Speaking

As Seen On CBS National Television’s The Insider:

Interviewed by:

         

Laura’s TEDx Talk – Razed By Lions

 

Speech Topics and Abstracts

Laura’s speech topics ultimately boil up to the triumph of the human spirit and how people can thrive despite adversity.

When Enough is Enough

• The experience of the ‘clarifying moment’
• Points of Hope
• Plans for Change

Abstract
In every person’s life there comes a tipping point. That point of no return. No turning back. No matter the circumstance, you hold the power for change when dizzying clarity asserts. Clarifying moments are profound. Most people take the path of least resistance, the road most traveled, the easy way. Laura Landgraf didn’t. When enough was enough, she took a monumental leap into the unknown, which was at once terrifying and exhilarating, thereby creating a whole new identity for herself. She embodies “If I can do it, so can you!” She will share her experience and wisdom about how to listen to your instincts, encourage your luck into hope, get ready for your own personal leap of faith, carry out your decision, embrace each change with optimism, and manage the consequences as you create the life you envisioned.

Put Your Own Oxygen Mask on First

• Me first
• It takes bravery to practice self care
• Care for the wholeness of you

Abstract
 Do it! Put your own oxygen mask on first. Self-care may be one of the most underrated disciplines of all time. It takes bravery to practice caring for you before others, but the airlines got it right. You first, then your child, (or someone just acting like a child). If you’re not okay, no one around you will be okay either. Laura will make the distinction between selfishness and self-care. When you take care of you, you tap into your core strength, your purpose, your creativity, your sense of personal power, and find your wisest self. She’ll encourage you to discover the things that truly serve you, let go of habits and practices that don’t. She’ll show you how to live more fully ‘in the moment.’ She’ll demonstrate these aspects of self-care by telling her own story; and Laura Landgraf is a master storyteller.

Getting the Best of Your Inner Critic previously, Your Inner Critic (mental toughness)

• Limited by language
• Language affects our thinking and vision of ourselves

Abstract:
No matter how much or how often you tell yourself you’re all grown up now, your inner child of the past lives on. And so do that child’s critics. Who among us hasn’t experienced an inner voice that sabotages our wellbeing with critical, unhelpful, unhappy, downright nasty voices either from the past, or of our own making in the here and now? How can we ever measure up to the standard we set for ourselves, let alone the ideal image touted by contemporary society and its media? An ideal person, forever young. How do we silence those voices? As a trauma survivor, Laura all too often beat herself up in what she calls her proverbial wood shed. However, she has also been very successful at abandoning self-sabotage and replacing it with self-compassion and healthy self-care—and she can show you how to tame your inner critic, rely on your own mental toughness, and turn the toxicity of self-criticism into self-love.

Thriving Through Thick and Through Thin (resilience)

• We are changed by what we experience
• Adversity will come. It’s how we address it that matters.
• Objective fact, subjective meaning (molested/somehow damaged)
• Adversity can give us our sense of self as we work through it

Abstract
We are formed, and continually changed by what we experience. Let’s face it, being born wasn’t a promise for a rosy future. If life were simple, uncluttered by adverse experience, we wouldn’t have a chance to grow. We all encounter disappointments, setbacks, unanticipated events and losses. Whether it’s struggling through a divorce, beating cancer, or surviving child sexual abuse, being knocked down is less significant than getting back up. It takes strength of will not to dwell on what happened, feel victimized, not to become overwhelmed or turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms. Laura will talk about resilience, what it means, how to find it, and put it into practice. Adversity is opportunity knocking. We can transform our crises into stepping-stones. When we take adversity and build our way through it, one step at a time, we find our truest sense of self. Laura is a living example of “If I can do it, so can you!”

Finding Contentment Despite Adversity

• Mental discipline – 4 key changes to make
• Encourage your own luck

Use Your Brain for Change (the path to new thinking)

• The brain’s capacity for change
• Forging new pathways of thinking
• Silver linings – how the past informs the future
• Reframe for life

Be a Steel Magnolia (forged by fire – remaining gentle in the face of brutality)

• How’d you like to thrive, not just survive?
• How you are shaped by your experiences. The will to thrive.
• That which does not kill you, makes you strong, if you allow it.
• Develop your “soft armor”

Dangerous Opportunity – Crisis and Opportunity

• Potency/Power of choice (to make it a dangerous opportunity, or merely crisis)
• It takes one person to show you the epiphany of your own power
• Bolster a person to see the beauty of their spirit

Abstract
The Chinese word for crisis consists of two characters, “danger” and “opportunity.” I will tell you how to capitalize on your dangerous opportunities – that’s right, how to turn your crisis situations into stepping stones that enable you to cross the river of “Woe is me, for I am undone!” to a future beyond your fondest dreams.

Sample Speaking Segments

Hear Laura Live, beginning at 1:25 (minutes into film):   “If I Can Do It, You Can Too“

Additional Sample Speaking Segments:

Opening of Speech

If I Can Do It, You Can Too

Healing Happens When You do the Work of It

The Madness Stops Here

The Truth of It

Protect the Innocent

Laura has addressed audiences of 50 to 3000, from Universities to Entrepreneurs in:

• Atlanta, Georgia
• Austin, TX
• Barbados
• Cancun, Mexico
• Chicago, IL
• Dallas, TX
• Irvine, CA
• Laguna Niguel, CA
• Los Angeles, CA
• Madrid, Spain
• Malibu, CA
• New Orleans, LA
• New York, NY
• Orlando, FL
• Palm Springs, CA
• Portland, OR
• San Antonio, TX
• San Diego, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Santa Ana, CA
• Tampa, FL
• Seattle, WA
• Spokane, WA
• Washington DC

If I Can Do It, You Can Too

Overcoming Trauma

Subjects:

• When Enough Is Enough (The Clarifying Moment)
• Put Your Own Oxygen Mask on First (Self-Care)
• Getting the Best of Your Inner Critic
• Thriving Through Thick and Through Thin (Resilience)
• Find Contentment Despite Adversity
• Use Your Brain for Change
• Be a Steel Magnolia – Forged by Fire
• Dangerous Opportunity – Crisis and Opportunity
• What Does “Family” Have to Do With It?
• Thriving After Trauma
• Hope for the Wounded Heart
• Incest and Its Devastation
• The Price of Forgiving, the Cost of Not Doing So
• Empowering Men and Women to Thrive
• How To Protect Our Children from Predators
• Understanding Effects of ACE’s (adverse childhood experiences)
• Steps to Healing From Childhood Sexual Abuse
• Acts of Will – Moving to Emotional Health Following Childhood Abuse
• Claiming your voice – Setting Appropriate Boundaries
• “No” is a Complete Sentence – Avoiding Date Rape
• Naïveté: Cute in a Child, Perilous for Young Adults
• “I Don’t Want to Talk About It”
• How to Stop Raging, and Start Living