The Breakout People Pick Over the Hallway.
Chris Sund leads conference breakout sessions for associations filling their tracks. Each one is practical, built around one framework and real examples, and sized for a 45 to 75 minute slot. He has led breakouts at the Greater Omaha Chamber’s POWER Conference and the NAHCR Annual Conference.
What Makes a Breakout Session Worth Attending?
Breakouts compete with each other and with the hallway. Attendees choose the one that promises something they can use, and they judge it by whether they write anything down.
Chris builds breakouts as working sessions. One clear framework, examples from the companies he runs, and time for the room to apply it to their own situation. Session descriptions and learning objectives arrive ready for your program and any credit submissions.
- One framework per session that attendees can use the next day
- Handling hiring and sales objections with LAARC
- Retention and culture from an operator who runs the business
- Learning objectives written for your program and credit submissions
- A breakout that can pair with a general-session keynote
Proof: Breakouts, Sessions and Panels
Chris led the breakout How to Handle Hiring Objections to Recruit the Best Talent at the Greater Omaha Chamber’s POWER Conference 2025, and returned for POWER Conference 2026. He delivered two sessions on handling hiring objections at the NAHCR 2025 Annual Conference and keynoted NAHCR 2026.
He is on the panel The Margin Squeeze: How Smart Agencies Are Still Winning at TalentTrack 2027 in Omaha in May 2027, and taught hiring objections at LeadingAge Illinois.
Short Talks That Grow Into Sessions
Chris’s two five-minute DisruptHR talks expand into full breakout sessions, and both connect to his culture keynote. Associations can book the culture keynote for the general session and either talk as a breakout.
Stop Building Fences
DisruptHR Omaha 6.0, September 2026. Most retention strategy is fence building: bigger bonuses, golden handcuffs, taller walls. People stay for growth, so build launch pads instead. Also published in Inc. as Stop Building Fences.Your Best Hire Already Works for You
DisruptHR Kansas City 6.0, September 2026. Most of the capability companies go shopping for is already on the payroll, unused. Promote the trajectory, not the snapshot.You Are Capable of a Better Culture
The full culture keynote both talks open into, built on SPARK: support, purpose, appreciation, relationships, and knowledge and growth. Chris made the same case in Forbes in Build Culture First.Breakout Topics
Every breakout is customized to your attendees, your track and your learning objectives.
Handling Hiring Objections
The LAARC steps for recruiters and hiring managers when a strong candidate pushes back.You Are Capable of a Better Culture
The five SPARK culture drivers, as a working session for managers.People Quit People, Not Companies
Retention as a leadership skill, with the conversations that keep good people.Handling Objections
The LAARC framework for sales and business development tracks.The Power of Small Moments
Patient and customer experience built from brief, ordinary interactions.Formats
Most associations book a breakout on its own or pair it with a general-session keynote. The same content also runs as a half-day or full-day workshop.
Breakout Session
A working session for one track: one framework, real examples and time for attendees to apply it.General Session
The full program for the whole room, with stories and one framework people can use the next day.Workshop
The keynote content plus working time: managers apply the framework to their own teams and leave with a written plan.Workshop
A leadership day built around your agenda, combining the keynote, applied sessions and planning time.Who Books This Session
Related pages: Keynote vs. Workshop vs. Breakout · State Association & Chapter Conference Speaker · Emcee & Panel Moderator · SHRM Chapter & State Conference Speaker
What Program Committees Ask
How long is a breakout session?
Usually 45 to 75 minutes, matched to your schedule. Chris plans for a framework, examples and applied time, and keeps a few minutes for questions.Can Chris do a keynote and a breakout at the same conference?
Yes, and it is a common package. The keynote sets the theme for the full room; the breakout gives a smaller group time to work on one skill in depth.Will you provide learning objectives and a session description?
Yes. Chris provides a session title, description, learning objectives, a timed outline and his bio in whatever format your program and any continuing education submission require. His sessions have been approved for continuing education credit at past conferences; the host association handles the CE application.Does he do panels?
Yes. He is on the panel The Margin Squeeze: How Smart Agencies Are Still Winning at TalentTrack 2027, and he also moderates panels. See emcee and panel moderator.Which breakout topics are most requested?
Handling hiring objections with LAARC, retention, and culture. For sales and business development tracks, handling objections in sales conversations.
You Are Capable of More
The bestselling book behind the keynote, and the 2026 Paris Book Festival winner in the How-To category. Ten principles for closing the gap between what a team is producing and what it is actually capable of.Copies can be bundled for breakout attendees, and Chris can run a signing table after the session.
He Teaches From the Operator’s Chair
Chris is President & COO of Uniti Med and GQR Healthcare and COO of Nebula. He built Uniti Med from startup into one of the largest healthcare staffing companies in the US: 10x revenue growth on the core brand, #3 on the Inc. Regionals list of the fastest-growing companies in the Midwest, and a Fortune Best Workplaces award along the way.He has spent the past decade in healthcare staffing, which is a hiring and retention business every single week. Before that he spent ten years in restaurants and beverage, ending as head of sales and marketing for a brewery. He knows what it takes to keep a frontline team showing up.He writes for Inc. and Forbes, is the bestselling author of You Are Capable of More, and is a Maxwell Leadership Certified coach.Stages I Have Spoken On
Where Chris Has Led Sessions
Breakouts, concurrent sessions and panels at association and industry conferences.
POWER Conference 2025Omaha, NE · BreakoutNAHCR 2025 Annual ConferencePalm Springs, CA · Two sessionsTalentTrack 2027Omaha, NE · PanelLeadingAge IllinoisChicago, ILPOWER Conference 2026Omaha, NE · Oct 2026NAHCR 2026 Annual ConferenceMilwaukee, WIAlso: State Association & Chapter Conference Speaker · Emcee & Panel Moderator · Keynote vs. Workshop vs. Breakout · Lunch and Learn Speaker · See all speaking engagements →
Fill Your Breakout Track
Tell Chris about your conference, your tracks and the attendees in each room. You’ll get a fast, straight answer on fit and availability.Check Availability & FeesResponse within one business day · Speaker kit, bio & headshots