Bio and Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Carla's specialty?
- What makes her presentations different than others?
- The Artistry of Change sounds weird — what’s it REALLY all about?
- Who is it for?
- What is her guarantee?
- What is Carla's background?
Q. What is Carla's specialty?
Carla specializes in:
- entertaining opening or closing keynote presentations on change
- leadership training in employee engagement, teambuilding, creative thinking and fun at work
- leadership and personal retreats designed as change incubators
Do people in your organization:
- have an issue with employee morale
- experience high turnover
- notice on-going high levels of stress at work
- have employees who resist change
- find the working environment too negative or lacking in innovation
- want to upgrade their presentation skills
- need to galvanize positive change in their work area
Do you need a speaker who is:
- entertaining
- engages the audience with a variety of teaching styles
- offers interactive, experiential learning
- includes practical follow up
- offers stories and case studies from other organizations, industries and countries
- explores future trends in the area of human resources
Besides her eloquent theatrical background (see About Carla), she brings in 20 years of research and training in such diverse areas as:
- applied kinesiology
- Neuro Linguistic Programming
- change theory
- comedy improvisation
- creative process theory
- personality inventories
- sociometry
- conflict resolution models
- organizational development
- in-depth studies of Western and Eastern philosophies regarding human interaction
We know that every organization is looking for serious ROI for their meetings and staff programs. We know you have a choice, so also check out our long list of Delighted Clients for specific takeaway benefits.
Q: What makes her presentations different than others?
Have you ever hired a speaker who ended up:
- offending people or making them feel uncomfortable?
- who bored people with another Power Point-filled lecture?
- who entertained but offered little of relevance to the audience?
Uplifting Humor
If so, you know the importance of choosing a speaker carefully. Carla will not use put down humor or anything that offends people. She demonstrates what she teaches — the use of uplifting, respectful and playful humor that a diverse audience can relate to. One meeting planner said: Although Carla is an eloquent, moving, and dynamic storyteller, it is her unique human-ness that invariably makes her work fun, in-depth and practical. She has that rare ability to package life-changing truths in humor.
Engaging Delivery Style
Also, Carla's programs are filled with fascinating stories and always have an experiential component, because she understands that people remember what they experience, and not dry concepts. Yet, she is an expert at making experiential learning valuable, not frivolous. She ensures people feel safe and comfortable to participate. Loaded with fascinating stories and real-world examples, her programs serve as a vehicle to activate new possibilities.
Practical Take Aways
Finally, she ensures that her program are practical, and she customizes each one to include ideas that would be specifically beneficial to the working environments of those in attendance. She also includes an opportunity for attendees to be accountable for taking action on new ideas for the workplace and for trying on new leadership habits.
Q. The Artistry of Change sounds weird — what’s it REALLY about?
Sounds flakey, doesn't it? Who needs artistry at work? There is work to be done, goals to be accomplished. Why add artistry to the workplace?
- China just invested billions in teaching their citizens how to be more creative.
- Recently in the UK, the creative sector outperformed the financial sector by 1.2 billion.
- According to Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class, people who use creative skills at work (such as designing, synthesizing, and reframing) are more in demand in all industries and tend to be paid better.
- Daniel Pink, in his bestselling book A Whole New Mind, says creative thinkers rule the future. Logical, left-brain thinking gave us the Information Age. Now comes the Conceptual Age — ruled by artistry, empathy, and emotion.
- Pablo Piccaso once said, "We are all born creative, the trick is to recapture that creativity as adults and put it into our life’s work."
The truth is, many school systems tend to kill creativity, so workplaces are filled with people who don't remember how to be creative. Carla's Artistry of Change® model awakens natural creativity, emotional intelligence and team skills quickly. Her process shows you the steps necessary to inspire your best creative work while effectively handing ambiguity, uncertainty and chaos. This will foster both the stability and excellence your organization needs to be at their best. The Artistry of Change® is an innovative approach that blends the best of diverse fields such as business, arts, science and communication. Carla understands how those fields are merging in exciting new ways and shares the intricacies of this new 'business artistry' in a way people can understand and implement.
Q: Who is it for?
Carla addresses change and employee engagement. Therefore, our programs have been used at all levels of an organization, but mainly for people in a leadership position. Our client list includes:
- the management of corporations
- members of associations
- front line workers
- supervisors & middle management
- freelancers and entrepreneurs
- business owners
When should we bring Carla in?
- Her specialty is opening or closing keynote sessions at conferences, AGMs, Sales Rallies, or leadership forums.
- She also has a number of powerful conference breakout sessions that deliver sound business solutions that can be translated into concrete actions.
- Bringing Carla for both a keynote and breakout session will add great value to your meeting and at substantial savings to your organization.
- Finally, many organizations hire Carla for a staff development program or in-house training.
- For more information go to: Keynotes and Programs.
How is it to work with Carla?
- She is a top-notch professional, fun and easy to work with.
- For more details check out our Meeting Planners page.
What is your guarantee? Carla offers to:
- create a program customized for your audience needs (not a canned speech)
- be available to help you promote and plan the program for maximum success
- keep in clear communication about costs, travel, timing and logistics
- be respectful of your time and budget requirements
- supply follow up so attendees are more likely to take action on the message
- return the speaking fee if more than 30% of the audience rates the presentation as unsatisfactory in the evaluations
Q. What is Carla's background?
Longer Bio
In terms of formal education, Carla has an undergraduate in theatre and psychology and graduate work in organizational development. She has certificates in marketing, adult education, fitness leadership and conflict resolution. She has been an Educational Kinesiology instructor, NLP practitioner, workplace mediator, private counselor, and leadership coach. On the creative side she has performed in dozens of plays and musicals, written seven plays, two screenplays and a novel. Her specialty has been theatrical improvisation and has founded three theatre troupes. In non-fiction she has written three books on change, conflict resolution and presentation skills, as well as over 50 articles that have appeared in a wide variety of journals and magazines. Carla has addressed over 1000 audiences of up to 3500 people throughout the United States and Canada, as well as groups in Europe, the Middle East and India. On the personal front, her playful and creative approach to life, she is entirely self- taught. As a young adult, Carla had a grim, work-aholic, self-conscious and anxious way of being in life that eventually led to complete burnout. After losing her mother to cancer, her health, and her work, she spent many years re-training in life habits to turn things around. As a result, she can now demonstrate how an average stressed out individual can find ease, creativity and playfulness even in a maelstrom of chaos and deadlines; both achieving results while still enjoying the process. She recently discovered that she is related to King James II of England on one side of the family, and a band of Carnival Gypsies on the other. Her life calling to help leaders have more fun is clearly in her DNA.
Shorter Bio
CARLA RIEGER is an expert on the artistry of change. She uses proven secrets from the world of artistry to help your organization becoming a leader of innovation. She has been a professional speaker, trainer, facilitator, comedy improvisor, creative writer and performance storyteller since the mid-80’s. She is the director of The Artistry of Change, a creative communications and innovation consulting firm since 1991. She has written three critically acclaimed books, The Power of Laughter, Speaking on the Funny Side of the Brain and The Heart of Presenting, in addition to dozens of articles in trade journals and magazines. Her work has been featured on radio, TV and in magazines. On the creative side she has performed in dozens of plays and musicals, written seven plays, two screenplays and a novel. She has founded three theatre troupes and her latest novel The Change Artist, may soon become a feature film. She recently discovered that she is related to King James II of England on one side of the family, and a band of Carnival Gypsies on the other. Her life calling to help leaders have more fun is clearly in her DNA.