In this high-impact keynote, Amy McWhirter invites audiences to reconnect with their inner voice, trust their rhythm, and lead from the inside out.
With presence, energy, and powerful storytelling, she reveals that authentic leadership isn't about striving or performing.
It's about aligning with your truth, showing up fully, and moving others through genuine connection.
From volunteering at five years old and boldly wrapping a boa constrictor around her neck to placing second at the National Spelling Bee, Amy McWhirter’s journey has always danced between courage and self-doubt, striving and soul. Those early lessons - being seen, almost winning, and discovering what truly lights us up - now infuse her work as an international emcee, speaker, dancer, and improviser.
Through powerful storytelling, audience interaction, humor, and practical tools, Amy invites audiences to quiet the noise, question the stories shaping them, and trust what's true within. The Three Be’s of Genuine Connection - Be Present. Believe. Be Authentic. - offer a path back to ourselves and, ultimately, to deeper, more genuine connection with one another.
Spelling Bee → BE PRESENT
- Story: A thirteen-year-old girl loses the National Spelling Bee, and internalizes the lie that second place means “not enough.”
- Insight: The external scoreboard can pull our attention toward comparison, achievement, approval, and what comes next, until we lose touch with what is actually happening within us and around us. Presence brings our attention back to the moment.
- Application: When we’re fully present, we listen more deeply, respond rather than react, and create the trust and connection that strengthen resilience.
Bumble Bee → BELIEVE
- Story: A little bumblebee takes the stage in her first dance recital and lights up from the inside out.
- Insight: The stories we absorb and repeat can quietly become beliefs about who we are, what we’re capable of, and what we’re allowed to become. Left unquestioned, those beliefs can keep shaping our choices long after they’ve stopped being true.
- Application: The BeLIEve Breakthrough™ gives audiences a practical way to challenge limiting narratives: Spot the Lie → Name the Truth → Act on the Truth.
Let it Be → BE AUTHENTIC
- Story: A midnight radio clicks on. The song is
Let It Be - and something shifts at a crossroads between the path she was expected to follow and the life calling her somewhere else.
- Insight: Authenticity is what becomes possible when we’ve quieted the outside noise, questioned the stories that have shaped us, and come back to what we know to be true.
- Application: When we stop performing from the outside in and begin living and leading from what is true within, something bigger opens up: greater freedom, expression, creativity, joy, and genuine connection. We show up more fully as ourselves, and create more space for others to do the same.
“AMY's MESSAGE IS POWERFUL - DELIVERED WITH DEEP INSIGHT, ENERGY, WIT, AND WISDOM. IT'S THE KIND OF TALK THAT STAYS WITH YOU LONG AFTER IT ENDS.
Saying she nailed it would be an understatement! There were so many moments where I found myself saying "yes!!", laughing out loud, and even tearing up.
Her delivery was just phenomenal.”
- Christine Vanlandingham | Chief Executive Officer | Region IV Area Agency on Aging
Longer-Form Virtual Keynote Sample
See Amy beyond the highlight reel, with a sustained look at her storytelling, warmth, presence and ability to create meaningful connection with an audience.
Through embodied experience, Amy helps people access presence, belief, and authenticity -
so they can trust their inner voice and move people with genuine connection.
As AI reshapes how we work, communicate, and lead, Amy’s message becomes even more urgent: your human presence is not a soft skill. It is your differentiator.
This short clip from Amy’s “Human Connection in the Age of AI” talk offers a glimpse of how her keynote themes resonate with technology, innovation, and leadership audiences.
