Why choose Lis as your keynote speaker?
Lis is an experienced speaker, presenter and facilitator (see testimonials below). Her personal and diverse professional life has been dominated by her passion and commitment to understand, communicate and connect better with others, whatever their age, background or situation. This enables her to create a fun, learning environment in which her audiences feel safe to entertain the possibility of change, either to their perspective or to their circumstances.
Her speaking/presenting portfolio includes:
- Creator of The Vagina Dialogues and Talking Bollocks
- Radio Presenter for BBC Radio Berkshire, Kick fm (now the Breeze fm)
- TV presenter for cable station Thames Valley TV
- Keynote speaker at National Health Food Stores Annual Conference
- Keynote speaker at Bodytalk UK Annual Conference
- Speaker at Womens’ Development Group, Vodafone
- Numerous WI groups
- Athena Networking
- Member of the Professional Speaking Association
Lis has a wealth of experience to draw from and can tailor her material to suit your meeting or conference needs. Whoever is in the audience, Lis’ aim is to inspire people (women in particular) to open their minds to new possibilities.
“Top Tips from the Mountain Top” – Given that she earns her living as a speaker and a coach and was asking clients to open their minds to new possibilities, Lis decided that she had to ‘walk her talk’ and set herself some challenges which would stretch her, mentally and physically. So, at the age of 56, she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and as a result, gained some priceless insights and learned some very valuable lessons (altitude sickness provided one of them!) She has subsequently been able to implement these throughout her life, not just in her business.
“From Mother to Managing Director in 16K nappy changes” – Lis has created a business around mothering – The Vagina Dialogues – and uses her knowledge, personal experience and transferable skills gained as a mother of four daughters (see pictorial evidence below!) to promote and grow that business. In this presentation, Lis shares her insights in a fun, thought-provoking way. Not just for mothers, it’s relevant to all women in business.
“When is a vagina not a vagina? When it’s a brand or product!” – Lis shares her experiences (often funny!) and insights gained on marketing and branding, as a result of the memorable titles of her events, Vagina Dialogues and Talking Bollocks.
Be prepared to be entertained, informed and inspired! If you would like to book Lis for speaking engagements or require more information, please contact us on 07779 532 555. Oh, and finally, when you’ve read/watched all the testimonials, watch the very last video… it might help you manage your life a bit better….
Lis has led workshops in a variety of topics such as:
- communication skills
- stress management
- media skills
- women returning to the workplace
- volunteer support for cancer patients
These workshops have been delivered for several organisations including, most notably:
- Camelot Foundation
- Alternatives
- Speak Up, Speak Out
- The Burberry Group
- Millennium Trust
- National Council for Voluntary Organisations
- Women returning to the Workplace Workshops
- Workshops in Schools –Communication Skills and Radio Days
(Testimonials specifically on training to follow shortly).
And finally… Lis takes what she does seriously – but not herself! Here’s a taste of a ‘key’ ingredient to Lis’ success, both as a speaker and life in general, her sense of fun and humour. Her philosophy has always been that everyone learns better and retains more when they’re having fun. Watch this and enjoy 🙂
COUNTDOWN TO THE NEXT EVENT
VAGINA DIALOGUES: Saturday 18th January 2020
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CONNECT WITH US
“She [Lis] comes as a wonderful package. Entertaining, compassionate, energetic and a true connector of people…”
“Lis Allen should be an item in every girl’s handbag”
“She’s a class act. World class, in fact”
Speaking Testimonials
I recently attended a fabulous event called Women in Property & Business in London. I have been trying to attend one of the events for some time and I really hit the jackpot when Lis was the speaker.
I have heard many speakers in my time talk on a range of topics and I must say Lis was definitely one of the best I have seen. She connected with her audience from the start with her warm open approach, her topic was relevant and pitched at the right level, and her humour was fantastic. She has such an amazing story and topic that will resonate with all women in business and is very open about her own experiences.
She really is an inspirational lady and I would love the opportunity to share the stage with her at some point in the future. I will definitely be going to listen to her again at the first opportunity and you should too and help her “Spread VD and TB throughout the World” Thanks Lis.
Lis had our students gripped. She seemed to speak and connect to them all personally. Several students came to speak to me afterwards about how they felt inspired, encouraged and empowered about making their mark in the world. It was a real confidence boost to young people that often feel they don’t have a voice and can’t vote on things they care about and that affect them and their future.
Some of the really quiet students got up to speak, or put their hands up to say or suggest something – and were glad they did afterwards. Lis has a gentle, unassuming way that gives them confidence – and she is also funny, which relaxes everyone!
They loved the idea that you don’t always get things right. In fact, that’s important; that’s how you learn and become a better, more confident person.
Lis visited Sweden in 2015 to meet and present an inspiring journey with an Aula of enquiring and curious teenagers. The aim was to give the students an opportunity to reflect on their lives, what they can do with what they have, in order to lead. Leadership both of the self and others. Mental health issues are as apparent with Swedish teenagers as in any country, and this was also an area that Lis opened up and talked freely, and insightfully with her audience. She managed to connect with a large audience, both boys and girls and from a variety of cultural and social backgrounds. The sign of a good speaker is the questions that are asked afterwards, and students felt confident and willing to probe, reconfirm and seek further guidance from Lis. As a person, I had the pleasure of spending the day with Lis as she worked through three talks and patiently worked around the school day, understanding the flexibility needed sometimes with young people and the confines of a school timetable. She comes as a wonderful package. Entertaining, compassionate, energetic and a true connector of people. A wonderful person who I would fully endorse and recommend.
Anyone who knows Lis knows she is an inspiration, but this is never more evident than when she is mentoring a group of young people in the Young Enterprise initiative. The response that she generates from her group at the regional finals says it all. They respect her, are grateful to her for her advice and guidance, and finally fall “under her spell”. Her group in 2015 won the regional finals and were also winner of the best presentation award at both regional and county levels. Some of the magic had certainly rubbed off on them. In her hectic business life she continues to make time for young people.
Lis Allen visited us at Sigtunaskolan Humanistiska Läroverket (SSHL), a leading Swedish boarding school, in March 2015. During her 2-day visit she gave talks to both middle- and high school students and also ran a workshop for some of our female boarding students. Lis is, without a doubt, a passionate, engaging speaker. She challenged our students to think more deeply about gender equality in a humorous and sometimes provocative way, that resonated with our young people. I recommend Lis as a guest speaker without hesitation. We thoroughly enjoyed having her visit us in Sweden.
As an organisation representing the voluntary sector Empowering West Berkshire are always looking for different ways to offer training and workshops that can help them to help themselves and others. Hearing Lis Allen speak at a networking meeting, I knew then that she would be the ideal person to deliver a communications skills workshop. As well as having knowledge of the subject, Lis uses her own engaging style with a mixture of humour, her own experiences and inspirational words, which leaves the audience feeling motivated and more confident. The attendees left wanting to learn more from her and they have asked us to put on a part two session next year. I have no hesitation in recommending Lis, and we hope she comes back to do some more work for us in 2016.
I have heard Lis speak on many occasions. The first was at a networking meeting; her knowledge of the subject, authority and style were very engaging and I left the meeting wanting to learn more from her. Since then she has been a regular speaker at numerous events where each time she manages to excite and motivate the audience with relevant facts, amusing anecdotes and inspirational words of wisdom. Within these sessions Lis gives an honest account of her own experiences and learnings, which makes her style even more engaging and personal. I am happy to recommend Lis as a speaker to any audience that wishes to ‘ learn and grow ‘ and perhaps to see the world from a different perspective.
Lis Allen delighted her audience at the Marlborough and Hungerford Ladies’ Luncheon Club with her account, photos and artefacts recalling her climb to the top of extinct volcano Kilimanjaro. We learned about her reasons for taking up the challenge, her preparations, difficulties during the climb, including altitude sickness when she longed to be home in bed, and the idiosyncrasies of her fellow climbers, not all of whom made it to the top. She concluded her talk by diving into a black plastic bag and bringing out the articles she had worn or taken with her – including a pair of slippers but leaving behind the ineffective shewee! Her presentation was informal and amusing, causing much laughter, which hid her professionalism – for instance, she is one of the few speakers I have heard who, without being asked, repeated people’s questions before answering them, so that the whole audience was involved . We are asking her back next year for a talk on another of her many subjects and someone in the room booked her for their local W.I. group.
If you’re looking for an inspirational speaker then look no further than Lis Allen. Her talks are interactive and bring a new meaning to living our lives. I’ve heard her talk twice, the first time was at the Vagina Dialogues and though I wasn’t sure what to expect beforehand, when I left I knew that I had just witnessed something special and all the women in the room felt the same. We all wanted to be better women afterwards. The second talk was given to the ladies of my local Women’s Institute. It was about her climb of Kilimanjaro. “Feel the fear and do it anyway!” Humour was very much evident when she showed us her kit of what she took with her. Bodily functions were also talked about, after all who climbs a blooming big mountain without thinking about those sorts of things. All the women present have been inspired and encouraged to get out of their comfort zone, even if they’re not signing up for the next trek to Africa. Highly recommended!
Lis is a very powerful woman of the utmost integrity. She applies a wide range of skills, life experience, razor-sharp insight and big humility to her projects. With Lis on board, you’re in safe hands.
Thank you once again for an excellent presentation – well planned, succinct, informative and amusing ! It certainly kept my attention right the way through and gave a very good overview of the services you offer. I would be delighted to recommend you to any relevant contacts that I have – and will certainly do so!
Lis gave the keynote speech at the Area Finals of Young Enterprise West Berkshire with a diverse audience of teenagers and adults. Her remit was to deliver a life- learning message and entertainment, all in ten minutes! Lis delivered in spades – the audience went away having had an experience, learnt about communication and on a high. I’d recommend Lis to speak at your event.
Dear Lis, Thank you. Thank you for your very entertaining and informative presentation to the Newbury Young Professionals group. I think everybody at the presentation took something away with them that they could apply to their day to day lives. You delivered practical tips on how to deliver a sensible work-life balance in a very amusing and engaging manner. I would readily recommend your sessions to anyone who wants to achieve more in their personal or professional lives.
Lis Allen’s warm and funny approach to public speaking delivered a goldmine of simple, yet useful tips to help the ladies of the Athena networking group ‘revel in change’. Facing change is something that can unsettle the toughest of us. After listening to Lis, there was a frisson of excitement in the room at the prospect of meeting the kinds of challenges that change presents. Lis uses humour and games to put her points across; one of these, “join in the game, if you don’t play, you cannot win”, certainly held true for me because I did join in her game and won the prize! Thank you for that, Lis. Your session was all too short – I could have happily listened to you all afternoon. Many thanks also for a very entertaining end to a great lunch meeting.
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