Maria Ressa is the co-founder, CEO, and executive editor of Rappler.com, an online news organization in the Philippines. Maria, one of TIME’s Person of the Year for 2018 and TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in 2019, has been honored around the world for her courageous and bold work in fighting disinformation, “fake news”, and attempts to silence the free press.
Bill Birtles was the ABC's China correspondent in Beijing from 2015 to 2020, his posting coming to a sudden end when he was rushed out of the country by Australian diplomats in an unprecedented diplomatic standoff. Reporting from both major cities and remote provinces throughout the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, he covered an era-defining period of change, upheaval and diplomatic tension as China asserted itself on the world stage.
Michael Smith was the China correspondent for The Australian Financial Review. He is currently based in Sydney.
The Zoom Webinar was truly magical. It will be remembered for a very long time. It was intimate, funny, personal and touching, with lots of laughs (and tears) from our staff watching at home. It was such a pleasure to work with them. Tim’s art is so magical, and Judy is incredibly warm and engaging. The amazing feedback from our staff continues to flow.
When it comes to unlocking human potential and achieving organisational success, there's no one quite like Christian 'Boo' Boucousis, CEO of Afterburner Inc. A former fighter pilot turned business founder, author, and inspirational speaker, Boo has earned over 1,000 five-star Google reviews for his unparalleled expertise in human behaviour and organisational performance. Whether he's speaking to a small startup or a multinational corporation, Boo inspires people to discover a new way of thinking that empowers them to believe that even the most audacious ambitions are within their reach.
His latest keynote, "Human 2.0 - The Evolution of Thinking," presents a game-changing approach to personal and professional development that creates resilient, adaptable, and motivated individuals capable of excelling in today's fast-paced economy. From Google to Zurich to Microsoft, Boo has delivered hundreds of keynote speeches globally, inspiring audiences to unlock their full potential and achieve extraordinary things. If you want to take your life and career to the next level, look no further than Boo.
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Professor Marcia Langton AO FASSA FTSE is a descendant of the Yiman people of Queensland. She is qualified as an anthropologist and geographer, and since 2000 has held the Foundation Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne.
An award-winning CEO, Colleen Callander has a wealth of knowledge and proven track record in building brands, establishing winning cultures and creating environments that allow people to be inspired and empowered.
Geoffrey Robertson AO QC is a barrister, author and one-time host of “Geoffrey Robertson’s Hypotheticals” on the ABC. He is founder and head of Doughty Street Chambers; now the largest human rights practice in Europe; where he has been mentor to Amal Clooney, Jen Robinson, Keir Starmer and others.
Dylan Alcott AO is a Paralympic champion, Golden Slam winner, and 2022 Australian of the Year. A passionate advocate, he founded the Dylan Alcott Foundation to support young Australians with disabilities. A TEDx speaker, author, and entrepreneur, Dylan continues to break barriers in sport, business, and inclusion-on and off the court.
A powerhouse of Womens Football since the age of 16 when she first pulled on the jumper for Victoria in a Senior Representative game, which culminated in All Australian selection, there is so much that Moana has achieved in her football career.
At the age of 40, Shanna Whan was, in her own words, a suicidal alcoholic at breaking point. A series of traumas she experienced as a young jillaroo in remote NSW that led to binge-drinking and a party-girl-persona to ''hide behind'' would end, eventually, in (undiagnosed and untreated) alcohol addiction. After making a full recovery despite endless odds - the rural woman and (now) Local Hero winner of Australian of the Year 2022 made it her life’s work to advocate on behalf of other overlooked demographic of rural and remote Australians facing the same battles. In 2019 Shanna founded Sober in the Country Ltd with a mission to help her bush peers understand that the simple, inclusive, life-saving message that it should always be 'okay to say no' to a beer is helping to save lives. SITC now has a national reach and reputation as the 'voice for the bush' and currently the bush charity offers peer support, links to resources, powerful broad scale advocacy, education, and straight talk.
A materials scientist, engineer and inventor, Professor Veena Sahajwalla pioneers research into waste - turning it into a new generation of green materials and products. She does this as the Founding Director of the Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology at the University of New South Wales.
Veena is most well known for her invention of Polymer Injection Technology, or 'Green Steel'. In 2018, she launched the first of many MICROfactories.
She leads two national research and industrial transformation hubs, the ARC Microrecycling Research Hub and the National Environmental Science Program Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub. Veena collaborates with leading universities and institutions, plus industry and community groups, to develop and apply new recycling science into real-world environmental and economic benefits.
Veena is a judge on ABC TV's The New Inventors and has appeared on Q+A, The Drum, War on Waste and Australian Story. She's been instrumental in raising the profile of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) in Australia, enhancing public understanding of its importance.
In 2022 Professor Veena Sahajwalla was named the 2022 NSW State Australian of the Year.
Jakara Anthony is an Australian freestyle skier and Olympic gold medalist. She competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics, finishing 4th, the best ever result for an Australian female mogul skier. Anthony won the Women's Moguls event at the 2022 Winter Olympics. At the 2019 World Ski Championships, she finished 2nd.
Mark Le Messurier has devoted his life to improving the self-worth, wellbeing, mental health and life outcomes of young people. He focuses on who he calls the ‘tough kids’ – those who are struggling in some capacity. This includes children with disabilities, global developmental delays, disadvantage, disorders, neglect, or a combination of issues.
Kyle Chalmers is an Olympic swimming champion, who inspires through his efforts and achievements both in and out of the swimming pool.
As Co-Host of Network Ten's Studio Ten, it takes a special mix of sass and smarts to wrangle co-hosts, media heavyweights and celebrity guests in front of a live audience every day but Sarah has both in spades.
Co-Host of Network Ten's Studio Ten, Irish born Tristan MacManus has featured in five seasons of the American Dancing With The Stars, where two of his celebrity partners included Gladys Knight and Pamela Anderson and the UK’s Strictly Come Dancing for two seasons.
Stand up, stand out and win
FAME: The condition of being known or talked about by many people, especially on account of notable achievements.
What are you famous for? How do you build fame in business? When Penny Burke talks about Fame it’s not in the celebrity context, it’s fame within the corporate world for individuals, leaders, companies and brands.
In the world of marketing and advertising Penny Burke was a Director of Australia’s largest advertising agency and has been recognised by her peers as a member of the all-time best advertising agency ‘Dream Team’. In this role she helped create some of Australia’s most iconic brands and campaigns such as Pro Hart Stainmaster Carpet (“Meester Hart, what a mess!”), “Not Happy Jan” (Yellow Pages) and the randy milkman (“Milk. Legendary Stuff”). How do you work out what you’re famous for? Whether it’s building FAME for your personal brand; building FAME for your product or service, or building FAME for your leaders, Penny shares the secrets of finding your FAME.
Penny Burke is a masterful workshop facilitator, having moderated literally hundreds of sessions, that extend the learnings from a keynote and help delegates and workshops participants embed implications into their own work practice or lives. As an experienced Non-Executive Director (GAICD) of a number of commercial boards, Penny is uniquely placed to facilitate workshops with senior C-suite executive teams and boards, given she knows and faces the same issues professionally. Penny is equally adept with a room of 100 middle managers in workshops up to three hours, hot-seating individuals and tailoring content to suit each audience.
If you need a thoroughly experienced business consultant who can run workshops either to extend her keynote sessions, or as stand-alone topics on demographic trends, marketing, sales, behaviour change, or leadership, then Penny is an outstanding choice.
Feel free to get in contact – Penny is only to happy to work with you to design the optimal workshop session, from 2 hours to full day; from virtual to face-to-face, Penny will run a fast-paced, interactive workshop with actionable outcomes and learnings for all participants.
For International Women's Day 2022, Leanne Christie, Chief Of Everything O shares five tips to #breakthebias when planning your Agenda for your next event.
Leanne Christie, Chief Of Everything O shares five tips to #breakthebias when planning your next conference.
Norliza Pavlakos is an international keynote speaker, entrepreneur and author who turns extraordinary adversity into a blueprint for resilience. By 21, she had survived homelessness, facial reconstruction, a kidnapping and domestic violence, and emerged a single mother determined to rebuild from nothing. She went on to build five businesses and speak across five continents. A Toastmasters Golden Gavel Honouree, Norliza gives audiences the frameworks to turn adversity into clarity, uncertainty into decisive action, and setbacks into lasting momentum.
Einstein provided his definition of insanity saying it is people or organisations who keep doing the same thing but expect a different result. I totally subscribe to this principle and it is a keystone of my leadership and coaching philosophy – why play the same game as everyone else?
Change the game and be ahead of the pack! It was the opening lines of John's first speech to the Australian Cricket team when he took over as head coach in November 1999, “…..we are going on a journey to Everest together…..” This was the beginning of taking a good team to greatness. It was about setting a vision for change that was aspirational and inspirational and never losing sight of the end goal. In order to do so, it required John as head coach to have one foot in the present and one foot in the future.
Take-aways for the audience include:
The ABs talk about the ‘the last man out cleans the sheds’. In Good to Great, Jim Collins talks about great teams have a culture of freedom and responsibility but within a defined framework. Simon Sinek views strong leadership as a vital element to teams being successful. Military, business and political leaders that head successful organisations see shared values, accountability, teamwork and a never say die attitude as trademarks in their teams.
John draws from each of these cases and insights to winning or peak performance teams and adds his wealth of experience in leading peak performance to the teams he has coached and businesses with which he has consulted.
Key Takeaways:
Each of us face our challenges every day. Some we meet and defeat. Others seem to be impossible. It is often said, the true measure of someone is not how many times you have been knocked down, but that you keep getting back up to go again.
So how do you become resilient? How do you have a mindset that is half-full rather than half-empty? How do you believe in yourself when others doubt your abilities and capabilities?
It is all about reflecting upon your successes – no matter how small.
John has had the opportunity to look at very successful people in sport and business at close range. He is also a father and grandfather which provides him further insights into what it takes to be mentally tough to deal with what life serves you.
Not only will you be energised by this talk, but you will also walk away with immediate applications like:
John has been fortunate to have been around many wonderful leaders, corporately, in sport, in education and in society. He has also been fortunate to be in positions of leadership himself – to walk similar paths to those whom have inspired him.
John has also been very fortunate with a good education and a wonderful family to support him.
But like all leaders, his career and career dreams have rarely gone to plan.
There have been many surprises, pitfalls and events outside his control that have conspired against him. Yet the journey he has taken has enriched his life and understanding of what leadership and leading is.
While being entertained by the presentation, the audience will also be learning about:
Absolute privilege to have John join our meeting, was a buzz!
During these uncertain times it was great to have a high profile personality join the team and share his insights and experiences. Some of the staff were star struck and really made their day/week. Definitely a great experience.
John Buchanan did an excellent job - he gave us more time than we expected and answered questions frankly and helpfully.
Something different injecting renewed excitement into our afternoon meetings!
Amazing, we were so impressed with John Buchanan's willingness to share his experiences and relate to us.
A discord appears to have emerged between what employers and their employees explain as the underlying motivations for this sentiment. In this article speaker Rocky Scopelliti investigates the discord that many employers worldwide are desperately rethinking about policies believing that structural changes to work is the secret to address this work-force threat.
Kim Seeling Smith is a Business Futurist who helps organizations thrive through the rapidly changing world of AI and the Polycrisis (where multiple crises intersect and affect each other). She wrote THE how-to guide on employee 1:1s: Mind Reading for Managers and co-wrote a guide with author Brian Tracy. You'll frequently see Kim on The Today Show, in Forbes and many other print & radio media outlets. Kim is a rare individual who seamlessly straddles the worlds of commerce and people, blending her commercial acumen with cutting-edge Future of Work practices.
Lindsey Leigh Pearson is pioneering the future of leadership. She is the CEO of Future Untamed, a Thinkers360 Thought Leadership Finalist, 2025 Global Recognition Award recipient for Leadership + Innovation, one of IBA's Most Influential Leadership Coaches 2026, and Lindsey is also a budding crazy-cat-lady (don't get her started).
Entertaining and unreservedly direct, Nigel isn't just a motivational speaker - he is a company turnaround specialist driving everyone from CEOs to school children to ignite excitement and action in their life.
For more than 20 years, Nigel has been on his quest to make you the best by sharing his techniques and tools to break through the boundaries we put up around us. His always animated and interactive presentations have inspired thousands of FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 delegates, school children, charities, and prison inmates, in groups of five to 5000 and all over the world, into taking positive strides in their work and personal life.
No longer living the dress rehearsal of their life, Nigel's words whip up listeners into action; energised and passionate.
Holly brings high energy and a unique voice to challenge the status quo and inspire change.
NBA Legend & President of the Gasol Foundation
Biography Award-winning journalist, broadcaster, author, and Adjunct Associate Professor Sophie Scott teaches people around the world how to prevent and manage burnout, reduce stress and thrive through change. In addition to her work as a multi award-winning medical TV journalist for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Sophie is a professional speaker and educator with expertise in mental health.
The big trends affecting how Australians live, work and play
COVID has changed virtually every aspect of the sales channel – from sourcing and manufacturing to getting it on the ‘shelf’ (virtual or physical). Perhaps the greatest area of change is connecting with customers in a changing marketplace. In this keynote, Penny unpacks the big trends that have come out of COVID that will affect your market, your industry and your employees. Penny tailors this keynote to your specific market or audience to help you identify:
Don’t settle for what you’ve always had – you can change the status quo
Peter Drucker was right when he said ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’ – but the real question is, how do you do it? And especially when your customers and workforce are more hybrid than ever before. If we want people to think or behave differently tomorrow than they did yesterday, then we need to understand how to engage them like never before. In this keynote Penny will share:
How the best brands are forging more meaningful relationships with their customers
The new shopper has never been so interested in the narrative of your brand. No longer content with satisficing, customers today demand transparency and understanding of what you stand for, what you believe in, and what you value. Any marketer that wants to grow needs to understand the new measuring stick – ensuring your brand lives up to your promise. In this keynote, Penny shares decades of experience with some of Australia’s best-known brands to help audiences discover:
If you’re looking for the perfect speaker to ignite the passions of your team, you’ll find plenty of options within those competing in the games.
While it might sound like a tough task to lock down such an impressive speaker, we’re here to help. Just let us know which athlete or what type of experience you’re looking for, and we will take care of the rest.
