“The fear isn’t the topic. The fear is the awkwardness. So let me take that off the table.” – Ask Nicki
Whenever a company considers bringing me in to speak, there’s usually one unspoken question hovering in the room.
Won’t it be awkward?
It’s a fair question, and I’d rather answer it directly than pretend it isn’t there. Because here’s the truth: the topic isn’t what makes people uncomfortable. The awkwardness comes from how it’s usually handled, clumsily, clinically, or with a nervous giggle. Handled well, a conversation about intimacy and connection is one of the most engaged, warmest, most human hours your team will spend all year.
So let me tell you what a keynote with me actually looks like.
It’s about connection, not explicit content. I don’t stand in front of your people and make them squirm. I talk about the skills underneath a good intimate life: communication, curiosity, the ability to say yes and no clearly, the courage to have the conversation you’ve been avoiding. These are the exact skills that build strong teams, honest feedback and psychological safety. The bedroom is simply where most of us learn them first.
It’s practical, not preachy. People leave with something they can use that evening, with a partner, and the next morning, with a colleague. Consent, boundaries, reading cues, repairing after conflict: these travel effortlessly from the personal into the professional.
It respects the room. I’ve spent over twenty years in high-stakes rooms, first as an attorney and now as a coach. I know how to read a group, hold a boundary, and keep things safe, inclusive and genuinely fun. Nobody gets singled out. Nobody gets embarrassed. People laugh, and then they think.
Here’s why this belongs on your wellness agenda at all. We’ve become comfortable talking about mental health, burnout, nutrition and movement at work. But intimacy and relational wellbeing, arguably the thing that most affects how rested, resourced and resilient your people are, stays firmly off the list. The one area of wellness that quietly shapes everything else is the one we’ve all agreed not to mention.
That silence has a cost. Stressed relationships follow people to their desks. Poor communication at home rarely stays at home. And a workforce that has never been given permission to talk about connection tends to struggle with it everywhere.
I’m not suggesting you turn your offsite into couples therapy. I’m suggesting that the taboo itself is the problem, and that a single, well-run session can dissolve years of it, while giving your people tools that make them better partners and better colleagues.
The awkwardness you’re worried about? That’s exactly what I’m there to remove.
If your team’s wellness programme has a blind spot, I’d love to help you fill it. Explore my corporate and keynote work, or get in touch to talk about your event.