Dr. Margie Warrell speaking on a dark stage in a crimson trouser suit and white blouse, laughing mid-sentence beside a timber-slat lectern, in front of a tall banner printed with a repeating circle-and-four-point-star pattern

Braver choices, made at the pace change demands.

Dr. Margie Warrell helps leaders close the gap between knowing and doing, to make hard calls faster, grounded in values that shape a bolder future, long before certainty arrives.Dr. Margie Warrell helps leaders close the gap between knowing and doing - with the science, soul, and hard-won wisdom to make hard calls faster, grounded in values that shape a bolder future, long before certainty arrives.

Check Availability Watch Speaking Reel

Why Margie

Equip your audience to make better decisions and take bolder action.

Margie weaves acessible, evidence-based insight with deeply human storytelling that speaks to the whole person - not just the professional - moving audiences to genuine, lasting change - in how they think, decide and lead.

Each keynote positively impacts:

Leadership
Team Alignment
Resilience
Organizational Culture
Decision-Making
Accountability
Communication
Change-Agility

Dr. Margie Warrell speaking on stage in a bright yellow suit, one hand raised mid-gesture, against a violet stage wash

Watch Margie speak

An authentic, interactive, and deeply human experience.

Rise into your potential one brave action at a time
Take full ownership of your life
Embrace your challenges: you cannot grow without them
Your problems are not the problem
Don’t let fear of making a wrong decision keep you from making a right one
Learn, unlearn, relearn: dare to challenge your best thinking
Disrupt your default way of thinking
From playing it safe to playing it smart: why safety can sabotage success
A trapeze lesson: fear creates the gap between thought and action
Don’t wait until you feel brave before you take action
Women: when you own your value, you magnify your value

Margie’s presentations are known for creating powerful emotional connection while delivering actionable leadership insight. Her style combines:

Executive credibility
Real-world practicality
Vulnerability
Storytelling
Audience engagement
Live coaching moments
Interactive reflection

Experience Margie’s signature keynotes

Dr. Margie Warrell mid-keynote in a red and black patterned sleeveless dress, wearing a headset microphone with both hands raised and a presenter clicker in one of them, a large out-of-focus slide behind her

Signature keynote

MAKE THE BRAVE CHOICE

How leaders turn uncertain moments into defining decisions

We’ve never had more information–or faster tools to process it. Yet at decision making tables across the world, leaders are getting more hesitant, not less. More risk-averse. Less decisive.

The problem isn’t insight. It’s the internal capacity to act on it.

In a world of accelerating AI disruption, relentless complexity, and rising stakes, the ability to make values-anchored, brave decisions–with clarity, conviction, and consistency–isn’t a soft skill. It’s a fundamental leadership capability. And most leaders have never been explicitly taught it.

Audience takeaways

Recognize the "fear traps" that derail decisions
Right-size risk–and recognize the “Timidity Tax” that compounds
Read emotional signals accurately so pressure expands possibilities
Apply a 3-step framework for making values-anchored decisions
Manage decision fatigue and reset the nervous system

Planning an event?

Speaker kit, bios, headshots and AV requirements — everything your team needs.

Resources for meeting professionals →

Questions planners ask

Booking Dr. Margie Warrell: the short answers

What does Dr. Margie Warrell speak about?

Courage, decision-making and the kind of leadership that holds up under pressure. Her four signature keynotes are Make the Brave Choice, Courage to Lead in an AI World, Dare to Change Before You Have To, and Speak Bravely, each tailored to the audience. Across them run the themes clients book her for: leadership, team alignment, resilience, organizational culture, decision-making, accountability, communication and change-agility.

Who is Dr. Margie Warrell?

A keynote speaker, bestselling author of six books including The Courage Gap, Forbes columnist and former Senior Partner in Korn Ferry’s Board & CEO Succession practice, with a PhD in human development. She serves as faculty for Google’s School for Leaders and Duke Corporate Education, has advised Fortune 500 leaders for more than 25 years, and has delivered keynotes in more than thirty countries.

What makes her keynotes different?

She weaves accessible, evidence-based insight with deeply human storytelling that speaks to the whole person, not just the professional. Sessions are interactive, with live coaching moments and reflection built in, delivered with executive credibility and real-world practicality, so audiences leave making better decisions and taking bolder action rather than simply feeling inspired.

Which audiences and events is she right for?

Leadership conferences, executive retreats, company-wide events and organizational workshops, for leaders and teams navigating change, uncertainty and the pressure to act before certainty arrives. She has worked with senior leaders from NASA to Nike, and her executive team workshop, The Courage Lab, was developed at Google.

How do I check availability or book her for an event?

Use the inquiry form on the contact page and choose “Keynote speaking”, or email contact@margiewarrell.com. Her team replies with availability and next steps. A speaker kit with her bio, introduction and AV requirements is on the page for meeting professionals.

What does she provide to help our event succeed?

Everything a planner needs in one place: her official bio, a speaker introduction, the speaker kit, AV requirements and downloadable headshots, plus tailored add-on experiences to extend the keynote’s impact. Her book The Courage Gap can also be ordered in bulk for attendees.

AboutMargieWarrell

Margie Warrell standing with her arms folded, smiling to camera in a bright red blazer over a floral blouse

Courage isn't the absence of fear. It's acting despite it.

Raised on a small dairy farm in rural Australia, Margie's journey has been shaped by experiences that taught her firsthand what courage, resilience, and reinvention truly require.

From personal adversity and profound loss to navigating major life transitions and building an international leadership platform, her work is grounded not only in research — but in lived experience.

Today, she is a bestselling author, Forbes columnist, executive coach, and globally recognized speaker helping leaders and organizations navigate change with greater courage, clarity, and conviction.

“She had 1,800 people in a standing ovation.”

One word: Amazing. Not only was Margie's message tailored perfectly for our audience but her one on one interactions with attendees made the experience that much more personable. The feedback we received was phenomenal.
Victoria Lambert
Talent Management · AT&T
Margie's session was terrific. She was inspiring, bold, and dovetailed seamlessly with our key themes.
Kristen O'Hara
Vice President, Client Solutions · Google
If you want to embolden your teams and leaders to raise their sights and take more courageous action, Margie is the perfect adrenaline-like shot of inspiration you need.
Sarah McKensey
Vice President · Johnson & Johnson
When it comes to empowering people to be braver, Margie is a master. …
Tracy Beighton
Account Director, UK · Salesforce
Margie is a master and her ability to engage, empower and affect positive change is outstanding.
Keri Day
Chief Audit Officer · Marriott International
Margie's ability to weave interesting personal and professional anecdotes on how to refocus, prioritize and build resilience was extremely well received by our team. Her energy and candour was uplifting and motivating. …
Karinne Brannigan
Senior Vice President Marketing · Dell
Margie's Courageous Conversations masterclasses at NASA headquarters have been delivered with enthusiasm, passion and knowledge. All feedback has been extremely positive.
Kim Haney
Director, Career Management · NASA
Margie's collaborative approach, professionalism and energy, on stage and off, combined with her fresh concepts and calm authority have created those 'ah-ha!' moments that make better leaders of us all.
Alison Sibree
Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Asia Pacific & Japan · Oracle
Energetic. Motivational. Emboldening. As a keynote speaker and facilitator, Margie is incredibly skilled at connecting her audience to a bolder vision for themselves. …
Wennie Wong
Operations Director · L'Oréal
Attending Margie's workshop changed my life and that of my colleagues. I am quite confident you will walk away from her session agreeing that they were some of the best hours you have spent on yourself in a long, long time. …
Elizabeth Faber
Chief Purpose Officer · Deloitte (Asia Pacific)
Margie is one dynamic speaker who spoke to the human element we all deal with at our annual HR conference. …
Piper Walker
Manager, Training & Development · Verizon
Feedback from Margie's full day workshop was so overwhelmingly positive that I have no hesitation in recommending her as a terrific investment in team and personal development.
Leonie Valentine
Managing Director, Sales & Operations · Google Hong Kong

Certainty isn’t coming.The future belongs to those brave enough to act anyway.

Margie doesn't just leave people better informed. She leaves them changed - with the clarity, conviction, and courage to make the brave choices that will shape the future.

Inquire About Speaking Download Speaker Kit

Margie Warrell in a bright yellow blazer, speaking with her hand raised