Sharon is available to speak at various events including corporate seminars, business lunch & dinner events, churches/youth group meetings & other faith-related events, PTA & school faculty/staff meetings, educational conferences, women's meetings, mom meetings, book clubs, etc. Radio & TV interviews with her can be found on the home page and on the House of Testosterone book page. Sharon can combine humorous material with poignant anecdotes to provide a talk that touches and motivates.  Topics include:

 

1. humorous & poignant anecdotes & musings about motherhood, including humor readings from her two books (about being an older mom and about being the only female in a household of males) See the other pages on this website for excerpts from each book.

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2. inspirational talk about her favorite teacher and the impact  she made on Sharon (click underlined topic for column the speech is based upon as well as comments from staff members). Her teacher, the late Muriel Allison was more than a high school English teacher to Sharon; she was a mentor and inspiration, and Sharon will never forget her. This speech begins with Sharon's reaction to finding out Mrs. Allison had died and then goes into the touching memories she has of this great woman. She inspired Sharon as a person and as a writer. As the first black high school English teacher in Wake County schools (Raleigh, NC), Mrs. Allison wanted to prove herself to the first students she taught there and to their parents. And prove herself she did. She taught so much more than sentence structure and literature: she taught life. Her students consistently won county-wide writing contests, and she motivated and inspired thousands over the years. Sharon believes it is because Mrs. Allison let her own identity and soul shine through to the students. Sharon first gave this talk to a faculty/staff meeting at her alma mater, Athens Drive High in Raleigh, in 2012, and it received an extremely positive and enthusiastic response (see comments in document above). Sharon also uses video of Mrs. Allison taken from a WTVD public affairs show on which Mrs. Allison was a guest. And click here for more media coverage about Mrs. Allison and her glowing reputation as a  teacher and person.  

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3.  a talk tailored for PTAs and other educational groups that includes funny excerpts from her Please Don't Let Me Be the Oldest Mom in the PTA book along with the column above about her inspiring high school teacher

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4. a talk about the importance of continuing to pursue one's dreams & goals with personal experiences from Sharon's life and from some of her writings. Perfect for corporations. 

 

5. an inspirational and faith-based talk about her nephew's successful bone marrow transplant based on her article in Good Housekeeping (click to read) 

This includes the themes of resiliency, hope, faith, and retaining one's perspective about life. Perfect for corporations or civic/church groups. 

 

6. an insightful, thought-provoking look at teen anxiety

& depression. This is based on a personal story.  

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7. a moving talk about one of Sharon's uncles who served in WWII and came home on a hospital ship with PTSD, which wasn't named or even an official diagnosis back then. The News & Observer did this article about him when he passed away in 2011.  Family and friends noticed immediately he wasn't

the same when he came home and that he couldn't 

function, focus, or communicate the way he used to do. 

Despite visits to VA hospitals over the years, it was only called a nervous condition. For 66 years, Sharon's Uncle Bill basically worked at the family sewing machine shop and watched TV -- hours and hours of TV every day, never having a family of his own or participating in any other activities, rarely wanting to leave home. Sharon's parents looked after him for much of that time. Records that weren't sent to the family until 2010 revealed some surprising & disconcerting information. This is Uncle Bill's story, which would make an interesting and inspiring talk for a variety of groups, including military, chambers of commerce, civic groups, older Scout groups. etc. Click here for the essay on which this is based.