I came to truly enjoy public speaking only when I felt passionate about speaking for those who were being silenced.
I have been invited to speak at a wide range of conferences, festivals and activist group events since 2011. Here is a list of some of my past speaking engagements. If you are interested in booking me for a future event, please email me at [email protected].
My keynote presentation is called Farm to Fable for which I have a general audience and an activist audience presentation as described below. I also have presentations on who chickens really are and a shorter one on the dairy industry. In addition I have customized many presentations on various aspects of activism.
Farm to Fable Presentation
Farm to Fable is a visually-engrossing, yet non-graphic presentation intended for a general audience that clearly illuminates how we have evolved into a culture of mass animal consumption, presenting several concrete and recognizable fictions from our everyday lives. It also examines the origins of propaganda and the common patterns in the use of propaganda by other forms of exploitation. By naming and identifying these fictions, we take the first major step to becoming a more evolved, fair, and compassionate society. In addition, animal activists will find many valuable insights to empower their work.
Farm to Fable for Activists Presentation
This presentation explores the commonly asked questions, What does one do with a better understanding of the fictions of animal consumption? and How can it empower our activism? The practical goal of this presentation is smarter, stronger activism through a deeper understanding of the prevailing views and tactics of the animal rights movement as well as our animal-consuming culture. Grillo leaves his audience with five powerful sources of inspiration and impact.
How keeping backyard chickens changed my life
45 minute overhead presentation followed by Q & A
This is a presentation that tells the story of how I impulsively rescued three chicks from a school chick hatching program in 2009, raised them into adulthood and went on to lead an organization dedicated to animal rescue, advocacy and education. This experience made me realize everything I thought I knew about chickens and other farmed animals was wrong. Over time, my rescued birds taught me to completely rethink our relationship with non human animals, the environment and even our own humankind. I take my audience on a deep dive into who these birds are on an individual level, explore their tropical rainforest origins and how domestication throughout the ages has transformed them, and what all of this reveals about ourselves and our culture. I also cover many surprising and little known facts about the birds in our backyards and introduce you to my rescues, each with their own unique personality and life story. In the end, you just might look at all animals and the world we share in a whole new light!
Dairy: From the Cow’s Perspective
20–30 minute overhead presentation followed by Q & A
Too often, we are presented with the “worst case scenario” for farmed animals, leading some to conclude that the so-called “humane” alternatives compare favorably over this worst case. Yet, in such a comparison, anything looks better. Here, we take a very different approach by making a more just comparison. We begin by meeting some real cows and calves living on sanctuaries who have names and personalities, as well as some cows we’ve discovered on small, so-called “high welfare” farms. And then we’ll walk through the basic circumstances and routine practices of even the most high welfare dairy farms to take a closer look at what the “best case scenario” looks like. By comparing the lives of dairy cows and calves in the “best case farm scenario” with those living on sanctuaries, we can fully understand the fundamental ways that dairy farming prevents them from expressing their most natural behaviors. The key take-away? The true “happy cow” is one who is living on her own terms where she is valued, not for what she can produce for us, but for just being who she is!
