Cara Cunniff, in her own words

Cara is a keynote speaker on Connection Intelligence — the human skill of building trust, visibility and belonging through the conversations most people overlook.

Her two signature talks are Small Talk Isn't Small® and Brief Encounters: How the Smallest Conversations Build the Biggest Careers. Both reframe the everyday moments — the hello in the lift, the first two minutes of a meeting, the message you didn't send — as the place where careers, culture and confidence are actually made.

Cara is the right speaker for you if you're booking for:

• A conference or industry event that needs a fresh, intelligent voice on human connection at work.
• A leadership offsite where the senior team needs to feel something, not sit through another framework.
• A women's network, ERG or rising-talent programme where social confidence and visibility are the real subject.
• A sales kick-off, partner day or all-hands where relationships — not slides — drive the business.
• An L&D or culture moment where you want practical behaviours people will use next week, not next quarter.

Most speakers in this space sound like HR. Cara doesn't. The work is editorial, warm and emotionally aware — and it's grounded in original IP, not recycled frameworks: Small Talk Isn't Small®, Connection Intelligence and the Connection Rules.

She makes the room laugh, then think, then change how they speak to the person next to them. Bookers describe it as "the rare keynote people are still talking about a week later."

• A new language for how trust is actually built at work.
• Permission to stop performing and start connecting.
• A small number of concrete Connection Rules they can use on Monday — in meetings, intros, hallway moments and hybrid calls.
• The feeling that the best ideas in the room — not the loudest voices — can finally be heard.

• Keynote — 30, 45 or 60 minutes, in-person or virtual.
• Fireside chat & Q&A — moderated conversation, on stage or on camera.
• Workshop — half-day or full-day Develop Workplace Emotional Culture sessions for teams.
• Leadership offsite — curated long-form sessions for senior teams and boards.

Audiences at BT, Pfizer, HMRC, the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and Enterprise Nation — plus leadership teams, ERGs and conferences across the UK and beyond.

Cara is based in the UK and speaks at events worldwide. Travel is built into the fee for international bookings.

The fastest way is to book a 15-minute intro call. Bring the date, the audience and the outcome you want the room to walk away with — Cara will shape the talk around that.

Prefer email? Send the brief to hello@caracunniff.com.