Kristin J. Arnold creates collaborative conversations at the intersection of a presentation and facilitation. Regardless of the size of group, large or small, Kristin has a unique ability to engage and inspire audiences to take action.
As a high stakes meeting facilitator, keynote speaker, and professional panel moderator, Kristin has worked with over a hundred different organizations, three hundred different teams, and presented to over a half a million people around the world on the topics of leadership, strategy, innovation, critical thinking and teamwork.
As one of the first female graduates of the United States Coast Guard Academy and the first woman stationed onboard an ocean-going buoy tender, Kristin learned early on about working with others. In 1990, she became one of the first Coast Guard facilitators – and made every mistake one could! Frustrated, she avidly researched this nascent skill called “facilitation” and found herself training a cadre of internal facilitators. By 1992, companies were asking her to teach their people how to facilitate and lead teams! Since then, she has been sharing her concrete approach to leading teams with a treasure trove of practical concepts, tools and techniques her clients can apply immediately to see positive, sustainable results.
Kristin’s passion for leading teams is reflected in her writing, speaking, facilitation and consulting. She is an award-winning author, newspaper columnist and contributing author to myriad other team-based books such as The IAF Handbook of Group Facilitation. Her latest book, The Powerful Panelist: Everything You Need to Know to be Capable and Confident During a Panel Discussion was published in June 2023.
Featured in numerous publications such as New York Times, USA Today, Selling Power, Kristin knows what it takes to lead, facilitate and participate on high performing teams. She was on the board and President of the National Speakers Association of the United States (2010-2011). She also served as President of the Downtown Hampton (Virginia) Development Partnership (2001-2), a nonprofit business organization attributed to turning Downtown Hampton from a quaint, sleepy town to a thriving entertainment, retail and residential center. She retired from the USCG Reserves in 2002 as a Lieutenant Commander.
Kristin has achieved these highest designations within each of her core competencies:
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- Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) from the National Speakers Association (2002)
- Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF) from the International Association of Facilitators (2002)
- Certified Professional Facilitator |Master (CPF|M) from the International Association of Facilitators (2019)
- CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame from the National Speakers Association (2023)
She is also certified to administer several assessment tools that assist people in determining their thinking styles, personality preferences and management effectiveness (6 Types of Working Genius, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®, KolbeTM, Human Synergistics’ Group Styles InventoryTM and Organizational Culture® Inventory).
When Kristin is not working with teams of people, she attempts to play golf in Scottsdale, Arizona and Prince Edward Island, Canada.