Speaking & Events
Why do some people thrive through uncertainty, challenges and change while others feel overwhelmed and stuck?
Dr Lucy Hone has spent nearly two decades answering that question. As a resilience researcher and bestselling author who has lived what she teaches, Lucy translates cutting-edge science into practical tools that leaders and teams can use immediately, not just in crisis - but every single day.
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 ranked among TEDx’s Top 100 “Must Watch” talks. She’s also a bestselling author, respected researcher and Adjunct Senior Fellow at the University of Canterbury. Dr Lucy’s 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?, became an overnight best-seller.
As the world faces a new era of work, Dr Lucy’s expertise is in high demand. She equips leaders and organisations with the skills to navigate uncertainty, challenges and change by replacing overwhelm and fatigue with realistic optimism, clarity and confidence. 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 hospices, her evidence-based tools help people perform under pressure, stay steady and committed through change and communicate more effectively when the stakes are high.
Describing herself as a “pracademic,” Dr Lucy is a rare mix - an academic who can laugh and be wholly relatable, and a social-media communicator who’s scientifically tested the tools she teaches. It’s a winning and unique combination!
Dr Lucy’s work goes beyond a keynote. Through workshops, webinars, deep-dive masterclasses, advisory, guest blogs and 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 lived experience, how incredibly adaptable humans are. We all want to thrive!”
Resilient Mindsets:
Thriving Through Uncertainty & Change
KEYNOTE TOPIC
In a world of relentless disruption, thriving isn’t about working harder - it’s about thinking differently.
This compelling keynote equips leaders and teams with practical, science-based strategies to navigate uncertainty, complexity and rapid change by developing what Dr Lucy calls a Resilient Mindset.
Drawing on three decades of research and frontline leadership experience, Lucy shows how mental agility, psychological safety and collective resilience enable people and organisations to adapt faster, think more clearly under pressure, and move forward with confidence.
Takeaways from this Keynote:
Understand how humans really respond to uncertainty - and how to work with, not against, those instincts.
Build ‘mental agility’ to stay flexible, focused, grounded and connected during ongoing disruption.
Create cultures of collective resilience and psychological safety, enabling teams to adapt quickly and perform under pressure.
Themes:
Collective resilience
Psychological safety
Hope and optimism
Attention management
Psych Flex and Mental Agility
Perfect for:
Corporate conferences
Organisational change programmes
Leadership offsites
Strategy days
Executive teams
Large scale internal events
Leadership in a VUCA-MAX World: Accept. Focus. Choose.
KEYNOTE TOPIC
BAU has gone for good.
Where work once moved in cycles of effort and recovery, today’s leaders operate inside a near-constant tsunami of pressure, risk, regulatory change and technological disruption. AI and accelerating complexity have torn up the old playbook, demanding a new operating system for leadership.
This practical keynote equips leaders with three trainable skills - Accept, Focus, Choose - to prevent paralysis and overwhelm, protect attention and choose better decisions under pressure.
Takeaways from this Keynote:
Navigate the transition from BAU to our new VUCA-MAX World: how permanent volatility reshapes leadership and team behaviour
Protect attention and focus: cut through the noise and stay clear-headed and focused under pressure
Make Real-Time Resilience decisions: choose well when opportunity, threat and ambiguity collide
Themes:
Leadership under pressure
Decision making in uncertainty
Attention and cognitive load
AI stress
Perfect for:
Senior leaders
Executive teams
Boards
Technology and transformation leaders
Strategy offsites
Organisations facing rapid AI, regulatory or market disruption
Three Secrets of Resilient People
KEYNOTE TOPIC
Based on Lucy’s TED Talk with over 9 million views and ranked in TEDx’s Top 100 “Must Watch” talks of all time, this keynote unpacks the three evidence-based strategies used by highly resilient people - those who manage to face adversity and keep moving forward.
Warm, moving and deeply practical, this keynote tackles resilience as a much over-used but little understood term, replacing outdated myths with a modern science-backed understanding of what really enables resilience.
Takeaways from this keynote:
Rethink resilience as a learnable skill: the ability to flex and cope is part of your evolutionary inherited DNA.
Learn three proven strategies to build compassion, confidence and self-control.
Feel better equipped to support resilience in themselves and others
People always leave this keynote saying “I had no idea what resilience really meant and now I finally get it!”
Themes:
Resilience
Coping with change
Inspirational leadership
Motivation and encouragement
Perfect for:
Whole organisation events
Conferences
Education
Healthcare and emergency responders
Community leadership
Membership organisations
Understanding Modern Loss: Tools for a New Era of Care
KEYNOTE TOPIC
Loss is universal - yet our ways of understanding and responding to it remain outdated, misunderstood, or entirely missing. This keynote introduces Lucy’s scientific Resilient Grieving™ framework, which is changing people’s approach to grief and loss globally.
Pragmatic and hopeful, this session equips helping professionals and leaders more broadly to respond to loss proactively - without awkwardness, fear or avoidance. Founded on Dr Lucy’s hugely popular latest book, How Will I Ever Get Through This? this presentation shares her latest research.
Takeaways from this keynote:
Replace outdated and harmful myths (such as the Five Stages model) with modern, evidence-based understanding
Gain practical tools to respond constructively - knowing what to say, what not to say, and how to support without feeling overwhelmed or out of their depth.
Improve the quality of care, leadership and connection offered to those experiencing loss, trauma or disruption
“Nobody can talk about these heavy topics in the hopeful, practical and warm way Dr Lucy does” Andy Reid (RISE Australia conference)
Themes:
Resilient Grieving™
Living Losses
Grief literacy
Human connection
Post-traumatic Growth
Perfect for:
Healthcare, social care and education
HR, People & Culture
Mental health and wellbeing initiatives/days
First responders
NGOs & community orgs
Speaker Reel
TED Talk :
Three Secrets of Resilient People
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 is now used globally 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.
What People Are Saying
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"Your powerful keynote deeply resonated with our audience. Inspiring, relevant and a joy to work with - thank you for your professionalism and energy."
— Amazon
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"The most impactful fireside chat we've ever had at Canva...actionable, real and unforgettable."
— Canva
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"The most beneficial talk I've ever listened to. Lucy is an inspirational speaker, down-to-earth, practical and real."
— Fertility Association Australasia
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.
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.