Speaking

The Patient Perspective Belongs at the Table.

Margo Wickersham brings audiences something they don't often get from a speaker: the perspective of the patient, the experience of an advocate, and the strategic understanding of a business leader.

Her talks are candid, thought-provoking, and deeply human—but they're also designed to leave audiences thinking differently about what they do next.

Watch My Demo Reel

Whether she's speaking to healthcare professionals, life-sciences organizations, patient advocacy communities, or corporate audiences, Margo challenges people to look beyond the obvious and consider what healthcare, leadership, and resilience look like from the other side of the table.

Healthcare & Patient Advocacy

What Patients Wish Healthcare Leaders Knew

What does healthcare look like when you're the person sitting on the other side of the exam-room door?

Drawing from her own experience with rare and aggressive bladder cancer and years of patient advocacy, Margo offers an unfiltered perspective on what patients experience—and what they need from the people and organizations serving them.

This isn't about making healthcare professionals feel guilty.

It's about helping them see what they may not be able to see from their side of the table.

Audience takeaway: A deeper understanding of the patient experience and practical insight into how listening differently can change the way patients experience care.

From Patient to Partner: The Power of the Patient Voice

Patients are increasingly invited into healthcare conversations. But being invited into the room isn't the same as having a meaningful seat at the table.

Margo explores what happens when patients move from being recipients of healthcare to partners in shaping it.

She shares lessons from her own advocacy work and challenges organizations to move beyond performative patient engagement toward relationships in which patient perspectives can genuinely influence decisions.

Audience takeaway: A clearer understanding of what meaningful patient engagement looks like—and why lived experience is a form of expertise.

When the Patient Is in the Room

The most valuable person in a healthcare conversation isn't always the person with the most credentials.

Sometimes it's the person who can say:

"Here's what this actually feels like from the patient's side."

Margo examines the assumptions that can develop when healthcare is designed primarily from the perspective of the people delivering it, and what becomes possible when patients are included earlier and more meaningfully.

Her message is simple:

Don't just ask patients what they think. Build healthcare with them.

Leadership, Resilience & Human Connection

Margo's patient advocacy work grew from a life-changing diagnosis, but her story didn't begin there.

Long before cancer, she spent decades building businesses, leading teams, navigating change, communicating under pressure, and helping organizations and people move forward.

That experience—and what happened when her own life was turned upside down—shapes a second group of talks for organizations looking for an honest conversation about resilience, purpose, leadership, and the human side of work.

Turning Pressure Into Purpose

Pressure is inevitable.

What we do with it isn't.

Margo shares the lessons she has learned from navigating professional challenges, major life disruption, cancer, uncertainty, and reinvention.

This isn't a presentation about pretending everything happens for a reason or simply "staying positive."

It's about finding agency when circumstances are difficult, identifying what still matters, and deciding what you're going to do with the hand you've been dealt.

Audience takeaway: Practical perspective on navigating pressure, uncertainty, change, and adversity without losing yourself in the process.

The Gratitude Advantage

Gratitude is easy to talk about when life is going well.

It's much harder—and much more meaningful—when it isn't.

Based on the experience behind her book, Gratitude in the Storm: When Not Dying Is Enough to Keep Fighting, Margo explores the difference between toxic positivity and genuine resilience, and how gratitude can coexist with anger, fear, grief, uncertainty, and disappointment.

Her message isn't "look on the bright side."

It's find what is still worth holding onto.

More Than a Speech

Margo can tailor her role to the needs of an organization or event.

Engagements may include:

• Keynote presentations

• Conference sessions

• Patient panels

• Moderated conversations

• Fireside chats

• Executive or team discussions

• Patient advocacy events

• Healthcare and life-sciences programs

• Workshops and facilitated discussions

She can also work with organizations to develop a conversation around a specific patient, leadership, or organizational challenge.

What Audiences Can Expect

Candor.
Margo doesn't sugarcoat difficult experiences.

Humanity.
Patients, professionals, leaders, and organizations are all made up of people. She never loses sight of that.

Perspective.
She challenges assumptions and encourages audiences to see familiar problems from a different angle.

Action.
The goal isn't simply to inspire an audience for an hour. It's to leave people thinking differently about what they can do next.

Bring Margo Into the Conversation

“Hearing Margo’s story changed my life.

As a research physician specializing in bladder cancer therapy research, hearing Margo share her story and experiences as she tackled treatment for her dual diagnosis was incredibly impactful! Connecting my work with the lives of patients like Margo changed my life. She shared her experiences with raw vulnerability, humor, and gratitude, which made me feel the value of the work I do now than ever.”

— Dr. P, Urologist Oncologist

Looking for a speaker who can bring the patient perspective, challenge assumptions, and create a conversation your audience will remember?

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