About this event
Join us for an inspiring and energising evening featuring two outstanding keynote speakers exploring what it truly takes to create meaningful change, both in ourselves and in the audiences we serve.
This special event combines the science of behaviour change with the art of authentic speaking, offering practical insight, fresh thinking and powerful inspiration for anyone who wants to create greater impact.
We are also delighted to be hosting our PSA Professional Speaker of the Year Competition, where talented speakers will compete for the opportunity to be crowned Professional Speaker of the Year North West.
The competition always delivers an inspiring showcase of speaking talent, creativity and courage, while offering invaluable learning for audience members and supportive encouragement for competitors alike.
Duncan Bhaskaran Brown – Bells, Hankies and Habits: The Surprising Science of Behaviour Change
Drawing on neuroscience, psychology, personal experience and yes… morris dancing, Duncan shares the surprising lessons learned from this extraordinary challenge.
Audiences will discover why purpose matters more than willpower, how accountability and community accelerate transformation, and why joy may be the missing ingredient in sustainable change.
Expect science, storytelling, humour and possibly a little dancing.
Deborah Henley – Unlock Your Speaker Genius
What makes a speaker truly unforgettable? It’s not simply polished delivery or good content. Deborah Henley explores the deeper shift that transforms competent speakers into compelling professionals audiences genuinely remember, trust and book.
This thought-provoking keynote will help speakers move beyond performance and into authentic presence. Deborah shares how to unlock your unique speaker genius by balancing relatability with aspiration, developing original thinking and creating talks that leave a lasting emotional impact.
Through practical insight and honest reflection from her own PSA journey, Deborah will challenge attendees to step more fully into the most compelling version of themselves — on stage and beyond.
By attending, you will:
- Understand the psychology behind lasting behaviour change
- Discover how purpose, accountability and joy fuel transformation
- Learn how to become more authentic and memorable as a speaker
- Explore the shift from polished performance to powerful presence
- Gain practical ideas to increase audience connection and influence
- Learn by observing live competition-level speaking
- Leave inspired, energised and equipped with actionable insights
Expect an evening filled with insight, inspiration, practical tools, outstanding speaking and genuine human connection.
Keynote speakers
Duncan became a writer in primary school when he wrote a story about his pet cat called Jelly Lumps (for clarification Duncan has never owned a cat).
But he really blossomed when he started a newspaper called The Sunday Rag. Despite its limited circulation it taught him that writing is collaborative art and selling words involves running around a church hall extracting money, ten pence at a time.
He started writing seriously in his early twenties, first for the stage, then for the screen. He reached the heights of dramatic fiction by writing a theological zombie film. Which may explain why most of his work never hit the big screen.
He started writing non-fiction in 2015 – in a desperate attempt to make writing pay. It sort of worked and he’s publishing his fourth book on boxing day this year.
Deborah Henley is a leadership communication expert who has worked with senior execs from Accenture, Santander and Cisco to the Royal Society, the MOD and the AWE. She was shortlisted in the 2019 Business Book Awards for ‘Your Leadership Story’, and combines her professional background in clinical and business psychology, neurolinguistics, and hypnotherapy with her many extraordinary life experiences: sailing the world’s oceans, being held at gunpoint, as a journalist in Peru, working behind the cameras at Pinewood and Shepperton Studios and leading training around the world to help leaders to become extraordinary.
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