Speaker
Speaker
KEYNOTE SPEAKER | AUTHOR
LEADERSHIP TRAINER
Empowering your audience to think bigger, act braver and start now.
“Laura’s talk was TED quality with down-to-earth advice and added storytelling flair... If you’re looking for a motivational speaker for your next event, you’ve found her.”
Laura helps teams build resilience and perform under sustained pressure when things feel challenging or uncertain.
Over the past decade she has taken on a series of self-powered endurance adventures. These include solo kayaking a stretch of Russia’s Volga River, running 100 miles across Fuerteventura in four days, cycling the world’s longest coastal route in Ireland, and becoming the first and only person to complete a triathlon across the Channel Islands by swimming around Sark, kayaking Guernsey and cycling Jersey.
Like most meaningful projects, these journeys have not always gone to plan. There have been wrong turns, tired legs, misjudgements and moments where the original strategy no longer works. Halfway through cycling Scotland’s North Coast 500 she had to stop due to injury. Seven months later she went back to the start and completed the full route. Two weeks after that, she got back on her bike and rode 3,700 miles through eight countries from Scotland to Norway.
These experiences offer a powerful way of understanding how people actually behave when pressure rises, self-doubt creeps in and the path forward is unclear. Moments like these are just as familiar in everyday working life as they are on a long road or in open water.
Laura brings these insights into organisations that want their people to recover from setbacks and stay effective under pressure. She has spoken at international festivals, conferences, schools, after-dinner engagements and corporate events across multiple industries.
Her talks are energetic, honest and practical. They blend engaging storytelling and humour with science-backed strategies that audiences can actually use.
“Listening to Laura Kennington speak is good for your soul.”
SAMPLE TALK TOPICS
Take the First Step: Ambition & Self-Belief
Most people don't fail because they aimed too high, they fail because they never let themselves aim at all.
Laura wasn't a kayaker when she decided to paddle solo through Russia. She wasn't an endurance swimmer when she committed to swimming around Sark. She wasn't a writer when she started her book. The skills and credentials came later. The decision came first.
This talk is about the goals we quietly dismiss as "not for people like me." It's about imposter syndrome, the stories we tell ourselves about who's allowed to do what and why backing yourself is a skill you can build.
It works especially well for teams who need to step up, try something new or stop waiting to feel ready. People usually leave thinking differently about what they are capable of and what the next step might be.
Key Takeaways:
Silencing self-doubt and overthinking
Building confidence through action
Setting goals that stretch you (and actually achieving them)
The Next Mile: Building Resilience That Lasts
Resilience is about showing up day after day when progress feels invisible. Drawing on endurance challenges that tested her limits over weeks and months, and lessons from working with teams under pressure, Laura explores what it takes to keep going when things get hard.
This talk is about sustaining momentum when goals feel impossibly far away - how to maintain performance during extended periods of stress and develop mental toughness that carries over from adventure into everyday life.
This talk suits teams dealing with heavy workloads, long projects or sustained pressure
Key Takeaways:
Maintaining performance during prolonged stress
Mental toughness techniques from endurance sports
Recovery strategies for sustained resilience
Navigate the Unknown: Thriving Through Change
How do you respond when everything changes at once?
This talk focuses on adapting when plans fall apart and making progress when the path isn't clear. Drawing from multi-week solo adventures where conditions constantly shifted, Laura shows how flexibility, grit and decisive action matter more than perfect planning. It equips teams to reframe setbacks as learning opportunities and cultivate the adaptability needed to thrive in uncertainty.
Great for anyone facing change or working in fast-moving environments.
Key Takeaways:
Managing stress during periods of uncertainty
Adapting and pivoting when plans change
Reframing setbacks into forward momentum
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At their core, Laura’s talks are about mindset: how people build confidence, cope with pressure and adapt when the unexpected happens.
Alongside keynote talks, she also runs interactive workshops focused on personal development and wellbeing, giving participants practical tools they can use in everyday life and work
Beyond the stage, Laura has also led inclusive community fitness events.
Organisations Laura has worked with include…
👉 Ready to empower people for their next challenge?
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“We loved Laura coming in and speaking to all of us. The group definitely enjoyed speaking to Laura on a 1-1 basis after the session, too”
“You were the best guest speaker we’ve had! Your talk was very inspiring and engaged so many people. I had many members of staff come up to me to say how interesting your story was.”
More testimonials…
“Laura is an exciting, inspirational and informative speaker. We’ve had Laura speak at two of our events now (The National Outdoor Expo and The National Cycling Show), and in both instances, working with Laura has been a great experience.
Hearing Laura speak about her adventures is incredibly engaging, and she does a fantastic job of translating her experiences into lessons for the audience to apply in their own pursuit of adventure.
We’re looking forward to seeing what Laura will take on next!”
Presenting Gold DofE Awards and meeting HRH Countess of Wessex at Buckingham Palace, London
“Laura is an inspirational and accomplished speaker. She has undertaken some amazing adventures and provides practical insights and knowledgeable advice on her achievements to date, in a highly personable and engaging way.”
Photo credit: Raphael Rychetsky
“Laura, you were brilliant. A bonafide dance like-you-are-alive enabler! If you need someone to make a full marquee of people fully dance, this is your woman.”
“Laura’s engaging and intriguing story of her adventures was brilliant. It elicited some great questions around storytelling and her approach to overcoming adversity. It was a pleasure to have her speak.”
“If you want your pupils to really understand what embracing life’s opportunities is all about get Laura to come and talk to your school. The stories of her adventures were both fun and inspiring and I challenge anyone who hears her speak not to be motivated to undertake some kind of challenge as a result – no matter how small.”
Presenting Gold Duke of Edinburgh awards with HRH The Duke of Wessex at St James’s Palace, London
“She was engaging, motivating and clearly very passionate. Excellent speaker with interesting stories”
“She was very interesting and answered everyone’s questions in a funny and insightful way. Very inspiring.”
“It was fantastic to listen to Laura Kennington; I have previously heard about her but it was fantastic to listen to her experiences and how she overcame challenges.
“Laura was very motivational and an excellent speaker. She answered the questions well and was very engaging.”
“Our Year 12 students really enjoyed hearing about Laura’s challenges, and how life lessons learnt through these can be applied to their own lives. The idea that anything is possible - if you put your mind to it! The overall message of enjoy life, get out there and be happy was really powerful - we look forward to seeing her again next year.”
“Laura’s main message to us was to always persevere when times become tough. She encouraged us to fight for what we believed in... Overall, the speech was very inspiring and made us realise that you can do anything you set your mind to”
“The talk was really inspirational and motivational. I thought Laura was amazing!”
“Laura is a great speaker who inspired our audience of young people and parents. Her engaging personality, humour and stories of determination and strength was an inspiration – she interacted with the audience well and has a perfect personality for talking. I hope we will be able to use Laura again.”
“Laura was the guest speaker at our annual Awards ceremony. Her words were really inspiring, in challenging our students to not settle for the conventional, and encouraging them to forge their own path. She even received a hug from one of our parents who was equally moved! ”
Events
Events
“Laura did our keynote speech at our annual EMPOWER awards for our most academic students, many of whom need to be encouraged out of their comfort zone now and again and also need to see that there is a world beyond study and that success isn’t just about grades. Laura’s speech was incredibly engaging, she has a very down to earth natural manner which meant she connected with the audience immediately. I could see that the students were gripped and in awe. Laura used personal anecdotes, photos and video to illustrate her wider message about resilience and self belief. It was perfect for our students and inspired the staff too!”
Community Fitness
Laura is passionate about making fitness accessible, inclusive, and fun. Her community sessions encourage people of all ages and abilities to see their urban environment as a training playground — no equipment required.
Each session is adaptable for different fitness levels and designed to promote confidence, connection, and enjoyment.
Have fun, get fit and get outside!