What a lady! In one and half hours, she made us feel like we can be the best speakers in the world.
Elise was fantastic! We could not have picked a better speaker to stress the importance of local politics and women's participation. Elise was poised and well-prepared in every engagement, charismatic and knowledgeable. We would absolutely recommend her to other posts.
The audience was genuinely interested in her experience in local governance without drawing too much parallel with Kazakhstan. When they did, Elise always found a way to connect to the local context and share tips that will work regardless of context. She was overall inspiring to the audience she engaged with, especially NGO representatives and civil/community activists who are at the start of their careers.
Elise´s role as a nonpartisan official put her in an excellent position to talk about electoral politics without picking a side. Her long list of success stories helped audiences understand the true value of civic participation.
Today, almost three years after I took her course, I cannot see or hear a political advertisement without immediately analyzing the biases and rhetoric present in the message — I believe I’m more effectively able to parse through the extraneous details to recognize the most important content within political reporting. For this, and for the confidence Elise instilled in me to think of myself as a competent, critical piece of the political process, I will be forever grateful!
Elise is a speaker who has it all—great messages, dynamic delivery, and the ability to connect with the audience on a personal level at the same time wowing them. She speaks with authority and commands respect but does it with a genuine desire to be real at the same time.
I’ve seen audiences light up when she speaks—because they love her energy and her sincerity. You can tell they know they’re in good hands.
She is brilliant at using stories to make her points, another thing you can see audiences responding to as they go along for the ride with her.
She always brings humor, too—often with fun stories about the hard lessons she’s learned. Audiences appreciate that honesty and respect her willingness to share what’s gone wrong as well as what’s gone right.
She inspires audiences to envision what’s possible—whether that’s for a collective taking on a big challenge or for an individual who wants to try something new.
She helps people find confidence—and not just through the confidence she projects as a speaker. She is honest about obstacles, but she also shows how those can be overcome through stories from her own personal experiences and other stories she tells.
She energizes people to take action. She has a way of framing big problems so that we can see what to do next—whether that’s take on an issue in society or take a smaller step toward a personal goal. In public speaking courses, for example, I watch how she helps people take small risks and move forward because she brings her energy—and almost gives them a transfusion of it.
She makes things easy to understand, by talking about complex issues in a concrete way that the rest of us can relate to. She is always eager to help us find the best in ourselves.
Mackey Strategies and my executive coach, Elise Partin, have enabled me to take my leadership to the next level. I had already accomplished a lot in my career and was wondering what to do next. Elise has thoughtfully guided me through several pivotal career decisions. I am incredibly grateful to have benefitted from her support and expertise.