“She hit a home run with her closing keynote”
Emily was fantastic. She hit a home run with her closing keynote at our National Conference for America’s Children in Jacksonville, FL in May. Her interactive presentation was funny, engaging, meaningful and right on the mark. When she finished, she got a standing ovation from our attendees. They left the ballroom smiling, which is exactly what we wanted. We wanted to remind them that they are important to us, to take time to laugh and to come back to the conference next year.
Jim Hmurovich, President & CEO
Prevent Child Abuse America
“A long standing ovation from 500 college students”
“If you can get a long standing ovation from 500 college students once in your lifetime, that’s really saying something. You’ve gotten it all 6 years that you’ve spoken at our summer state conference. The students love all the group interaction and all those surprises, but most of all, they love you!”
Gladys Graves, Director
NC Teaching Fellows Program
“You had us all laughing…and even had a few of us crying”
“You had us all laughing and smiling – and even had a few of us crying – as you talked to a group of potentially introverted court clerks about the benefits of lightening up the work environment. You demonstrated very effective ways to reframe situations that court offices face daily, and showed us how to use them to create more smiles and less stress. Thanks for helping to make our national conference in Alaska such a success!”
C. S. Cameron, Clerk of the Supreme Court of North Carolina
National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks
“Feedback forms rated your presentation as ‘Excellent’!”
“The time you took to learn what our employees did and how they did it was most impressive to me. Your ability to identify with and understand not only their stress levels, but also their needs was most evident in your keynote speech. The feedback forms rated your presentation as ‘Excellent!’ Thank you for setting the stage for a great national conference in Texas and a better outlook on our jobs and our lives. I look forward to more opportunities to work with you.”
Kate Enchelmayer, National Director, Credentialing and Privileging
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
“A breath of fresh air for our educators”
“I’m sure you could tell by the audience’s reaction that you got the Iowa State Education Association Summer Conference off to a fun and lively start with your opening keynote. You received rave reviews and were a breath of fresh air for our educators – just what we needed after the long, cold winter we had this year. Thank you for joining us and for bringing your humor, creativity and enthusiasm to our summer conference.”
Randy Richardson, Associate Executive Director
Iowa State Education Association
“A beautiful, professional, comedic presentation”
“YOU did a great job! Thank you, thank you for more than fulfilling our expectations! You have a lovely, lovely way of making us all feel loved and fun – it’s a gift and a craft. Everyone talked about you during lunch – yes, that group of 90% men! Thank you, Emily, for a beautiful, professional, comedic presentation that lifted us all for the three-day meeting. Can you meet with me once a week?”
Angie Crone, Sponsorship Director
North Carolina State Fair
National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks
“Presentation was awesome, very inspiring…Bring Emily back”
“Emily, here’s a sample of the feedback you received from our 500 conference attendees: ‘Excellent speaker’; ‘Great way to end the conference’; ‘Emily’s presentation was awesome, very inspiring’; ‘Fun visuals, fantastic humor! Thank you!’”
Amber Russell, ICAPP Program Manager
Prevent Child Abuse Iowa
“You got rave reviews from the attendees and staff”
“You were a breath of fresh air at our state conference! You got rave reviews not only from the attendees but also from my staff. As I’m sure you know, most of our members have very stressful lives and your humorous, uplifting message was just perfect for them. Thank you for sharing your wonderful stories, your humor and your creativity with all of us. It was a pleasure working with you from start to finish.”
Jill Hinton Keel, PhD, Executive Director
Autism Society of North Carolina
“The best speaker we’ve had yet!”
“The Girl Scout way is to do an evaluation after everything we do so we have immediate feedback. You received incredible comments such as…’Awesome!’, ‘The best speaker we have had yet.’, ‘Super!’, ‘Excellent!’, ‘Very interesting and entertaining.’, ‘Wonderful!’, ‘Not just talking but speaking from her heart!’, ‘Enthusiastic and inspiring!’”
Pat Wright, Executive Director
Pines of Carolina Girl Scout Council
“Sincere respect for people of different ethnic groups”
“Emily, your sincere respect for people of different ethnic groups is reflected in your ability to speak with ease to diverse groups – and to connect with them. I loved your presentation style, your adventurous spirit and your unique ability to transform obstacles into challenges. Your presence and your humor added so much to our California conference. Thank you!”
Dr. Gerda Govine, EdD, Diversity Consultant, Expert Witness
Pasadena Women’s Conference
“She is fantastic – she should be here every year”
“Your closing keynote was fun and funny, informative and inspiring! You gave our nurses some very practical suggestions for using humor to deal with stress at work and at home – they could really be applied to any profession. Here are some comments from our attendees: ‘Awesome – great way to end the day!’, ‘Hysterical!’, ‘Absolutely wonderful!’, ‘Hilarious!’, and ‘She is fantastic – she should be here every year!'”
Robyn Gude, RN, MSN, Network Administrator
Southern Illinois Perinatal Network
“You knocked their socks off!”
“What a pleasure it was to have you at our child nutrition meeting yesterday. You knocked their socks off! The evaluations were very impressive with lots of positive comments. We accomplished what I hoped to accomplish – reminded everyone that life is not perfect and we are in control of how we react to it. And we found out that it is healthy to laugh! I would be honored to recommend you to future clients. You speak from the heart using your life experiences which enabled you to connect with our staff. Thanks for being here to brighten our day.”
Lyn Holt, Director of Child Nutrition
Person County School System
“You were absolutely hilarious at our state conference! “
“You were absolutely hilarious at our Kentucky state conference! You were great with our diverse audience and had excellent content. The attendees really loved your dry sense of humor and it was wonderful that you ended on a note of appreciation for the hard work that they do. Thank you for being so easy to work with and accommodating – and for helping us pull off a great conference. You were such a hit that I’ll just say it right now – we want you back next year!”
Jill Seyfred, Executive Director
Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky
“You made me laugh and challenged me to think…”
“I want to say four things: (1) You are one funny, funny woman, (2) Your timing is excellent, (3) Your stories are priceless and (4) Your presentation was fabulous! You made me laugh, challenged me to think, and gave me some great information – plus lots of ideas to help me think about and plan for stress reduction strategies I can use in my work with college students. Thank you so much.”
Catherine Thrasher-Carroll, MA, MT-BC, Mental Health Promotion Coordinator
Cornell University, New York
“Upbeat positive message in our world full of negatives”
”It was a pleasure having you with us at our Women’s Luncheon. The audience loved you. It was so refreshing to have an upbeat, positive message in our world full of negatives. We look forward to having you back again with us in the future.”
Freddine Crabtree, Director of Business Development
High Point Chamber of Commerce
“Delighted with Emily’s closing presentation”
“Colleagues, I want to let you know that we highly recommend Emily Ballance if you’re looking for an upbeat, humorous, energetic and interactive conference speaker– who’s also easy to work with and makes a point of learning about the audience and organization. We were delighted with Emily’s closing presentation, the spot where we want a speaker who can send folks away feeling good. She definitely did!”
Chris Deyss, Executive Director
Prevent Child Abuse New York
“You have such a comfortable, down to earth style…dry sense of humor”
“Emily, I feel very privileged to have heard you speak. You are definitely one of the most entertaining and inspiring speakers I have ever heard. You have such a comfortable, down to earth style and that dry humor of yours took me by surprise every time! I now understand the different generations in the workplace much better, thanks to you. You gave me valuable information and good ideas to help me work more effectively with each, as well as tips to help me keep my sense of humor when it doesn’t go as well as I had hoped! We’ll be talking with you soon about coming back to California.”
G.I. Vallone, Director of Sales and Marketing
AMG Enterprises, Data Processing and Direct Mail
“Related well to both the staff members and the college students”
“I just wanted to let you know that I thoroughly enjoyed both of your presentations. You related well to both the staff members and the college students. I appreciated your versatility, sense of humor and enthusiasm. And I was glad to see that everyone in the audience was having a good time and that there was such great participation. The exercises were hilarious and a lot of fun. Thank you for making us laugh and for providing us with helpful information to improve our lives.”
Cheryl S. Jenkins, Director of Student Activities and Leadership Development
Meredith College
“Fit the occasion like a glove”
“Emily, you did a wonderful job for us at the Illinois state conference. You fit the occasion like a glove. We were very, very pleased.”
Roy Harley, Executive Director
Prevent Child Abuse Illinois
“Ability to speak to listeners as individuals, even in a large audience”
“Your humor and honesty combine to make your presentations unique and memorable. You have an uncanny ability to speak to listeners as individuals, even in a large audience.”
Dr. Robert Morrell, Physician
WakeMed Health and Hospitals
“Great speaker, great info, helpful and thought-provoking…Made my day”
“Here are just a few of the wonderful comments we received about you and your presentation on our feedback forms: ‘Great speaker, great info, helpful and thought-provoking…made my day!’, ‘Emily Ballance was awesome and very uplifting – a great way to end the conference – with a smile!’, ‘I really enjoyed this session!’, ‘Great, lively speaker!’, ‘Super! Great use of personal stories!’, ‘Awesome! Just what I needed! Hope she can come back again!’, ‘Excellent speaker! Have her back!’” There were lots more, but I think you get the point. Thanks so much for being part of our state conference!”
Colleen Yeager, Elementary Vice President
North Carolina School Counselors Association