Dr. Ken Sterling, MBA & Esq.

Most people walk into critical conversations hoping the room tilts in their favor.  Hope is not a strategy. The best deal makers know how to TILT the room.

TILT the Room is a high-stakes keynote on influence, negotiation, and strategic communication, built for moments that matter: boardrooms, crisis negotiations, major deals, conflict resolution, and leadership under pressure.

Drawing from real experience across law, media, technology, finance, and high-risk dealmaking, this keynote introduces the TILT Framework:

Trust. Influence. Leverage. Timing. Not as theory.
As a practical operating system for navigating power, uncertainty, and human behavior.

Participants learn how rooms actually move, how decisions are really made, and how to quietly shape outcomes before the conversation ever begins.

What This Keynote Delivers

• How to establish credibility fast, even when you start at a disadvantage
• How to read the room and identify hidden power dynamics
• How to influence without force, pressure, or performative tactics
• How to create leverage without threatening it
• How timing beats brilliance in high-stakes negotiations
• How to stay calm, controlled, and effective when others lose discipline

This keynote blends tactical frameworks with real stories from high-risk environments, offering both strategic altitude and ground-level execution. The result is clarity, confidence, and a repeatable advantage in moments that define careers and organizations.

Who It’s For

• Executives and senior leadership teams
• Dealmakers, founders, and investors
• Legal, media, and technology professionals
• Sales, business development, and partnership leaders
• Organizations navigating growth, conflict, or transformation

Why TILT the Room Works

Because influence is rarely about what you say in the room.
It is about what you do before you enter it.

This keynote equips audiences with a disciplined way to prepare, position, and perform when outcomes truly matter. No theatrics. No gimmicks. Just clear thinking, calibrated influence, and decisive action.

You don’t win by being louder.
You win by tilting the room.

Building and managing high-performing teams requires more than just setting expectations—it’s about cultivating a culture of high care and high accountability – based on groundbreaking research by IHHP and Dr. JP Pawliw-Fry.

In this talk, the focus is on how to use feedback that shows high care and that holds people accountable. This session moves beyond the incredibly effective feedback methods from Radical Candor, Crucial Conversations and Thanks for the Feedback.  This interactive session dives into how curiosity, reflection, and prompting with questions can transform the way feedback is delivered. It’s not about telling employees what to do; it’s about fostering an open, growth-oriented conversation that empowers them to reflect and take ownership.

After these sessions that include keynote and workshop, audiences walk away with a blend of theory, research, and actionable strategies for giving feedback in a way that promotes collaboration, strengthens relationships, and drives high performance. Whether you’re a leader, manager, or team member, you’ll leave with the tools to create a feedback culture that truly inspires.

Business leaders and owners are overwhelmed with tools and want to better understand what to do – with clear, actionable guidance. In this keynote, USC Annenberg professor and longtime digital strategist Ken Sterling delivers a practical roadmap for F1000 divisions,  SOHO, & mom and pop businesses to unlock the full power of Google’s ecosystem without needing a technical background or outside agency.

Ken brings two decades of hands-on experience teaching digital media and implementing Google strategy inside real companies. As a partner in a digital agency and later the head of marketing at BigSpeak, he transformed inbound growth from about fifty leads a month to more than five hundred a month through a disciplined approach to Google Workspace, Google Ads, SEO, local search, and content strategy. His work spans thousands of small businesses that need simple, repeatable steps to compete and win online.

This session is designed specifically for the SOHO and mid-sized business audience. Attendees will learn how to use Google’s suite to increase visibility, credibility, and revenue while reducing operational friction.

Attendees will leave with a complete transformation in clarity and confidence, including:

• A clear understanding of the Google ecosystem and which tools matter most for medium and small business
• A simple blueprint for setting up Google Workspace for security, collaboration, and professionalism
• Practical guidance on domains, websites, and what Google’s transition to Squarespace means for them
• A step by step view of organic search versus paid search and how to make smart decisions with limited budgets
• The core SEO practices every small business can implement immediately
• How to use Gemini to automate content, communication, and research
• How to optimize Google Business Profiles and build a steady flow of positive local reviews.

The outcome is a practical plan owners can start using the same day. No jargon. No confusion. Just a straightforward, real world guide to using Google Tools to drive more customers, create smoother operations, and build lasting digital credibility.

Ken delivers this keynote with the clarity of a professor and the precision of a practitioner, giving your audience the confidence and capability to take control of their digital future.

In an era where technology and AI are reshaping our world at an unprecedented pace, the intersection of ethics, law, and leadership in media and technology has never been more critical. This keynote will delve into the complex legal and ethical challenges faced by businesses, individuals, and governments alike as they navigate the digital landscape. Explore the implications of AI, data privacy, and free speech in the context of emerging technologies and evolving societal expectations.  This keynote can be customized for the audience to focus more on technology companies, social media platforms, data privacy, intellectual property (IP) or how to be compliant and welcoming with employees and customers.

Today from a legal and compliance lens, all companies must innovate or die – this means that all stakeholders, in every corner of the enterprise should be innovative and embrace technology.  Add on top of innovation, a relentless tenacity and drive to constantly improve.  At this point in the AI era, you will NOT be replaced by AI.  However, you will be replaced by someone who knows how to use AI.  In this interactive discussion and moderated Q&A, leaders learn what they need to know about AI today and how to future-proof your business and harness AI as a strategic advantage.