Have you watched my TEDx talk?

Updated September 2026 (original article published December 2021)

What do you mean you haven't seen it? 🤪

You can read the bio of a speaker, a facilitator, or a coach that you’re thinking of hiring to come and inject some outside perspective into your away day. You can look at their list of speaking topics. You can even have a lovely chat with them on a discovery call. None of that tells you what really matters, which is their live in action style and how they'll land in the room with your people.

Like many speakers, I can be a bit like Marmite. Some people love how direct I am, but some people find it a lot. The only way you're going to know which camp you're in before you book me is to watch me do my thing.

That's why my TEDx talk is incredibly useful.

I talked about stress deserving diagnosis, not platitudes. It's the same message I still deliver today, just with a few more years of client work behind it.

Now I know that by the time most people get me on a consultation call, they've already watched it. It's usually the first thing they look at, the same way you'd check a review before booking a restaurant or hotel. It does a job that no bio ever could: it shows you how I think on my feet, whether my sense of humour lands for you, and whether I'm the right kind of "different" for your audience.

It's why I get asked to speak on such a range of topics, from building and maintaining high-performing teams, to leadership under pressure, to your leadership shadow and the impact your style has on the people around you. Some clients want personalised resilience and how to build it properly, rather than another round of generic wellbeing tips. Others want a strengths-based look at leadership, or a session on what the future of work means for how they lead. Whatever the topic, the delivery is the same. Direct, evidence-based, and hopefully a bit more entertaining than the average conference keynote.

If you're starting to think about your next strategy day, leadership offsite, industry conference, or team development day, and let's be honest, this time of year is exactly when those conversations start, why not grab a cuppa and go and watch it. Fifteen minutes will tell you more than any speaker one-pager ever will (although I’ve also got one of those if you want it).

Below is an image the the very talented Emma Paxton captured of my presentation. Clever hey? Just hit the image and you’ll be whisked off to YouTube. If you enjoy it, just give me a shout.