One Of The Most Effective Speakers on Conflict and Negotiation
In-person and virtual keynotes and programs to help you
Fear it less; do it better.
See Sam in Action
Keynotes, Presentations, & Training
To see previews of Sam's talks, click here.
Conflict
We feel conflict in our bodies before we recognize it. Conflict hurts. It is a relationship we can transform from a train wreck to a train ride.
Negotiation
We negotiate to keep what we have and get what we want. Elite negotiators skillfully use countless tools to make it easy for the other side to do what they want, not pummel them into submission.
Mediation
Lawyers call mediators when they can’t solve the problem. The best mediators help the unhearable to be heard and the unspeakable to be said.
Consulting & Facilitation
The only thing harder than solving an intractable problem between our own ears is asking for help. Smart people do stupid things everyday with the best of intentions. Guidance and even intervention, welcomes difficult conversations and allows better decisions to rise from the rubble.
Positively Conflicted
Positively Conflicted is an invitation to engage rather than avoid, respond rather than react, listen rather than convince, and accept rather than resent. Transparent stories of success and failure offer hope for the unimaginable—fear conflict less and do it better.
Positively Conflicted is now an audiobook available for free on all major podcast platforms. Here Sam reads his book Positively Conflicted, each chapter an episode.
About Sam Ardery
Sam is a national mediator, consultant, speaker, trainer, and author. He gives keynotes and teaches large and small groups on conflict, negotiation and mediation. After mediating 5,000 cases and working through thousands of legal and informal conflicts, Sam brings broad subject matter expertise.
He teaches negotiation at the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University, where the law school awarded him the Outstanding Adjunct Teaching Award. Hundreds of his students engage with conflict, negotiation, and mediation around the globe. Sam’s experience mediating and speaking ranges from Los Angeles to New York and Montreal to Miami. National and local groups have recognized Sam for his work.
His approach blends professional and personal experience in forty years practicing law, four decades married, and nearly thirty years sober. It is a mix recognizing that broad tools apply in different ways to complex problems between highly charged people and organizations.
In addition to law school, Sam received advanced training at the Harvard Program on Negotiation, the Strauss School of Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University, and the Early Dispute Resolution Institute.
Positively Conflicted, Sam’s book on conflict, was published in 2021. The book will be released as a Podcast audio book in December of 2024.
Sam lives in Bloomington, Indiana with his wife, Patty, and their beloved but aging Boston Terrier, Ernie Pyle. Patty and Sam have three daughters, three sons-in-law, and seven grandchildren. Sam practices at Bunger and Robertson, where he was a partner for thirty-five years.
See Sam’s Full Bio
Known for his thoughtful, conversational, insightful, and compassionate approach, here are a few examples of the clients Sam has been trusted to work with over the years, often more than once.
