Travels from San Diego, California, USA
Sarita Maybin's speaking fee falls within range: $15,000 to $20,000
Sarita Maybin provides her audiences with the skills to transform uncomfortable conversations into constructive communication. With real stories, real solutions and a relatable presence, she breaks down barriers to reveal how to work together better.
In her 20+ years as an international speaker and communication expert, Sarita has spoken in all 50 states, 10 countries—including Iceland—and on the prestigious TEDx stage. Her extensive client list includes Hewlett-Packard, Los Angeles County, Kaiser Permanente, Department of the Navy, University of California and many others.
Sarita has made it her mission to inspire others to embrace positivity, even amid the challenges of our ever-changing high-tech times. Raised as a “military brat” moving from country to country, Sarita quickly learned how to make fast friends and finesse stressful situations.
She is a former university dean of students and literally wrote the book on how to answer the perpetually perplexing question: If You Can’t Say Something Nice, What DO You Say? She continues the conversation in her new book Say What You Mean in a Nice Way.
Growing up in a military family, Sarita lived in many places, including 9 years in Germany. Moving frequently, she discovered the importance of adapting, staying positive and “playing nicely.”
After earning a Masters Degree in Counseling from the University of Maryland, College Park, Sarita pursued a career in University Administration. Over 13 years she held positions at four state universities including University of Maryland, Old Dominion University, University of California-Davis and University of California-San Diego.
Making a career change in 1993, Sarita became a full-time professional speaker. She started her speaking career as an independent contractor with CareerTrack Seminars and then moved on to her own speaking business.
Her high-energy keynote speeches and workshops help audiences have fun learning how to stay positive, confront tough communication challenges and work together better!
Sarita has spoken at campuses, companies and conferences in 49 of the 50 states, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Jamaica, Canada, England, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Iceland. Her clients include Hewlett Packard, Kaiser Permanente, WD-40, Los Angeles County, Department of the Navy, and the Las Vegas Convention Center among others.
Sarita was voted a Top 5 Communication Speaker and had the privilege of speaking on the prestigious TEDx stage. She is on the Board of Directors for her local YMCA and is a recipient of other honors/awards including:
She is also a Past Chapter President of the National Speakers Association and has been interviewed by the media about her book, If You Can’t Say Something Nice, What DO You Say?
Growing up at some point, you probably heard from a family member or teacher the phrase “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” While this was a favorite of Sarita Maybin’s mother, Sarita quickly found out that life presents many situations where you do need to something. How then can you turn a necessary but maybe uncomfortable discussion into a productive conversation?
Sarita relays her own experience learning to choose her words well in order to get others to collaborate with her, without causing further conflict or making her look bossy. “This will make a big difference in our lives if we can learn to ask more effectively for what we want,” she states, noting that most of us “are just a small adjustment away from getting what we want.”
Engaging from the get-go, Sarita Maybin gets audiences energized about taking on communication challenges in what past attendees have described as the “fastest hour” they’ve ever experienced. In a well paced fun program, Sarita takes you through her street-tested communication strategies for cutting down stress, resolving sticky situations, and deflecting toxic thoughts or comments. You’ll leave with several new tricks and tactics for staying positive, setting limits, and turning uncomfortable conversations into constructive discussions while maintaining healthy relationships.
Say What You Mean in a Nice Way: Communicating with Kindness and Compassion
Learn how to transform uncomfortable conversations into constructive communication in this upbeat presentation based on Sarita Maybin’s new book Say What You Mean in a Nice Way. Take away real solutions for communicating with compassion, kindness and civility—in person and online. Gain fresh insights on how to say what you mean and mean what you say in a nice way.
Presentation highlights include:
- How to communicate with C.A.R.E. to create positive results - You’re Not the Boss of Me – How to gain cooperation when you’re not in charge - Do You Play Nicely? How to lead, follow or get out of the way - How to navigate dialogue dilemmas when communicating online - Are you a L.I.A.R.? – Four behaviors that make or break relationships
How to Maintain High-Touch Relationships in High-Tech Times
From Facebook to email and texting, technology has taken over as the primary means of communication. Yet conversations are still a crucial part of relationship-building, both professionally and personally. This upbeat presentation will provide real-life strategies for maintaining “high-touch” relationships while taking advantage of the innovations of “high-tech” times.
- How to compose reader-friendly emails that cause people to respond - Strategies for creating “community” among your eNewsletter readers - High-Tech Checklist: Find out whether your cell phone behavior is respectful or rude - 3 clues that you should choose to call rather than email or text - How to make the most of networking at the “virtual water cooler” - Text Talk: Cracking the code of cross-generational communication
How to Stay Positive and Focused in Uncertain Times
ALTERNATE TITLE: Adapting, Succeeding & Thriving in the Workplace
The ability to stay positive and productive in the face of change, challenges and uncertain times is essential for career success. In this interactive presentation, you will learn how to stay motivated, respond to workplace challenges and rekindle passion for your career.
- Seven steps for thriving on change - How to cope with workplace situations that are beyond your control - Twelve motivators that can keep you motivated at work - Five ways to rekindle passion for your career - How to communicate concerns in a way that will get the results you desire - How to effectively protect yourself from the negativity of others - How to use your “resiliency resources” to bounce back from adversity
Communicating for Success
In this interactive presentation, you will learn how to communicate in a way that gets your ideas heard and encourages the cooperation of others. Sarita will also share her Top Ten Positive Communication Phrases and her two “green jello” principles of conflict resolution.
- Find out what your body language is saying - How to overcome barriers to listening - How to receive feedback without getting defensive - Do’s and Don’ts of Giving Constructive Criticism - Sarita’s Top Ten Positive Communication Phrases - Three Step Communication Model - Sarita’s “green jello” principles of conflict resolution
If You Can’t Say Something Nice, What DO You Say?
Practical Solutions for Working Together Better
We’ve all been told “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” This high energy presentation based on Sarita’s book provides practical approaches and positive phrases for those times when you need to say something NOT so nice. Learn how to have difficult conversations and to constructively clue someone in, deflect the negative comment of a well-meaning friend, or let a business colleague know what he or she is doing drives you crazy — without destroying the relationship.
This presentation will provide answers to such questions as:
- How do I know if I should confront a situation or just let it go? - How can I soften the sting when giving negative feedback or bad news? - What should I do if someone asks my opinion and I have nothing good to say? - How do I tell my boss a thing or two without appearing ugly or insubordinate? - What’s the best way to respond to nasty comments like “that’s a dumb idea,” “I knew you couldn’t do it” or “what were you thinking?”
How to Get More Done with Less Stress
Is your reality “do more with less?” In this high energy presentation you will discover how to get done the things that matter most and set limits with people who make unreasonable demands, including three ways to say “no” nicely. Strategies for conquering habits that add to your stress will also be shared.
- How to determine which tasks are urgent, important…or neither - Three strategies for identifying priorities - How to spend more time on the tasks that relate to your goals - How to identify and eliminate your most common time wasters - Find out how and when you procrastinate - Top five techniques for overcoming procrastination - Discover how guilt, perfectionism and other personal traits stress you out and waste your time - Fifty clues that you are on stress overload…and what to do about it - Learn real life stress strategies
Total Teamwork: Working Together for Better Results
This workshop features a fun, interactive team simulation activity that reveals the roles that team members play and provides insights into handling team challenges. You’ll also complete a ten-item assessment to find out how well your real life team is doing and learn tools for improved employee engagement.
- A ten-item assessment to find out how well your real life team is doing - Tools for improved employee engagement - Strategies for using the strengths and weaknesses of team members - How to’s for handling team challenges - How to develop team trust - Characteristics of ideal team members - Roles people play – an interactive team simulation activity - How to respond to “anti-group” behavior - “Rules of the Road” – developing shared team expectations
How to Turn Negativity into Possibility
Whiners, naysayers and defensive people…What causes their negative attitudes? In this entertaining and informative presentation you will learn what causes negativity and how to keep the contagious effect from rubbing off on you.
- Three P’s for staying positive - “Is the glass half empty or half full”: Challenge your assumptions - Learn to identify the symptoms of negativity – in yourself and others - What causes negativity at work? Find out informal survey results - Learn ways to expose subtle negativity such as rolled eyes, sighing and silent resistance - Find out how to respond to whiners, naysayers and other disruptive personalities - Find out how to the keep contagious effect of other people’s bad moods from rubbing off on you
“Sarita, your high energy presentation to over 2300 counselors was EXCELLENT! We appreciated your stories about real-life situations. You actively engaged the audience with humor while making a point and gave us strategies to better ourselves! You are a fabulous speaker who makes learning fun!” Debra Bettis Britton, Texas Counseling Association
“You were very pleasant and easy to work with—a meeting planner’s dream. Your high energy level and your ability to get the audience involved were key to the success of our conference.” Toni Pugmire, Idaho Hospital Association
“According to the feedback, 100% of those attending rated Sarita’s presentation in the EXCELLENT category! You can’t get much better than that!” Pattie Vargas, American Business Women’s Association (ABWA)
“I have received rave reviews about your presentation. You accomplished all that we had hoped for, and more!” Mae Brown, University of California
“The audience thoroughly enjoyed your speech! You are an excellent communicator who is entertaining, motivating, invigorating and humorous! The advice on practical solutions for dealing with difficult situations was a great “takeaway.” Judie Vullo, Boeing
“Sarita, you exceeded my high expectations! Thank you for energetically and professionally engaging our audience today in a most memorable and positively impactful presentation. You are amazing!” Pam Lovett, Comerica Bank
“The evaluations showed that you were far and away the most favored educational forum presenter of the three days! You were personally very ‘real’, you got to know the audience ahead of time, and then once you owned the room (after about 5 seconds!) you spent 90 minutes talking WITH your audience, not AT them. That is the mark of a true professional.” Steve Bailey, National Management Association
“Thank you for sharing your special gift with our membership. It was a great morning, relevant and inspiring!” Melissa Livingston, Ventura County
“I just wanted to thank you again for the energy and positivity you infused into our conference this year. What you were able to share was impactful and we received a lot of great feedback from our audience in our post-event survey.” WSPA
“I watched in awe as Sarita engaged over 200 attendees as if she were speaking one-on-one. She was articulate, interesting and—perhaps the most appreciated by our audience—she was well prepared about the industry issues facing our attendees. She did her homework! And we all learned tools to better cope with the formidable challenges we face daily. I strongly recommend Sarita in any future keynote role!” Joe Diehl, Affordable Housing Management Association (AHMA)
“The participants ranged from seasoned COO’s to new line staff and everyone left with an affirmation on what they do well and most importantly a challenge to improve some aspects of their communication style.” Craig Cutler, Club Managers Association (CMAA)
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We’ve all been told “If you can’t say something nice, don′t say anything at all.” This easy-to-read book provides practical approaches and actual phrases for those times when you need to tactfully clue someone in, deflect the negative comment of a well-meaning friend, or let a co-worker know what he or she is doing drives you crazy – without destroying the relationship.
Praise for If You Can’t Say Something Nice…
“Sarita’s advice helps you navigate the waters of office relationships.” Ann Mah, Past National President, American Business Women’s Association
“Sarita Maybin’s skillful combination of positive examples and practical phrases will transform your communication experience” Les Brown, Author, It’s Not Over Until You Win!
“Stop wondering what to say and start improving your communication today. Read this book!” Jim Cathcart, Past President, National Speakers Association
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