Workshops and Presentations
Here’s What People Have Said About Eileen Chadnick’s Presentations/Workshops:
The testimonials below are just a few from the many available. Happy to share more.
Resilience and Mojo in Topsy Turvy Times (Virtual Staff events – Lambton College; Brant County Library) / January 2021
“Extremely engaging!”
“Great presenter, with clear messages along with good visuals (powerpoints and handouts)”.
“Eileen created a wonderful space to just learn and share together.”
“It was so positive and i loved the speaker. I would love to see more of her.”
“A terrific and timely reminder!!! The presenter was terrific and engaging.”
“I really enjoyed learning about the interplay of each part of the brain, as it relates to positivity. This was new information for me.”
“I learned…how I can cope with change.”
“Enjoyed…hearing some of the suggestions from fellow staff members. Talking to each other during the smaller (breakout) chat rooms.”
“I learned…that awareness has helped me slow down my thoughts and try to tap into my higher-learning/more rational brain.”
“After this workshop…I will spend more time reflecting on small positive things that happened throughout the day rather then focusing on all the negative things.”
Southern Ontario Library Systems (SOLS): I am a frequent presenter, course facilitator at SOLS.
“Eileen Chadnick is extremely generous in sharing her expertise in leadership, coaching skills for managers, and conversation…. in a personable, approachable manner that participants respond to and find the safety they need to make changes towards their own growth and development. She is, without exception, rated highly as a presenter because she meets people where they are, and uses recognizable scenarios and gentle humour to grow everyone’s understanding.” (Anne Marie Madziak, Training and Consulting Director).
Food Banks Canada: 2020 I’ve presented webinars on Leadership, Resilience and Managing Through Covid.
“Eileen has delivered a number of presentations for the food banking community in Canada. For each session, she took the time to understand the complexities of our network and developed content that was infused with enthusiasm, passion, smart ideas and valuable insights. Eileen is personable, easy to work with and possesses the ‘secret sauce’ to captivate others and take them on a thought-provoking journey.” (K. Castelle, Director of Learning & Knowledge Exchange, Food Banks Canada)
Participant Highlights from Recent Presentations (2020)
Leadership Conversations – Food Banks of Canada:
Eileen is amazing’ she has such a dynamic voice and makes everything easy to understand. This webinar was really pleasant to follow.
Excellent job! Easy to come up with next steps from here.
Eileen has a great communicative style and voice.
Facilitator had good content and was engaging.
Managing Overwhelm (SOLS):
Great session! Facilitator was good speaker, well informed, and conveyed details expertly. Thanks!
This is a great way to follow a course! Well set up, easy to follow. Eileen is well spoken and to the point
Very informative and engaging. Look forward to visiting her website for more information. Such an inspiring coach Eileen is!
It was my fist time and I loved it. Interesting, and a very good speaker.”
Positivity – UoT:
The instructor was very knowledgeable and offered resources for further exploration of the subject matter. She was comfortable with the technology and did a good job
engaging the group. I took away some immediate skills and the desire to pursue others.
The webinar session was helpful. The various strategies or tools can be applicable not only at the work place, it can be used at the home as well specially for families with growing children.
Was a positive learning experience. Very helpful seminar. Will make a great difference in my life as i inspire to be an upcoming leader.
Webinar addressed how to consciously cultivate resilience in a simplified manner.
Coaching Skills – UoT:
The facilitator was great. I really enjoyed the course and felt I have learned a lot… Everyone had a chance to participate, was able to share some challenges and received feed backs. (UoT – STG Fall 2019)
A good balance of introduction to the topic and interactive exercises to test out our learning. Instructor checked in to ensure instructions were clear and also adapted structure of the day to best suit the group.
Setting and Achieving Goals to Fuel Success – UoT:
A good perspective was shared on how to navigate goals at all stages.
Engaging talk about setting goals and how to achieve theme with pitfalls and relatable example.
I enjoyed Eileen’s approach and useful referral to other resources.
It was impressive that the instructor asked us how we felt about our goals. I had never thought of my feelings towards the goals. I always just simply thought – here are my goals, I had to achieve them no matter what. It was touching to be asked how I actually felt.
This a great session to offer annually in May as employees prepare for our annual performance reviews an start thinking ahead to setting goals for the upcoming year. Please consider offering this webinar annually.
This course was very informative and I learned a lot on how to set and achieve goals.
This webinar helps me to understand how it is important to have a goal setting. This is important to me because I can plane my goal for different purpose for example: Work related performance goal, Learning goal and general goal in life( Family planning, raising kids, participating in different volunteering activity etc.
Building Courage and Confidence — UoT:
I have taken so many webinars with Eileen and found that I don’t hesitate to retake a session because there is always something new for me to learn. I really love her teaching/coaching style. It is measured, clear, and invites me to challenge myself and learn something new in a really gentle and encouraging way. I also appreciate that she draws from her wealth of experience and expertise and presents real life examples to drive home the lessons in her sessions. This is especially useful for the topics she covers where we sometimes need a nudge and need to hear that some of our struggles are normal. She even happily shares her own struggles as well and that is incredible empowering and refreshing. Let’s keep her coming back. Thanks LLC Team.
I really enjoyed the discussion portion of this course. It has provided me with some tools to build more courage and confidence.
Specifically About Eileen (style, impact, approach): Various workshops – Conversations That Build Trust; Coaching Skills, Leadership Conversations; Ease; Positivity, and more.
Eileen has a nice informal style that puts participants at ease.
Eileen was a great facilitator. It was a good mix of learning and interaction and discussion.
I found her very approachable and able to change directions to adapt to the conversations and questions from the group.
I found her to be very warm and engaging, and I think that her ability to get us to participate and speak up meant that we were able to get more out of the course than if there had been less participation.
The presenter was able to draw out the group very well. I think everyone in attendance participated.
The facilitator was great. I really enjoyed the course and felt I have learned a lot due to the small class size (there were 6 of us and the facilitator). Everyone had a chance to participate, was able to share some challenges and received feedback.
A good balance of introduction to the topic and interactive exercises to test out our learning. Instructor checked in to ensure instructions were clear and also adapted structure of the day to best suit the group.
Conversation That Build Trust (workshops – SOLS, UoT, Arma)
Eileen was a wonderful presenter, She was funny and engaging to listen to and share with. She had great example to take away from the presentation that could be used in a work environment and personal life.
The presenter was engaging and created a safe learning environment allowing us to ‘lean in’.
I believe many attendees today were in supervisory positions. These workshops would greatly benefit all staffing levels and future similar workshops for them would be great.
The session was jam-packed and was useful and helpful. It exceeded my expectation.
I thought the content was not only very interesting but also very applicable to me in general, both at work and personally. I feel that I learned a lot of new information that is very valuable in that it can help me become a better communicator.
I found the content extremely valuable, and I likely the format that included provision of content and ability to interact.
Webinar: Setting and Achieving Goals that Inspire Success: (CPA Canada; UoT; Ryder):
The info was practical & achievable. very on point. Eileen knows her stuff!
Excellent tips and presenter was able to quickly address participant comments/questions.
Very knowledgeable and I appreciate that she not only dealt with goals in the workplace but also personal goals and the emphasis on balance and dealing with obstacles.
Loved it! Lots of practical examples and specific techniques to try and it was relevant to today’s work environment.
Webinar: Super Charge Your Listening Skills (Charity Village)
Great information and presentation
Crisp and clear and aligned with my expectations
“I found the presenter to be engaging and personable” (96+%)
“The content was relevant and the presenter was knowledgeable”(94+%)
“I learned something new that I can apply in my career and/or organization immediately (92%)
Webinar: Conversations that Build Trust (CPA Canada)
98% rated the presenter knowledge as good/very good. And 93% rated the presenter style as good/very good.
The content was excellent because I think to get a great conversation is really important to obtain a healthy and peaceful environment not just within an organization but anyplace.
Great content. I will be able to reflect using the slides that were provided.
Speaker spoke very well and made excellent use of the webinar time to illustrate with relevant examples.
Very clear and concise and easy to listen to. I always appreciate the use of examples to provide context and meaning to the presentations.
I loved her style, tone and very good ideas and examples.
Xerox Canada / The Woman’s Alliance Annual Conference — “Hone the Positivity Advantage and Create Your Own Luck.” (in person) I reached out to Eileen to interview her with my subcommittee to see if we all felt that her content would be an appropriate fit with our theme for the conference, “The Power of Different”. I think that we all spend so much time trying to fix what we perceive to be broken that we rarely look at what’s working well and celebrate our success so when Eileen proposed “Hone the Positivity Advantage and Create your own Luck” – we were sold!Eileen was a pleasure to deal with throughout the process from the initial interview to scheduling her workshops and most importantly in the delivery of her workshops. I personally attended one of her workshops as I was personally interested in the content and was thoroughly impressed with both the content and presentation of the workshop, so much so that I purchased her book! All the feedback that I received from the conference attendees was very, very positive!I would highly recommend Eileen to any corporation looking to inspire their employees! (Michelle Zorn, TWA Committe Member, Xerox Canada)
Moodys Canada / Women’s Employee Resource Group — “Finding Ease in Times of Crazy Busy” (In person). Eileen provided a practical, informative and fun “Lunch and Learn” session for Moody’s Analytics Canada’s Women’s Employee Resource Group drawing from her strategies in her excellent and useful book, Ease: Manage Overwhelm in Times of “Crazy Busy”. She offered effective strategies on balancing our responsibilities during those times, and practical solutions with respect to maintaining positivity. Eileen’s event was one of most well attended events in the year, by both men and women, and garnered some of our highest levels of satisfaction from our participants. Eileen’s warm style, approachability and great knowledge of the topic made this event a highlight of our Employee Resource Group’s year! (Paulette Anthony, co-Chair, Moody’s Canada’s Women’s Employee Resource Group)
Webinar: Charity Village – “Finding Ease in Times of Crazy Busy”. Eileen recently presented a webinar, Finding Ease in Times of Crazy Busy, for the CharityVillage free webinar series for Canadian nonprofit professionals. In the time leading up to the live session, Eileen was so easy to work with, being proactive & professional, and making every deadline with time to spare. During the live webinar, she was an excellent presenter, with a wonderfully calm approach that our participants really seemed to value. Our feedback from participants has been very positive and I wouldn’t hesitate to work with Eileen again in the future. (Marina Dawson, Marketing & Community Coordinator)
Henry Schein Canada Inc. — “Let’s Get Seriously Happy! (In person)
“Eileen presented at our finance department’s annual development day at Henry Schein Canada, Inc. The presentation was informative, interactive and humorous. In addition to her presentation, Eileen was willing to collaborate with us to develop an ‘amazing race to happiness’ activity which she facilitated outdoors after the presentation. The race linked in nicely to the topics discussed earlier in the day and Eileen did a great job of keeping our large group engaged. We received wonderful feedback from our employees after the event and would like to thank Eileen for a valuable and fun afternoon!” (Glen Watson, VP & CFO, Henry Schein Canada, Inc.)
H2 Marketing Central Annual Staff Retreat — “Brain-ability at Work” (3 hour workshop). Note: this workshop drew from my book, Ease, and included topics related to organizing in times of ‘crazy busy’ (working with the ‘brain in mind’ approach) and leveraging the positivity advantage.
“Eileen has captured the essence of self-management in her helpful, how-to book EASE. Understanding how our brains work and how to re-program them when we’re overwhelmed and overloaded is useful, smart information for anyone whether you’re starting out in your career, mid-stream or moving into retirement. H2 Central had the great privilege of having Eileen facilitate a workshop on Ease techniques. Everyone came away with a keen sense that they can self-manage and support their colleagues – particularly in “crazy, busy times.” (Elizabeth Hoyle, CEO H2 Central Marketing & Communications)
CYBF (now called “Futurpreneur Canada) — LEADERSHIP FUNDAMENTALS (in person – Training and coaching program for emerging leaders).
“This program has helped me understand the impact of good leadership in every interaction – not just the big, performance evaluation meetings or regular check-ins, but in day-to-day conversations. (I learned)…listening, coaching, vs. providing solutions.” (manager/participant)
“Along with all the other participants, we have established a common opportunity to band together as leadership ambassadors across the organization. The learnings from the leadership sessions will allow me to approach my learning and development in a different way. I feel through these sessions, I have increased my opportunity to influence communications within the organization and within my team. (HR Manager and participant in program).
“…I now have a number of tools in my “people manager” toolkit that I will be drawing on both in managing my direct reports and when managing project teams. Further I found the concepts covered (giving feedback, recognizing leadership moments, and strengths spotting) are applicable and extremely useful both in and outside of my daily role at CYBF. I wanted to especially mention the final session on positivity. This really brought the group together and I felt that I was leaving the room with allies within the organization.” (manager/participant)
UoT/ Organizational Development & Learning Centre for staff: BRAIN WORKS: Tap into your best brain-ability at Work (in person)
Note: this 3-hour workshop drew from upcoming book, Ease, and included topics related to the positivity advantage as well as organizing with the ‘brain in mind’
“This was the best ODLC session I’ve taken! Eileen was super organized, (brought a) great balance of theory and practical tips and there were lots of take-aways. Please bring Eileen back.” (participant)
“This was a very powerful session with hands-on activities and skills that are easy to use. I’m so grateful for being part of this session.”
Sick Kids Hospital/Administrators: THE POSITIVITY ADVANTAGE (in person)
“I found today’s session to be entertaining and useful. She’s a great speaker and I liked the interactive approach that she took for her presentation. The strategies and ideas that she presented were not only applicable to our working lives, but to our personal lives, which was a bonus. I would definitely be interested in more of her available sessions.”
“I absolutely loved her talk and would love to attend more sessions. She was a great presenter and I think her presentation was very relevant for both work and home life“.
” It’s funny how you don’t realize that you actually do some of those things until someone points it out to you, whether it be positive or negative. Definitely would like to hear more of her sessions….. I would love to attend more of her sessions.I thought it was excellent, her energy and knowledge… Muy bien!”
HONE THE POSITIVITY ADVANTAGE + FROM FRAZZLE TO FLOW — Red Mountain Resort, Utah, St. George. Guests partook in two seminars that previewed content from my book Ease. Thumbs up response – and I was invited back to be a guest speaker again.
PERFORMANCE DEVELOPMENT & COACHING SKILLS FOR LEADERS – Fanshawe College (In person):
“Masterful presentation and well-crafted exercises; great job! ….”The discussion exercises were particularly useful.”…I have learned new skills and approaches that I can practise everyday. I also feel this workshop (will be) beneficial to my team as they will be impacted with my new-found approaches. Great content and wonderful facilitators.”….”It reminded me of the important role I have and the opportunity to fulfill as the leader of my team.” ….”facilitation excellent!” (from various participants).
CPA WEBINAR ON CAREER MOJO & FINDING MEANING AT WORK
In explaining how useful this session would be for participant and overall organization (various participants) –> “It will help me put certain daily activities into perspective and be able to counsel junior staff to recognize the differentiation mentioned………help me to become more creative which will help me to bring more satisfaction into my work. The positive thinking will bring positive attitude and positive result for the organization……..This session will likely improve morale and productivity.”
CICA WEBINAR ON ‘DEALING WITH OVERWHELM’:
“Great tips! I wish there were more courses like this as easily available on the subject as this one was. Thank-you for offering it.” ….”Eileen is great speaker and I found many tidbits I feel we will be able to use in our day to day office life.”…..It’s a good reminder of things to do during busy season to keep sane. I will be incorporating many of the techniques in order to make for an easier busy season.”….”This session will assist me in managing my day. I will keep the Presentation on my Desktop to remind me every day that it can be done.”….”Should alleviate stress significantly and bring on better productivity and less overtime….It exceeded my expectations.” (from various participants).
WORKSHOP – COLLABORATION THAT WORKS:
“Eileen developed and delivered an engaging and valuable workshop for the Ontario college system’s provincial human resource development (CCHRD) group. What stands out about Eileen is that she is flexible, listens well and was able to adapt her expertise to our group’s and the individuals within the group’s needs. Her experiential approach reinforces learning and provided our participants with much to think about, skills to apply when back in their own workplace and strategies to use when leading and working with their teams. Feedback was excellent from all participants. Top qualities: Great Results, High Integrity, Creative. Thank you Eileen.” (Carol Henry, Director, Centre for Faculty and Staff Development, Seneca College)
AFOA PRESENTATION: EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AT WORK:
In February 2011, Eileen Chadnick of Big Cheese Coaching developed and presented a session at the Aboriginal Financial Officers Association (AFOA) of Canada’s National Conference in Vancouver, BC on “The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace”. The Conference attracted over 1,000 Aboriginal managers and leaders from across the country. This session was voted one of the most useful and engaging in AFOA’s conference surveys. Eileen made a concerted and successful effort to ensure her presentation was tailored to the audience and that effort was very much reflected in the delegate’s feedback.” (Suzanne Seebach, Director, Programs, Services & Communications, AFOA Canada)
CICA (now called CPA)WEBINAR ON FEEDBACK:
“One of the best CICA webinars I have participated in — very well presented. Speaker knew her topic and held your interest.” …….“I enjoyed the style (friendly and informative).”
The session will impact me and my organization…(various responses): “provided me with insight on how to create a learning culture”…..”I am in a new role and this will help me lead my team”…..”will help me take judgement out of difficult feedback.”….”I will coach others managers to do the same”….”I will work on reframing my thinking to learner style and not be so anxious/nervous about the feedback process.”……”will help me mentor my staff”…..”I will be able to manage tough employee relationships better and help our organization be one of the best to work for.”
COACHING SKILLS FOR LEADERS – Fanshawe College:
“It was educational, reflective and fun.”…..”This workshop was very useful.”…..”Provided me with new set of tools for day-to-day situations.”….”It taught me about traits in myself that I can now apply to my leadership.”…”gained practical skill and great reference material.”….”given me new tools to help me continue working with a team both as a leader and a peer.”
CICA WEBINAR ON ‘ADDICTED TO YES HABIT’:
“Will help me by managing my workload and result in a more satisfying workplace – and less burnout.” …..”As a manager, I will be more congizant of the signs people display when they are being asked to do too much.”…..These techniques will allow me to have a more balanced workload – at work and at home.”…..”as overcommitting often leads to missed deadlines, a more realistic approach will help to manage both expectations and projects.”….”It will help make me a better and more respected employee and help me with managerial promotion.”…..”help with more positive choices, leading to better time management and productivity.”…..”This webinar will help me significantly in all aspects of my life.”….”I learned the importance of boundaries, how they are communicated and how to be flexible.” (from various participants).
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT: Strategies for a TGIM Work-life — tips for engagement in one’s everyday work-life.
“Yesterday we met with Eileen in the morning. No one knew quite what to expect. We were met with an enthusiastic, engaging presenter who through her exercises not only allowed us to bond as a social group, but to see and appreciate our strengths, some of which were hidden! As a result, many of us see each other in new lights, and the level of camaraderie was uplifting. It was a fun and at times touching seminar which has positively altered many perspectives.”
CENTENNIAL COLLEGE (May 08): “Reflective Leader’s Forum” – 2 day retreat for the College’s most senior leaders) exploring reflective practice; team and individual strengths and more.
“Excellent! Eileen is a very personable facilitator — great use of humour and stories, not over the top. Great content, control fo group, balancing….”
“Excellent facilitation of learning and focus on leadership”
“Timing was well-managed. Participants were engaged without being put on the spot.”
PROJECT WORLD / BUSINESS ANALYST WORLD CONFERENCE: Coaching Skills for Leaders — a two-day workshop for senior-level project managers and business analysts.
“Eileen is truly passionate and eager for her students to develop their coaching skills. Her use of modeling throughout the course gave us great first-hand experience in the application of these skills.”
“The instructor (Eileen) was amazing. She keeps the workshop very interesting and keeps in mind the diversity of the participants. She always acknowledges each person’s contribution. It was a very pleasant experience.”
“This was an excellent workshop. Eileen was great in helping form a bond between all the participants and enhance our network.”
CANADIAN INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS (CICA) WEBINAR: Assertiveness at Work:
“I thought it was excellent for under an hour — filled iwth lots of good information. the Q&A also covered a lot of good ground and Eileen had further great ideas.”
“If I use some of the tips and strategies , I think I will be a better communicator.”
“I have some new information to think about and will focus on my performance and leadership..”
“…taught me to be more effective personally in my role as well as developing skills in my staff.”
“I learned that I can be assertive without being aggressive or nasty……”
“This will definitely help me in coping with the fears I have in taking on a more self assertive role.”
FINANCIAL PLANNERS STANDARDS COUNCIL (FPSC) Webinar (March 08): Asking the Right Questions for Career Success.
“We found her presentation to be engaging, informative and entertaining and would highly encourage others to attend her….webinars.” Will O’Neil, FPSC Communications Specialist.
EXTENDICARE – Staff Conference: Emotional Intelligence at Work:
“We thoroughly enjoyed your presentation today. Your delivery was so engaging that we lost all track of time. You are a very effective speaker and educator. We found your comments regarding emotional intellgience and the TGIM philosophy expecially intriguing. On behalf of Extendicare, thank you for a memorable presentation. – The Corporate Consulting Group (Extendicare)
FINANCIAL PLANNERS STANDARDS COUNCIL (FPSC) – (2005-2006) — a series of communications workshops for CFP® professionals.
“Thank you so much for the great training session on Friday! Some of us were talking in the elevator on the way out, and we all agreed that you & Ann are among the best presenters we have ever come across! You were very engaging, energetic, and you kept us alert, awake, and enthusiastic! (which can be a tough thing to do on a Friday afternoon)!!!”
“Great high energy presentation.”
“Very engaging; excellent pace; straight-shooters. I loved it”
“Very experienced. Very dynamic and very competent.”