“Martha Barnette sparkled as our Sacramento commencement speaker. She was the kinetic center of the ceremony. Her sincerity and straightforwardness allowed our graduates to connect to her and to her words. And because she is such a mistress of words, the audience was, at turns, enthralled, amused, and educated.” — Patricia Potter, President, National University
“What a joy it was to have Martha Barnette as the keynote speaker at Ferrum College’s Women’s Leadership Conference! She is a terrific, engaging, and animated speaker. Her insight is keen, her wit is quick, and her intellect adds both depth and dimension to her presentation and her interactions with participants. Martha notices. She pays attention and is attuned to the nuances of the audience and to the culture of a place, choosing to learn about it and immerse herself. She is not a fly-in/fly-out speaker, but a partner in assuring an event’s success. Faculty, community members, and students alike were energized and enlivened by her interactions with us. Her presence with us was a gift, indeed.”
– Leslie T. Lambert, Ph.D., Provost/Executive Vice President, Ferrum College, Ferrum, Virginia
“I had the pleasure of arranging for Martha to speak at the international conference of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources. She was terrific — knowledgeable, relevant, engaging and funny. And she did her homework, making sure that her remarks were focused just right for this group. As a result, she immediately connected with the audience, and her speaker evaluations couldn’t have been better. I enthusiastically recommend Martha as a speaker, and hope we can bring her back to a future event.”
– Robert Lavigna, Assistant Vice Chancellor-HR (Director of HR), University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
“What a joy it was to have Martha Barnette as the keynote speaker at Ferrum College’s Women’s Leadership Conference! She is a terrific, engaging, and animated speaker. Her insight is keen, her wit is quick, and her intellect adds both depth and dimension to her presentation and her interactions with participants. Martha notices. She pays attention and is attuned to the nuances of the audience and to the culture of a place, choosing to learn about it and immerse herself. She is not a fly-in/fly-out speaker, but a partner in assuring an event’s success. Faculty, community members, and students alike were energized and enlivened by her interactions with us. Her presence with us was a gift, indeed.”
– Leslie T. Lambert, Ph.D., Provost/Executive Vice President, Ferrum College, Ferrum, Virginia
“Martha Barnette gave a most delightful presentation to our group of approximately 40 lawyers regarding the informality of e-mail communication and its impact on grammar and professional correspondence. She was engaging, funny, and did a wonderful job of encouraging audience participation. Thank you Martha!”
– Charmaine Buehner, former Senior Associate Attorney & Associate Committee Chair at Baker & McKenzie, LLP, San Diego, California
“As Emcee for the annual Women’s Hall of Fame event, you were positively brilliant—connecting with each of the award winners, and with the highly diverse audience, following the elaborate script and still offering your wit with words. All of the organizers offer their hearty thanks.”
— Bonnie Scott, Chair, Department of Women’s Studies, San Diego State University, San Diego, California
“Martha Barnette is clever, smart and entertaining. With humor and intelligence, she charmed the crowd and assured a successful fundraiser. I can’t recommend her enough. Her wit, wisdom and enthusiasm ensured our fundraiser would become a ‘must do’ annual event.”
— Kelly Deveney, Buena Vista Audubon Society, Oceanside, California
“Words Alive could not have chosen a more perfect team in Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett to emcee our 2011 Annual Authors Luncheon. Held every year as the centerpiece event of our organization, the luncheon celebrates literacy, Words Alive’s role in the community, and its supporters. Few speakers have been able to connect their message to Words Alive’s audience in a more passionate, impactful way as Martha and Grant. We’re truly grateful for their participation and are convinced that their participation played a significant role in making the event a major success!”
— Patrick Stewart, Executive Director, Words Alive literacy organization, San Diego, California
