Human Performance Under Pressure
How individuals and teams hold their capabilities together when stakes, scrutiny, and uncertainty rise.
Speaking
Ideas that move beyond the stage.
I help audiences think more clearly about human performance, leadership, and the systems that shape both. Every presentation is grounded in evidence and adapted to the people in the room.
My Approach
Every audience is different.
Presentations are designed around the audience in the room, the organization behind them, and the objectives of the event. A keynote for hospital leadership is a different piece of work than a session for a graduate seminar or a coaching staff, and it should feel that way.
The goal is not to provide motivation for a day. It is to leave people with an understanding that continues to be useful long after the room has emptied, whether that is a clearer mental model, a better question to ask, or a more disciplined way of thinking about their own practice.
Topics
Themes I return to, shaped to the room.
These are areas I have researched, taught, and worked in for many years. They are not fixed talks pulled from a catalogue. Each presentation is shaped for the audience and the questions the organization is actually asking.
Mental Toughness
A precise reading of a term that is often used loosely, grounded in evidence and useful in practice.
Leadership and Decision Making
The habits, environments, and constraints that shape the quality of decisions leaders actually make.
High Performance Cultures
What separates cultures that sustain excellence from cultures that only demand it.
Healthcare Performance
The human side of clinical work: cognition, teamwork, burnout, and the systems that surround them.
Mental Performance
Attention, arousal, recovery, and identity, applied to the specific demands of a given role.
Evidence-Based Coaching
How coaches and educators can draw on research without losing the artistry of their craft.
Artificial Intelligence in Human Performance
Where AI genuinely helps performance work, where it distracts from it, and how to tell the difference.
The Science of Sustainable Excellence
Performance that can be maintained across a career, not only produced for a season.
Who I Speak With
Rooms where the questions are serious.
Much of my speaking work happens with universities, healthcare systems, and medical schools, alongside sport organizations, professional associations, and leadership teams who are trying to make sense of performance in genuinely complex settings.
I also speak often with executive education programs and with students who are still forming the intellectual habits that will define their careers. The setting varies. The audience is usually the same in one respect: people who want to think more carefully about their work.
Speaking Philosophy
Understanding before inspiration.
Meaningful change rarely comes from a rush of feeling. It comes from helping people understand why something works, what the evidence actually shows, and where the honest limits are.
Good presentations combine evidence, practical application, and time for reflection. The goal is not simply to remember ideas, but to leave with questions worth carrying forward.
Formats
Ways we might work together.
These are the formats I return to most often. The right choice usually becomes clear during an initial conversation about the event, the audience, and the outcome you have in mind.
Keynote presentations
A single, considered talk shaped around the theme of your event.
Interactive workshops
Working sessions where audiences engage with the material rather than only listen to it.
Leadership retreats
Longer, quieter formats designed for teams stepping back to think together.
Executive programs
Sessions built into ongoing programs for leaders and clinicians.
Panel discussions
Contributing to a broader conversation with colleagues from adjacent fields.
Research seminars
Academic sessions that examine the evidence base in depth.
Custom organizational sessions
Bespoke formats built with the host organization around a specific question or moment.
Begin
Let's create something meaningful together.
Every audience is different. If you are planning an event, I would be glad to explore how we can create an experience that is thoughtful, practical, and genuinely relevant to your people.