Diane Windingland

Small Talk Big Results

  • Saint Paul MN

Diane captures you with storytelling and engages your mind with practical and fun application!

Contact

Social

Biography

Author of Small Talk, BIG Results: Chit Chat Your Way to Success! and Perfect Phrases for Icebreakers, Diane speaks for organizations that want to help their people have better, more profitable conversations. An engineer by training, Diane has owned several small businesses and has trained business owners on how to become better networkers, better conversationalists and better presenters.

Diane also runs Virtual Speech Coach, helping emerging business leaders develop memorable content and dynamic delivery to more effectively present their messages. In addition to speaking engagements and private clients, Diane teaches a weekly speech class for home-educated teens.

Diane is passionate about helping people communicate effectively in ways that build bridges that connect rather than walls that separate. Organizations hire me to help their people have better, more profitable conversations. Diane helps people turn ordinary conversations and presentations into extraordinary relationships.

Industry Expertise

Civil Engineering
Education/Learning
Writing and Editing

Areas of Expertise

Leadership
Networking
Business Storytelling
Difficult People
Icebreakers

Accomplishments

Champion Evaluator

Placed first in the Toastmaster District 6 Evaluation Competition. In this competition, contestants are judged on the content, delivery and helpfulness of their feed back of a target speaker's speech.

Distinguished Toastmaster

Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) is Toastmasters highest educational award for Speaking and Leadership Excellence

2nd Degree Black Belt

Education

San Diego State University

Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering

Civil Engineering

1984

Affiliations

  • National Association of Professional Women
  • Toastmasters International
  • National Speakers Association
  • Professional Sales Association of Minnesota

Testimonials

Program Planner

http://torchcommunity.org/

Annual Communication and Leadership Event

“Diane was hired by Torch Community Career & Leadership Committee to perform the program for our annual C&L event. All the way through the process of initial engagement, to the end result, Diane far exceeded our expectations. Her easy-going and flexible working style made our planning process simple and uncomplicated. She went above and beyond in researching our organization and tailoring her interactive program to fit our audience perfectly. We had fun and were able to incorporate a lot of quality networking in her interactive program! I highly recommend her as a speaker for any business function or training class.”

Chapter President

http://www.iaap-hq.org/about/chapter-locator/city-lakes-chapter

IAAP City of Lakes Chapter

"Diane presented the 4 E's of Leadership to our group of seasoned leaders, many of whom had 'heard it before'. We had all been through talks about how to manage people, how to get them to do what we want them to, and goal setting. Talk about a challenge! But Diane went beyond the same-old-same-old and spoke to the values behind leading people – the qualities that move your people to the loyalty and action that really good leaders inspire.”

Program Planner

http://www.jlminneapolis.org/

Jr. League of Minneapolis

“As Director of a mentorship program within a non-profit organization, I brought in Diane, Owner of Small Talk Big Results, as a guest Speaker. Diane is not only very conscientious and creative but thoroughly researches her topics. Diane is very personable, committed and is an excellent communicator. I highly recommend Diane and Small Talk Big Results. "

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Event Appearances

Discover the Power of Business Storytelling

Lunch Presentation  Best Buy Corporate Headquarters, Richfield Minnesota

2012-03-08

The 4 E's of Effective Leadership

IAAP City of Lakes Chapter Meeting  Minneapolis, MN

2012-03-01

Storytelling for Business Workshop

Storytelling for Business Workshop  St. Paul, MN

2012-02-25

Sample Talks

The 4 E's of an Excellent Leader

Leaders do not command excellence. They build excellence. In this presentation, The 4 Es of an Excellent Leader, integrity is the base upon which excellence is built and communicated through 4 approaches:
Expectations--Get results with positive expectations.
Encouragement--Build your business/organization by building up people.
Empathy--Conquer apathy with empathy.
Empowerment--Release the power within people.

Style

Availability

  • Keynote
  • Moderator
  • Panelist
  • Workshop Leader
  • Host/MC
  • Author Appearance
  • Corporate Training

Fees

$2000 to $3500