Resolving the problems you can't see

Communication insights on how to engage critics, negotiate, and deepen the relationships that matter most.

Spoken before more than 300,000 people

CEOs & ExecutivesSales TeamsLeadership ProgramsUniversity AudiencesFamily-Owned BusinessesIndustry Associations

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Keynotes

Every talk is personalized to fit your audience. These are starting points, not scripts. Vance also offers multi-day communication workshops for teams that want to go deeper.

How > Why

Communication skills to strengthen relationships with employees, vendors, and family while navigating conversations about your operation's future.

How > Why keynote

Vance teaches listening techniques used by negotiators and professional interviewers to establish rapport and facilitate deeper connections in conversation.

The audience learns how to frame questions so they don't prompt defensiveness, avoid common pitfalls that disrupt the flow of conversation, and stay truly present so that others are heard and understood.

Attendees leave with a practical framework they can use in their next difficult conversation – that evening.

Well suited for: Leadership conferences, farm families, sales teams

The Man On the Box

Teaching the core of storytelling – how to introduce yourself, talk about your organization, and describe what you have to offer in ways that make people want to listen.

The Man On the Box

Everyone wishes they had a better way to describe who they are and what they can offer others. This talk gives your audience practical guidance on how to construct stories that make others want to listen.

It works as a keynote or as a deeper workshop – either way, the audience leaves with a clear path to developing a skill that helps across their personal and professional life.

Attendees walk away able to articulate who they are and what they do in a way that makes people lean in rather than tune out.

Well suited for: Advocacy groups, company conferences, leadership development, sales teams

The Edge of Chaos

How new ideas enter culture and what you can do to prepare yourself and your organization for change.

The Edge of Chaos keynote

Vance reveals where change happens in a society so that you and your organization can talk productively about an uncertain future.

This talk stimulates conversation about how to better prepare for forces that shape what we think about and how to navigate uncertainty effectively.

Attendees gain a shared language for talking about change – turning anxiety about the future into something their team can act on together.

Well suited for: Annual meetings, company conferences, leadership development
What organizers say
"One of the greatest orators and advocates – in any discipline – I've ever witnessed."
Tino Rossi, Agricultural public affairs
"The feedback from Vance's session was incredible. Every single participant had something positive to say. Not just polite praise, but genuine enthusiasm. They were fully engaged and left thinking deeply about their own stories and how they show up in the world."
Amelia Stevens, Kentucky Cattlemen
"You truly were one of the best, if not the best, keynote speakers we've had the pleasure to work with."
Oregon Seed League
"Vance was incredibly responsive and collaborative, making it easy to integrate his session into our broader event strategy. Most importantly, he has a remarkable ability to connect with people."
Mid-America Farm Credit
"In a speaker series of the most acclaimed scientists and thinkers in the country, from MIT to Harvard, his was the most thought-provoking and unexpected."
MIT Knight Science Fellow
Vance Crowe keynote — full audience at BuddySeat Conference
Vance Crowe speaking at Ontario Grain Growers
Working with Vance

What to expect when you book

Vance personalizes every talk through a pre-event call with the organizer. He learns your audience, your industry's current tensions, and what you need the talk to accomplish.

He arrives early and stays after to talk with attendees. The goal isn't to deliver a speech and leave – it's to make the organizer look good for booking him.

Vance designs experiences that get your audience talking to each other – and to the people in their lives. He has a way of prompting attendees to take on real challenges that sharpen their communication skills long after the event ends.

Beyond the keynote

The talk doesn't end when he leaves the stage

Vance creates experiences that keep your audience engaged long after the event. Whether it's a follow-up exercise, a shared resource, or a prompt that sparks real conversations back home — the goal is lasting impact, not applause.

Weeks after your event, your audience is still thinking about what they heard – and connecting it to people in their life.

Vance Crowe on stage — Edge of Chaos keynote
About Vance

Communication insights from uncommon experience

Vance Crowe has the unusual ability to understand what people are trying to communicate and why it is not resonating with others. As the former Director of Millennial Engagement at Monsanto and a returned Peace Corps volunteer, he has spent his career at the intersection of difficult conversations and high-stakes communication.

Men and women from all walks of life find his practical insights to be as useful as they are profound.

Full bio and background
Full speeches
The Edge of Chaos
Keynote
The Edge of Chaos
Land Investment Expo, 2020
Worthy Adversaries
Keynote
Worthy Adversaries
Flinchbaugh Forum, Oct 2025
My Grandfather's Axe
Keynote
My Grandfather's Axe
Keynote on succession
Book Vance

Bring this to your audience

Share a few details about your event. Vance personalizes every talk, so the more he knows about your audience and goals upfront, the better the conversation.

Vance reviews every inquiry and responds personally.

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Vance will be in touch soon.