FEEL
A message must reach people before it can move them.
Chicago · August 28, 2026
THE MOMENT
THAT CHANGES
WHAT COMES NEXT.
Some messages give you something to think about. The right message changes what you do next.
SCROLL TO MOVE ↓
01 / NOT ANOTHER SPEAKER EVENT
THIS IS NOT A
COLLECTION OF TALKS.
It is a room built for movement.
Catalyst Stage is a curated live experience where speakers do more than share information. They develop a message with intention, deliver it with emotional force, and create a clear point of movement for every person in the room.
No sprawling presentations. No passive inspiration. No ideas that disappear when the applause ends.
SEE
A new perspective makes a different future visible.
MOVE
The talk becomes a decision, a conversation, or a first step.
WHY CATALYST STAGE IS DIFFERENT
THE TALK ISN’T
THE FINISH LINE.
The measure is what the message sets in motion.
Speakers do not simply arrive with a presentation. Every Catalyst Talk is shaped through a dedicated development experience around one clear message and one intended movement.
The FEEL–SEE–MOVE structure turns information into an emotional connection, a different way of seeing, and a meaningful next step.
The room is intentionally built for reflection, conversation, connection, and commitment—not passive consumption followed by polite applause.
Each talk is professionally captured as a focused, shareable message that can travel far beyond the people in the room.
THE CHICAGO THEME / 2026
THEMOMENTTHAT CHANGESWHAT COMES NEXT.
Every transformation has a moment.
The moment something becomes impossible to ignore. The moment a truth becomes clear. The moment a person stops waiting, hiding, repeating, settling, or carrying what no longer belongs in their future.
Chicago’s Catalyst Talks will explore those defining moments—and create new ones in real time.
What truth changes the direction?What choice makes the old path impossible?What becomes possible once we finally move?
SHORT, DEVELOPED TALKS
✦INTENTIONAL CONNECTION
✦AUDIENCE MOVEMENT
✦PROFESSIONAL CAPTURE
02 / FOR THE PERSON WITH A MESSAGE
SPEAK
DON’T JUST GIVE A TALK.
CREATE A TURNING POINT.
A Catalyst Talk is your message in motion.
You may be a founder, educator, artist, advocate, coach, community leader, practitioner, or person who has seen something the rest of us need to see. What matters is not your title. It is the clarity, consequence, and potential movement inside your message.
12–15MINUTE
CATALYST TALK
CATALYST TALK
3CORE MOVES
FEEL · SEE · MOVE
FEEL · SEE · MOVE
1MESSAGE BUILT
TO TRAVEL
TO TRAVEL
01
THE CATALYST TALK ASSET
ONE TALK. AN ASSET THAT CAN OPEN MANY DOORS.
Your professionally captured Catalyst Talk becomes more than event footage. It is a concise demonstration of your thinking, voice, credibility, story, and ability to move an audience—all in one purposeful piece.
- A signature authority asset for your website and speaker materials
- A compelling proof piece for podcasts, stages, partnerships, clients, and media
- A long-form message that can become short clips, written content, and campaign material
- A clear articulation of the idea you want to become known for
- A message designed to keep creating conversations and opportunities after the event
THE ROOM / CHICAGOTHE CHICAGO STAGE
THE DEN
THEATRE.
An intimate room built for the kind of message you can feel.
Set in the heart of Chicago’s Wicker Park, The Den Theatre brings the audience close to the stage—and close to every moment. Its character, energy, and immersive layout create exactly the kind of environment Catalyst Stage is designed for: not a distant presentation, but a shared live experience.
VENUEThe Den Theatre
ADDRESS1331 N. Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
Chicago, IL 60622
DATEFriday, August 28, 2026
THE SECOND INVITATION / STEP ONTO THE STAGE
YOUR WORK BUILT THE EXPERIENCE.
NOW BUILD THE MESSAGE.
Catalyst Stage is looking for founders, business owners, executives, experts, educators, creatives, and leaders with more than a story to tell—people with an idea that can change how others build, lead, decide, or move.
CLARIFY THE IDEA
Distill what you know into one consequential message—not a pitch, presentation, or overview of everything you do.
DEVELOP THE TALK
Shape a focused 12–15 minute Catalyst Talk through FEEL–SEE–MOVE, supported by development, coaching, and rehearsal.
ENTER THE ROOM
Share your thinking with an intentional mix of founders, leaders, experts, connectors, and opportunity-creators.
LEAVE WITH THE ASSET
Receive a professionally captured proof piece for your website, outreach, podcasts, partnerships, media, and future stages.
CHICAGO · AUGUST 28 · THE DEN THEATRE
Apply to speak in Chicago The business may be what you built. The Catalyst Talk is the idea you want to become known for.
03 / JOIN THE ROOM
DON’T JUST ATTEND.
LEAVE DIFFERENT.
Catalyst Stage is for people who are not looking for another night of passive inspiration. It is for founders, builders, leaders, creatives, professionals, and curious people ready to encounter an idea—and do something with it.
Hear ideas before they become obvious.
Experience tightly developed messages from people who have lived, built, tested, and discovered something worth carrying forward.
Turn insight into a next move.
Every Catalyst Talk follows FEEL–SEE–MOVE, helping you connect emotionally, see differently, and identify what changes next.
Meet people who came to move.
The room is designed for intentional reflection and real connection—not hurried networking or collecting business cards.
Leave with more than notes.
Carry home a personal point of movement: a decision, conversation, commitment, collaboration, or first step.
YOUR SEAT INCLUDES
- A curated sequence of live Catalyst Talks
- Guided reflection and audience activation
- Intentional connection with speakers and attendees
- Priority event and access updates
28AUG 2026
THE DEN THEATRE
CHICAGO
THE DEN THEATRE
CHICAGO
YOUR HOST / THE FOUNDER
NLNICK LAMBE
BUILDING THE STAGE
HE BELIEVES MESSAGES DESERVE.
Speaker. Educator. Event architect. Founder of Catalyst Stage and SpeakNess.
After speaking at more than 100 events, studying hundreds of speakers, and building virtual experiences reaching tens of thousands of people across the world, Nick saw the same gap again and again: powerful people had meaningful ideas, but too many stages were built around filling time—not creating movement.
He created Catalyst Stage to change that. His work centers on helping people find the message beneath the presentation, develop it with intention, deliver it with humanity, and turn it into something that can continue creating impact long after the room empties.
“A stage should not simply give a message somewhere to be heard. It should give that message somewhere to go.”
ONE ROOM. A SERIES OF DEFINING MESSAGES.