Companies that have booked Mariana Atencio as keynote speaker, including Microsoft, Ford, Google and EY
Companies that have booked Mariana Atencio as keynote speaker, including Microsoft, Ford, Google and EY
Real Matters: Building Trust in an Unreal World, keynote by Mariana Atencio

REAL MATTERS: BUILDING TRUST AT EYE LEVEL

Everyone now has the same AI, the same data, the same tools. What separates you is whether people trust you — and trust is the one thing that cannot be faked. It builds higher-performing teams, more sales, and more revenue.

Peabody Award–winning journalist and bestselling author Mariana Atencio had to earn it when the stakes were highest — from interviewing world leaders making impossible decisions, Pope Francis to the King of Spain, to the teams she led into hurricanes and earthquakes. That is the ask now, at every level: lead people into the unknown without having all the answers.

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Real Matters keynote – Building Trust in an Unreal World by Mariana Atencio

The Architecture of Trust

Mariana delivers her Architecture of Trust: three layers, built in sequence

Self-Trust

Team Trust

and Organizational Trust

Grounded in two decades of reporting and ongoing research with her global community of 1.7 million.

Then the audience proves it. Mariana leads a sixty-second exercise built on NYU neuroscience. It becomes the moment they talk about for the rest of the event, and a practice that changes how they show up in any room.

Real trust is built at eye level.

Through strategic storytelling, humor, and live interaction, participants leave ready to build trust with colleagues, stakeholders, and customers. Because when organizations are real, they thrive.

The Performance Impact

High-trust teams report 106% more energy and 50% higher productivity

(HBR).

Highly engaged teams are 21% more profitable

(Gallup).

63% of customers choose brands they trust over cheaper alternatives

(Edelman).

Key Takeaways

  • Identify and leverage your unique leadership abilities to build trust.

  • Develop the skills to determine, understand, and guide your team through change effectively.

  • Communicate with clarity, empathy, and transparency to navigate uncertainty.

  • Unite your teams around a shared purpose to drive collective progress.

  • Mariana’s interactive exercises make unforgettable lessons and customized experiences.

Mariana Atencio engaging the audience during her trust keynote

A Perfect Fit For:

  • Opening and Closing Conferences, Summits, yearly gathering – when you need the energy boost to keep your event and audience engaged.

  • Industries facing disruption – healthcare, finance, tech, media, automotive – where trust is both regulated and fragile

  • Companies implementing new processes and AI at scale – where employees fear displacement/overwhelm and customers expect humanity 

  • Organizations post-layoffs or reorgs – rebuilding trust with survivors who watched colleagues exit

  • Hybrid and remote teams – where distance erodes connection and interactions become transactional

  • Sales and Marketing teams – where teams are looking to connect with their target audiences genuinely, so their product or service resonates  

  • Leadership teams driving transformation – where change management is actually trust management

  • Companies with engagement or talent retention crises

Mariana Atencio presenting the Trust Advantage framework to a corporate audience

Trust Data:

2026 Edelman Trust Barometer Key numbers Core trust levels by institution, media, etc

(global, general population):

My Employer: 78% trust

Business: 64% trust

Media: 54% trust

Government: 53% trust

Perfectly You: Leveraging the Power Within, authenticity keynote by Mariana Atencio

PERFECTLY YOU: EMBRACING THE POWER OF BEING REAL

Everywhere we look, we feel pressured to perform, conform, and be perfect.

In the workplace — especially in times of change — that pressure shows up as overthinking, burnout, and a fear of being judged. But when people choose to show up as they are, they communicate more clearly, build stronger relationships, and work with greater confidence. For organizations, that brings increased engagement, performance, and retention.

Drawing from her viral TEDx talk “What Makes YOU Special?” (seen over 25 million times and translated into 13 languages) and her bestselling book Perfectly You, Peabody Award–winning journalist and executive communication coach Mariana Atencio shares her journey from chasing perfection to using her differences as an advantage.

In this presentation, Mariana’s signature energy, storytelling, and interactive approach give audiences practical tools to drop the armor and bring more of their real voice into how they work and live.

At the center of this keynote is Mariana’s four-step Authenticity Framework:

[Your Uniqueness + Vulnerability + Purpose] × Network = Your Authentic Influence.

Audiences leave energized, connected, and ready to stand out, navigate change, and contribute — not by trying to be perfect, but by having the courage to be real.

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Mariana Atencio keynote speaker portrait

KEY LEARNINGS

  • Replace the pressure to be perfect with the confidence to be real

  • Learn and apply the four-step Authentic Influence Framework: [Uniqueness + Vulnerability + Purpose] × Network

  • Mariana’s signature “Perfectly You” card exercise helps people identify what makes them different and turn it into their greatest advantage

  • Learn the one prompt that strengthens your network on the spot

  • 3 moments of interactive, full-room connection that will completely change the way you show up in your personal and professional life

Mariana Atencio connecting with the audience during her authenticity keynote

AUDIENCE

  • Company-wide and community audiences — annual employee gatherings, associations and industry conferences, Women’s events, and Latino, cultural, and community groups.

  • A strong keynote for recognition and award ceremonies, and for teams moving through change, restructuring, and rapid growth. 

The Power of Authenticity

A Six-Year Global Leadership Study

Over the past six years, Mariana has asked more than 3,000 professionals across four continents, from different backgrounds and religions, two deceptively simple questions:

What makes you unique?
What is your purpose?

Spanning entrepreneurs, executives, educators, creatives, and corporate leaders, the responses revealed a consistent global pattern.

Key Findings

• When individuals move beyond titles and achievements and describe identity and values, clarity increases.
• The vast majority of purpose statements center on service, contribution, family, community, and long-term impact — not status or personal gain.
• Participants who articulated alignment between who they are and why they lead expressed greater steadiness, confidence, and resilience.

Across industries and cultures, the language shifted from performance to contribution.

From proving to serving.

From perfection to purpose.

These keynotes are especially powerful for‍ regional and national associations, women’s conferences, leadership summits, and yearly off-sites.

  • "Mariana was exceptional. Her sincerity cut through the skeptics — they deemed the event an extremely successful and memorable team-building experience."

    President & CEO, FirstService Brands / California Closets

  • "Mariana unlocks the most memorable of experiences, that deliver learning, insights, and calls to action that promise to transform."

    -Chief Diversity Officer and Corporate Vice President of Talent and Learning, Microsoft

  • "We've booked Mariana for keynotes, community programs, and social media campaigns and she has over delivered every time."

    – Senior Manager, Ford Motor Company

  • "Mariana's energy, approachability, and the way she connected with the group engaged everyone from the very beginning."

    – Senior Manager of Global Employee Recognition, Scotiabank

  • "Blown away by Mariana's captivating energy and unparalleled ability to engage the audience."


    – Manager, Ford Motor Company

  • "Mariana's authentic, relatable, engaging style enabled her to immediately connect with our audience."

    – VP, Google Cloud Consulting

  • "Book Mariana – it will be the smartest decision you make for your event. Her message set the tone for the rest of the conference."

    – Executive Vice President, Florida Apartment Association

  • "Mariana is a special talent in a class all her own, and left our group inspired, pumped, and feeling renewed."


    – CBRE

  • "Mariana was inspirational, motivational, and real — we received wonderful feedback from the attendees. "


    – Senior Brand Manager, Bacardi USA, Inc.

  • "What truly set Mariana apart was her ability to listen, understand, and seamlessly weave our key takeaways into her message."

    – Executive Director, Association of Latino Administrators & Superintendents (ALAS)

  • "The event would not have been the same without Mariana’s presence and expertise. Her contribution was one of the defining highlights."

    – Head, NHCCE Speaker Management, HRD Corp

  • "It felt like she connected with each audience member individually, yet we were in a room of 400 people!"

    – The Park School

  • "Mariana inspired and uplifted the spirits of those in attendance. We have received so much positive feedback. "

    – Deputy City Manager, California Society of Municipal Finance Officers

  • "We loved her energy, her message and her interaction with our employees."


    – Senior Manager Employee Experience Engagement and Recognition, Confidential Health Insurance Company

  • "Mariana created a space for deep connection, reflection, and truth, helping us realign with who we are as individuals and as a team."

    – CEO, Victor Community Support Services

“Book Mariana – it will be the smartest decision you make for your event. Her message set the tone for the rest of the conference.”


– Executive Vice President, Florida Apartment Association

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