high-performance keynotes that get the right work done
Relentless prioritization. Sustainable habits. Healthy results.
Fewer, better meetings. Faster decisions. Focused teams that keep their energy. Certified pro. Fun onstage. Practical from slide one.
Speaker Reel
"Delightful blend of fun and professionalism."
Marcey's received the highest scores for the 93,000+ members she's trained. Working with her is a delightful blend of fun and professionalism. In a sea of talent, she's a lighthouse, guiding and enlightening all who can learn from her.
scott zarret
President, CPA Academy
“She is consistently excellent.”
Marcey Rader is a dream presenter and rock star on the stage. Planning events with new content and presenters can be risky. Marcey is the person you book to balance that risk. She is consistently excellent.
linda dodd
Conference Content Specialist, North Carolina Association of CPAs
"Timely, prepared, and flexible."
Marcey Rader is an amazingly talented speaker; her flow of content, cadence of voice, smile on her face, and ability to relate to the audience are incredible. She builds bridges to ensure that the content will resonate. Most importantly, Marcey is timely, prepared, and flexible.
eva keidel
Event Producer
the relentless pursuit of more
Watch this powerful, humorous and vulnerable TEDx talk...does more really equal more?
"Profound. Provocative. Powerful."
One of the most masterful deliveries of self-discovery and enlightenment I've seen in years. Profound. Provocative. Powerful.
Olalah Njenga, CEO and Chief Strategist, YellowWood Group
most popular topics
Marcey's focus is on relentless prioritization and sustainable habits. Virtual or in-person, every presentation is tailored to meet your organization's or event's specific needs, helping you achieve your desired outcomes.
Your team already knows what matters. The problem is choosing it when it counts.
Ask any leader on your team what matters most and they'll answer without blinking. That was never the gap.
The gap shows up in the meeting that runs long anyway. In the request nobody had the nerve to say no to. In the project everyone keeps funding because stopping it feels harder than continuing it. Your team isn't confused about priorities. They're losing the moment when priorities are actually chosen.
The Right Things First gives leaders one idea and one guardrail, a rule they set for themselves before they need it. The idea: relentless prioritization beats endless optimization. It's why that project nobody's willing to kill keeps eating the calendar anyway. The guardrail isn't handed to them; each leader names their own, live in the room, specific to whatever's actually costing them right now, not a generic rule where everyone gets the same version. One idea, delivered hard enough that a room sees it in their own choices before the keynote ends.
Format: Keynote. Pairs naturally with Reclaim Your Workday as a follow-up working session.
Companion to the book: The Right Things First: A Pocket Guide to Relentless Prioritization, by Marcey Rader.
A system for running your week, stress-tested against the day you're not there.
How much of your week actually goes to the work that matters, and how much disappears into everything else?
Most people don't run their day; their day runs them. Reactive work crowds out the real priorities, tasks scatter across a dozen contexts, and the important-but-not-urgent keeps sliding to tomorrow. Reclaim Your Workday builds the system that fixes it: a repeatable way to choose what gets done and actually get it done, using three tools built to do it: Task Batching, Theme Days, and the Altitude Method. It's how you organize a day, a week, and a workload so the right things get your best hours instead of your leftover ones.
Then it stress-tests that system against the moment it matters most: the day you're not there. A system that only works when you're present isn't really a system. This protects the organization: real coverage, a documented bottleneck process, and a gatekeeper who isn't guessing. It also protects you: the ability to actually step away without coming back to a mountain of problems you'll spend a week digging out of.
Attendees leave with both halves: the system that runs their week, and the plan that lets them step away without the whole thing wobbling, including their own part in making it hold, clean handoffs, the right people alerted, and a genuine disconnect, because the plan only works if the person who built it actually follows it.
Takeaways
- Tools to build a repeatable way to choose the right work first.
- The real stress test: how long the team could run before coverage gaps and lost institutional knowledge start costing real money, and whether anyone actually knows the answer.
- A documented bottleneck process and a real gatekeeper, not guesswork, for when someone's out.
- Each attendee's part in keeping the system running: clean handoffs, the right people alerted, and a genuine disconnect, since the plan only works if they follow it.
- A live action plan built in the room.
Format: Workshop or training.
Companion to the book: Reclaim Your Workday, by Marcey Rader.
Attention is finite. Every ring, ping, and buzz spends more of it than you think.
Every ring, ping, and buzz costs more than the seconds it takes to check it. Attention runs out, and most teams are spending it like it doesn't.
This keynote makes the case: multitasking was never something human brains do well, no matter how good anyone's gotten at pretending otherwise. It breaks down the dopamine pull behind every notification, why "just a quick check" never stays quick, and hands leaders and teams real tools to protect focus, including body doubling, a technique borrowed from the ADHD community that works for almost anyone, not just the people it was built for.
Attendees leave having chosen one guardrail, live in the room, ready to use immediately.
Takeaways
- Attention is a finite resource. Every interruption costs more than the interruption itself.
- The real cost of multitasking, and why it was never something human brains were built to do well.
- Body doubling and other practical tools to protect focus, shown to help almost anyone.
- The dopamine mechanism behind every notification, and why "just a quick check" never actually stays quick.
- A personal plan for protecting focus, chosen and committed to before the session ends.
Format: Keynote, breakout, or training.
Pairs with: Part Two: Tame Your Inbox, a standalone session on filters, templates, and communication norms.
Kill it, shrink it, or keep it: a real decision framework for the meetings eating your calendar.
Sixty-seven percent of people attending meetings call them unproductive (State of Meeting Note-Taking, Laxis).
The Meeting Reset gives leaders a three-way decision framework: kill it, shrink it, or keep it, and starts with the question that should come before the invite goes out: Does this need to be a meeting at all? Three questions decide it, along with a real weekly meeting budget, meeting-free days, and a clear-eyed look at what AI notetakers change and what they still can't replace.
For the meetings that do happen: right-sized length, real accountability for action items, and facilitation tools that keep discussion moving without shutting anyone down. The guardrail here is about one thing: staying genuinely present, whatever that looks like for the person in the room.
Attendees leave having run one of their own recurring meetings through kill it, shrink it, or keep it, live, and decided on the spot.
Takeaways
- The real cost of meetings, and a system for right-sizing who's in the room and how long it runs.
- Facilitation tools that keep the discussion moving without shutting anyone down.
- A guardrail that protects real presence while respecting that people focus in different ways.
- Kill it, shrink it, or keep it: a live decision on one of their own recurring meetings, made in the room, not taken home to think about.
Format: Keynote, breakout, or training.
Pairs with: Part Two: Virtual and Inclusive by Design, a standalone session on hybrid meeting equity and neuro-inclusive practice.
Real visibility, without the performance. A real end to the workday without guilt.
Remote work creates two problems that an office never had. No one sees you work, only whether you look like you're working, and nothing tells you when the day ends.
Half of remote workers worry visibility gaps will hurt their career progression (Microsoft Work Trend Index). Proximity bias is measurable, not imagined, and looking active isn't the same as being effective. Proactive updates and intentional check-ins make the work visible. No green dot required.
Disconnecting gets the same treatment. Isolation-driven and boundary-erosion burnout are different problems with different causes: one comes from under-stimulation; the other from norms that were never set. This session builds guardrails for transition rituals and DND signals that are actually respected, and for honest availability with the people around you.
Attendees leave having chosen one guardrail, tested the next day. This is a personal commitment, not a tracked deliverable, built to hold on its own.
Takeaways
- Proximity bias is measurable, not imagined, and looking active isn't the same as being effective.
- The two distinct burnout risks in remote work- isolation and boundary erosion - and why they need different fixes.
- Real guardrails for disconnecting: transition rituals, screen-free time blocks, and honest availability with the people around you.
- A DND signal that's respected, not just displayed.
- One guardrail, chosen live, tested the next day.
Format: Keynote, breakout, or training. Plus a separate optional training/breakout add-on, Part Two: Leading a Team You Can't See.
Learn Why Remote Leaders Need to Stop Being Reactive
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marcey's promise
to You and Your Event
To send everything you need in advance.
To be the easiest speaker you've worked with.
To be a true event partner.
To make you look like a rock star.
what's a CSP?
Think of it as the Michelin Star for speakers.
Only about 700 speakers worldwide hold this designation, awarded by the National Speakers Association. You can’t apply with clever branding or a viral reel. You have to prove your consistency, client impact, and commitment to the craft—year after year.
Why it Matters to You:
- You’re hiring someone with a verified track record.
- It lowers your risk and raises your odds of audience success.
- It’s not just about being motivational. It rewards results, not applause.
Why it Matters to Me:
- Speaking isn’t a side hustle. It’s my profession.
- I've put in the reps: over 480 paid talks, ethics training, client reviews, and rigorous video critiques.
- I continually improve and learn from other high-caliber speakers.
Requirements
- 250+ paid presentations
- Ethics courses
- Positive assessments and reviews by 20+ clients
- $50k+ yearly income from speaking for five years
- Critique of two 45-60 minute speaking videos
- Board of Director approval
When you hire a CSP, you're getting more than a mic drop. You're getting peace of mind.
speaking awards
NCACPA Terry R. Alexander New Speaker Award
MyCPE Most Impactful Woman Leader and Most Promising Personality Awards
CPA Academy Top Presenter Award out of over 1,750 speakers
let's go virtual.
I have a complete virtual studio and am an eSpeakers Certified Master Virtual Presenter®.
The Health-Powered™ Productivity podcast by RaderCo.
With 125+ episodes, this podcast delivers short, practical episodes on prioritizing what matters, taming meetings and email, and protecting your energy. Reclaim your workday, one habit at a time.