- Addressed 300,000+ people across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia
- Creator of the Interest-Based Communication course in St. Louis
- M.A. Cross-Cultural Negotiations, Seton Hall School of Diplomacy
“In a speaker series of the most acclaimed scientists and thinkers in the country, from MIT to Harvard, Vance’s was the most thought-provoking and unexpected.”
Today Vance runs Articulate Ventures, a company built around the idea that everyone communicates — and almost no one was taught how to do it well.
Keynote speaking is the core of the practice. Vance delivers talks on negotiation, storytelling, conflict resolution, and how ideas spread through organizations. Every engagement is customized through a pre-event call with the organizer — he learns the audience, the industry tensions, and what the talk needs to accomplish. He does not give the same speech twice.
Interest-Based Communication is a three-day intensive course Vance created, drawing on negotiation theory, professional interviewing technique, and two decades of work in high-stakes conversations. Teams and individuals attend at his St. Louis studio.
Legacy Interviews is Vance’s other company — a service that records individuals and couples sharing their life stories on camera, so future generations can see and hear the people who shaped their family. He has conducted hundreds of these interviews, and the skills he uses to draw out a reluctant 80-year-old farmer are the same ones he teaches from the stage.
“One of the greatest orators and advocates — in any discipline — I’ve ever witnessed.”
For more than five years Vance spoke for Monsanto, a company much of the public saw as evil. He learned how to engage people who were suspicious and angry, and those lessons work for any company or industry that feels deeply misunderstood.
In January 2018 he conducted an on-stage interview in front of thousands at the American Farm Bureau Federation convention with one of the most influential (and polarizing) public intellectuals in the world. Earlier in his career, as a Communications Strategist for the World Bank Group, he presented development initiatives to skeptical audiences across cultures.
- Former Director of Millennial Engagement, Monsanto — communications strategy for the most controversial company in agriculture
- Former Communications Strategist, World Bank Group
- Returned Peace Corps Volunteer — Kenya
- M.A. Cross-Cultural Negotiations, Seton Hall School of Diplomacy
- Board of Directors, FCS Financial — a seven-billion-dollar agricultural lending cooperative in Missouri
- Creator of the Interest-Based Communication framework and three-day course
- Founder, Legacy Interviews — hundreds of recorded life stories for families across the country
- Host, The Vance Crowe Podcast — featuring U.S. Senators, farmers, scientists, and founders
“You truly were one of the best, if not the best, keynote speakers we’ve had the pleasure to work with.”
- Who is Vance Crowe?
- Vance Crowe is a keynote speaker, communication strategist, and interviewer based in St. Louis, Missouri. He is the founder of Articulate Ventures, the Interest-Based Communication course, and Legacy Interviews, and host of The Vance Crowe Podcast. He has addressed more than 300,000 people.
- What does Vance Crowe speak about?
- Vance speaks about how people communicate when the stakes are high: teams navigating a changing and chaotic world, precise and logical teams who want their ideas to travel further, and leaders who want their people to surface disagreement instead of hiding it. He treats communication as a learnable system rather than a personality trait.
- What kinds of organizations hire Vance Crowe?
- Organizations in industries facing disruption, from agriculture and finance to technology and family businesses. He is a fit when a team is precise and logical but frustrated that being right is not enough, or when a leader suspects a performance problem that is actually a communication problem.
- What is Vance Crowe known for?
- Vance is known for engaging complicated, contested subjects clearly and in public. He spent years as the public face of Monsanto during the GMO controversies, wrote a 2014 CNBC commentary arguing Warren Buffett was wrong about Bitcoin, and in January 2018 conducted an on-stage interview at the American Farm Bureau Federation convention with a figure the New York Times would name the most influential public intellectual in the Western world just weeks later (full transcript here). These are evidence of range, not his speaking topics.
- What is Interest-Based Communication (IBC)?
- IBC is a three-day, in-person course in St. Louis created by Vance Crowe, an interest-based negotiations practitioner who merged the fields of negotiation and communication. The course teaches how organizations, families, and even enemies can fundamentally improve how they resolve their issues. At its core is Vance's belief that you can be authentically who you are, be honest, and feel confident and calm even when the stakes are high. Classes are limited to eight seats, reserved directly. $3,000, covering tuition, materials, and most meals. Companies take part by sending people to a class or by having a class arranged for their own team.
- Who created Interest-Based Communication?
- Vance Crowe created Interest-Based Communication, a three day, in person negotiation and communication course in St. Louis, Missouri. He built the framework by merging negotiation theory, professional interviewing technique, and two decades of work in high-stakes conversations, including years as the public face of Monsanto during the GMO controversies. The methodology is codified into a workbook and structured course materials. Vance teaches the course, with Heath Hunter as facilitator.
- What is Legacy Interviews?
- Legacy Interviews is a service where Vance professionally records life-story interviews with parents and grandparents, so families preserve their stories, voice, and values for future generations.
- How do you book Vance Crowe for a keynote?
- Email vance@articulate.ventures or call (314) 866-2991. Details on formats and topics are at articulate.ventures/speaking. You can also download the speaker one-pager (PDF) to share with your team.
- How much does it cost to hire Vance Crowe as a speaker?
- Share your date on the inquiry form or email vance@articulate.ventures and Vance will reply with a straight answer.
Book Vance as a guest
Negotiation and communication skills for highly logical people. Vance Crowe created Interest-Based Communication, a negotiation course he has taught to aerospace engineers, biotech scientists, hedge fund analysts, and accountants. He holds a master's in cross-cultural negotiations from Seton Hall and has spoken to more than 300,000 people.
Episode ideas
Why Asking "Why?" Makes People Dig In. "Why did you set it up that way?" sounds like an audit, so people defend instead of think. Vance explains what to ask instead, and why showing you understand someone before you explain changes how the explanation lands.
How Much Detail Is Too Much? Smart people often answer a small question with everything they know. The other person hears a lecture. Vance shows how to size an answer to the decision on the table, without dumbing anything down.
Questions you could ask him
- What is the difference between a position and an interest?
- What should you ask instead of "why?"
- What is steelmanning, and when should you use it?
- How do you know when you've given too much detail?
Intro you can read on air
Vance Crowe created Interest-Based Communication, a negotiation course for highly logical people. He has spoken to more than 300,000 people.
Book Vance as a guest
One-pager: /vance-crowe-speaker-one-pager.pdf · Headshots and bios: /media-kit