The Keynote
Radical Adaptability
Most organizations keep asking how to get through change. This keynote gives your team a shared vocabulary, a set of real choices, and a framework for what comes next — so change feels like something you’re doing together, not something happening to each person individually.
“Thank you so much for an awesome job presenting at our Symposium. As the opening speaker you set the tone for the rest of the day and all I can say is WOW!”
Vice President of Event Services — CoRcentric
What Happens in the Room
This isn’t a speech.
It’s a measured shift.
01
Your audience arrives in survival mode
Under pressure, people default to patterns that feel safe but keep teams stuck. The 90-second stress reaction is biology. What happens next is a choice — and most people don’t know they’re making it.
02
They get a shared language for change
The 5 Choices give your entire organization a common vocabulary — so that change feels like something you’re navigating together, not something happening to each person in isolation.
03
They make five choices that change everything
The 5 Choices of Radical Adaptability aren’t tools handed to your team. They’re decisions your team gets to make — about who they’re becoming, not just what they’re doing.
04
The shift is measured — before and after, same day
Every engagement includes an opt-in pre/post assessment. Across hundreds of attendees, change readiness increases 41–57% between the opening and the close of the same session.
“Change isn’t slowing down. The question is how we choose to meet it.”
Shawn Ellis
Keynote Specs
Format
Keynote
Length
60–75 minutes
Audience Size
15–5,000+
Industries Served
All sectors
Customization
Pre-event call included
Measurement
Opt-in pre/post assessment
Why It Lands
Your people are navigating change at a pace most frameworks were never built for.
Some lean in. Some resist. Most are somewhere in between, quietly wondering if the speed is sustainable.
Radical Adaptability gives your entire organization a shared vocabulary and a set of real choices — so that change feels like something you’re doing together, not something happening to you individually.
It doesn’t just change how people perform at work. It changes how they see what’s possible — personally and professionally. Leaders who bring Shawn in aren’t just looking for inspiration. They’re looking for a shift that lasts.
“Great reflection for my life both personally and professionally.”
“Amazing. This may change my life.”
“Feel lighter already. Now to anchor this in my everyday life.”
The Framework
The 5 Choices masters of Radical Adaptability make.
Traditional adaptability is reactive. It asks: How do I get through this? Radical Adaptability asks a better question: How do we become our best in this moment? The 5 Choices are how you get there.
These aren’t tools handed to your audience. They’re decisions your audience gets to make. That distinction is everything — because tools can be set down, but choices shape identity.
Every choice is supported by the AAA Triad — Attention. Attitude. Action. — the three tools of creation underlying everything Shawn teaches.
C1
Calm over Panic
Choose to regulate first
Leadership lives in the seconds after the stress reaction — not before it. The 90-second window is biology. What happens next is a choice.
C2
Clarity over Confusion
Choose what actually matters
In times of change, everything feels urgent. Clarity is the choice to cut through competing priorities and anchor in values when pressure peaks.
C3
Courage over Comfort
Choose the brave path
The Comfort Loop is real — and it’s why most necessary conversations don’t happen. Courage is recognizing the pattern and choosing differently anyway.
C4
Confidence over Doubt
Choose evidence over feeling
Confidence built on outcomes is fragile. The choice is to build evidence before results appear — because identity shapes performance, not the other way around.
C5
Community over Isolation
Choose your environment intentionally
You don’t rise to your potential. You rise to your environment. The fifth choice is about embracing the reality that we are stronger together than we are alone… and putting Radical Adaptability in Action to create a culture that’s Built to Thrive.
The AAA Triad — Underlying Every Choice
Attention
Where focus goes
Attitude
How you interpret it
Action
What you choose next
Three Ways to Bring This to Your Organization
One framework. Three levels of depth.
The keynote stands alone. Each option builds on the last — from a single powerful session to a full half-day experience that moves from framework to practice to personal commitment.
Spark
Radical Adaptability Keynote
60–75 minutes
The complete Radical Adaptability experience. Shawn opens with a story that reframes how your audience sees change, walks them through the 5 Choices, and closes with a decision framework they can use the same week.
Includes
Momentum
Keynote + Application Session
Two sessions — keynote + RAIA
The keynote introduces the framework. Radical Adaptability in Action (RAIA) bridges it to the real challenges your team is facing right now — applying the 5 Choices to the specific situations that matter most.
Session Structure
Session 1
Radical Adaptability Keynote
The 5 Choices framework — full delivery
Session 2
Radical Adaptability in Action (RAIA)
Apply the choices to real situations your team faces now
Immersion
Radical Adaptability Half-Day
3.5–4 hours — three integrated sessions
For organizations that want more than inspiration — they want a shift that lasts. The half-day moves from framework to practice to personal commitment, with every session building on the last.
Session Structure
Session 1
Radical Adaptability Keynote
The 5 Choices framework
Session 2
RAIA Keynote
Bridge session — where framework meets reality
Session 3
Choose Your Ending™ Workshop
Each participant commits to one brave ending
Why Clients Choose Shawn
Built to deliver — and built to prove it.
25+ years helping leaders and teams perform at a higher level. Through constant change, high-stakes moments, and the kind of pressure that reveals who people actually are.
He’s measured the shift. Pre- and post-keynote change readiness data, collected live, from hundreds of attendees across multiple industries. Your organization gets the data.
He has a signature keynote. One framework, fully mastered, consistently delivered — because precision outperforms variety every time.
He’s lived the ending. The story that anchors Radical Adaptability isn’t borrowed. It’s the reason the framework exists.
Documented Audience Results AFTER RECENT EVENTS
Change readiness increase (Range)
41–57%
Average session rating
4.7+ / 5
Organizations Shawn Has Served INCLUDE
Industries Served
Healthcare
Associations
Financial Services
Sales Organizations
Manufacturing
Professional Services
Government & Public Sector
Technology
Real Estate
Education
Let’s Talk
The right keynote for your moment.
Shawn works with a focused number of organizations each year to ensure every engagement is customized, measured, and built for what your team actually needs. Availability is limited.