Keynotes that change how people see themselves and each other
In complex organisations, performance rarely breaks down because of capability. It breaks down because of miscommunication, avoidance and behavioural misunderstanding.
Amy helps leaders and teams see what is already happening beneath the surface. The patterns driving tension, the unspoken assumptions shaping decisions, and the exhaustion caused by conflict left unresolved.
With over 25 years working across law, leadership and high-stakes environments, Amy meets people exactly where they’re at and helps teams and individuals understand themselves.
Speaking Topics
Leading for Real
When your behaviour speaks louder than your words
Most leaders don’t lose trust through one big moment. They lose it through small signals that quietly contradict what they say they value.
As a former lawyer, I was trained to spot inconsistencies. In court, intention does not matter if the evidence says otherwise. In organisations, it is the same.
After 25 years facilitating real humans in real workplaces, I’ve seen credibility drift happen when pressure rises and people default to habits they don’t even realise they have.
As a New Zealand women’s ice hockey rep, I learned this early: talk is cheap. What counts is what shows up when it matters.
Audiences walk away with:
• A simple way to spot credibility drift early
• Insight into the signals their behaviour is sending
• A practical “pressure audit” for high-stakes moments
• Language to repair misalignment without losing authority
• One behavioural shift they will implement immediately
Rural Intelligence
The relationship skills modern work left behind
Growing up rural teaches you things modern work conveniently forgets.
You cannot burn bridges. You will see people again tomorrow.
You cannot hide behind an email.
And you cannot fake being a good human for long, because your reputation is built on how you consistently show up.
In small communities, relationships are not a nice-to-have. They are infrastructure.
I bring rural straight talking, legal precision, and lived experience as a step-mum and long-time facilitator to show why trust, repair, and curiosity are the real performance tools under pressure, especially in busy, digital, high-pressure workplaces where misunderstanding spreads fast.
Because friction cannot survive where self-awareness and curiosity exist.
Audience walk away with:
• A practical lens for relational health, not just vibes
• Awareness of stress-triggered behaviours that create friction
• Early repair habits that prevent relationship fracture
• Tools for strengthening trust when pressure rises
• One relationship they will intentionally improve this wee
The Conversation You’re Avoiding
Why avoidance creates friction and how to address it early
Most workplace friction doesn’t explode. It accumulates.
It builds quietly through things left unsaid. A concern that never gets voiced. A behaviour that never gets addressed. A tension everyone feels, but no one names.
Avoidance feels easier in the moment. But over time, it creates confusion, resentment, and unnecessary complexity.
As a former lawyer and facilitator with more than 25 years working with leaders and teams, Amy has spent her career inside rooms where the right conversation could have saved months, sometimes years, of friction.
This keynote helps people understand why avoidance happens, what it costs, and how to address important conversations earlier, calmly, and effectively.
Amy brings warmth, humour, and practical clarity to a topic every audience recognises immediately.
Audiences walk away with:
• Insight into why capable people avoid important conversations
• Awareness of their personal avoidance patterns under pressure
• A simple, practical structure for starting difficult conversations
• Language that reduces defensiveness and increases openness
• Confidence to address one conversation they’ve been postponing
People Curious
The skill that makes you easier to work with
Most workplace friction is not malicious. It’s misinterpreted.
An email lands wrong. A tone is assumed. A silence is read as disrespect. A quick decision becomes “they don’t value me”.
Assumption feels efficient. It is not. It is expensive.
This keynote shows audiences how curiosity dissolves friction before it escalates. Not fluffy curiosity. Strategic curiosity. The kind that helps people stop reacting to what they think is happening and start dealing with what is actually true.
Audiences walk away with:
• Awareness of their default interpretation patterns
• A pause protocol for interrupting assumption
• High-impact questions that create instant clarity
• Tools to reduce digital and relational misreads
• A practical method for improving influence immediately
Amy’s work is also informed by her stewardship and co-ownership of Dots™ Communication, a practical framework used by more than 61,000 people to strengthen communication and relationships.