SPEAKING
Talks About Happiness That Come With Homework
I'm Billy Marshall. I bring decades of analytics, a stack of research, and a fair number of my own failures to groups who want something more useful than think positive.
7
Habit-Building Skills
42
Evidence-Based Tools
62
Podcast Episodes
Here's the Thing About Most Happiness Talks
Everybody has a nice time. The speaker is warm, the stories land, people nod along. Somebody says "that was great" on the way out.
Then three weeks later, nothing has changed.
Not because the advice was wrong. The advice is almost never wrong. Gratitude works. Exercise works. Getting off your phone works. Every person in that room already knew all of it before they walked in.
They failed at it anyway. And then they quietly decided the problem was them.
I totally get it!
Here's what I learned after years of the same frustrating cycle: owning tools and knowing how to use them are two completely different things. A toolbox full of equipment doesn't make you a craftsman. You need training. You need practice.
It's not a you problem. It's a skills problem. Nobody ever taught any of us how to make a new behavior stick when we're tired, busy, and running on the brain we were issued. That part is teachable.
The Talks
Each of these works as a 45 to 60 minute keynote, a 90 minute interactive session, or a half-day workshop. Tell me what you're trying to accomplish and I'll tell you honestly which format fits.
You've Got the Tools. Now Let's Build Something.
The signature talk. Seven skills that turn good intentions into things people actually do: Your Compass, The Repair Shop, The Habit Stack, The Design Space, The Pause Button, The Rehearsal Room, and Get Out There. Your people leave with a framework they can point at any habit they've been losing to for years.
Best for: conference keynotes, all-hands, kickoff events, general audiences.
The Repair Shop: What To Do After You Blow It
Everybody teaches you how to start. Almost nobody teaches you what to do on day four, when you've already skipped twice and the little voice starts in on you. The 24 hour reboot, why self-compassion beats discipline on the data, and why the people who succeed at this aren't the ones who never fail.
Best for: audiences who have tried and quit before, which is most audiences. A strong second booking.
The Part of Retirement Nobody Plans For
You spent thirty years getting the number right. Nobody sat you down and asked what you were going to do at ten o'clock on a Tuesday morning in March. I'm living this one in real time, and I'll share what the research says about identity, purpose, and structure after the work stops.
Best for: client events at financial and wealth management firms, CPA firms, pre-retirement seminars.
Built, Not Bought: Why Knowing Better Doesn't Make You Do Better
The gap between what we know and what we do, and the small number of design changes that close it. Habit stacking, friction engineering, the two minute rule, and why willpower was never going to be enough. Practical, a little bit funny, heavy on the "do this, not that."
Best for: workplace wellness, leadership teams, anyone who has sat through a wellness program that didn't take.
Not sure which one fits? Tell me about your group and I'll recommend one. Sometimes the right answer is a talk I haven't listed.
Who I Speak To
Four kinds of rooms, and I'm glad to be in any of them:
Financial and wealth management firms. Client events, pre-retirement seminars, advisor conferences. I'm a CPA with a finance MBA from NYU, so I can hold a room that thinks in numbers, and I'm not selling anything that competes with you.
Companies and HR teams. Wellness programs, leadership offsites, all-hands, benefits fairs. Your people get something concrete, which is the part most wellness programming skips.
Associations and conferences. Keynotes and breakouts, including continuing education audiences.
Community groups. Libraries, senior centers, Rotary, faith communities, book clubs. This is where the book started and I still love these rooms.
Based at the Jersey Shore and happy to travel. Virtual works too, and I have the studio setup to do it well.
Three Things You Don't Usually Get
Plenty of people will come talk to your group about happiness. Here's what I bring that most don't.
A Framework, Not a Pep Talk
The seven Habit-Building Skills are a real system, built from the research of BJ Fogg, Wendy Wood, James Clear, Kristin Neff, Carol Dweck and a pile of others. Your people leave with a model they can name and use, not a nice feeling that wears off in the parking lot.
We Can Actually Measure It
I built a research-based happiness assessment on validated IPIP items with real population baselines. Run it before the talk and again after, and you'll know what moved instead of guessing from a smile sheet.
It Doesn't End When I Leave
The most common complaint about any speaker is that nothing sticks. I have a structured follow-up program, built from the same research, that can run for 30, 60, or 90 days after the event. That's the part that turns a good afternoon into an actual change.
Somebody Who Failed at This First
I'm not up there because I'm naturally good at this. I'm up there because I was bad at it for years, got analytical about why, and found something that worked. That's a different talk than the one you get from someone who never struggled.
Formats
Keynote. 45 to 60 minutes. Conferences, all-hands, client events.
Interactive session. 90 minutes. Same material, with exercises people actually do in the room.
Half-day workshop. Deep on one or two skills, with worksheets and real practice time.
Series. Four to seven sessions, one skill at a time. Good for wellness programs and small cohorts.
Virtual. All of the above over Zoom or Teams. I have a broadcast-quality studio setup and I know how to hold a room through a camera.
Fees depend on format, travel, and whether you want the follow-up program attached. Tell me what you're planning and I'll give you a straight number.
WHO'S DOING THE TALKING
Hi, I'm Billy.
I spent decades as an SVP of Analytics, the guy with the spreadsheets and the data. Then I turned that same analytical brain toward a messier puzzle: why is it so hard to do the things we know make us happier?
The research gave me 42 tools. It took years of failing to use them consistently before I found the missing piece: skills. Owning a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter. I wrote the book at 60, recorded the podcast, and these days I'm retired from corporate and doing the part I actually love, which is talking about this with real people in real rooms.
I'm not a guru and I'm not a psychologist. I'm a few steps ahead with some funny stories about falling down. My partner, my dog Yeti and I now live and travel full time in a Ford Transit van, which has taught me more about what matters than any spreadsheet ever did.
And if a weird, data-driven dad from Jersey can figure this out, trust me, you've got this.
Let's Talk About Your Event
7 Habit-Building Skills. 42 tools. One happier life, built by you.
Tell me who your audience is, what the occasion is, and roughly when. I'll come back with a recommendation on which talk fits and what it costs. No pressure and no sales sequence, just a straight answer.
Or email me directly at info@yourhappier.life
Your Happier Life is a nonprofit on a mission to make happiness science practical and accessible.