One Lunch Hour. One Skill People Use That Afternoon.
Chris Sund runs in-person lunch and learn sessions for companies and HR teams. Each one is 45 to 60 minutes on a single practical skill: handling objections, recognizing people well, keeping good employees or building confidence. For bigger events the same topics run as a keynote, half day or full day.
What Makes a Lunch and Learn Worth the Hour?
A lunch and learn competes with inboxes and the afternoon’s meetings. It works when it teaches one thing well enough that people use it before the day is over. It fails when it tries to cover a whole keynote in 45 minutes.
Chris builds each session around a single framework and real examples from his own companies, with time for the room to try it. People leave with a few lines they can say on their next call, interview or one-on-one.
- One framework per session, not a compressed keynote
- Objection handling with the five LAARC steps: Listen, Acknowledge, Ask, Respond, Confirm
- Recognition that takes forty seconds and lands
- Retention conversations managers can have this week
- Confidence for people who doubt they are ready
Proof: Practical Sessions That Get Used
Chris taught handling hiring objections in a breakout at the POWER Conference 2025, in two sessions at NAHCR 2025, and at LeadingAge Illinois, which published his LAARC framework in its annual conference program. He has also taught objection handling at the emPower Breakfast in Lincoln.
His short-format work includes two five-minute DisruptHR talks in September 2026, Stop Building Fences and Your Best Hire Already Works for You, both of which make a good lunch and learn topic at full length.
A Lunch and Learn Built From the DisruptHR Talks
Both of Chris’s DisruptHR talks make a full lunch and learn on their own, and both lead into his culture keynote for a larger event later in the year.
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.Lunch and Learn Topics
Pick one topic per session. Each is customized to your team and the situations they actually face.
Handling Objections With LAARC
Listen, Acknowledge, Ask, Respond, Confirm. For sales teams, recruiters and anyone who hears “no” for a living. See the LAARC method.Recognition That Lands
The small, specific moments that make people feel seen, and how managers build them into a normal week.Keeping Good People
Why good people leave when the pay is right, and the conversations that keep them.Confidence and Self-Doubt
For people who are capable of more than they believe. Drawn from You Are Capable of More.Formats
The lunch and learn is the short format. The same topics scale up for a company meeting, a leadership offsite or a training day.
Lunch and Learn
One topic, one framework, delivered in person over lunch with time for the room to practice and ask questions.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: Leadership Workshop Facilitator · Virtual Keynote Speaker · Sales Training Workshop · Employee Appreciation Day Speaker
What Lunch and Learn Planners Ask
How long is a lunch and learn session?
45 to 60 minutes, in person. That usually means about 35 to 45 minutes of content and 10 to 15 minutes for questions or a short practice exercise while people finish lunch.Which topics work best over lunch?
Single-skill topics: handling objections with LAARC, recognition, retention conversations and confidence. Each one has a framework people can use the same afternoon.Can the lunch and learn be virtual?
The lunch and learn format is in person. For a remote audience, Chris offers live virtual keynotes; he does not run virtual workshops.Can a lunch and learn lead into a bigger session?
Yes. Many teams start with a lunch and learn on one topic, then book a keynote for a company meeting or a half-day or full-day workshop for managers.How many people can attend?
It works for a single team of a dozen people or a full lunchroom. For very large groups, a keynote format is usually a better fit.
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 of the book make a simple take-home for lunch and learn attendees, with bulk pricing available.
He Teaches What He Uses
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 Teams Have Learned From Chris
Breakouts, working sessions and short-format talks where Chris has taught practical skills.
POWER Conference 2025Omaha, NE · BreakoutNAHCR 2025 Annual ConferencePalm Springs, CA · Two sessionsLeadingAge IllinoisChicago, ILemPower Breakfast LincolnLincoln, NEDisruptHR Omaha 6.0Stop Building Fences · Sep 2026DisruptHR Kansas City 6.0Your Best Hire Already Works for YouAlso: The LAARC Method · Leadership Workshop Facilitator · Breakout Session Speaker · Team Offsite Speaker · See all speaking engagements →
Book a Lunch and Learn
Tell Chris about your team, your date and the one skill you want people using that afternoon. You’ll get a fast, straight answer on fit and availability.Check Availability & FeesResponse within one business day · Speaker kit, bio & headshots