Laura Schwartz Joins The Keynote Curators Podcast
CHICAGO — August 20, 2026 — What if the most important person at your next event isn’t standing on the stage — but sitting right next to you?
International keynote speaker, author, professional emcee and former White House Director of Events Laura Schwartz joins Seth Dechtman, founder of The Keynote Curators, for a wide-ranging conversation on The Keynote Curators Podcast exploring networking, community, presence and the genuine human connections that can change the course of a career — and a life.
The episode, “Networking the Way It’s Meant to Be Done with Laura Schwartz,” takes many of the ideas at the heart of Schwartz’s signature keynote and bestselling book, Eat, Drink & Succeed, and explores what networking looks like when it moves beyond collecting contacts, scanning a room for the most influential person or approaching relationships by asking, “What can you do for me?”
Instead, Schwartz begins with a very different question:
“What can I do for you?”
“Some of the greatest opportunities in our lives begin as conversations we never planned to have,” said Schwartz. “Networking isn’t about working a room or collecting contacts. It’s about being present, being genuinely curious and recognizing the value in the person right in front of you. You never know where simply saying hello may lead.”
Networking the Way It Was Meant to Be Done
During the conversation, Dechtman and Schwartz explore why effective networking begins with service rather than self-interest, how being truly present changes the way people experience us, and why community can make titles and status far less important than authentic relationships.
They also discuss something increasingly rare in a world of automated emails, texts and AI-generated communications: the handwritten note.
Schwartz shares why small, personal gestures can have an outsized impact and why memorable relationships are often built not through grand acts, but through the details that demonstrate someone was paying attention.
The conversation also explores an important distinction between access and influence. Getting into a room may create access, but genuine relationships, trust and the willingness to contribute to others are what give that access meaning over time.
From ROI to Return on Experience
Schwartz and Dechtman also discuss a measure Schwartz believes deserves a place alongside traditional ROI: Return on Experience.
For Schwartz, an event, meeting or conversation has value beyond what can immediately be measured on a spreadsheet. The question is also whether people leave feeling more connected, more engaged and better for having participated.
“We talk constantly about return on investment — and of course that matters,” Schwartz said. “But I also believe in Return on Experience. Did people feel seen? Did they make a connection? Did they learn something they’ll use? Did they leave the room differently than they entered it? Those experiences have value, and sometimes their greatest return doesn’t reveal itself until months or even years later.”
The idea extends directly to networking. A meaningful conversation may not produce an immediate opportunity, but the relationship created through it can have an impact long after an event has ended.
What Larry King Taught Laura Schwartz About Listening
The conversation also reaches back to one of Schwartz’s most important lessons about interviewing and communication: listen to the answer, not simply for your next opportunity to speak.
Schwartz shares lessons learned from legendary broadcaster Larry King, whose ability to listen closely allowed his follow-up questions to feel natural, personal and genuinely connected to what his guest had just said.
That principle has carried into Schwartz’s own work as a professional interviewer, television commentator and emcee.
Whether she is interviewing a world leader, moderating a conversation onstage or meeting someone across a dinner table, Schwartz believes curiosity only becomes meaningful when it is accompanied by genuine listening.
Relevant + Relatable
Dechtman and Schwartz also explore two words central to Schwartz’s approach to communication: relevant and relatable.
For a message to connect, Schwartz believes it must be relevant to the person receiving it while remaining relatable enough that they can see themselves within it.
The same principle applies to networking.
A successful interaction is not about delivering a polished elevator pitch. It is about listening, discovering common ground and understanding enough about another person to have a conversation that matters to both of you.
That philosophy runs throughout Eat, Drink & Succeed and Schwartz’s keynote programs, where she challenges audiences to Turn the Optional into Opportunity — recognizing that receptions, dinners, coffee breaks, hallways and the unscripted moments surrounding an event can be every bit as consequential as what happens onstage.
“Opportunities rarely arrive as notifications. They arrive as conversations,” Schwartz said. “Sometimes the person who changes your life isn’t the person you came to meet. They’re simply the person sitting next to you.”
Watch or Listen to Laura Schwartz
on The Keynote Curators Podcast
Episode 190 of The Keynote Curators Podcast, “Networking the Way It’s Meant to Be Done with Laura Schwartz,” is available to watch or listen across major platforms. It was published September 3, 2026 and runs approximately 29 minutes.
WATCH:
YouTube — Watch the Full Episode
LISTEN:
Spotify — Listen to the Episode
Apple Podcasts — Listen to the Episode
Amazon Music — Listen to the Episode
READ:
The Keynote Curators — “Networking Redefined: Eat, Drink, and Succeed, with Laura Schwartz”
About The Keynote Curators
The Keynote Curators works with event, meeting and conference professionals to identify and secure keynote speakers for live and virtual programs. Its podcast brings conversations with keynote speakers to audiences around topics shaping business, leadership, culture, innovation and the workplace.
Hosted by Seth Dechtman, The Keynote Curators Podcast features conversations designed to take audiences beyond the keynote itself and into the ideas, experiences and perspectives behind the speakers and their work.
Laura Schwartz is an internationally recognized professional emcee, keynote speaker, interviewer, author and television commentator who has built a career creating conversations that engage audiences and bring people together.
The youngest female Presidential Appointee in U.S. history, Schwartz began her career as a 19-year-old White House volunteer and ultimately served as White House Director of Events, where she produced more than 1,000 events for the President, First Lady, world leaders and international dignitaries.
Today, Schwartz brings that experience to stages and screens around the world as a professional emcee, moderator and interviewer and through keynote programs including Eat, Drink & Succeed, Activate Your Superpowers, The Third Place, Lead First and Moonshot Mentality.
Schwartz is also an award-winning podcaster. In 2021, she and her colleagues at ITV London earned the Drum Award for Podcast of the Year. She is an American Contributor to Australia’s Nine Network, appearing across TODAY, TODAY Extra and Nine News.
Whether hosting a global conference, moderating a high-level conversation, conducting a one-on-one interview or delivering a keynote, Schwartz brings preparation, curiosity and connection to every audience.
For more information about Laura Schwartz’s keynote programs, professional emcee, moderator and interviewer services, visit LauraSchwartzLive.com or contact Ashley Brooks at Ashley@LauraSchwartzLive.com or 312-767-7415.