Keynote Talks

Moxy Talks

Do you have a team building event or conference coming up?

Sometimes the best starting point to challenge you own thinking, or set a more creative mood, is to hear someone else’s story.

We offer three keynote speeches, although always happy to tailor these to your specific needs and audience.

Read Suzanne’s Biography

Leading through Crises

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How do you stay calm, and communicate clearly, when leading under intense pressure?

Having worked as a senior adviser to the Secretary of State, Suzanne provides a unique insight into what it was like to work at the heart of a government when the country was in crisis. She shares her experience on communicating the collapse of UK airlines, preparing for Brexit and surviving Covid, including an unexpected Christmas closure of the UK-France border.

Reflecting on this turbulent period and leading communications for pivotal national events, Suzanne highlights the critical skills that every leader needs to thrive in high pressured business situations: to be calm, controlled and compassionate. She deconstructs what these really mean in practice and invites us into the world of a director of communications operating under unprecedented circumstances.

Communicating with Dyslexia

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At least 1 in 10 people in the UK are dyslexic, but how much do we really know about how to communicate effectively with them?

As the first (or at least the most vocal) openly dyslexic Director of Communications in Government, Suzanne provides an insight into how her dyslexia helped her to lead a high-performing team in a UK Government department during Brexit, Covid and a period of national turbulence.

Learning from her own experiences, Suzanne outlines the importance of building awareness, understanding and empowerment of dyslexia. She gives an honest account of her struggles and why it’s important to recognise, support and celebrate difference. She also explores the advantages that embracing dyslexic thinking can bring to creative communications, effective engagement, and inclusive leadership.

Burning out Brightly

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What do you do when you’ve reached your career goal, but aren’t the person you want to be?

Suzanne offers an honest and raw account to how it felt to walk away from a 20-year career after realising she was experiencing burnout and no longer getting the best out of herself. She reflects the impact of working under intense and unrelenting pressure while leading communications for a high-profile government department under the spotlight and throughout the Covid pandemic.

Suzanne shares her highs, lows, and the lessons that she learned: the need to be brave, bold, and different. She also reflects on how this inspired her to pioneer a new approach to communications consultancy and challenge the assertion that senior leaders don’t need positive encouragement or support.

Testimonials

Suzanne delivered a brilliant session as part of our Ultimate Masterclass Festival, the feedback to which has been incredible. Suzanne shares her own experiences, expert insights, and personal story around dyslexia with warmth and honesty. Her talk is fascinating, inspiring, and empowering for any audience to hear. I’d highly recommend making time for an in-depth Q&A session, we’ve never had so many!

Ryan Crighton, Policy and Marketing Director, Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce

Suzanne was absolutely brilliant in her approach. She shared insightful considerations and top tips on how we can be more creative by using the power of storytelling to cut through the noise and better connect with our audiences. She was wonderfully witty and warm, which opened up enthusiastic conversations. It was an absolute pleasure to hear her speak

Stella Morris, Communications and Engagement Manager, University of Manchester

Thank you for your inspirational talk. I and the team really appreciated the opportunity to share our personal stories and get further insights from your experiences of leading comms at the top level of government. You are a role model for how dyslexia can be turned into a superpower.

Katherine Mercer, Senior Manager, Public Policy UK & Ireland, Amazon

Suzanne’s talk on leading through crises is as engaging as it is informative. She is able to reflect on her own experiences, in particular her time working for the UK Government through Brexit and Covid, to provide real insight into the pressures leaders face and coping mechanism to deal with them.

Nerys Jones, Director, Deloitte LLP

Suzanne delivered a fantastic session for us on the theme of ‘Leadership through crises’. Suzanne’s ability to bring to life all her experiences in Government and create tangible and practical advice was extremely helpful for the team and garnered extremely positive feedback. I would recommend Suzanne for anyone thinking about how they can create leadership and an effective culture within communications teams.

William Heald, Director of Colleague Communications, Tesco

Suzanne Edmond – Biography

Suzanne is a multi-disciplined communications professional with experience working for international FTSE 25 companies, Government, and charity.

After starting her career in the Cabinet Office, Suzanne managed public affairs and media relations for the Advertising Associations Food Advertising Unit during a time of heightened political and public scrutiny.

She then moved into the energy sector, first working for Shell’s global chemicals business advising on issues management and stakeholder relations in the UK, Europe and North America. Suzanne then joined Centrica’s growing oil and gas business, building an international team responsible for media, stakeholder engagement, digital and crisis communications across the UK, the Netherlands, Norway and Canada.

In 2016 Suzanne joined the UK Government’s Department for Transport where she was later promoted to Group Director of Communications. She led communications and marketing for rail timetabling issues, airline insolvencies, Brexit and Covid, including the national communications response when France unexpectedly closed its borders during Christmas 2020 and the award-winning THINK! Road Safety campaign.

Suzanne was a Trustee at the British Dyslexia Association 2021 – 2023, has a Masters in European Policy from Bristol University and is a qualified business coach and member of the International Coaching Federation. She is the Founding Director of Moxy Communications.

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