Speaking & Events
Why do some people navigate uncertainty, disruption and change with clarity and confidence, while others feel overwhelmed or stuck?
Dr Lucy Hone has spent nearly two decades answering that question, combining cutting-edge science, lived experience and practical tools to help leaders and teams build resilience they can draw upon every single day.
Her TED talk, Three Secrets of Resilient People, became a viral Covid phenomenon and is ranked in the Top 100 “Must Watch” talks of all time, with nine million views.
A bestselling author and globally respected researcher, Dr Lucy helps people and teams navigate change and uncertain futures with pragmatism and grounded optimism. She will challenge you to think differently about how humans cope with disruption, and show you how to respond more effectively in real time.
What people are saying about Dr Lucy Hone:
Research meets real life.
Clips from global stages, corporate leadership events, and membership meet ups - showing what it looks like when insight meets action.
Keynote Speaking Topics
Three Secrets of Resilient People (extended version of the TED talk)
Based on Lucy’s TED Talk with over 9 million views, this keynote unpacks the three evidence-based strategies used by the world’s most resilient people - those who manage to face the worst and somehow keep going. It’s warm, moving, and deeply practical.
Takeaways from this keynote:
Reframe resilience with confidence and hope - a new understanding that humans are biologically wired to adapt to change, that struggle and difficult emotions are a normal part of coping, and that resilience does not require things to feel easy.
Build mental agility via three proven strategies they can apply immediately - helping them respond more flexibly to disruption, manage emotional load, and keep moving forward during periods of sustained pressure, change or uncertainty.
Feel better equipped to support resilience in others - whether leading teams, working with students or clients, or caring for people navigating ongoing challenge or loss.
Themes: Resilience · Coping with loss · Inspirational leadership · Navigating change
Perfect for: Teams faced with disruption · Educators · Health and emergency responders · Community leaders · Membership Groups & Associations
The Hard Truths That Make Better Leaders
Loss and personal struggle are often avoided at work, but leaders who own their hard truths, don’t lose credibility, they build it. This talk challenges outdated leadership ideals and reframes adversity as a source of strength, trust and connection.
Takeaways from this keynote:
Build leadership credibility through authenticity – showing why today’s new workforce values real, human leaders who can acknowledge challenges and lived experience without losing authority or professionalism.
Handle hard conversations without over-stepping or over-sharing - giving leaders clear guidance and greater confidence in how to address loss, struggle, and uncertainty at work in ways that strengthen trust and psychological safety.
Use adversity to strengthen trust and performance - reframing challenge and disruption as opportunities for post-traumatic growth, leadership lessons, and the cultivation of more resilient teams.
Themes: Emotional intelligence · Team trust · Post-traumatic growth · Thought leadership
Perfect for: Senior leaders · People managers · HR professionals · Exec teams & boards
Modern Loss: Tools for a New Era of Care (Grief 101)
Grief is universal, but our approaches to it are often outdated or missing altogether. This keynote introduces Resilient Grieving™ - a science-backed, practical framework helping health and care professionals feel more confident supporting people through loss.
Takeaways from this keynote:
Reframe grief with clarity and confidence - replacing outdated and potentially harmful myths with new insights from modern bereavement science that show us what really supports healthy adaptation to loss and what gets in the way.
Gain immediately useful tools from the Resilient Grieving™ framework - increasing confidence in how to respond, what to say (and not say), and how to support people through loss without feeling awkward, overwhelmed, or out of their depth.
Improve the quality of care, connection, and support they offer – whether working with patients, clients, colleagues, or communities experiencing loss, trauma, or disruption.
Themes: Resilient Grieving™ · Post-traumatic growth · Grief Literacy · Human connection
Perfect for: Health care & coaches · Palliative care · Counsellors · Funeral industry · Mental Health Awareness Week/Month · HR/P&C
Resilient Mindsets: Thriving Through Uncertainty & Change
In a world of constant disruption, this keynote equips teams with practical, science-backed strategies to navigate uncertainty and challenge by adopting a Resilient Mindset.
Dr Lucy Hone draws on three decades of robust research to rethink what it means to cope well - and shows how mental agility equips teams to approach change constructively, and support each other through the unknown with confidence and strength.
Themes: Collective resilience · Psychological safety · Hope & optimism · Attention management · Psych Flex & mental agility
Perfect for: Workplace teams · Educators · First responders · Corporate groups · Exec teams & boards
Post-Traumatic Growth: The Surprising Science of Human Recovery
We’ve all heard of Post-traumatic Stress. But far fewer people know about its more hopeful counterpart, Post-Traumatic Growth. In this keynote, Dr Lucy Hone introduces a research-backed approach to understanding how hardship can become a catalyst for insight, strength and renewed purpose.
Perfect for audiences navigating disruption, or those who support others through it, this talk extends one-sided trauma narratives with science, story, and the possibility of growth.
Themes: Recovery science · Human potential · Growth after trauma · Hopeful leadership
Perfect for: Health professionals · Coaches · Educators · Community leaders · Change agents · Disaster recovery & First responders
What’s Your Why? A Panel on Meaning, Purpose and Belonging
What makes work meaningful - and how can we help others find it? This dynamic session opens with insights from the new science of meaning - unpacking coherence, significance and purpose—followed by a panel conversation exploring how people from diverse backgrounds find meaning in their work.
Designed especially for Associations and Membership organisations, it invites you to reframe work as something deeper than a job title or pay cheque.
Themes: Meaning at work · Personal values · Intergenerational understanding · Belonging in the workplace
Perfect for: Membership associations · Industry conferences · Values-led organisations · Gen Z
Dr Lucy Hone | Biography
Dr Lucy Hone is best known for her hugely popular TED talk, Three Secrets of Resilient People. Translated into 23 languages and viewed more than nine million times worldwide, it is now recognised as one of TEDx’s Top 100 “Must Watch” talks of all time. She’s also a bestselling author, respected researcher and Adjunct Senior Fellow at the University of Canterbury. Her work regularly features in international media including Oprah Daily, the BBC, The Guardian, Vogue, CBS and The New York Times, and her latest book, How Will I Ever Get Through This?, has already attracted significant international media attention (Allen & Unwin / Atlantic Books).
As the world faces a new era of work, Dr Lucy Hone’s expertise is in high demand. She equips leaders and organisations with the skills to navigate uncertainty and ongoing disruption by replacing overwhelm and pressure with realistic optimism, clarity and practical strategies. Trusted by companies ranging from Amazon and Apple, Deloitte and KPMG, GSK and Nestlé, to the World Business Forum, the United Nations, National Defence Forces and global hospice organisations, her evidence-based tools help people perform under pressure, stay steady and committed through change and communicate more effectively when the stakes are high.
She works with organisations to build mental agility in individuals and psychological safety in their teams, which together produce a culture of collective resilience – enabling organisations to overcome set backs, adapt quickly, and remain cohesive and effective through continual change.
Describing herself as a “pracademic,” Lucy delivers a unique blend of academic rigour, combined with lived experience that makes her immediately relatable: a rare mix of academic who can laugh and be wholly relatable, and a social-media communicator who has scientifically tested the tools she teaches. This combination is why clients and audiences love her: she translates world-class research into warm, human, practical strategies that make people feel seen and understood, and leaves them with tools they can remember and immediately use.
Dr Lucy’s work goes far beyond a keynote. Through workshops, webinars, deep-dive masterclasses and follow-up resources, she helps teams build their resilience muscle over time - future-proofing their ability to navigate disruption, handle uncertainty and stay steady through ongoing change. These extended learning options help her tools stick, giving teams a shared language and creating lasting impact.
Audiences love her and the way she leaves them feeling hopeful, strong and confident, ready to face anything. As she says, “I’m real, not perfect, we all are! But I’ve also learned - from my studies, research, conversations with thousands of clients, and my own and others’ lived experience, humans are hugely adaptable and want to thrive.”
Contact us about booking Dr Lucy Hone as a keynote speaker at your next conference or event.
Translating science into stories and strategies that are useful and do-able.
Whether I’m delivering a keynote, hosting a panel, or running a full day masterclass, my approach is honest, human, and grounded in science.
I’ve spent over fifteen years immersed in the research - working across sectors, cultures, and contexts globally. That experience has shown me how vital it is to tailor every message to the audience in front of me, and my extensive research and client conversations give me the tools to do just that. There is no one size fits all!
Some speakers bring inspiration. Others bring evidence. I aim to bring both - translating science into stories and strategies that feel real, useful, and do-able. It’s important to meet people where they’re at and work with them.
Everyone struggles, I’m here to help people find what works for them in the heat of the moment. You can’t build resilient capable teams unless each member of your organisation knows what works for them - their personal coping formula ready to be employed in the face of pressure and change.
When people all over the world went searching for practical tools to help them cope with the global pandemic, one talk came to their rescue.
Originally delivered at TEDxChristchurch, Three Secrets of Resilient People is one of just 1% of TEDx talks ever selected to be featured on the main TED platform. From there, it went viral -viewed over 9 million times, translated into 23 languages, and used to train everyone from corporate leaders and first responders to armed forces and disaster recovery teams. Clear, research-informed, and deeply human, the talk breaks down resilience into practical tools that continue to help people around the world navigate life’s hardest moments.
Contact us about booking Dr Lucy for your next conference or event.
Interested in one of the keynotes described above? Contact us to find out more, or discuss bespoke presentations to fit your event’s specific needs.