The next-chapter keynote
A practical talk about the life behind the numbers, everyday habits and taking one useful next step.
- Planning range: 30–45 minutes
- Optional audience questions
- For conferences, teams and community events
Speaking · Industries & TeamsServe the mission.
Serve the mission.
Strengthen the next step.
Plan a respectful money and life learning experience for nonprofit staff, volunteers or community participants with Eric Guillory and The Life Manual.
How booking worksThree simple steps.
Three simple steps.
No pressure.
Planning an assembly, staff training or community night? Start with a few details and Eric will take it from there.
- Tell Eric about your people
Who’s coming, roughly how many, date ideas and what you hope they take away.
- Talk it through
Eric follows up to discuss fit, format and the details of your event.
- No commitment yet
A request starts the conversation. It doesn’t confirm a booking or a fee.
Turn it up. Take the next step.Make the room
Make the room
count.
Schools, teams and community groups. Bring Eric’s practical money and life conversation to the people you want to encourage.
Promotional slideshow with illustrative scenes. The song is performed by a separate singer, not Eric.
Download the vertical video ↓Read the words
Give your people a reason to move.
From the classroom floor to the working crew,
Everybody needs a next step they can use.
Talk about money, talk about life,
Turn a good intention into something you write.
Bring Eric in, get the whole room thinking,
Less drifting, more doing, start building.
Book Eric to speak, make the next move count.
Put a plan in their hands, turn the volume up loud.
Schools, teams, communities too,
A practical conversation made for your crew.
Bring Eric in, let the next chapter begin!
Hire Eric to speak.
Tell him about your event.
Choose a starting formatThe right conversation.
The right conversation.
For your room.
Three ways to begin planning. Eric confirms the topic, length, delivery and fit for your audience.
The practical workshop
Examples, reflection and selected exercises that help participants connect a lesson to their own questions.
- Planning range: 60–90 minutes
- Private writing and guided discussion
- For classes, employee groups and learning programs
Book to conversation
A facilitated conversation around selected themes from The Life Manual, with room to reflect and ask questions.
- Planning range: 45–60 minutes
- Flexible discussion prompts
- For book clubs, libraries, teams and smaller groups
Something you can forward
Download the planner kit ↓Make the planning conversation easier.
Eric’s bio, format ideas, a planning brief and a practical room checklist—in one event-planner kit.
Begin with the people your program is meant to serve
A nonprofit money-learning event can serve several different audiences: staff, volunteers, board members or community participants. Those groups may need different starting points. A useful brief identifies who will attend and why the conversation belongs in the organization’s work, rather than treating a mission statement as a complete event plan.
Eric Guillory’s The Life Manual connects financial choices with habits, responsibility and a longer view of life. A nonprofit program can use those ideas to support clear questions and practical reflection. The session should respect the knowledge and circumstances people bring with them. Start with a manageable learning outcome and a format that makes participation possible without requiring anyone to explain a private financial struggle.
Choose one of three planning paths
For staff, the goal may be a practical household learning opportunity that fits the workday. For volunteers or leaders, it may be a conversation about using a book or a fictional exercise to support group learning. For community participants, it may be an accessible introduction to cash flow, a known future cost or a clearer personal goal.
These are related but distinct purposes. Do not ask one short event to serve all three without discussing the mix. Tell Eric what participants already have access to and what support the organization provides outside the session. That context helps the event connect with an existing program instead of duplicating another resource or suggesting that a single guest conversation can meet every need.
Make dignity a design choice
A participant should be able to listen, write privately or ask a general question without proving that they deserve to be in the room. Avoid invitations that describe attendees as financially irresponsible or imply that a difficult situation reflects a simple lack of effort. A practical learning opportunity can acknowledge responsibility while respecting the limits of what an organizer knows about another person’s life.
Use fictional examples for shared work. Explain that a worksheet can stay with the participant and that personal balances do not need to be disclosed. These choices make the event easier to understand and easier to trust. They also keep the learning task separate from any eligibility, intake or case-management process the organization may operate elsewhere.
Use a small scenario that creates a clear question
An invented household has $2,400 of monthly take-home income and $2,250 of listed assignments. The difference is $150 before any missing costs or future goals. Ask the group which facts it would want to confirm before treating the plan as complete. The question is useful even when the amount left is small, because awareness comes before deciding what can change.
Then place the dates on a calendar. An obligation that arrives before the next deposit creates a different timing question from one due later. Participants can practice recognizing that difference without discussing their own records. The exercise should encourage curiosity about missing information and possible next questions, not present one allocation as a rule for every real household.
Keep general education connected to existing support
A nonprofit may already have staff who help participants find benefits information, prepare documents, address urgent needs or reach other services. Explain those resources in the event brief. The speaking program can support learning while leaving the organization’s actual service responsibilities with the people trained and authorized to carry them out.
A group discussion is not a substitute for urgent assistance, legal advice, tax help or individualized investment recommendations. If a participant raises a specific issue, the host should know where to direct the question. Clear handoffs make the event more useful because people can distinguish a general lesson from the private support their circumstances may require.
Show how a known goal becomes a smaller task
A fictional participant wants to prepare for a known $300 cost six months away. The simple illustration is six $50 set-asides. Ask what information is still missing: whether the date is fixed, whether the amount is complete and what other commitments compete for the same resources. The arithmetic opens a conversation rather than settling it.
A person may decide that more information or another source of help is the next step. That is a valid learning outcome. Eric’s workbook approach can help someone describe the goal and the question more clearly without promising that a positive attitude creates money the household does not currently have. Keeping the task grounded makes the message more respectful and practical.
Plan access before selecting the activity
Ask about reading preferences, language needs, room sound, seating, writing space and ways participants prefer to ask questions. Discuss requested arrangements early enough for the host and speaker to determine what can be supported. Do not promise a particular accommodation or language option without confirmation.
A small group may prefer a guided conversation, while a larger event may need a microphone and a moderator. A worksheet can use short prompts and a fictional example instead of dense instructions. Give people the option to listen without completing an activity publicly. These choices help the learning fit the audience rather than expecting the audience to adapt to an event format that was chosen without considering them.
Give volunteers a defined role
Volunteers can welcome people, explain the sequence and help attendees find the agreed resources. They should not be expected to interpret private financial documents or become personal advisors simply because the event concerns money. Explain which questions go to the host, which belong in general discussion and which need another professional.
If volunteers will facilitate a later book conversation, keep the activity focused on the text and on questions participants choose to explore. The group can compare interpretations without telling someone what to do with an actual account or obligation. A clear facilitation role gives volunteers confidence about how to support the program while maintaining respectful boundaries around personal decisions.
Make a group reading plan manageable
The Life Manual can support a discussion when the host chooses a clear purpose. Select a chapter or theme, give participants enough time to read and decide how private workbook questions will be handled. A group does not need to cover the entire book in a single event for the conversation to be worthwhile.
The free first chapter and group discussion guide provide starting points for exploring the approach. If you want copies for participants, confirm quantity, price, availability and delivery with Eric. Explain whether books are optional reading, a group resource or part of a proposed combined program. A coherent reading plan makes the offer easier to understand and gives attendees a reason to return to the material.
Choose feedback that supports the mission
Ask whether the explanation was understandable, whether people could participate comfortably and which broad subject would be useful next. Those questions can help the organization improve its learning program. They do not require participants to reveal income, debt, benefit status or written personal goals.
Keep the measure close to the activity. A person might identify one missing fact in a scenario or write a question for a future conversation. That result can matter without being inflated into a claim that the event changed everyone’s financial condition. The host can recognize progress while respecting that individual circumstances, available resources and decisions extend beyond the time spent together.
Give the next action an accessible place to live
A closing resource should be easy to find and tied to the lesson. A participant might take a simple worksheet, revisit a chapter or try a fictional tool scenario. Choose one next action and explain where the supporting material is available. A long list of unfamiliar resources can make it harder to begin.
The host can share the agreed link through an existing program channel or make a printed resource available where appropriate. There is no need to collect private worksheets to support that follow-through. Eric’s emphasis on consistency becomes useful when a person can recognize a small action and decide when to return to it. Keep the commitment with the participant rather than turning it into a public test.
Send a nonprofit brief that explains the program
Include the organization, intended audience, program purpose, attendance estimate, location and date options. Describe the available time, requested access arrangements and existing support resources that may connect with the event. Explain whether you are considering a staff session, volunteer learning, community program or book discussion.
Text Eric at 504-382-5584 or use the speaking inquiry to begin. He confirms fit, availability, scope and terms directly. Keep participant case files and private financial records out of the message. A thoughtful brief helps shape a learning opportunity that serves the organization’s purpose while giving the adults in the room clear information, respectful practice and a useful next question.
Keep the momentumA useful plan.
A useful plan.
A better event.
Choose reader lessons, group-book ideas or event-planning tips. Get five practical emails at a comfortable pace. You choose the path, and you can unsubscribe.
Send me the useful next steps
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Privacy information →A few good questions
Let’s make it clear.
Don’t see your question? Text Eric: 504-382-5584
Can the event be for staff rather than community participants?
Yes. Explain which audience will attend so the purpose, examples and format fit the actual group.
Will participants need to disclose financial problems?
No. Fictional examples and private reflection can support learning without personal disclosure.
Is this a substitute for our support services?
No. The educational session can connect with existing resources while leaving case work, urgent assistance and professional advice with the appropriate people.
Can volunteers help with the event?
Define a welcoming or facilitation role and explain where specific financial questions should be directed.
Can the session work with different reading preferences?
Discuss the audience and requested arrangements early. The host and Eric need to confirm what the event can support.
Can a book discussion be part of our program?
Yes, ask about a selected chapter or theme, private workbook reflection and a manageable discussion format.
Are books automatically provided?
No. Confirm quantity, price, availability, delivery and any combined arrangement directly.
Should we collect worksheets to measure success?
Feedback can focus on clarity, access and useful topics without collecting private household numbers or written goals.
Does the program promise a financial result?
No individual outcome is guaranteed. The learning can offer explanations, practice and clearer questions.
Can the event address an urgent participant case?
Specific urgent needs belong with the host’s support process and the appropriate qualified resources, rather than a public group consultation.
What information should be in the brief?
Send the host, audience, purpose, attendance, location, date options, available time and requested access arrangements.
How do we contact Eric?
Text 504-382-5584 or use the speaking form to start the planning conversation.
Keep the momentum
Your next useful step.
Keep learning
Financial Education for Industries and Teams
Bring practical money and life learning to your industry. Explore a session shaped around your team, then talk with Eric about the right fit.
Explore the guide
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Workplace sessions
Choose a practical next step for yourself or your group.
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The Life Manual + workbook
Choose a practical next step for yourself or your group.
Explore the guide