Chris Schembra.
Chris Schembra speaking on stage to a full audience

Human connection keynote speaker

Smarter. More resilient. More connected.

Keynotes for corporate and association audiences. Built on Gather, Ask, Give, and customized to your event, your people, and your goals.

Check Chris's availability
gratitude experiences
850+
gratitude experiences
corporate & government clients
400+
corporate & government clients
continents
6
continents
WSJ bestselling author
#1
WSJ bestselling author

A few of the 800+ rooms Chris has been invited into

  • Google
  • Microsoft
  • Dell
  • IBM
  • Harvard University
  • U.S. Navy
  • U.S. Air Force
  • J.P.Morgan
  • Citi

Why this matters now

Disconnection is a business problem.

64%

of employees don't feel they belong at work.

Source

15 cigarettes a day

the mortality risk of social disconnection, across 3.4 million participants.

Source

This isn't a wellness issue. It's a leadership issue.

Signature keynotes

Choose the keynote for your stage.

Building High-Trust Organizations Through Gratitude

A Leadership Framework

Gratitude is the fastest path to psychological safety and trust. Chris shows leaders exactly how to build it into how teams work.

What they leave with

  • Gratitude is the fastest path to psychological safety and trust
  • The precision question unlocks accountability and connection simultaneously
  • Three pillars create sustainable high-trust cultures
  • Gratitude creates the conditions for difficult conversations and innovation
  • 45–90 min
  • In person or virtual
  • Keynote · Workshop · Fireside chat
  • Best for: Leadership offsites, executive teams, HR & people leaders

Earned Connection in the Age of AI

Why the Future of Leadership Isn't Faster, It's More Human

AI removed the friction from work, and with it, the conditions for trust. This keynote shows why the future of leadership is more human, not faster.

What they leave with

  • Why speed is undermining trust
  • Trust is not the starting point, it's the outcome
  • The three pillars of Earned Connection
  • Why human presence is the ultimate competitive advantage
  • 45–90 min
  • In person or virtual
  • Keynote · Workshop · Fireside chat
  • Best for: Annual conferences, sales kickoffs, tech and innovation audiences
“Many of our employees said this was the best 90 minutes they'd ever spent at Dell.”
EDErik DaySVP Small Business, Dell Technologies

Formats

Built for your stage, whatever it looks like.

Keynote

45–90 minutes. The signature experience for conferences, kickoffs, and leadership summits.

Interactive Workshop

Hands-on Gather, Ask, Give sessions where your people practice connection, not just hear about it.

The 7:47 Gratitude Experience™

An intimate dinner or table experience for executive teams, clients, and VIPs.

Virtual Keynote

Fully produced, highly interactive, and built for remote and hybrid teams.

Every keynote includes a pre-event strategy call · audience customization · optional Q&A · post-event resources.

Every keynote is customized

Your people. Your goals. Your stage.

  1. 01

    Strategy call

    Chris meets your team to learn your audience and goals.

  2. 02

    Tailored keynote

    Stories, research, and the experience are shaped around your event.

  3. 03

    They leave connected

    And with something to do on Monday.

Easy to work with. Planners call Chris a dream to partner with.

What leaders say

The room remembers it long after the event.

Chris Schembra's keynote at the Chase senior leadership conference was a transformative experience, weaving empathy, vulnerability, and gratitude seamlessly into our corporate culture.

His ability to foster genuine connections left our executive team inspired and equipped with invaluable tools for fostering deeper relationships both within the workplace and beyond.

LBLisa BessermanHead of Innovation, JP Morgan Chase

Chris has a unique gift in connecting with others to help us be our best selves at work!

His thoughtful and authentic focus on gratitude in engaging ways fostered camaraderie amongst the Citi team during our Gratitude Experience, building true connections and a meaningful shared experience.

MMMorgan McKenneyChief Operating Officer, Citi

On the battlefield I've seen the effect that energy and enthusiasm plays as a force multiplier.

Chris brings a level of passion that permeates his audience and positively affects the morale of everyone he comes in contact with.

CDColonel David Sutherland (Bronze Star and Purple Heart AwardUS Army)

Chris is a fiercely committed person to what he believes in, the Power of Human Connection through his keynotes and experiences.

He is a person who brings the good out in others and his positive energy is contagious from the stage!

MRMichael RobertsFormer President and COO, McDonald’s Corporation

A completely new way to connect with our customers, prospects, and teams, but more importantly - a way for them all to connect with one-another!

Chris Schembra is the inventor of this type of human connection construct, and never before has this been deployed in the world of Enterprise Software / Cloud.

TSTony SafoianPresident, CEO at SADA Systems

Many of our employees said this was the best 90 minutes they'd ever spent at Dell.

I connected with someone that I had not before. It got deep and personal quick. We haven’t been able to connect like that, and people are really going through some things right now. The world is on fire right now and you're here to help them put out those fires.

EDErik DaySVP Small Business Dell Technologies

Chris, you radiated authenticity.

A unique trait I hope to grow and develop myself. I took away so many nuggets of wisdom pertaining to our field, but with that out-of-the-box perspective. Something I feel that everyone needs and can benefit from, but rarely receive. One of our biggest goals from the keynote address and you pulled it off!

ASAlyson StofferCo-Chair, North Carolina Philanthropy Conference

Chris Schembra kicked things off and led us through a keynote focused on gratitude.

The room hung on every word (not an overstatement) as he offered up tactical strategies for enhancing our emotional well-being and how to build community, and connection within our everyday work.

LHLaura HiltonHead of Talent, Bain Capital Ventures

For event planners

Everything you need to know.

Check availability

Bring Chris to your next event.

Tell us about your audience and date. We'll help you find the right keynote and reply within one business day.

Prefer email? chris@747club.org

Check availability