Educate and inspire
ARE YOU READY TO DEVELOP EXTRAORDINARY LEADERSHIP IN YOUR ORGANISATION?
THEN IT'S TIME TO BUILD A WORLD CLASS TEACHING CULTURE.
Educate and inspire
Are you ready to develop extraordinary Leadership in your organisation?
Then it's time to build a world class teaching culture.
Educate and inspire
Are you ready to develop extraordinary Leadership in your organisation?
Then it's time to build a world class teaching culture.
Is a world class teaching culture really at the heart of your organisation's success?
Think about it like this: Everyone in your organisation who has to transfer knowledge, is a teacher.
Death by PowerPoint facilitation skills are a byproduct of having a top down, lecture style mindset. I talk. You listen.
The way people approach teaching is often closely aligned to their leadership style – so Death by PowerPoint teachers, are often Death by PowerPoint leaders. Is that what you want for the future of your organisation? Organisations that have a culture that is strong in learner centred teaching, will be more innovative, better connected to each other, their clients and their colleagues, and kicking more goals – it truly is the key to success.
Maria can speak with confidence about this, because she’s spent 30+ years working in every size organisation possible, in 12 different countries, on 18 overseas postings, with all sorts of characters. She has a unique ability to read the room, weaving stories from her travels into the narrative while educating, inspiring and entertaining.
During the 30 years she’s been working internationally, she’s visited 47 countries, learnt six languages – and survived multiple organ failure, evacuation due to civil unrest, being detained as an illegal alien, blackmail and deportation on arrival (without any illegal or irresponsible behaviour to blame!). She’s been fired for not being ‘attractive enough to lure male customers’ into a shop, lived in Asia for substantial periods being a large, white, single female, slept rough, eaten with presidents and built houses with villagers who had lost everything to fire. Her stories really are next level.
Is a world class teaching culture really at the heart of your organisation’s success? Think about it like this: Everyone in your organisation who has to transfer knowledge, is a teacher. Death by PowerPoint facilitation skills are a byproduct of having a top down, lecture style mindset. I talk. You listen.
The way people approach teaching is often closely aligned to their leadership style – so Death by PowerPoint teachers, are often Death by PowerPoint leaders. Is that what you want for the future of your organisation? Organisations that have a culture that is strong in learner centred teaching, will be more innovative, better connected to each other, their clients and their colleagues, and kicking more goals – it truly is the key to success.
Maria can speak with confidence about this, because she’s spent 30+ years working in every size organisation possible, in 12 different countries, on 18 overseas postings, with all sorts of characters. She has a unique ability to read the room, weaving stories from her travels into the narrative while educating, inspiring and entertaining.
During the 30 years she’s been working internationally, she’s visited 47 countries, learnt six languages – and survived multiple organ failure, evacuation due to civil unrest, being detained as an illegal alien, blackmail and deportation on arrival (without any illegal or irresponsible behaviour to blame!). She’s been fired for not being ‘attractive enough to lure male customers’ into a shop, lived in Asia for substantial periods being a large, white, single female, slept rough, eaten with presidents and built houses with villagers who had lost everything to fire. Her stories really are next level.
topics Maria can talk about include:
- Everyone’s a teacher – how to transfer knowledge with extraordinary outcomes in any learning environment
- Developing extraordinary leadership skills by building a world class teaching culture
- What your induction process says about your organisation
- Making the most of an intercultural and intergenerational learning environment
- Turning subject-matter experts into extraordinary trainers
- Retaining the IP before your subject-matter experts leave with it
- Lessons learnt from living, working and studying internationally
- Cross cultural communication
- Lessons learnt from two medical evacuations and near death experiences
What to expect...
‘That girl is going to end up on a stage’, I used to hear as I was dramatically delivering a part in a play that I’d made up with my friends on the spot. I’ve always been a speaker, even from a very young age delivering the readings at our little country church in regional Western Australia.
I certainly don’t lecture from the pulpit anymore (heaven forbid!) but as part of being a leader at school and in early employment roles, I learnt to stand up and speak on behalf of others and myself. I still love getting up on stage and harnessing the energy in a crowded room, speaking TO people, not just AT people.
Over thirty years in classrooms, spent ‘herding cats’ of all different ages, cultures and education levels is the ultimate speaker apprenticeship.
This type of experience helps you learn how to read the room, connect with their whys, tell stories that resonate and hold their attention. Add to that the wisdom that has been collected after 18 postings, over 30+ years of living, working and studying internationally and you have stories from all over the world to draw on. My style is energetic, down to earth, slightly left of centre, punchy, fun and quietly powerful.
I’ve MCed weddings, panels, events and conferences, and delivered hour long keynote presentations that have captured audiences in extraordinary ways. One client who had employed me to deliver a keynote for a national conference noted:
"You had them in the palm of your hand Maria, you could hear a pin drop - and that 50 minutes went by so fast I couldn’t believe it when I looked at my watch!"
Fancy hearing Maria tell you a few quick stories?
Here’s a 3 minute sample.
Clients Maria has worked with
I have been a speaker in a number of different capacities, as an MC, keynote speaker, panel member and workshop facilitator. I’ve delivered keynotes and workshops across Australasia and the Pacific, for government departments, Ministries of Education and the corporate sector.
Professional Memberships & Affiliations
Fancy hearing Maria lead a panel discussion on inclusive learning?
In this panel discussion, Maria explores how inclusive learning shapes the way people communicate, contribute and thrive at work, and why designing for different ways of thinking and learning strengthens culture, belonging and productivity.
Fancy hearing Maria being interviewed?
In this conversation with Andrew Griffiths, Maria shares why a book is rarely the finished product, how it can become the foundation for workshops, learning products and new income streams, and why thinking like an educator changes everything.
Prefer to listen?
Listen to Maria’s conversation with Andrew Griffiths wherever you are.
Whether I am speaking to an audience face-to-face or virtually, I invite them on a journey that takes them to all corners of the globe.
Whether I am speaking to an audience face-to-face or virtually, I invite them on a journey of discovery.
