
Yes, we’re twins, and while Susanne and I might look (and sound) nearly identical, our approaches to presenting couldn’t be more different. Here’s how we learned to turn our differences into our biggest strength on the Agile stage.
For more than 15 years, I’ve spoken to groups at conferences, as a facilitator, and even as a tour guide in Alaska, always refining my approach to engaging an audience. But only in the last two years have I stepped onto Agile conference stages as a duo, co-presenting with my twin sister Susanne. And while we might look and sound nearly identical, our presenting styles, prep routines, and on-stage energy are anything but. Co-presenting challenged us to be agile in real time, leveraging not just our similarities but, crucially, our differences. It also meant living the very principles and mindsets we were speaking about: adaptability, collaboration, and continuous learning.
Planning and Preparing: Agile in Action
Our planning was as iterative as any Agile project. We’d start with a loose idea, create an outline, and build it out through cycles of structured planning and creative improvisation. Sometimes that led to passionate debates, last-minute pivots, and playful chaos. Preparing our keynote at ALE2023 in Vilnius, our topic was focused on the Flux Mindset and one of the 8 Superpowers for thriving in constant change (#RunSlower), created by April Rinne. We set out to live what we were talking about, inviting participation, using Liberating Structures, and adjusting our format through feedback, prototyping, and, yes, many sticky notes.
We divided our roles based on passion and resonance. I gravitated to strong visuals; Susanne focused on the emotional experience we wanted to create. This blend, intentionally designed and organically emergent, echoed Agile’s preference for cross-functional, collaborative teams. Our process was agile all the way down.
Tips for Agile keynote prep:
- Treat co-presenting as an Agile experiment, share strengths and differences openly.
- Anchor your approach in the Agile Manifesto: “individuals and interactions over processes and tools,” and “responding to change over following a plan.”
- Start with a clear “why”: define together what you want the audience to feel and do.
- Plan in sprints: outline, prototype, test, and adjust.
- Divide roles by energy and interest, not just by topic.
- Always plan for flexibility; you’ll need it.
On Stage: Trust, Transparency, and Adaptability
Learning to share the stage took real work. Early on, I sometimes felt Susanne didn’t trust my contributions, as she’d rephrase my points. It forced us to have transparent conversations, just like any Agile team. Practicing hand-offs and transitions was our version of a team working agreement. After hours of rehearsal, our rhythm improved, and the audience noticed: “You had such easy hand-offs and a beautiful flow. You two are so insync!” Underneath, though, we were adapting constantly, staying open to each other and to the moment.
We also learned the hard way that things never go exactly as planned. At ALE2023 in Vilnius, our mics started to give loud feedback, so we had to ditch them ten minutes in. My usual style – moving around and interacting- was limited. We were forced to anchor to opposite sides of the stage, disconnected from our plan and, for a moment, each other. It felt awkward and less connected to the audience than we wanted. The lesson? Always have a Plan B for tech, and be ready to co-adapt in the moment.
At AgileByExample in Warsaw, we faced another “responding to change” challenge. We were in a massive movie theater, with the audience far from us and the screen towering behind. Our signature audience interaction felt impossible. The physical space made connecting hard. In the moment, we decided to drop the exercise, which made the talk less dynamic than we’d hoped. It was a disappointment, but it reinforced a key Agile principle: understand your environment and adapt your approach, even if it means letting go of a plan.
Tips for on-stage agility:
- Build psychological safety and trust with your co-presenter, just like any Agile team.
- Rehearse transitions and hand-offs as much as content.
- Always check the venue and have a backup for tech.
- Have a Plan B for anything that could go wrong.
- Share your “failures” openly, inspecting and adapting in real time is the agile way.
Audience Engagement: Modeling Agility
We wanted our talks to be more than content delivery; we wanted to create a sense of community and shared learning, just like in a healthy Agile team. We intentionally designed interactive moments, using Liberating Structures and sometimes surprising each other and the audience (like when Susanne unexpectedly jumped off stage to make a point). These moments modeled a Flux Mindset: adaptability, openness, and the courage to experiment. Sometimes it worked perfectly; sometimes it didn’t. But the audience always remembered the energy.
Our goal was always to build real connections in the room, and invite those conversations to continue after our session. Agile conferences are living systems, and the best learning often happens between sessions, not just during them.
Tips for audience engagement:
- Use facilitation tools (like Liberating Structures) to engage your audience and spark real dialogue.
- Plan for participation, not just Q&A: get people talking to each other, not just to you.
- Embrace surprises and let go of perfection: respond in the moment.
- Keep the conversation going: invite hallway follow-ups or coffee chats after your talk.
Inspect, Adapt, and Grow—On and Off the Stage
After every talk, we held a mini-retrospective, what worked, what flopped, and what we’d do differently. Sometimes we celebrated our risk-taking, sometimes we felt the sting of a missed connection. But we always learned. This habit of continuous feedback and improvement is at the heart of Agile, and it’s made us better speakers, facilitators, and teammates.
Diversity of style, experience, or perspective made our sessions more valuable. As twins, we brought obvious similarities but also surprising differences. We believe that embracing diversity and inclusion, on stage and in the Agile community, leads to richer learning and stronger teams.
Tips for continuous improvement:
- Always run a retro, solo or as a team, after every session.
- Be honest about what didn’t work, and celebrate experiments that did.
- Invite feedback from the audience, not just your co-presenter.
- Reflect on how you model Agile principles, not just talk about them.
- Seek out collaborators with different backgrounds, you’ll learn more together.

Closing: Living the Agile Values
Looking back, I’m grateful for both the solo and shared experiences. Co-presenting with Susanne pushed me to grow, challenged my assumptions, and deepened my appreciation for what makes agile so powerful: trust, openness, collaboration, and continuous improvement. We learned to trust, to compromise, and to amplify each other’s strengths, lessons that resonate off stage as much as on.
If you ever get the chance, I encourage you to try co-presenting at an Agile conference. It’s dynamic, energizing, and a living demonstration of adaptability, teamwork, and co-creation, values that matter deeply in our community. And to Susanne: thank you for being my partner in learning, in speaking, and in showing that two voices together can spark something special.
I am curious – What experiment would you like to try in your next Agile talk to make it more interactive, adaptive, or human? Would you consider co-presenting? I’d love to hear your stories.
About the Author:
Sylvia Taylor is a speaker, facilitator, and consultant who helps teams and leaders thrive in change. With over 15 years of experience—and a love for making conference talks interactive, engaging, and real—she speaks on adaptability, leadership, agile mindset, and human-centered collaboration. You can often find her creating conversations that continue long after the talk ends. She was also mentioned by Joanna Płaskonka in her blog post here on Agile Gatherings!