Speaking
I have led large programs for 20 years, including the $1.6 billion sale of State Farm’s Canadian operations and a $2 billion data center program. Today I teach for a living. Every talk comes from what I have watched work, and what I have watched fail.
I speak on what leaders do to make change stick, where AI helps and where human judgment still decides, and how to build accessibility into the way teams already work.
I see where people get stuck every week, so every session is built around what your audience does next. Each one follows the same loop I use in the classroom: Teach, Try, Show, Revise.
WebCon 2024 to 2027. CSUN and PMI Global twice each. Return invitations are the best review a speaker gets.
Programs I ran, calls I made, and mistakes I learned from. No borrowed case studies. Your audience can tell the difference.
“Michael’s ability to command a room and get his team engaged, even across borders, is an additional bonus you don’t often experience with success.”
“His trainings are thought-provoking, engaging, and inject just the right amount of dad jokes to keep things light and casual.”
“He is excellent at engaging an audience and his passion for accessibility shines through in his training, encouraging participants to want to learn more.”
“Michael is a principled leader who is passionate about advancing the discipline of project management. … He remains one of my most influential mentors.”
More on the Experience page.
One session this fall, two confirmed for April 2027. Additional 2027 dates still available.
University of Illinois WebCon 2027 · April 8–9, 2027 · Virtual
Small additions compound into missed deadlines, burnout, and rework. This session gives web teams plain language for pushing back without damaging relationships, a way to make tradeoffs visible, and a way to keep quality in the definition of done.
University of Illinois WebCon 2027 · April 8–9, 2027 · Virtual
The Empire State Building went from groundbreaking to opening in about 13 months, during the Great Depression, ahead of schedule. Most website redesigns take longer. This session connects that story to the web projects you're running now: planning sequence before work starts, making decisions early, and building quality in rather than inspecting for it at the end.
PMI Boston Chapter · Evidence-Based PM Roundtable · November 19, 2026 · 12:00–1:00 PM ET · Virtual
Every business case leans on a few numbers everyone "knows." In this interactive roundtable, we trace five popular project management stats back to their origins and grade each one before it reaches a sponsor.
Each talk works as a 60 minute keynote, a 45 minute conference session, or a 90 minute workshop. I also adapt them for internal leadership training.
For PMI chapters, leadership forums, and enterprise events. Content fits the PMI PDU categories for Power Skills and Ways of Working. Fee and travel depend on format and audience.
A live conversation with AI on stage. The audience watches it make real project decisions and sees, in real time, where it gets them wrong.
Best for: PMI chapters, leadership forums, innovation conferences.
Delivered at PMI Mass Bay Professional Development Conference, 2026. Watch it.
A live interview that starts with what AI does well, then moves into judgment, tradeoffs, ethics, and leading under pressure. That is where people stay accountable.
Best for: PMI chapters, project management conferences.
Delivered at PMI Global Conference, Phoenix, 2025.
AI is getting better at the easy parts. The hard parts are still yours. This talk shows where AI belongs in your work and where it does not.
Best for: innovation events, technology conferences, leadership teams.
New for 2027.
Technology implementations fail for human reasons. This talk names them, using programs I led at State Farm and since.
Best for: enterprise IT forums, transformation conferences.
Builds on Change Management in Accessibility, axe-con and AccessU, 2022.
Nine practices across three areas: get the truth, check the work, and make it yours. Each one holds as AI improves because they are about how you work with a thinking partner, not how you trick a tool.
Best for: leadership forums, professional development conferences, anyone using AI in their daily work. Available as a 60-minute session or a 90-minute workshop with practice rounds and a worksheet.
New for 2027.
Five questions that let you grade any stat before it reaches your sponsor. We trace popular project management numbers back to their sources and find out what is actually there, including what happens when AI makes a source up.
Best for: PMI chapters, project management conferences, evidence-based practice audiences.
Delivered at PMI Boston Chapter Evidence-Based PM Roundtable, November 2026.
For accessibility, product, and education audiences.
Accessibility sticks because of what leaders do every day, not because of audits.
Delivered as “Building a Culture of Accessibility Leadership” at CSUN and WebCon, 2026.
Most small businesses think accessibility is a big budget problem. It is not.
Delivered as “Accessibility for Small Business: A Practical Roadmap” at CSUN, 2026.
What automated tools catch, what they miss, and why people still make the call.
Delivered at University of Illinois WebCon, 2026.
Want the ideas behind these talks? Read my Insights.
Three recorded sessions. Recordings of other talks are available on request.
PMI Mass Bay Professional Development Conference · September 2026
axe-con and AccessU · 2022
AccessU · 2021
I am booking 2027 conferences, PMI chapter events, and leadership forums. Send me the event, the date, the audience, and the format you have in mind. I will tell you which talk fits and what I would change to fit your room.
The speaker kit includes my bio, headshot, talk descriptions, and AV requirements.
A curated archive of conference, university, and professional speaking engagements.
PMI Boston Chapter · Evidence-Based PM Roundtable · November 2026
The Leprechauns in Your Business Case: Testing the Stats Project Managers (and Their AI Tools) Repeat
PMI Mass Bay · Professional Development Conference · September 2026
University of Illinois · WebCon 2026 · April 2026
University of Illinois · WebCon 2026 · April 2026
CSUN Assistive Technology Conference · March 2026
CSUN Assistive Technology Conference · March 2026
PMI Global Conference – Phoenix
Interview with an AI: Why Empathy Still Drives Project Success
University of Illinois – WebCon 2025
How to Incorporate Accessibility into Your Agile Sprints
CSUN 2025
How to Incorporate Accessibility into Your Agile Sprints
University of Illinois – WebCon 2024
Future Trends & Innovations in Accessibility
Deque axe-con 2022 / AccessU 2022
PMI Global Conference – San Diego
Agile, The PMBOK® Guide, and Agile Tools
PMI Central Illinois Chapter Conference
Leading Distributed Teams & the Role of Controlled Innovation