Harriet Beveridge
Keynote Speaker on Performance, Resilience & Behaviour Change
Harriet is a neuroscience MSc, former EY performance expert, keynote speaker, and co-author of Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?. With a background in psychology, consulting and stand-up comedy, she helps leaders and teams cut through complexity, build belief, and take practical action to drive lasting performance.
Subject Expertise
- Building resilience and bouncing back from setbacks with intent
- Cutting through noise to focus on what truly moves the dial
- Shifting how people think, and therefore how they perform
- Turning insight into habit and lasting behaviour change
Who is Harriet Beveridge?
Harriet earned an MSc with distinction in the Neuroscience and Psychology of Mental health. She’s also spent 25 years as Performance Coach to senior leaders in the toughest of industries. She began her professional life as a management consultant at Ernst & Young, where she helped organisations solve complex strategic and operational challenges. Yet, she kept spotting the same underlying issue: talented people weren’t held back by skill, but by how they worked, communicated and focused.
In 2001, she met Olympic gold medallist Ben Hunt-Davis and was initially sceptical that elite sport had anything meaningful to offer business. That changed when she saw how one simple question, “Will it make the boat go faster?”, could transform decision-making and performance.
Together, they co-authored the bestselling book and built a framework that translates elite performance principles into practical, everyday business tools.
For over 20 years, Harriet has worked with leaders and teams across industries, helping them turn insight into action and achieve sustainable high performance. As a TEDx speaker, BBC Radio 4 contributor, and former Edinburgh Fringe comic, she delivers with warmth, clarity, and energy, making complex ideas simple, memorable, and actionable.
Spoken at over
500
corporate events
Invited to
3
Edinburgh Fringe Festivals
Achieving an average NPS of
+95
Considered World Class
*from scores received in 2025 & 2026.
Watch Harriet's Speech Highlights
The Keynote: When People Change How They Think, They Change How They Perform
In a world where the pace and scale of change is bigger than ever and the uncertainty is constant. For many teams, this can feel overwhelming, leaving people confused, stuck in the noise and unsure where to focus.
Harriet’s keynote helps audiences lean into that challenge rather than retreat from it.
She tells the story of ‘Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?’ from the point of view of a sceptic who has been won over through hard evidence. This keynote is rooted in practical application and real-world stories.
Drawing on insights from elite sport, neuroscience, and performance psychology, she shares simple, transferable strategies that help people cut through the day to day busyness, focus on what matters, and take meaningful action.
Her approach is grounded in one core belief: when people change how they think, they change how they perform.
What truly sets Harriet apart in this keynote is how she delivers this message.
Her self deprecating and humorous style combines evidence-based insight with simple, actionable tools – leaving audiences energised, challenged, and ready to make their own “boats go faster.”
Harriet’s ability to blend provocative thinking, scientific insight, and human connection is what makes this speech world class.
What will your audience take away?
Science-backed tools to shift how your people think - and transform how they perform
- A simple, science-backed framework for building resilience and maintaining performance under pressure
- Practical tools to cut through day-to-day busyness and focus on what genuinely matters
- A shift in how they think about performance – moving from effort to deliberate, outcome-focused action
- Concrete habits and behaviours they can implement immediately
- A shared language around bouncing back, building belief and staying focused on the goal
Inspiration with substance
An engaging, fast-paced talk that moves beyond motivation into practical performance tools.
Emotional connection
Stories that make people reflect on their own goals, habits, and teamwork.
Tailored messaging
Topic and delivery aligned to your goals and context
Actionable
focus
Clear, simple frameworks to help every attendee identify what will truly make their boat go faster.
When to book Harriet
Harriet’s keynote is the right choice when your organisation is:
- Inspiring teams to reach for more ambitious goals – and equipping them to get there
- Building belief, confidence and resilience across a leadership group
- Cutting through complexity and busyness to sharpen focus and execution
- Creating momentum and energy at a pivotal moment of change or transformation
Delivery of the Speech
Harriet’s speech will take 45 – 60 minutes and is tailored to fit with your key messages. It can be delivered both virtually and face to face. Harriet can also deliver optional workshops alongside the speech to ensure your delegates can immediately begin to apply the ideas.
Interested in booking Harriet for your next speaking engagement – contact us today and find out more.
Find out more about the book
If you’d like to explore these principles in more detail, Harriet co-authored the bestselling book Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?, bringing the story and performance framework to life in a practical and accessible way.
We also offer package options alongside keynote bookings, providing a tangible takeaway to reinforce the learning and embed the principles back in the workplace.
Trusted By
"Very impactful, relatable and humorous content and delivery. Harriet has a great way with the audience with her engaging ways!"
Juan Pillay, Group Marketing Director, Bathroom Brands Group
"Harriet and the WIMTBGF? team were incredible. The session made our kick-off event for the year a resounding success with the team!"
Guy Boone, Corporate Vice President, Henkel
"Harriet was exceptionally engaging when she joined our conference. She took time to understand the challenges we face in advance of the conference, and tailored her session so it was focused on winning strategies to drive culture change and support our own success. It was an uplifting and incredibly well received session."
Alastair Judge, Sector CEO, Johnson Matthey
"We loved our session with Harriet from "Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?". As a company determined to role model sustainable high performance, the session was equal parts validating, inspiring and thought provoking. Giving us confidence that we're on the right track and helping bring new avenues to get that slight edge. Highly recommend."
Amber Coster, COO, Unmind
"Harriet was an engaging, inspiring, thoughtful and funny speaker! Her content was accessible for all and the way she structured the session to mix exercises and presentation kept a very large group highly engaged. The feedback from attendees has been phenomenal and all have taken away lessons they can use in their professional and personal lives."
Paddle
"We've had the pleasure of working with Harriet and the crew at 'Will it make the boat go faster". This was just the right mix of challenge, insights and humour, you'll walk away smiling and with something valuable that you can apply both personally and for the business. Think mindset shifts and a motivational reset."
Darren Gibbins, Global Payments
