Speaking & Events
Consistently well-rated. Highly professional.
As an event organiser, you’ll have a lot to sort. Events require careful planning and they are a significant investment in your people. I’m here to help you make the most of your event, to give the audience an experience and practical knowledge that will stay with them, long after the occasion. My content is research-informed, highly-practical and delivered with heart (with a good measure of appropriate humour in the mix, also).
Research-informed, highly-practical, and delivered with heart.
The topics I speak on resonate deeply with audiences because they touch on what we know of basic human needs; to feel safe, seen and heard, and to survive. When ‘big stuff’ happens - loss, grief, change - it can challenge us at our core. I speak directly into this reality, using rich story telling, wrapped in appropriate humour and heart. Yet the real ‘gold’ I bring to the stage is my ability to share tangible, practical tools that people can start actioning, immediately, at home and work. My message lands because it resonates deeply, and personally. I speak to people’s hearts and minds, to their lived experiences, offering useful tools to help them cope, and thus hope, that they WILL get through what they are navigating.
As a speaker I seek to give each individual in the audience an experience. I don’t speak to them, I strive to engage with them. That’s where the magic happens.
The power of resonance
Looking for a speaker the audience will thank you for booking?
Let’s chat.
“Articulate, informative and highly practical. This session was a real game-changer for me. Thank you!”“Just amazing - research knowledge, practical, passionate, authentic. No nodding off with Shelley! Thank you, that will stay with me.”“The information was invaluable, the authentic delivery with passion and no apology was amazing”“I could have listened to Shelley all day. She challenged what I thought I knew, yet did so with such gentleness and grace. Everyone needs to hear this”Keynotes
I will work closely with you to understand your specific context and needs, and customise my keynote, accordingly. That means that no two keynotes are the same. Different aspects of content are weaved together to meet the specific objectives and needs of your event. I draw on the science of grief theory, agency and support, combined with powerful story telling and 20 plus years of grief support and speaking experience.
And, if you have a bespoke topic you’d like covered, the researcher in me is always up for a challenge. Let’s chat!
KEYNOTE TOPIC #1
When Someone is Grieving: How We Respond Matters
Learn how to support people in ways they can experience as helpful. Audience leaves equipped with the basic understanding, tools and language to support someone who is grieving.
When those we care about are grieving, it can be difficult to know how best to support them. Most people genuinely care, and want to offer support, yet don’t know what to say or do, so they don’t do anything. This means those who are grieving are left to do so in silence. Yet it doesn’t have to be this way. This keynote seeks to take the awkwardness and guesswork out of supporting others.
Drawing on two decades of research and grief support, Shelley shares research-informed, practical tools on how to support others, their way. That is, in a way they can experience as helpful.
Takeaways from this keynote:
Understand the basics of grief, why effective grief support matters, and how each of us play a role in supporting others.
Learn how agency plays a central role in supporting others in their grief.
Gain practical research-informed ways and language to support others, their way.
Improve the quality and responsiveness of care and connection offered to those experiencing loss or disruption.
KEYNOTE TOPIC #2
Grief at Work: Supporting People Their Way
When life is disrupted, grief doesn’t stay at home. It comes to work. Research has found one in four employees are grieving at any one time. When unsupported at work, grief results in increased adsenteeism, presenteeism, turnover and increased turnover. This keynote will equip Leaders and teams with the basic understanding, skills and language to be able to acknowledge and better support colleagues in their grief,creating a culture of care.
While the case for support is clear, we live in a largely grief illiterate world. None of us learn how to support others at school and it’s not covered in leadership programmes. When those we work with are grieving, it can be tricky to know if and how to offer support. Most people want to say or do something to acknowledge what has happened, yet are often unsure what to say or do, so they don’t say anything.
The bereaved are left feeling unsupported, as though they need to hide or silence their grief while at work. Colleagues feel awkward and uncomfortable. No one wins! This keynote seeks to take the awkwardness and guesswork out of supporting grieving colleagues.
Drawing on two decades of research and grief support, Shelley shares research-informed, practical tools on how to support others, their way. That is, in a way they can experience as helpful.
Takeaways from this keynote:
Understand the cost of unsupported grief at work, and how each of us play a role in supporting those who are struggling.
Learn how agency plays a central role in supporting others in their grief.
Gain practical research-informed ways and language to support others, their way, at work.
Contribute to a culture of care and psychological safety, improving the quality and responsiveness of care offered, enabling individuals and teams to feel better supported in their grief at work, reducing the negative impacts of grief in the workplace.
KEYNOTE TOPIC #3
Practical Ways to Cope When Life is Disrupted
Loss is a universal human experience, and yet we live in a largely grief illiterate world. We don’t learn about grief, or how to navigate it, in school. Consequently, when life is disrupted and the unimaginable happens, we can struggle to know what to do, or what helps. Learn research-informed ways to navigate your grief, your way.
We are typically left to muddle through grief by ourselves, or to rely on well-meaning advice from others, or information we find online; much of which is outdated, misunderstood and unhelpful.
This keynote introduces research-informed ways to understand and navigate grief. Rather than offering a “one size fits all” approach, it provides a framework to help individuals find their own unique ways that work for them.
Takeaways from this keynote:
Replace outdated and unhelpful ways of thinking about grief with a more accurate, research-informed understanding
Gain practical ways to cope when life is disrupted: ways that work for you, at work and at home.
Feel better equipped and empowered, understanding grief and with full permission to navigate it your way.
KEYNOTE TOPIC #4
After Suicide: Supporting People Their Way
Most people know someone who has experienced or been impacted by suicide loss. Yet still, those who experience suicide loss, often receive less support, or are supported for a shorter period of time, than those grieving other forms of loss. The stigma, the taboo around suicide and not knowing what to say or do, gets in the way of people showing up and offering the support that is needed. This keynote seeks to change that; offering understanding and practical tips for supporting people after a suicide.
Drawing on two decades of research and suicide-loss support and education, Shelley shares research-informed, practical tools on how to support people bereaved by suicide, their way. That is, in a way they can experience as helpful.
Takeaways from this keynote:
Understand suicide, what it is and what it’s not,and why support after suicide matters
Learn how agency plays a central role in supporting others in their grief.
Gain practical research-informed tools and language to support others following a suicide, their way.
KEYNOTE TOPIC #5
From Invisibility to Mattering: Rethinking How We Support Grieving Children
Children are often referred to as the “forgotten mourners”. Not because parents, teachers and counsellors don’t care (they do!), yet many parents and professionals report feeling ill-equipped to know how to best support grieving children. Based on Shelley’s research with grieving children, this keynote offers a new approach to support; a mattering-reinforcing approach. Learn how to support children their way, with care responsive to their actual rather than assumed needs.
Based on the voices of the children Shelley interviewed as part of her PhD research, on the care and support experiences of children aged 6 to 13 years, following the suicide of someone close to them, this keynote offers a new approach to viewing and supporting grieving children.
Warm, moving and hugely practical, this keynote challenges current thinking and approaches to supporting grieving children, offering a new, mattering-reinforcing approach. It elevates the voices of children and what they need us to know about how they need to experience care and support when they are grieving.
Takeaways from this keynote:
Rethink current beliefs or assumptions about grieving children and their grief support needs
Understand the role of mattering in supporting grieving children, so care and support can be based on their actual rather than assumed needs.
Feel better equipped to support children, their way, with support led by them (rather than us as adults).
Rethinking care and support for grieving children
Recognised as a global authority on children’s postvention and grief support, I invite you to watch my TEDx talk (Bearing in mind that I bring a different type of energy to my speaking, depending on the topic!). Here I share the findings of my PhD research that lead me to develop the approach, mattering-reinforcing care.