The Conversations We Avoid
Shape the Lives We Live
Vivian Cobb challenges audiences to face the hard conversations—before silence becomes the most expensive choice of all.
Silence Is Never Neutral
We avoid hard conversations because we think silence keeps us safe. It doesn’t.
Silence doesn’t protect relationships, organizations, or futures... it slowly erodes them. What goes unspoken doesn’t disappear. It grows. It compounds. And eventually, it demands a reckoning.
Vivian Cobb knows this not as a theory, but as lived experience.
In the middle of profound personal loss, she discovered a financial reality she never saw coming — not because the information wasn’t there, but because the conversation never happened. The cost of that silence reshaped her life.
That moment became her message.
Today, Vivian helps audiences understand a powerful truth:
Hard conversations don’t break trust.
Avoiding them does.
Through keynote talks rooted in storytelling, emotional intelligence, and practical insight, Vivian challenges people to face the conversations they’ve been postponing — about money, responsibility, power, and partnership — before avoidance becomes irreversible.
This is the conversation your
audience needs to hear.
What Vivian Speaks About
Keynotes That Challenge Silence and Change Outcomes
Vivian Cobb delivers keynote experiences that stay with audiences long after the applause — not because they are loud or dramatic, but because they name the truth people already feel and rarely say out loud.
Her talks explore what happens when communication breaks down — and what becomes possible when people choose clarity over comfort.
Signature Keynote Themes
The Cost of Silence
Why avoiding hard conversations doesn’t prevent damage — it guarantees it.
Why Money Is Never Just Money
How finances expose trust, power dynamics, fear, and unspoken expectations in relationships and organizations.
Hard Conversations, Stronger Foundations
What it actually takes to talk about uncomfortable truths without blame, shutdown, or defensiveness.
Communication Under Pressure
How people respond when stakes are high — and why silence feels safer than honesty.
From Avoidance to Accountability
The shift that transforms uncertainty into shared responsibility and resilience.
Designed for TED-Style & Thought Leadership Stages
Meet Vivian
Vivian Cobb doesn’t teach from theory — she teaches from life. Her journey through loss, truth-telling, and rebuilding shaped her passion for helping others face the conversations that matter most.
Through storytelling and practical insight, she guides people toward greater honesty, understanding, and stronger relationships.
Vivian's Keynotes Are Ideal For:
List of Services
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Conferences and summits Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.List Item 1
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Corporate leadership events Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.List Item 2
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Universities and continuing education programs Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.List Item 3
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Financial, professional, and human-centered organizations Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.List Item 4
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TED-style storytelling stages Write a description for this list item and include information that will interest site visitors. For example, you may want to describe a team member's experience, what makes a product special, or a unique service that you offer.
What Our Clients Say...
Author. Keynote Speaker. Conversation Catalyst.
Vivian Cobb is the author of Unspoken Costs: How to Have Relationship-Saving Money Conversations — a powerful call to stop avoiding the conversations that shape trust, partnership, and security.
Her work blends lived experience with practical insight, helping audiences understand that money issues are rarely about numbers — they’re about communication, expectations, and what goes unsaid.
This is more than a message. It’s a movement toward clarity.