Looking for a speaker at your next genealogy conference or event? Lisa offers both in-person and virtual options to meet your needs.
Current Genealogy Speaking Topics
For All Genealogy Audiences
Culinary Heritage: Finding Home Within Yourself
Food is deeply ingrained in family history and heritage. Recipes, cookware, traditions, and memories are passed from generation to generation. Learn how to discover, celebrate and reserve your family’s food traditions and memories. [Great for a keynote topic!]
[NEW 2025] Walk Where Your Ancestors Walked: Virtual Heritage Travel using AI & Online Resources
Wondering what your ancestor’s life was like? Heritage travel allows you to explore and connect more deeply with your family history. Can’t travel in person? Discover how to walk where your ancestors walked and experience their culture from you couch! (Yes, you can!)
Overcoming Research Obstacles
[UPDATED 2024] Be a Genealogy Detective: Solving the Puzzle of Your Ancestors Despite Courthouse Fires
Your ancestors’ records were destroyed in a courthouse fire! Now what? Researching ancestors who lived in a burned county can be particularly frustrating. Do researchers have options to progress their research? This lecture will include 5 strategies for finding and researching ancestors who lived in an area where needed courthouse records did not survive.
[UPDATED 2025] How To Read Old Handwriting
Struggling to read those old historical documents? Gain invaluable insights and practical strategies for deciphering your ancestors’ records, allowing you to uncover hidden stories and connect with your heritage in ways you never thought possible. From understanding the evolution of handwriting styles to employing innovative techniques for enhancing legibility, this talk promises to equip you with the skills and confidence needed to navigate the rich tapestry of your family’s history. Don’t miss this opportunity to sharpen your genealogical prowess and forge deeper connections with your roots!
[NEW] Beyond Birth and Death Records: Leveraging Oral Histories for Genealogy Breakthroughs
Discover how to break through genealogy brick walls with oral history. Learn how to find and interview relatives, analyze and incorporate oral history into genealogy research, and document and cite oral history sources. This talk also covers common obstacles and reasons preventing people from pursuing oral history.
Expanding Your Research
[NEW 2024] The Tech-Savvy Researcher: Mastering ArchiveGrid, WorldCat, and Google Books for Efficient Genealogy Research
Empower your genealogy research with the latest online tools! This session dives deep into leveraging Archivegrid, WorldCat, and Google Books. Discover how to navigate these powerful resources to unearth hidden records, uncover new leads, and propel your family history journey forward. From mastering advanced search techniques to understanding unique record collections, you’ll gain the confidence to become a tech-savvy genealogy researcher.
[NEW 2025] Don’t Miss a Beat: Unlocking Ancestral Clues in Newspapers – What You Might Be Missing!
Newspapers are a goldmine of information for family historians, but are you tapping into their full potential?
From obituaries and marriage announcements to news articles and advertisements, newspapers offer a wealth of valuable details that may be missing from traditional genealogical records. Discover how to effectively search, interpret, and utilize newspapers to unearth fascinating stories and gain deeper insights into your family’s history. Make sure you’re not overlooking any clues that newspapers can reveal about your ancestors!
The 12 Days of Genealogy Christmas – Finding Ancestors in Holiday Records 🎄
Merry Christmas! The holidays are coming and despite all the busyness of the season, Christmas (and holidays in general) is a fantastic time of year to research your genealogy and family history. Discover the types of holiday resources to include in your search for your ancestors.
Discover Your Family’s Medical History Through Genealogy Research
Have you considered your ancestors’ medical histories? Genealogy records provide lots of information on an ancestor’s health if you know where to look. Discover information on your ancestor’s health and how their medical history impacted their lives.
[UPDATED 2025] Finding Clues to Your Ancestors Hidden in Social History
Social history tells the story of our ancestors’ lives and fills in the gaps in our genealogical research. Understanding how our ancestors lived and the events that impacted their lives leads to sharing their full stories and connections. This lecture explores how to find and include social history into your genealogy research, with new emphasis on leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
Before She Was a Mrs…Discovering Your Female Ancestors
Finding female ancestors often feels like an impossible task. Learn strategies to discover her in the traditional and non-traditional records.
Let’s Get Social: Finding Female Ancestors in Their Clubs and Societies
Struggling to find female ancestors? Explore their social activities! A variety of records exist for researching female ancestors within their communities. Learn about the types of clubs and societies available to your female ancestors. Discover where to look for the records and what you can learn about your female ancestor!
[UPDATED 2024] Exploring the Road Less Traveled: Uncommon Resources for Genealogy Enthusiasts
Genealogy researchers create their own brick walls in research projects by failing to look beyond the traditional genealogical records. Researchers must think “outside the box” and explore lesser known record sets and records unique to an ancestor’s community to start breaking down those genealogical brick walls. This lecture will discuss uncommon genealogy resources and where to find them.
[UPDATED 2025] Finding Clues to Your Ancestors in Underused City Directories
City directories hold fascinating facts and clues of your ancestors beyond placing them in a specific time and place. Are you finding and interpreting all of the clues? This session will discuss the types of information found in city directories, online and offline resources for the directories, and how to discover your ancestors’ stories in their pages. Additionally, we’ll explore how artificial intelligence tools can be used together with city directories to find even more insights into your ancestors’ lives.
Putting a Face to a Name – Finding Old Family Photos
Are you wondering what your ancestors looked like? Do you know if family photographs of your ancestors even exist? Explore online and offline resources to search for old family photographs and put a face to your ancestor’s name. [ One of the most popular talks!]
Other topics are available upon request.
Contact me today for my availability and rates.
