Speaking

Say yes. Figure it out. Pass it on.

Stories, ideas and practical ways to do something with them.

I speak about building things, backing yourself, making learning useful and passing on what matters. The stories come from running businesses, becoming a lifeguard after nearly drowning, losing my parents and working out what I want to do with my time.

Some sessions get people building. Some get them questioning how they work. Some send them home wanting to record a story for someone they love.

Talk to me about your event Watch me speak Speaker kit

The three signature talks The full catalogue Fees How a booking works

Tell me the brief Steve sitting, pointing up mid-idea.

What shape is your day?Pick one

A keynote that lands → A workshop with an output → Someone to host the whole thing →

Almost 2 decades

Running rooms, from Year 9s to boardrooms.

14 sessions

Three signature talks plus the practical catalogue.

TEDx

Legacy in Bytes, thirteen minutes and twenty seconds.

Straight to me

No agent, no PA. I read every brief myself and reply fast.

See it before you book it

Don't take my word for it.

Full talks, no cuts. Press play on any of them.

The speaker reel

TEDx

Keynote

Live build-along · iDesignX

Space Creator · HRD National

HRD Sydney

Rooms I've stood in front of

What audiences actually wrote

Not a testimonial page. A feedback form.

Ninety-nine written comments across five stages and two online channels. These are lifted straight off the forms, typos and all, and not one comment was negative about the delivery.

Engaging.Energetic.Informative.

Two people wrote exactly those three words, in that order, at two different events seven months apart. Across all ninety-nine comments they're also the three most common themes. So it isn't a tagline I wrote. It's the one the room keeps writing for me.

99Written comments across five stages and two online channels

1 in 4Mention energy. It's the single most common thing people say

ZeroNegative comments about the delivery

7Said the session made them go and actually do something

"Legendary! Lit me up and opened my eyes to a new way."

TraceyKeynote attendee

"It was so informative, and your enthusiasm is infectious!"

TiffanyInstructional designer

"Energetic, relevant and no 'rabbit hole' talk as a time filler."

StephanieNestlé

"So enthusiastic and straight to the point! Loved it!"

MeryemAstraZeneca

"Punchy and lively. Things actually useful for us, BAU and projects."

KatyNobleOak

"Engaging, very good role modelling. Presentation skills and slides were excellent."

JaniceNSW Electoral Commission

"Steve is one of the best I have seen."

KylaCSIRO

"Great energy and more valuable than the NIDA workshop."

KelseyUNSW

"Challenges the status quo of traditional L&D."

MitchellLink Wentworth

Audiences have included people from

WestpacKPMGNestléAstraZeneca KomatsuFlight CentreMirvacM&C Saatchi TBWATransport for NSWUniversity of SydneyUNSWand many more

How a session gets built

Learning design is underneath all of it.

Before I shape a session, I want to know what people need to understand, what they need to do and how you want them to feel walking out.

That guides the stories, the activities and how much we try to fit in. Years of facilitation help me respond to the people actually in front of me.

Know

What they understand

The idea, the shift or the information they need to walk out holding.

What they go and do

The thing that happens on Monday, not just the thing that felt good on the day.

Feel

How the room feels

Lifted, challenged, settled or moved, depending on what your day needs from the slot.

Start with these three

The three I'm asked for most.

Say yes. Figure it out.

For people with something they want to start.

From selling gingerbread houses at school to taking on work I had to grow into, I've spent a lot of my life learning after saying yes.

This talk explores backing yourself, judging a risk and working out what you need to learn as you go. People leave with a first step they can take towards something they've been circling.

For teams facing change, business owners, emerging leaders and young professionals.

Enquire about this talk

The detail: outcome, takeaways and the story it's built on

The outcome

People stop waiting to feel ready and back themselves on the thing they've been circling for months.

They walk out with

How to tell a real risk from a scary one
What to have covered before you jump
The smallest yes they can say this week
Permission to be rubbish at the start

The story it's built on

I was twenty-two and about to quote a thousand dollars for a week of workshops. The client asked "you mean twenty, right?" I said yes, then went away and made myself worth it.

For · rooms sitting on a decision, teams pushing to a new level, young professionals30 to 60 minKeynote or breakout

Rock. Do. Suck.

For people trying to be good at everything.

Someone else's skill saved my life. I went on to develop that skill myself, and then spent years acting as though I had to become good at everything else too.

We work through two questions: does it matter, and are you any good at it? People identify what deserves their best work, what needs a different approach and what they can let go.

For leaders, business owners and teams carrying too much. Available as a talk or a working session.

Enquire about this talk

The detail: outcome, takeaways and the story it's built on

The outcome

People stop trying to be good at everything and work out which few things actually deserve them.

They walk out with

Their own grid off two questions: does it matter, and do you rock at it?
The five Do moves: do enough to not suck, know enough to not get played, get AI to carry the weight, pay someone who rocks, turn the odd suck into a rock
One thing they're handing over this month

The story it's built on

I was twenty-one and drowning. A lifeguard who rocked it pulled me out. I got good at it and did the same for other people for eight years. Then I spent fifteen years trying to rock at everything, and it cooked me.

For · anyone carrying the belief they have to be good at everything30 to 90 minKeynote or workshop

Legacy in Bytes

For people who keep thinking there'll be time later.

My dad left thirteen minutes and twenty seconds on a cassette. My mum died suddenly, and I have no video of her.

This is a personal talk about what we leave, what we wish we'd kept and how easy it is to postpone recording the stories that matter. People leave with a simple place to start: someone to record for, a story to tell and a reason to do it while they can.

For conferences, leadership gatherings, associations and community events. The TEDx version runs thirteen minutes and twenty seconds; an extended session can be shaped for your event.

Watch the TEDx →Enquire about this talk

The detail: outcome, takeaways and the story it's built on

The outcome

A room that goes quiet, then goes home and records something for someone. People have come back months later to say they finally did it.

They walk out with

Why what you know disappears faster than anyone thinks
The three questions that turn a life event into something worth passing on
Why voice and video beat letters, and it isn't close
Ten minutes a week and the simplest way to start

The story it's built on

I was twelve, singing along in the car on the way to school, when my dad got down on one knee in the car park and told me the cancer was back. A week later he was gone. Thirteen minutes and twenty seconds on a cassette out of a twenty-two-million-minute life.

For · conferences, leadership rooms, community and member events13 min as the TEDx30 to 45 min extended, built to close a conference and send people home to press record

The rest of the catalogue

Put the thinking to work.

These practical sessions draw on the same experience. Choose the subject that matters to your audience; we'll shape the format around what they need to do with it.

The outcome

A room of designers laughs at itself for an hour and leaves with one word it can use in a review: enough.

They walk out with

The diagnosis and their own symptoms
The characters from their last project: just-in-case, kitchen sink syndrome, stakeholder super-spreaders
Permission to delete work they're attached to
A digital copy of the book each

The story it's built on

I had it for years without knowing. It isn't carelessness. It's caring, pointed the wrong way.

For · learning designers, L&D teams, learning conferences30 to 60 minBased on the book · ebd.learnawesome.com.au

The outcome

A room full of businesses that all look the same walks out with a reason to exist none of the others can copy, and the local moves to prove it.

They walk out with

Their villain, named
Their origin story, told without cringing
A flag on one postcode
The coffee shop play and the paid plays that make people stay and look

The story it's built on

I sold ice cream in a town of long-established Italian places. They kept walking past trying to work out how I was getting people in. Every broker can match a rate. None of them can match your reason.

For · service businesses, franchise groups, aggregators, associations30 to 60 minKeynote or workshop

The outcome

The room stops spending conversion budget on people who were never going to buy and starts educating the ones who don't know they've got the problem.

They walk out with

The buyer readiness ladder
Where their spend actually lands on it, mapped in the room
What to stop paying for and what to build instead

The story it's built on

Learning design is a category nobody wakes up wanting. I gave away thousands of copies of The Enough Bucket to give an industry a name for a problem it was already living through. Learn Awesome has never run a paid ad.

For · founders, marketing teams, anyone selling something the market hasn't named yet60 to 90 minWorkshop

The outcome

Owners stop guessing why leads go cold and see exactly where they're losing them.

They walk out with

Their prospect journey mapped gap by gap
An audit of what's already in the toolkit and what it's actually doing: speed to lead, AI chat, AI voice, auto-responses, async video, the CRM
Quick wins, some built live
Which leaks cost the most

The story it's built on

Watching businesses spend real money getting someone to raise their hand, then lose them in the next ninety seconds. The fix usually isn't more leads. It's fewer holes.

For · sales and marketing teams, owners, franchise and aggregator groups60 to 90 minWorkshop

The outcome

A room stops treating AI as magic or a threat and leaves with working content, pages or automations they built themselves.

They walk out with

A working landing page, piece of content or automation, built in the room
Where AI carries the weight and exactly where a human has to stay in the loop
Their own model set up and used

The story it's built on

I'm not an AI guru. I'm dangerous enough to be useful, and the Lab is me proving it in public.

For · marketing and ops teams, founders, anyone tired of AI slideware90 min, hands on, BYO deviceWorkshop

The outcome

The room stops mistaking output for value and works out what deserves their mastery.

They walk out with

Their own Rock. Do. Suck. audit through an AI lens
What to hand to the machine, what to hand to a human who rocks, what to protect

For · leadership rooms, professional associations, anyone whose job just got "easier"30 to 45 minKeynote

The outcome

The room watches AI go from buzzword to a playable game in one session, and walks out knowing the same loop works on a stuck team, a hard problem, or a kid on the couch.

They walk out with

A game the room helped design, playable on their phones before they leave
The build loop: plan on paper, prompt, test, fix, ship
What vibe coding actually is, shown rather than explained
A reason to spend an afternoon building one with a kid who matters to them

The story it's built on

I build games with my niece and a crew of non-DNA nephews. They think we made a game. Underneath they learnt logic, systems and how to iterate, and I got the afternoon. The same mechanics work on a team that's stopped talking to each other.

For · team days, offsites, conferences, parent and community groups60 to 90 minKeynote build-along or hands-on workshop

The outcome

Students and young founders leave with a real business conversation to have this week, and the diagnostic skill underneath it.

They walk out with

The seven steps
The questions to ask a real business
How to build a small useful thing with AI
What to say when you take it back

The story it's built on

It's how I've found every piece of work I've ever had, and it's what I mentor Year 8s on.

For · schools, universities and TAFE, youth entrepreneurship programmes, founders45 to 90 minWorkshop or keynote

The outcome

Freelancers and small agency owners leave with an actual plan for the next ninety days, not a pep talk.

They walk out with

Positioning
First clients
The portfolio
The first teammate
Recognising a bad client and saying no

For · L&D freelancers, agency owners, learning conferences45 to 90 minKeynote or workshop

The outcome

Owners find the exact places the business stops without them and leave knowing the first one to fix.

They walk out with

An honest count of what their door costs
The points where everything stops if they're not there
What to systemise or hand over first

The story it's built on

I owned two ice cream shops the year my mum died. I put a sign on the door. The landlord still wanted the rent.

For · owners, franchisees, anyone whose work stops when they do30 to 60 minKeynote

The outcome

The people who cope with everything get honest about what coping costs and leave able to accept help.

They walk out with

The symptoms that look like strength from the outside
Why the person everyone leans on is the one nobody checks on
Something to say when help is offered other than "I'm fine"

The story it's built on

Eight years pulling people out of the surf, years before I noticed nobody was doing the same for me. Still unlearning it.

What I told myself

"If it's meant to be, it's up to me."
"I can't depend on anyone, because anyone I depend on dies and leaves me."

I built a life on both of those. I'm still unlearning them.

For · wellbeing, HR and leadership rooms, high-performing teams30 to 60 minKeynote

I also run free sessions for schools, universities and TAFEs. See the schools page →

Other shapes

Not every room wants a keynote.

Ask Steve Anything

An hour. Bring real questions. No safe scripted interview.

Live Diagnosis

A real problem from the room, worked through live: what's underneath it and what actually needs solving.

Live Vibe Build

A prototype, tool or workflow built in front of the room from a real problem. Receipts, in person.

Built from scratch

Tell me the brief and I'll build one that doesn't exist yet. Costs the same as one off the list. No custom loading.

Why it lands

Most speakers learn to present. I learnt to run a room.

Facilitation is the craft underneath all of it. Strategy days, offsites, hard conversations, since I was twenty-two. Presenting is a performance skill. Reading a room and adjusting live is a different one, and it's why the talk bends to what's actually happening in front of me.

The method isn't theory either. Rock. Do. Suck. has been tested on my own P&L and my own head, which is more than most frameworks can say.

Formats and investment

No surprises when the quote lands.

In person or virtual, anywhere in Australia and further if the brief's right. Indicative. Final number depends on format, travel and how much shaping your brief needs.

Keynote

from $1,800

Up to ninety minutes, shaped to your brief.

Half or full day

from $3,000

Half day from $3,000, full day from $5,000.

Virtual

from $1,500

Same prep, same shaping, no flights.

MC, keynote and workshop from the same visit: one person who already knows the room, and a better number. See the MC page.

How a booking works

Four steps, and straight to me.

Send the brief

Your date, your room, and the one thing you need people to walk away deciding.

Talk it through

A quick call with me, no agent in the middle. Know, Do and Feel get nailed down here.

I show up ready

Prepped for your room, reading it live, funny first and honest underneath.

Then it lands

The measure isn't the applause. It's what's different the week after.

Got a brief? Send it.

Tell me the date, the room, and what your people need to know, do and feel. I read every enquiry myself and get back to you quickly.

Talk to me about your event