Speaking | David McQueen

Frameworks that stay in the room
long after the session ends.

For senior leadership audiences navigating complexity, capital, and consequence. More than motivation this is recalibration. Every session is built around a single thesis, developed with rigour, and applied to the conditions the audience is actually navigating.

The thesis.
The practice.
The thinking.

Three formats for three different situations. The thesis stays intact across all of them. The depth, duration, and degree of application adapts to what the room needs.

60 Minutes · In Person · Virtual · Hybrid

Keynote

A structured address built around a single thesis, developed with rigour, and applied to the conditions the audience is actually navigating. Provokes clear thinking rather than passive agreement. Five keynotes available — one signature and four domain-specific.

40 Minutes · Structured Dialogue

Fireside Conversation

A moderated dialogue built around a defined leadership theme. Less presentation, more exploration. Designed to surface insight through conversation while maintaining a clear strategic thread. A chair is required — David works with them in advance.

30–45 Minutes · Boards & Senior Forums

Executive Briefing

A focused, high-level briefing for boards, executive gatherings, and leadership forums. Shorter, sharper, oriented toward the decisions leaders must make next. Built for rooms where time is expensive and tolerance for the non-applicable is low.

David McQueen on stage

Energising. Insightful. Actionable.

One signature.
Four domains.
Nothing is a repeat performance.

Every engagement is built specifically for the audience. The signature keynote works for any senior leadership room. The four domain keynotes are built around the specific pressure points where decision quality most determines what follows.

Signature Keynote
The Brave Leader
For any audience

"Most leaders know what the right decision is. The question is whether they have the courage to make it."

Bravery in leadership is not a personality trait. It is a practice — built from the deliberate, often quiet choices that define how a leader shows up when the stakes are real, the path is unclear, and the room is watching. This keynote draws on the framework at the heart of The Brave Leader to examine what courage actually looks like inside the daily conditions of leadership.

01
Who Actually Decides Here?
Governance · Accountability · Decision-making
Boards & Senior Teams

"Most governance failures are not caused by bad decisions. They are caused by the absence of a clear decision, full stop." Examines the architecture of accountability in senior leadership environments — and how decision rights become unclear, contested, or avoided as organisations scale.

02
Show Me The Money
Capital Strategy · Scaleup Leadership · Founder-to-CEO
Founders & Scaleups

"Most founders approach capital conversations with a pitch. Investors approach them with a thesis. The gap between those two things is where most fundraises fail." For founders and scaleup CEOs navigating the territory between a business that works and one that is ready for the scrutiny capital brings.

03
A Well Told Story
Business Storytelling · Leadership Communication
Any Senior Audience

"The leaders and organisations that win are rarely the ones with the best product or strategy. They are the ones with the clearest story about why any of it matters." Storytelling in business is not a soft skill. It is a strategic asset — and most leaders are leaving it to chance.

04
What Breaks Under Pressure
Decision Quality · Leadership Under Pressure
Leadership Teams

"What breaks under pressure is not the leader's character. It is the invisible architecture of how they think." Addresses the conditions leaders are actually in: incomplete information, asymmetric consequences, compressed time, and a room watching to see what kind of leader they are.

Accountability and
application over
entertainment.

These sessions are not suited to every conference. They work when the audience is senior, the stakes are genuine, and the organiser wants the room to leave with something it will still be using six months later.

When organisations book this work
  • Leadership teams under sustained pressure — growth, restructuring, market shifts
  • Organisations navigating major transitions — M&A, succession, strategic pivots
  • CEO forums, executive gatherings, board retreats, industry associations
  • Founder and scaleup communities navigating capital or rapid growth
  • Strategy days and senior offsites where thinking needs to shift first
What audiences leave with
  • Sharper decisions — frameworks for better calls when information is incomplete
  • Shared language — vocabulary that cuts through noise and names reality clearly
  • Frameworks that travel — tools that survive contact with real decisions
  • Collective clarity — a common reference point that holds under pressure

Every engagement begins
with a conversation about
the audience.

Before a session is confirmed, I want to understand who is in the room, what they are carrying, and what a well-spent hour would actually produce. The thesis stays intact. The application adapts.

Many advisory relationships begin with a speaking engagement. If the session surfaces decisions or challenges the organisation needs to work through in depth, that conversation is available.

Enquire About Speaking

If your leaders need reassurance, there are easier rooms to be in. If they need clarity, we should talk.

Booking I am represented by Champions Speakers.
Preparation Every engagement begins with a conversation about the audience, what they are carrying, and what a well-spent hour would produce.
Lead Time Eight to twelve weeks preferred for conferences. Shorter timelines possible for corporate sessions.
Delivery In person or virtual. UK and global — LatAm, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East.
Fees Shaped by context, location, and delivery mode. Share your brief and a direct conversation follows.
Availability Limited. Not every enquiry leads to a booking — said plainly and early.
Enquire About Speaking

Every engagement begins
with a conversation about
the audience.

For keynotes, fireside conversations, and executive briefings. Before a session is confirmed, I want to understand who is in the room, what they are carrying, and what a well-spent hour would actually produce.

David's fee depends on your context. If this sits outside your current budget, note that in your enquiry — there may be a format that fits.

All enquiries come directly to me. You will receive a personal response within two working days.

All enquiries are read personally. You will receive a direct response within two working days. Not every enquiry leads to a booking — that is said plainly and early.

Received.

David reviews all speaking enquiries personally. You will hear back within two working days — either with a proposed next step or an honest note if this is not the right fit.