Biography

Vanessa is Lead Investigator at Science of People. She is the bestselling author of Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People, translated into 16 languages, and Cues: Master the Secret Language of Charismatic Communication. More than 50 million people watch her engaging YouTube tutorials and TEDx Talk.

Vanessa shares tangible skills to improve interpersonal communication and leadership, including her insights on how people work. She’s developed a science-based framework for understanding different personalities to improve our EQ and help us communicate with colleagues, clients, and customers.

Vanessa works with entrepreneurs, growing businesses, and trillion-dollar companies; and has been featured on CNN, BBC, CBS Mornings, Fast Company, Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, USA Today, The Today Show, and many more.

Millions visit her website every month for her methods turning “soft skills” into actionable, masterable frameworks that can be applied in daily life. Hundreds of thousands of students have taken her communication courses on Udemy, CreativeLive, LinkedIn, and her flagship course People School.

Vanessa is renowned for teaching science-backed people skills to audiences around the world including SxSW, MIT, and CES. Her groundbreaking and engaging workshops and courses teach individuals how to succeed in business and life by understanding the hidden dynamics of people.

She regularly speaks to innovative companies including Google, Facebook, Comcast, Miller-Coors, Microsoft, Amazon, and Univision. She has been a spokesperson for Dove, American Express, Clean & Clear, and Symantec.

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Videos

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The Surprising Secrets of High Performers: How the Most Successful People Use Effective Communication to be More Productive

Highly effective people have a unique approach to productivity. Over the last decade, Vanessa has studied the patterns of successful people and found a surprising way we can all work smarter, not harder. The key is being a productive communicator. Vanessa will teach attendees how to maximize their relationships and streamline their communication with a simple, but powerful framework, as well as how to communicate like a human when leveraging AI tools. The goal is to empower attendees to increase efficiency by connecting and collaborating in a purposeful way. This highly actionable, engaging talk will energize every audience member to look at their to-do list in a completely new way.

The Three Levels of Connection: Build Stronger Relationships by Using the Science of People

Our desire for community and connection doesn’t end at work. While connection with colleagues looks different from purely personal connections, having authentic and healthy connections in the workplace is one of the main determinants of productivity and workplace satisfaction. While the increase of virtual mediums presents an added challenge, creating meaningful connections is possible. In fact, there’s a science-based blueprint to fostering connections quickly and maintaining them with professional intention. In this presentation, Vanessa Van Edwards teaches the three levels of connection that build trust and rapport. These principles can be applied at work, within teams, at conferences, and while networking, with colleagues and customers alike. Each level builds on the next, providing insight and tools on how to deepen relationships. Along with gaining a deeper understanding of the levels of connection, attendees will learn the practice of creating a safe space for vulnerability and ideas.

Charismatic Communication: The Art and Science of Presence, Confidence and Trust

Better communication skills pay dividends in every conversation for the rest of your life. There are no downsides to becoming a better communicator, but the upsides may be more powerful than we know. Studies show that people with high interpersonal intelligence (PQ) perform at higher levels, have higher salaries, have better immune systems, and help generate more revenue for companies they work for. In this research-based and reflective keynote, Vanessa Van Edwards teaches attendees powerful communication strategies based on new science that they can apply at work and in their personal lives. Pulling from her bestselling books Captivate and Cues, she shares the latest research on behavioral psychology and how it can be used to improve professional relationships, make positive and lasting impressions, and better connect with co-workers and customers. Audiences are left with a better understanding of their own communication pitfalls and the knowledge and confidence to apply new tools to become more authentically charismatic in their interactions.

Testimonials

Vanessa Van Edwards’s energy and enthusiasm during her session kept our audience of 175+ dance studio owners engaged and wanting more! Vanessa delivered valuable and actionable insights and ideas that was tailored to our audience, and she was ranked highest among our speakers for 2021. Her presentation exceeded all expectations, and her team was great to work with for logistics. I would not hesitate to recommend Vanessa for your next event!
– CEO, DANCE STUDIO OWNERS ASSOCIATION
Vanessa was phenomenal, and the highest-rated speaker out of the three we had.
– ‎PRESIDENT & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ‎INDEPENDENT INSURANCE AGENTS OF TEXAS (IIAT)
Vanessa exceeded all expectations! She did a wonderful job tailoring the content to our needs & providing relatable examples based on the information we shared prior to the session. Her energy captivated the audience and she sent everyone off with actionable takeaways that they could start applying in their day to day immediately.
– ENTERPRISE CUSTOMER SUCCESS MANAGER, TEAM LEAD, SAMSARA
That was fabulous – thank you!! We had people on the live stream from all across the world. I saw people in India, Costa Rica, Egypt, Spain, and our different offices in the U.S. Your energy was excellent – everyone was completely engaged – there were so many comments in the chat and people were sharing lots of great information. It really built an amazing feeling of community and connectedness.
– PRINCIPAL STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS LEADER, AMAZON

Booksby Vanessa Van Edwards

Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People

Cues: Master the Secret Language of Charismatic Communication

Blog Posts

Top Female Speakers: Impactful Voices Redefining Leadership, Resilience, and Innovation

Why are top female speakers some of the most transformative voices on stage? Because leadership today isn’t about titles. It’s about impact.

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Olympian Apolo Ohno Insights on Resilience, Health & Well-Being

Olympian Apolo Ohno shares actionable strategies to cultivate resilience, boost health, and master pivots in business and life on The Keynote Curators Podcast.

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Celebrating Disability Pride Month with Stories That Transform

Celebrate Disability Pride Month by harnessing resilience, inclusive storytelling, and actionable frameworks to redefine possibility and inspire transformation.

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Embrace the Risk: How Creativity Thrives on Experiments

Learn from marketing provocateur Seth Godin why true creativity demands risk-taking, failed experiments, and new systems to drive innovation.

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Voices That Ignite Change: Sustainability and Climate Change Speakers Who Inspire Action

Why These Voices Matter Right Now Why are sustainability and climate change speakers so important right now? Well, picture this: you're sitting at an event, sipping your coffee, when someone steps on stage and starts...

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Unlocking Trust and Loyalty & Build Better Relationships with Barb Betts

Discover Barb Betts’ proven frameworks for turning transactions into trust, loyalty, and driving business growth through authentic relationships.

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