Keynotes Built From 25 Years in the Room
Lonnie speaks on the conflict most workplaces work around rather than through — the unnamed tension that can cause teams to reorganize themselves to avoid.
Her talks are built on what she's lived:
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feedback that cost her something real
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resilience that came from watching four generations of women refuse to quit
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and leadership that puts people first
Keynote Talks
From Awkward to Honest
Learning to Grow From Difficult Feedback
Lonnie has given over 1,500 performance reviews and been on the receiving end of a tough one as a young professional just finding her footing. She brings humor and heart to a topic most people avoid.
Audiences leave knowing how to cut through the noise of hard feedback, separate emotion from information, and turn an uncomfortable conversation into real growth. This talk is for anyone who has ever struggled with receiving hard feedback. Isn't that all of us?
Resilience Behind the Resume
The Art of Trusting Yourself
On paper, Lonnie looks like a success story: leadership roles, a thriving consulting practice, work she loves. What you don't see is what built her. A PIP early in her career. The quiet weight of being underestimated. The day she was let go for standing up for her people, and she would do it again without hesitation.
Lonnie reframes resilience as a skill forged in tough moments. You'll leave with the courage to trust yourself and keep moving forward, not just despite what's behind you, but because of it.
Ways to Work With Lonnie
From multi-day workshops to full-day facilitation, Lonnie partners with organizations and brings the same directness and depth she brings to the stage.
Speaking
Keynotes and breakout sessions built around your event's goals, with hands-on activities to reinforce your event’s key messages.
Consulting
Custom strategies for building strong cultures, resilient teams, and effective leadership.
Facilitator & Emcee
Lonnie keeps rooms moving, conversations honest, and participants engaged — all without letting the agenda slip.
Training
In-depth workshops on leadership, agile, feedback, conflict management, and more.
FAQs
Hiring a keynote speaker for your event is a big decision. Here are answers to some of the questions you might have about booking Lonnie.
Can Lonnie give a conflict resolution keynote talk?
Absolutely! Lonnie Weaver-Johnson speaks about the conflict most workplaces work around rather than through. She treats conflict as a feedback problem: the conversation nobody will start, and the skills that make starting it survivable.
What's the "Resilience Behind the Resume" keynote about?
It's Lonnie's talk on trusting yourself through setbacks, drawing from her own experience — a performance improvement plan early in her career, being underestimated, and the day she was let go for standing up for her people. She reframes resilience as a skill forged in tough moments rather than a personality trait.
What's the difference between conflict resolution and conflict management?
Conflict resolution aims to settle a specific dispute. Conflict management is the ongoing skill of handling disagreement so it stays productive rather than corrosive. Most teams need the second more than the first — the problem is rarely one argument, but rather, the pattern of conversations nobody is having.
What makes Lonnie Weaver-Johnson different from other leadership keynote speakers?
She speaks from what she has lived rather than a framework she read. She brings 25+ years of leadership experience, has given more than 1,500 performance reviews, went through a termination for advocating for her team, and she's a Certified Scrum Trainer — a credential held by roughly 300 people worldwide, fewer than 30 of them women.
What is the "From Awkward to Honest" keynote about?
It's Lonnie's talk on giving and receiving hard feedback. She has given more than 1,500 performance reviews and been on the receiving end of a tough one early in her career. Audiences leave knowing how to separate emotion from information and turn an uncomfortable conversation into real growth.
How do you have a difficult conversation with an employee?
Start by being clear with yourself about what you actually need to say, and say it early — most difficult conversations get harder the longer they wait. Lonnie's keynotes build this as a repeatable skill.