Inspirational keynote · Nashville and beyond
The Root Down
The ADHD-inspired process to know, respect, and connect yourself.
You were never the problem. You may have been in the wrong soil.
Dave Delaney was expelled from first grade and didn't find out why until he was diagnosed with ADHD at 50. The Root Down is the process he built to make sense of it, and it works for any brain. In this funny, honest, interactive keynote, your people find the strengths others already see in them, learn to respect who they are, and connect with the people and places where they do their best work.
Based on Dave's TEDx talk, "The ADHD Advantage"
The advantage was never ADHD itself. It's knowing how you're wired and finding where you grow.
Why this keynote lands
Every audience includes people who have been told they're the problem: too much, too scattered, too different. Many of them are capable people working in conditions that don't fit how they think.
The Root Down gives each person a simple process to understand their own wiring and do something with it. Leaders leave knowing how to build a team where every kind of mind can do its best work, often with changes that cost nothing.
About 1 in 16 U.S. adults has a current ADHD diagnosis, and about half were diagnosed as adults. (CDC, 2023)
The three pillars
Pillar 1
Know Yourself
Discover your strengths through the eyes of the people who know you best, with a simple exercise attendees start in the room.
Pillar 2
Respect Yourself
Quiet self-doubt and build steady self-respect with practical tools, including a breathing reset attendees can use the same day.
Pillar 3
Connect Yourself
Build the connections that keep people well and teams together, starting with the person standing alone at the next event.
Choose the version for your room
Leadership & Teams
Corporate teams, managers, HR, and ERG programs
Adds how to lead and manage different kinds of minds, including simple changes that help everyone on the team do their best work.
Personal Growth
Conferences, associations, and professional development
The core keynote: funny, honest, and focused on what each person can start doing on Monday morning.
ADHD & Neurodiversity
ADHD organizations and neurodiversity events
Goes past the basics into masking, rejection sensitivity, late diagnosis, and executive function, from someone who has lived it.
Details
Length
45, 60, or 75 minutes. In person or virtual. Tailored to your audience and agenda.
Ideal for
Conferences, leadership and professional development events, corporate retreats and off-sites, ERG programs, wellness events, and colleges and universities.
Add a workshop
An extended workshop or breakout session where teams put the Root Down practices to work.
Every attendee gets
A take-home worksheet and the superpowers email template, so the work continues after the event.
Let's get your audience talking
No obligation. No hard sell. Just a great conversation about your event.
“Dave’s honesty, vulnerability and storytelling are unique drivers that make his presentations memorable. But in addition, he leaves his audiences with actionable steps to take to make their life - both at work and at home - better. A seasoned entrepreneur and speaker, he knows what it takes to motivate, inspire, and impact. I’d recommend Dave for your events, but only if you want your audience and attendees engaged and dialed in. Dave is easy to work with and one of the best around when it comes to crafting a messages and gets results.”
“As more and more adults realize they may have adult ADHD, we will all need to better understand neurodiversity, ADHD, and strategies for coping. Dave Delaney is a great guide to these issues with his presentation, “The Root Down,” encouraging audiences to understand ADHD, break stigmas, understand testing, raise awareness, and learn to engage their own neurodivergence as a positive! Dave is engaging, relatable, knowledgeable and fun. I would absolutely recommend him as a speaker, and for this particular program.”
“Dave Delaney is a true professional speaker. He is definitely worth hiring for a conference, industry trade show or company retreat. Daves comes prepared, provides tons of value, and brings fantastic energy to the audience.
His perspectives on late-diagnosed ADHD, nice networking and other topics are well thought out and researched. He has a sense of humor that serves to move the presentation forward and keep the audience entertained and engaged.
Dave is intent on providing value to the people who attend his presentations. He’s well-versed in adapting his presentation to the needs of the audience. As an event producer and promoter myself, Dave is easy and reasonable to work with, even when surprises come up or things don’t go exactly as planned. He’s exactly the type of speaker I look for when I’m booking experts who will bring value to my audience.”