Claire Smith

Thanks once again for all the time and effort you put into an excellent presentation. The lessons you drew from your time in the FCO were highly pertinent to us in business.

Amazing speaker, brought a little known subject to life. When Claire spoke you could hear a pin drop in the room. Claire has the rare ability to captivate her audience, which is quite a feat when the room is full of IT Techies. Claire combines subtle wit with fascinating stories, all the time projecting confidence and authority. I could listen to Claire speak for hours.

Truly an amazing work trajectory. Could have listened to her all day with all her experiences. Would absolutely love to hear more of what training and preparation that she does prior to entering a hostage negotiation situation. So down to earth and relatable. Her interpersonal skills, awareness and listening skills were off the charts. Makes me wish I could re-think my career, and I’ve always loved what I do.

A great speaker, very clear, super anecdotes – engaging. I’d love to see her again

Her entire presentation I spent listening to her stories with my jaw dropped or frantically taking notes. It was all so inspiring. I can tell she carefully selected topics to cover, ensuring all the subject matter had the dual purpose of passing along helpful work life lessons, and discussing program and crisis management. Her lessons on apprenticeship, brand recognition, adapting and allowing our careers to be “imperfect”, pushing outside of our comfort zones, and stakeholder management were all insightful topics.

She spoke specifically at the end about finding female role models and not letting others tell your story, and this resonated with me a great deal. Her delivery of the entire presentation was so gracefully composed and controlled, not rushed, or self-deprecating in any way, and that’s something I aspire to be able to do better. Most importantly, she’s so warm and charming. I can see why she’s effective at negotiating in crisis situations, as she puts you at ease, and is probably able to very quickly get to the heart of what you want and need. Very disarming 🙂 Having her there in person would be so impactful to our group – I hope she is able to come to LA next time!

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your very impressive career with us. I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation and Q&A.

I’m very thankful that you gave us an opportunity to meet these INCREDIBLE people. Out of all of the speakers, I was mostly amazed by Claire!!! What a character!!! I always bow to the people who can pursue their dreams and can make a difference.

Claire, thank you for being such a great example of what someone can do in public service. It was fascinating to hear about your experiences. I especially appreciated being reminded that there are many decent people of goodwill in public service, despite the impressions given by the cynical mass media of today.

Claire’s experience as a diplomat was very interesting and insightful. She did a great job in relating those experiences to work situations and skills that we might use in our daily jobs (i.e. relationship building, negotiating, etc.).

Claire, thank you for sharing your amazing international diplomatic life experience with us. Looking forward to another round of long conversation when you visit us again in LA.