His speciality is moving the audience beyond awareness, and into hyper-practical behaviour change
Mitch Wallis is one of the world's leading voices in applied psychology, on a mission to change the way the world feels. He holds a Master's in Clinical Psychology from Columbia and brings over twenty years of lived experience with anxiety, depression, and OCD.
After seven years at Microsoft, he left to found Heart On My Sleeve, a movement that has reached millions, and Real Conversations - a framework delivered to 10,000+ people across four continents and trusted by Fortune 500 leaders including American Express, KPMG, Allianz, and Google.
His belief: real connection begins when we go toward the pain.
Talking Points
Real Conversations
5 Steps to connect with confidence.Real Conversations
AUDIENCE: Everyone
BEST SUITED FOR
- Lunch-and-learn sessions
- All-staff motivational events
- Wellbeing & safety month seminars
- Calendar moments (R U OK? Day, WMHD, etc.)
Real Conversations reveals why our instinct to fix, advise, and reassure fractures trust instead of building it. Grounded in embodied psychology, it teaches the 'technology' of connection: how to regulate before responding, sit in emotion without controlling it, and create moments of safety. A re-education in what it means to relate well.
From Individual Contributor to Contributing to the Individual
The 10-Second Leadership Skill That Changes EverythingFrom Individual Contributor to Contributing to the Individual
AUDIENCE: Leaders, People Managers & Team Supervisors
BEST SUITED FOR
- Leadership conferences & offsites
- L&D sessions
- Pre-restructure leader equipping
- Retention & engagement initiatives
- Senior executive events
Most organisations don't suffer from a lack of empathy, they suffer from a gap in connection capability. Leaders navigating complex teams have never been trained to handle high-stakes human moments. This keynote introduces a practical operating system for emotionally complex conversations, helping leaders respond with steadiness, clarity, and boundaries. The result: earlier intervention, reduced people risk, and leadership that strengthens trust at scale.
My Customer's (Accidental) Therapist
How to show you care without becoming over or under-involvedMy Customer's (Accidental) Therapist
AUDIENCE: Customer-facing professionals & frontline workers
BEST SUITED FOR
- Sales summits
- High-emotional-load industries
- Customer service training days
- Vicarious-trauma prevention initiatives
- Reward-based session
Many customer-facing professionals become 'accidental counsellors' - exposed to emotional distress without training. Caught between over-involvement and under-involvement, staff experience compassion fatigue while organisations face inconsistent service and psychosocial risk. This keynote equips frontline teams to respond with empathy, clarity, and defined boundaries. The result: a workforce that feels purposeful rather than depleted.
Staying Regulated Through Rough Seas
The Nervous System Playbook for Navigating ChangeStaying Regulated Through Rough Seas
AUDIENCE: All Staff
BEST SUITED FOR
- Restructure & uncertainty periods
- High-deadline moments
- Rapid growth phases
Wellbeing events
The real competitive advantage isn't intelligence - it's regulation. When uncertainty rises, most nervous systems don't get sharper; they get reactive. Drawing on nervous system science and lived experience with OCD, Mitch unpacks how to stay grounded when conditions are unstable. A practical framework for recognising dysregulation, stabilising under pressure, preventing burnout, and building sustainable resilience.
AI'S Race with EQ
Why the future belongs to the emotionally regulatedAI'S Race with EQ
AUDIENCE: AI & emerging-tech audiences
BEST SUITED FOR
- AI conferences
Future-of-work summits
- Product conferences
- Executive forums on AI strategy
As AI accelerates decision-making and efficiency, one question becomes urgent: what happens to the human nervous system in a world that moves faster than it can regulate? Under pressure, the nervous system doesn't respond to logic; it responds to safety. Mitch reframes EQ as a stabilising force that protects clarity, creativity, and culture under load. This is not a rejection of AI. It is a recalibration.
The Modern Principal's Leadership Blueprint
How to run a team, not just schoolThe Modern Principal's Leadership Blueprint
Audience: School Principals (Primary & High School)
Best suited for:
- Flagship educational conferences
- Professional learning days for school leadership
The biggest hidden risk in schools isn't workload, it's unstructured conversations under emotional pressure. Modern principals are regulators of increasingly charged environments where performance, parent expectation and staff wellbeing collide daily. This keynote shows how leadership stability is built through structured engagement, nervous system regulation, and clean boundaries. Principals leave with a blueprint for reducing escalation without reducing standards.
Key outcome: Schools that regulate themselves, rather than relying on the principal as the sole stabiliser.
The Regulated Educator
How to Lead Classrooms Without Losing YourselfThe Regulated Educator
AUDIENCE: Teachers (primary & high school)
BEST SUITED FOR:
- Flagship educational conferences
- Professional learning days for teachers
Modern teachers operate in high-volume emotional environments where authority alone isn't sufficient, yet emotional over-functioning leads to burnout. Classroom behaviour is often a nervous system issue, not just a discipline issue. Mitch reframes teaching as regulated leadership under pressure, introducing a practical model for maintaining firm boundaries while reducing emotional charge. Educators leave with a behavioural lens that strengthens authority, reduces conflict, and protects sustainability.
Video
Mitch Wallis | Saxton Speakers
Mitch Wallis is a psychology thought leader with a Master's in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University. With seven years' experience inside Microsoft and is one of the most in-demand Keynote Speakers globally on connection, mental health, and human capability in the age of AI. In this showreel, Mitch makes the case that connection is the defining workplace capability of the next decade, and that most organisations are getting it wrong by mistaking talking for connecting. Drawing on his Real Conversations® framework, Mitch unpacks why care, not content, is the medicinal component of human connection, why shame buries people more than pain, and why a people manager at work now rivals a romantic partner in their influence on an employee's mental health. Mitch is the founder of global mental health movement Heart On My Sleeve, a UN advisor, and has delivered Keynotes for Microsoft, KPMG, Suncorp, Johnson & Johnson, Mercer, Allens, American Express and the Australian Government. He holds a 9.8/10 average audience satisfaction score across 10,000+ attendees, with approximately 80% of Keynote clients extending the engagement into his workplace capability program.15 Minutes of Mitch's Story | Saxton Speakers
Audio
Such a fantastic session and I could've listened for hours from a leaderships side as well as a personal. Such great advice around being more open, a better listener and just being available ... keep reading American Express
It's authenticity. The story that Mitch tells, and the way he tells it, breaks through. We've been having this conversation about wellness for a long time, inside of Microsoft, and making progress. But there's no question that when we introduced Mitch to the team and saw how he shared his personal story it resonated in a way we hadn't been able to get through in the past.
Mitch's keynote events and workshops are always delivered with great proficiency. Mitch is an extremely knowledgeable and engaging speaker in the mental health space who has the ability to capture the audience, across each level of the organisation, with real passion and authenticity. Each program Mitch has delivered across our organisation is met with positive feedback and we have our people continuing to ask for more.
Mitch is real. Raw. And incredibly powerful. Technically sharp and accessible.
Mitch's presentation was so very well received - you could hear a pin drop.
Honest and raw. Mitch shares his story with such passion & authenticity. A must for all in business. The learnings & insights will stay with you.
