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Susan Cain

Business, Education, Innovation, Leadership

Travels from New York, New York, USA

Susan Cain's speaking fee falls within range:
$30,000 to $50,000

Check Susan Cain's Availability and Fee

Susan Cain Profile

  • She is the best-selling author of the groundbreaking book Quiet: The Power of Introverts.

  • Her carefully researched work has called attention to developing introverts' talents in their own unique way rather than expecting them to conform to a world designed for extroverts.

  • She is the co-founder of The Quiet Institute which helps companies raise their performance through engaging the introverts on their team - an estimated 50% of today's workforce.
  • Bestselling author of the ground breaking book Quiet: The Power of Introverts, Susan started a new conversation worldwide about the unique contributions of introverts and how they are undervalued in a society that caters to extroverts. She calls for schools and businesses to reconsider their approach to cultivating their students’ and employees’ gifts, arguing that forcing introverts -who make up at least one-third of the population – to conform to an extroverted system causes wasted talent and energy.

    Susan’s TED talk “The Power of Introverts” is the second most viewed TED talk to date with over 8 million views. Her work has received numerous accolades and press including Fortune magazine, The New York Times, NPR and many more.

    Susan’s mission-based organization Quiet Revolution aims to change the lives of introverts by empowering them with the information, tools and resources they need to survive and thrive. Another one of her projects, The Quiet Leadership Institute has worked with companies like LinkedIn, GE, and Procter and Gamble, teaching their leaders how to unlock the power of introverts and achieve their organization’s full potential.

    Susan’s most recent undertaking is aimed at children as well as their parents and teachers. Her second book Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts sets out to empower teens and young adults. Her podcast Quiet: The Power of Introverts debuted in February 2016 as a 10-part series designed to give parents and teachers the tools they need to empower quiet kids.

    • View Extended/Alternate Bio

      Susan Cain is the author of the bestsellers Quiet Journal, Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts, and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, which has been translated into 40 languages, spent eight years on The New York Times best seller list, and was named the #1 best book of the year by Fast Company magazine, which also named Cain one of its Most Creative People in Business. Her new masterpiece, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole, is forthcoming from Crown on April 5, 2022.

      LinkedIn named Susan the 6th Top Influencer in the world. Susan partners with Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant and Dan Pink to curate the Next Big Idea Book Club. They donate all their proceeds to children’s literacy programs.

      Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. Her record-smashing TED talk has been viewed over 40 million times, and was named by Bill Gates as one of his all-time favorite talks.

      Cain has also spoken at Google, PIXAR, the U.S. Treasury, P&G, Harvard, and West Point. She received Harvard Law School’s Celebration Award for Thought Leadership, the Toastmasters International Golden Gavel Award for Communication and Leadership, and was named one of the world’s top 50 Leadership and Management Experts by Inc. Magazine. She is an honors graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School. She lives in the Hudson River Valley with her husband, two sons and golden doodle, Sophie.

    Susan Cain Speaking Videos

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    Susan Cain's Speech Descriptions

    Researcher Susan Cain throws stereotypes aside as she reveals the valuable contributions introverts make to academics, business, and other sectors. An introvert herself, that doesn’t stop Cain from bringing down the house with her own childhood experiences of being pressured to conform to a world that values extroverts.

    Cain explains why it’s beneficial to let introverts cultivate their talents in their own non-extroverted way. She challenges corporate and educational audiences to rethink personal relations, showing organizations how they can start valuing introverts’ differences and tap into their unique gifts.

    BITTERSWEET: THE SECRET KEYS TO CREATIVITY AND CONNECTION

    With her bestselling phenomenon, Quiet, Susan Cain urged our society to cultivate space for the undervalued, indispensable introverts among us, thereby revealing an un­tapped power hidden in plain sight. Now she explores why we experience sorrow and longing, and how embracing the bittersweetness at the heart of life is the true path to creativity, con­nection, and authenticity. Susan shows how a bittersweet state of mind is the quiet force that helps us transcend our personal and collective pain. If we don’t acknowledge our own heartache, we can end up inflicting it on others. But if we realize that all humans know—or will know—loss and suffering, we can turn toward one another.

    At a time of collective loss, profound discord, and personal anxiety, Bittersweet brings us together in deep and unexpected ways. Using her trademark mix of stories, research, memoir, practical tips, and inspiration, Susan will show you the power of a “Bittersweet” work culture, including:

    • How the expression of sorrow, as well as joy, is key to deep creativity and genuine connection.
    • Case studies of organizations, from hospitals to oil rigs, that have transformed their cultures – and smashed productivity records – by creating “bittersweet” cultures.
    • An analysis of everything from Harry Potter novels to fashion photography to reveal what creativity really is – including its surprising relationship to longing, sorrow, and rising above our limitations.
    • How you can use these insights and actionable steps to build true connection and foster a more creative and mutually supportive work environment.

    QUIET: HOW TO HARNESS THE STRENGTHS OF INTROVERTS TO CHANGE HOW WE WORK, LEAD, AND INNOVATE

    Did you know introverted leaders often deliver better results than extroverted leaders do? That the most spectacularly creative people tend to be introverts? That the most innovative thinking happens alone and not in teams? One of the central challenges of any business is to bring out the best in its employees. Yet when it comes to introverts—who make up a third to a half of the workforce—our leadership strategy mainly consists of asking them to act like extroverts. This is a serious waste of talent and energy.

    In her enlightening, relatable, and practical talks, Susan Cain shows us that introverts think and work in ways that are crucial to the survival of today’s organizations. How can you structure your organization so that the best ideas—rather than those of the most vocal and assertive people—dominate? How do introverts and extroverts solve problems and evaluate risk differently? What do introverts know about creativity that the rest of us should learn? Drawing on her original research and the latest in neuroscience and psychology, Susan will radically change your view of the best ways to develop leaders, manage teams, make smart hires, and stimulate innovation.

    What People are Saying about Seeing Susan Speak

    Rating Entries

    Susan was great! Her presentation resonated greatly with our group, and it was surprising to find out how many introverts we have in a group of largely alpha males. Her book was also well received at dinner — all copies were gone!
    — Klaris Tamazian, Hightower

    HOW Design Live couldn’t have kicked off with a more incredible opening keynote. Susan’s session was incredible and was just so fitting for our crowd. She set the stage and framed the event and the sessions to come perfectly! I heard so many compliments from our attendees. I will stay in touch and we will see how things work in the future for Susan to possibly speak another one of our events.
    — Amy Conover, HOW Events

    Last night was—in a word—terrific! You are truly remarkable in your ability to connect, be passionate about changing the way our culture values introverts, and genuinely cause people to THINK DIFFERENTLY. I have no doubt that your Quiet Revolution is going to be one of the seminal business/cultural shifts for this decade—and hopefully with lasting impact for many years to come. Thank you for sharing your warmth and enthusiasm with us: Womenetics and Porsche.
    — Ellen Adair Wyche, VP Programming and Content, Womenetics

    What an amazing event! Susan, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We continue to receive so many positive messages from all those that attended in reference to how much they appreciate this intimate moment with you. We will treasure and be positively impacted from this learning for the rest of our lives!
    — Elida Pazmino Senior Manager, Diversity & Inclusion, L’Oreal USA

    Susan was completely awesome today as I knew she would be. Everyone loved the session.
    — Brendan Barnes, Founder, London Business Forum

    Thank you for providing an amazing, invigorating, thought-provoking presentation – and leading such an engaging and interesting discussion. I’ve received so many notes and in-person feedback (like never before) including: * “Susan was outstanding!” * “The morning academic conference today was excellent. I so enjoyed it.” * “It was a great lecture. Thank you for bringing it to HSS.” * “Home Run!” * “Thank you so much for this am conference, it was evocative and engaging with memorable stories” * “Susan Cain gave a great talk this morning, glad we were able to have her.
    — Martha O’Brasky-Crawley VP, Education Institute

    Susan was AMAZING and is as incredible as you said she was. Her message was so important and her delivery was spectacular. The audience continued to sing her praises through the whole conference.
    — Kathleen Hassey DNP, M.Ed, BSN, RN, Director, Northeastern University School Health Academy

    Within minutes, Susan Cain became one of my favorite speakers of all time. From the moment she stepped onto the WorkHuman stage, she displayed an undeniable range of knowledge, clarity, authenticity, and warmth. Best of all, she was the same in person. No surprise, the feedback from our attendees was off the charts. I cannot recommend Susan highly enough and can’t wait to have her back at WorkHuman!
    — Kevin Mullins, Vice President of Global Communications, Globoforce

    Susan was outstanding, and people were blown away. We’ve brought a long list of accomplished speakers and thought leaders to Mercer Island, and I have heard a number of people repeat that Susan was the best speaker we have ever had. I personally agree. Her message is salient, timely and crucial—especially for parents and teachers—and she is also warm, witty, engaging, and articulate. She not only speaks softly, but with such kindness and humility that even when she disputes the value of group work in the classroom, teachers and administrators fully understand her without getting defensive. Back in the day when I taught, my Dean of Faculty described his job as “trying to herd cats.” I truly think Susan Cain would be successful herding even the most independent-minded cats over to the side of our quieter kids. On behalf of the entire Parent Edge team and Mercer Island Community, please thank her for her time, energy, and passion.
    — Jaymi Garvett, Parent Edge

    You are an excellent speaker and your event was a huge success! You make it look so easy. You were our most well attended Bing Signature Speaker to date.
    — Laura Mallatt, Bing/Microsoft

    Great public speakers believe their story, find their own style, and use intimacy, not intimidation (some thoughts on what makes Susan Cain such a great speaker).
    — Amy Cuddy, Harvard Business School, via Inc. Magazine

    Your talk was remarkable. People loved it. You have the incredible and rare capacity to be 100% human and authentic; 100% interesting; and 100% entertaining. Many I spoke to described it as the highlight of the conference.
    — Susan David, Ph.D., Co-founder, Institute of Coaching at Harvard Medical School

    The author of Quiet created a sense of intimacy and trust in a very short time. That’s the communication ability, as a leader, I want to have. I learned a lot from just watching how she did that.
    — Participant, New York Times Summit

    Susan was great! Her presentation resonated greatly with our group, and it was surprising to find out how many introverts we have in a group of largely alpha males. Her book was also well received at dinner — all copies were gone!
    — Klaris Tamazian, Hightower

    HOW Design Live couldn’t have kicked off with a more incredible opening keynote. Susan’s session was incredible and was just so fitting for our crowd. She set the stage and framed the event and the sessions to come perfectly! I heard so many compliments from our attendees. I will stay in touch and we will see how things work in the future for Susan to possibly speak another one of our events.
    — Amy Conover, HOW Events

    Last night was—in a word—terrific! You are truly remarkable in your ability to connect, be passionate about changing the way our culture values introverts, and genuinely cause people to THINK DIFFERENTLY. I have no doubt that your Quiet Revolution is going to be one of the seminal business/cultural shifts for this decade—and hopefully with lasting impact for many years to come. Thank you for sharing your warmth and enthusiasm with us: Womenetics and Porsche.
    — Ellen Adair Wyche, VP Programming and Content, Womenetics

    What an amazing event! Susan, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We continue to receive so many positive messages from all those that attended in reference to how much they appreciate this intimate moment with you. We will treasure and be positively impacted from this learning for the rest of our lives!
    — Elida Pazmino Senior Manager, Diversity & Inclusion, L’Oreal USA

    Susan was completely awesome today as I knew she would be. Everyone loved the session.
    — Brendan Barnes, Founder, London Business Forum

    Thank you for providing an amazing, invigorating, thought-provoking presentation – and leading such an engaging and interesting discussion. I’ve received so many notes and in-person feedback (like never before) including: * “Susan was outstanding!” * “The morning academic conference today was excellent. I so enjoyed it.” * “It was a great lecture. Thank you for bringing it to HSS.” * “Home Run!” * “Thank you so much for this am conference, it was evocative and engaging with memorable stories” * “Susan Cain gave a great talk this morning, glad we were able to have her.
    — Martha O’Brasky-Crawley VP, Education Institute

    Susan was AMAZING and is as incredible as you said she was. Her message was so important and her delivery was spectacular. The audience continued to sing her praises through the whole conference.
    — Kathleen Hassey DNP, M.Ed, BSN, RN, Director, Northeastern University School Health Academy

    Within minutes, Susan Cain became one of my favorite speakers of all time. From the moment she stepped onto the WorkHuman stage, she displayed an undeniable range of knowledge, clarity, authenticity, and warmth. Best of all, she was the same in person. No surprise, the feedback from our attendees was off the charts. I cannot recommend Susan highly enough and can’t wait to have her back at WorkHuman!
    — Kevin Mullins, Vice President of Global Communications, Globoforce

    Susan was outstanding, and people were blown away. We’ve brought a long list of accomplished speakers and thought leaders to Mercer Island, and I have heard a number of people repeat that Susan was the best speaker we have ever had. I personally agree. Her message is salient, timely and crucial—especially for parents and teachers—and she is also warm, witty, engaging, and articulate. She not only speaks softly, but with such kindness and humility that even when she disputes the value of group work in the classroom, teachers and administrators fully understand her without getting defensive. Back in the day when I taught, my Dean of Faculty described his job as “trying to herd cats.” I truly think Susan Cain would be successful herding even the most independent-minded cats over to the side of our quieter kids. On behalf of the entire Parent Edge team and Mercer Island Community, please thank her for her time, energy, and passion.
    — Jaymi Garvett, Parent Edge

    You are an excellent speaker and your event was a huge success! You make it look so easy. You were our most well attended Bing Signature Speaker to date.
    — Laura Mallatt, Bing/Microsoft

    Great public speakers believe their story, find their own style, and use intimacy, not intimidation (some thoughts on what makes Susan Cain such a great speaker).
    — Amy Cuddy, Harvard Business School, via Inc. Magazine

    Your talk was remarkable. People loved it. You have the incredible and rare capacity to be 100% human and authentic; 100% interesting; and 100% entertaining. Many I spoke to described it as the highlight of the conference.
    — Susan David, Ph.D., Co-founder, Institute of Coaching at Harvard Medical School

    Thank you SO much for a fantastic webinar today. We have received amazing feedback already. You answered all the questions so thoughtfully and all of us found the topic super interesting. I do hope we have the opportunity to work together again in the future.
    — Sarah Allen, Head of Talent Development, AXA Investment Managers

    Susan Cain keynoted at our annual marquee event and was absolutely superb. Polished, relevant, and accessible, she connected with the audience immediately and held them in rapt attention throughout her presentation. Susan was our most popular speaker, and I would recommend her for any engagement. This was one of the best experiences I have had working with a keynote speaker.
    — Rachael Feigebaum, SVP, Events Program Producer, The Advertising Research Foundation

    The author of Quiet created a sense of intimacy and trust in a very short time. That’s the communication ability, as a leader, I want to have. I learned a lot from just watching how she did that.
    — Participant, New York Times Summit

    Susan’s address has been talked about all week, throughout campus. I keep finding myself in conversations about it. We actually had a major department retreat and planning meeting the other day, and we referenced many of the principles she discussed in those meetings. So, so glad she was able to come.
    — Jon McBride at a Major University

    “You were a huge hit–you’ve been cited by many, many people as their favorite session — and I hope you enjoyed being with us as much as we enjoyed having you there and learning from you.”
    — Fast — Company Magazine, Innovation Uncensored Conference

    “THANK YOU again for the fabulous presentation at the J&J CDTL leadership forum. You received very positive feedback from the group, and [everyone] in the audience felt it was very instructive and impactful. I know many were still talking about it as we finished the day, and I have no doubt [they] will try to take their learning to [their] practice moving forward.”
    — Johnson & Johnson Leadership Forum

    “I cannot underscore what a terrific job you did with your talk and how much of a pleasure it was to have the opportunity to meet you in person. You have outlined an immensely important issue when it comes to promoting more effective personal relations and business success and we are in your debt for both discovering it and then marshalling such passionate and persuasive arguments for why the issue matters. Thank you as well for being willing to sign all the copies of your book that you did.”
    — Rochester University

    “After spending all day yesterday basking in the glow of that marvelous event Tuesday night, I just wanted to send you a personal note thanking you for making the entire event so fascinating and inspiring for so many people. We have received an enormous amount of feedback from the over four hundred people who attended the event indicating that it was the most interesting and inspiring lecture that they have attended in a very long time. Your ability to connect with an audience in a very personal way while imparting fascinating information about all of us is indeed unique. We are proud as an organization to have brought such an interesting and inspiring speaker to our community. Your talk will resonate in the educational community in the Washington, D.C. area for a long time to come.”
    — Parents Council of Washington D.C.

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    Books by Susan Cain:

    Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole
    Bittersweetness is a tendency to states of long­ing, poignancy, and sorrow; an acute aware­ness of passing time; and a curiously piercing joy at the beauty of the world. It recognizes that light and dark, birth and death —bitter and sweet—are forever paired.

    If you’ve ever wondered why you like sad music . . .
    If you find comfort or inspiration in a rainy day . . .
    If you react intensely to music, art, nature, and beauty . . .

    Then you probably identify with the bitter­sweet state of mind.

    With Quiet, Susan Cain urged our society to cultivate space for the undervalued, indispensable introverts among us, thereby revealing an un­tapped power hidden in plain sight. Now she em­ploys the same mix of research, storytelling, and memoir to explore why we experience sorrow and longing, and how embracing the bittersweetness at the heart of life is the true path to creativity, con­nection, and transcendence.

    Cain shows how a bittersweet state of mind is the quiet force that helps us transcend our personal and collective pain. If we don’t acknowledge our own heartache, she says, we can end up inflicting it on others via abuse, domination, or neglect. But if we realize that all humans know—or will know—loss and suffering, we can turn toward one another.

    At a time of profound discord and personal anxiety, Bittersweet brings us together in deep and unexpected ways.




    Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking

    The book that started the Quiet Revolution
    At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts—Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak—that we owe many of the great contributions to society.

    In Quiet, Susan Cain argues that we dramatically undervalue introverts and shows how much we lose in doing so. She charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal throughout the twentieth century and explores how deeply it has come to permeate our culture. She also introduces us to successful introverts—from a witty, high-octane public speaker who recharges in solitude after his talks, to a record-breaking salesman who quietly taps into the power of questions. Passionately argued, superbly researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet has the power to permanently change how we see introverts and, equally important, how they see themselves.




    Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts

    Susan Cain sparked a worldwide conversation when she published Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. With her inspiring book, she permanently changed the way we see introverts and the way introverts see themselves.

    The original book focused on the workplace, and Susan realized that a version for and about kids was also badly needed. This book is all about kids’ world—school, extracurriculars, family life, and friendship. You’ll read about actual kids who have tackled the challenges of not being extroverted and who have made a mark in their own quiet way. You’ll hear Susan Cain’s own story, and you’ll be able to make use of the tips at the end of each chapter. There’s even a guide at the end of the book for parents and teachers.

    This insightful, accessible, and empowering book, illustrated with amusing comic-style art, will be eye-opening to extroverts and introverts alike.

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