list of over 300 clients include corporate giants such as Consolidated Edison, 3M, and PepsiCo; major associations such as the International Association of Business Communicators, and the Young Presidents’ Organization; high-tech firms such as Google and LinkedIn; government agencies such as the Department of Veteran Affairs, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments; universities such as Stanford and Ohio State; and international organizations including Petrofac in the UAE, and the Women’s Leadership Conference in Trinidad.

The author of thirteen business books, including her latest – the award-winning “STAND OUT: How to Build Your Leadership Presence,” Carol is a leadership blogger for Forbes, the creator of LinkedIn Learning’s best-selling video course with over 2 million views, “Body Language for Leaders,” a content expert with the e-learning company, Athena Online, and a faculty member for the Institute for Management Studies.

She’s also been a therapist in private practice, a nightclub performer, and a majorette for the 49er football team — but not in that order.

Videos

Request Availability

Speech TopicsExpand each topic to learn more

Body Language for Women Who Lead

When first introduced to a female leader, followers immediately and unconsciously assess her for warmth (empathy, likeability, caring) and authority (power, credibility, status). Women are champions in the warmth and empathy arena, but lose out with power and authority cues – mostly because they fall prey to 10 common body language traps. Find out how to use body language that shows you are both
warm and powerful.

Body Language that Sells!

Great salespeople know the importance of great body language. Success in customer service, sales, and negotiations is heavily influenced by nonverbal factors, such as the way your gestures match the other person’s, the level of interest and energy in your voice, the amount of eye contact you use, and how well you can read (and respond to) nonverbal signals you get in return. Find out how to use body language as a valuable tool for gaining rapport, projecting credibility, uncovering deception, and closing the sale.

Body Language for Leaders

Body language is the management of time, space, appearance, posture, gesture, touch, facial expression, eye contact, and voice. When your verbal and nonverbal messages shift out of alignment, communication suffers and your impact is weakened. Aligning your body language with your key messages is the secret to increased leadership effectiveness. Find out how to nonverbally project confidence, build trust, inspire others, and convince skeptical audiences.

Stand Out

How to Build Your Leadership Presence

Leadership Presence is not an attribute automatically assigned to you because of your business results. It isn’t necessarily reflective of your true qualities and potential. Instead, it depends entirely on how others evaluate you. Being perceived as a leader when interacting with customers, peers, or executives, is the essence of leadership presence. Find out how to project confidence, retain your poise under pressure, present ideas decisively, and engage others in ways that are authentic, empathetic and motivational.

The Power of Presence for Women Who Lead

You may have a leadership title (or great leadership potential), but is that how others see you? Women face unique challenges when it comes to being perceived as a leader. You can’t avoid making an impression, but you can control the kind of impression you make. Find out how to develop the attitudes, actions, and strategies that give you presence, and most powerfully influence others to see you as the leader you truly are.

Testimonials

Carol had the floor, the room and everyone’s attention at the BigHR event in Dallas TX! The room of 150+ senior level HR executives were so focused on Carol’s Leadership Presence speech, I am not sure they even ate their lunch! Many of the attendees commented on how Carol gave them tangible advice they can use. If you need a speaker to captivate senior corporate executives, you need to book Carol Kinsey Goman today.

– Cindy Lu, Founder, HR Mastermind Groups

Carol Kinsey Goman delivered a great seminar on”The Power of Collaborative Leadership" in Amsterdam and Brussels. The feedback from the attendees on content and effectiveness was exceptional.

– Bernard Berkein, Chairman, Institute for Management Studies, Amsterdam and Brussels

Dr. Goman was an absolute wonder to have at our Women Leaders in Law Enforcement event. Attendees loved her presentation and could be heard talking about it the rest of the day. Her presentation was timely, relevant and worthwhile. We strongly recommend her!

– Meagan Catafi, Training & Program Manager, California Police Chiefs Association

Thank you so much for coming to speak on “Body Language for Women Who Lead” at Google. I have received so many notes from the Women@Google community commenting that your talk opened their eyes to the power of body language and that your ideas will have a significant impact on their presence and performance at work.

– Helen Riley, Finance Director, Google

What is most powerful for our medical group leaders are expert models like yours that we can continue to apply as change happens. You gave us just what we need in your program on “Leading Continuous Change.” We will be asking you to present to additional audiences in the future.

– Robert Pearl, MD, CEO, The Permanente Medical Group

Thank you for your energizing and informative presentation on "The Silent Language of Leaders" at the IABC World Conference. I chatted with several folks who attended your session and they too were buzzing about the things they learned about themselves! Your use of the quiz and then the use of the questions that participants read was brilliant.

– Aimee Viniard-Weideman, Assistant Dean and Communications Director, University of Minnesota Extension

You were great! Thank you so much for coming to Columbus. I've gotten wonderful feedback from the students and from my co-directors. We'd love to have you back -- and I will certainly recommend you to other leadership program colleagues in the University.

– Annina Parini, Program on Law and Leadership, Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University

Carol led two seminars (Collaborative l\Leadership and Leadership Presence while Managing Change) at our senior management conference. Her passion for leadership excellence was infectious. Carol helped us to start to truly understand the importance of building trust and really engaging with our people. I have never received so much positive feedback from our leadership team regarding any keynote speaker before”.

– Rachel Appleton, HR Director, BNP PARIBAS Leasing Solutions

Booksby Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D.

Stand Out: How to Build Your Leadership Presence

The Nonverbal Advantage

The Silent Language of Leaders

The Truth About Lies In The Workplace

Adapting to Change

The Nonverbal Advantage

Managing For Commitment

Creativity in Business

This Isn't The Company I Joined

For Meeting Planners

Request Availability

Blog Posts

Designing Events That Captivate and Convert Beyond Venue and Swag

Learn how intentional design—innovation, inclusion, and neuroscience—powers unforgettable event engagement and lasting impact.

Crafting Personalized Health & Self‑Care Practices with Johnny Crowder

Everywhere you turn, someone is talking about health and self‑care rituals. Keynote speaker Johnny Crowder shares why true self‑care is not one‑size‑fits‑all.

Elevate Your Event With These Skills: Insights from Gabriella Robuccio

Think event planning is all about checklists and timetables? Think again. Emmy‑winning strategist Gabriella Robuccio shares more on The Keynote Curators Podcast.

Celebrating Juneteenth with These Transformative Keynotes

Learn how intentional Juneteenth programming paired with transformative keynote speakers can turn commemoration into sustained equity and inclusion.

AI, GEO, & SEO Marketing for Speakers: The 2025 Authority-Building Playbook

How Professional Speakers and Speaker Bureaus Can Leverage AI to Build Unshakeable Authority and Increase Visibility in the New Search Landscape

Rethinking Events: Bite-Sized Surprises and Live Interaction with Seth Godin

Seth Godin shares his strategies and suggestions for unforgettable events—from riff-based teaching to co-creation through communication and creativity.