Speeches

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QSP SUMMIT 2023

June 2023

The New Megatrends Shaping Our Future

“For business leaders, it’s critical to digest the impactful trends discussed today and determine how best to incorporate them into strategic planning.

Every company will be impacted. The question is: Which ones will use these trends to their advantage?”


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Global Women in Public Relations: GWPR Voice

February 2022

“I think we are moving toward a p2p world—person to person. When we get there and accept one another as people to people then we can start solving the real leadership problem.”  


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IAA Creativity 4 Better Conference

Bucharest. November 2021

“Creativity For Better”

“There have been times when I have been bombarded by hate, there have been times when people challenged my sanity for taking this job. I think you just have to suck it up and say I know why I am doing it, I know the trajectory we’re on, I understand there will be bumps in the road, and I really have faith in our science and our commitment to doing better.”


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El Pais Retina SQL

Madrid. October 2021

“2020 was a year none of us anticipated and the effects of which we will carry for decades to come. We would be remiss however to overlook the lessons it offered. We were reminded the importance of community and family. We had a chance to reassess what we want from life and whether we were on the right path pre-pandemic individually and as a society.”


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Mendoza College of Business | University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame. October 2021

“Hate Is in the Air”

“The path to progress never entails demonizing one’s critics or opponents. As much as hate speech and false accusations may make one’s blood boil, organizations and individuals would do well to view them as an invitation—an opportunity for clarity and connection. Meeting hate with hate, incivility with incivility leads only to reciprocal radicalization, whereby hate on one side is used to justify an escalation of hate on the other. In that scenario, no one wins. Instead, we need to create opportunities for civil discourse—and model the behavior we wish to see.”


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European Association of Communication Directors

Brussels. October 2021

“In an age of hate and division, resilience is key. For both individuals and corporations.”

“I don’t think you become resilient over a week, month, or a year. I think it’s that accumulation of, ‘I’ve seen this experience before, I know how things are likely to react, I can draw upon my well of knowledge I have a network of people I can turn to for advice and wisdom and counsel to make me feel stronger and more able to react.’ I think in these very tough times a lot of it has to do with the life experiences, the work experiences, you are bringing to the situation in which you find yourself.”


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Most Powerful Women Summit, Fortune Greece

Athens. April 2021

Marian Salzman describes the characteristics that will shape our lives in a post-pandemic world: “Education is going to be the most crucial thing we’re going to think about for our children and ourselves—and upskilling—so, learning for a lifetime.”


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BlogHer Visionaries Event

Brooklyn. December 2020

“Suddenly, home is something completely different. It’s your office. It’s where you take care of your seniors. It’s where you take care of your kids. It’s where you do your work. At the same time, we need to zoom out and see what’s happening in this whole big world, because no one of us can function or feel good without much more support and integration into the whole planet—so, it’s this yin and yang.”


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Global Communications Summit & Women in PR Podcast

Berlin. May 2020

“To me, whether you own it, you earn it or you pay for it—it’s all communications.”

“The secret to good science communication starts with scientists. They are the ones that have the tools. Because the most important thing is accuracy—science-based, truthful evidence.”


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Marian at the 6th ADCE European Creativity Festival

Barcelona. December 2019

“We are waking up to the power of Generation Z from slacktivism to activism. But these young people know how to harness the power of the digital world they grew up in, and they can really touch each one of us and teach us all a thing or two about how to do things with kindness and humor.”

“Let me talk to you about the ‘un’ movement. The ‘un’ movement—the desire to ‘un’ something in our lives—is really popular right now. […] So what better way for a smoker to unclutter his or her life than by Unsmoking.”


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8th Annual AS/COA Women’s Hemispheric Network Conference

New York. October 2019

“By creating this network, you start to see all the work that an earlier generation has put into advancing the cause of women and that it doesn’t get undone. We cannot afford to take a step backwards—women can’t afford it, business can’t afford it, and society can’t afford it. I think that’s what many of us forget at times: doing good for women is doing good for everyone.”

“I advise you to seek out failure. I know it’s a hard thing to hear.”

“In the business world, rumination is not your friend. Accept that things didn’t go according to plan and then get ready for your next move. Take smart risks; you won’t get very far ahead if you don’t take calculated risks.”

“You’ve got to figure out what you’re willing to sacrifice. I hope your generation has come to terms with the idea that you cannot have it all. Men can’t have it all, females can’t have it all; Every choice you make in life involves some sort of sacrifice or another.”

“Your life is not a dress rehearsal; it’s the only shot you get.”


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LOGIN 2019 “Transforming Business in the 21st Century”

Vilnius. June 2019

“Changing direction requires this combination, and it’s not really this secret sauce—it’s a combination each and every one of us needs to figure out. That brings together leadership from the top and demand from the bottom and a serious commitment to research and development.”


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Online Marketing Rockstars Festival (OMR)

Hamburg. May 2019

“I would like no one to smoke, make no mistake,” Salzman told industry outlet Campaignasia. However, she has recognized what it could mean if she could work on a smoke-free future. “I said to myself, ’This is the chance of a lifetime. I just have to do it.’”


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Mumbrella CommsCon

Sydney. March 2019

“We have to ask ourselves: ‘Are we here to get people to stop using combustible tobacco?’ If we are, that’s a noble choice, and if we’re not, it’s not a good thing to do or be.”


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BizCommunity Trends Talk “Evolution of Women in Pop Culture”

South Africa. March 2019

“As you see trends, look for what you know. Look for what you can identify and then flip it on its head. Think like a design disruptor. Say: ‘If I went to the sink and turned on the water, what happens if orange juice came out?’


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PR Summit DC, National Press Club

Washington, D.C. July 2018

The age of “one-way conversations” is over, stated Richard Levick, Levick Communications, at the kickoff of Capitol Communicator’s PR Summit D.C., July 19, at the National Press Club, as we now live in a “world of dialogue.” According to Levick, in the past, “we controlled the conversation,” but in today’s world, that is no longer the case, and, as related to communications, we have become a “democracy.” Communicators, he stressed, “need to be proactive” in this changing environment. Levick added that change is “happening far faster than we are used to” and there is “no time to be reactive.”

The concept of change and changing realities was the focus of a number of summit sessions—from the concept that public relations is undergoing fundamental change to a statement by luncheon speaker Marian Salzman, considered one of the world’s top five trendspotters, that influencers are the new media; and the idea that people now “live in echo chambers,” which was stated by Anthony Shop of Social Driver. In addition, said Shop, communicators are now the “architects of messages that operate in real time.”


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Marian’s Acceptance Speech, Induction into the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame

Hartford. November 2014

“My motto is: You get ahead if you’re just crazy enough to zig when the world is zagging, and that’s when life gets really good”


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Marian at the Women’s Leadership Conference

Washington, D.C. May 2014


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Supply and Demand in Higher Education at TimeInc

New York, November 2012

“There needs to be steps put into the maturation of young adults that bring them the same kind of socialization experiences that higher education always brought.”


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Trends Presentation at Euro RSCG Worldwide

New York, June 2011

“We look at trends, because at the end of the day when you’re thinking about brands and big brands, you need to see what’s actual, what’s going to motivate people, what’s going to turn people on.”


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Marian at the Women’s Leadership Conference (ICAN)

Omaha. September 2010

“Blending and blurring, life meets work for convergence.”

“We’re living in a place where everyone is just one click away. We no longer need to be apologetic about the fact we’re always connected, that everybody’s always connected. It’s the great secret that’s finally bubbling up.”

“Life met work for the ultimate convergence.”


Marian Salzman in San Francisco

San Francisco. March 2009

“Private and public, online and offline, reality and not reality, old and new, are all blending together.”

“In the age of radical transparency we actually resent things that other people keep private, we think they have something shameful behind there. So private; is simply what you keep within your heart.”

“We are at a point now where suddenly local is the new global. A real turnoff is something that is overly global […]. We want these local roots because the world is completely out of control, and we feel we can control only the things we can see.”

“We’re living in a time where time is not only the new currency but also the thing we are savoring the most […] we’re looking to stretch everything into slowness. Slow is the most coveted thing we can find; that’s really the new luxury.”


Consumer and Business Trends for Seattle and Beyond

Seattle. March 2009

“We’re living in a time where it’s all going to be about value and values. It sounds almost too good to be true—but we’re going to say ‘What is this really worth it to me?’”

“We’re going to need to tap into social media, or we’re just going to get there. […]. If you’re not a part of it, it will destroy you because it will basically take out the creativity of the younger people and just bring older people down. The switched-on younger people are really reshaping the world, and they’re reshaping with all sorts of tools and techniques that you either have to embrace and leverage and run with or they will run you over. This is the way of the future”