Speaking

This isn't a talk about surviving cancer.

I spent years believing my story was about what happened to me.

The diagnoses. The treatments. The uncertainty. And eventually, remission.

But the more I've spoken with people facing their own life-changing circumstances, the more I've realised that the outcome isn't the most important part of the story.

The question is what we do when life changes — and we don't know how the story is going to end.

That's what I speak about.

Agency. Participation. Belief. Action. And how we continue to live intentionally when much of what happens next is beyond our control.

What I bring to the stage

I don't speak to audiences to tell them how they should live.

I tell stories, ask questions and introduce ideas that invite people to look differently at the circumstances they find themselves in.

At the heart of my talks is a simple distinction:

We may not control what happens to us. But we can still participate in what happens next.

Depending on the audience and the event, I explore themes including agency, belief and action, adapting to uncertainty, the choices that remain available to us, and what it means to live intentionally when life doesn't follow the plan.

My aim is for people to leave with more than an inspiring story.

I want them to leave asking: “What can I still do?”

Talks and Keynotes

Every audience is different, so I adapt my talks to the people in the room and the purpose of the event.

These are some of the themes I speak about:

The Remission Attitude

Living intentionally after a life-changing diagnosis.

What happens when the life you thought you were living suddenly changes?

Drawing on my own experience of advanced cancer and profound uncertainty, I explore how agency, participation and intentional action can help us navigate circumstances we may not be able to control.

What Can I Still Do?

Finding agency when much of life feels beyond your control.

A talk about the question that changed the way I approached uncertainty — moving attention away from everything I couldn't control and towards the choices, actions and possibilities that remained.

Belief Belongs to Me

Why belief becomes powerful when it leads to action.

I explore the distinction I began making between hope and belief during my own experience — and why belief, for me, became valuable when it translated into participation and action.

How to Remain Fully Alive While Life Is Asking Impossible Questions

Living with uncertainty without putting life on hold.

A broader keynote about fear, uncertainty, identity and the temptation to wait for life to become safe again before we begin living it.

Who I speak to

My talks began with my experience of cancer, but the ideas at their heart — agency, participation, adaptability and intentional living — reach beyond a diagnosis.

I speak to cancer and healthcare organisations, patient and support communities, charities, wellbeing events, conferences and professional organisations.

I also speak to businesses and workplace audiences exploring how we respond when serious illness changes the lives and working capacity of people within an organisation.

Whether the audience is facing diagnosis, supporting others through it, or navigating uncertainty and change in a very different setting, the central question remains:

When so much feels beyond our control, what remains ours to do?

A lifetime of communicating with people

Long before The Remission Attitude, I spent much of my life performing, teaching and communicating with audiences.

My first career was in music. Over more than twenty years as a professional musician, I toured, recorded and performed in large concert venues and arenas, as well as on live television.

One of the highlights of that career was performing live at the New Year's Eve Ball at the Manhattan Center in New York, in a performance broadcast internationally.

Those years taught me something you only really learn by being in front of people: how to read a room, respond to an audience and communicate in the moment.

Later, my work moved increasingly towards teaching and facilitation. I've led more than 300 workshops, working with people from very different backgrounds, experiences and levels of confidence.

Today those strands come together.

I bring the storytelling and stage experience of a performer, the curiosity of a facilitator, and the lived experience of someone who has had to put these ideas to the test when life became profoundly uncertain.

I don't want an audience simply to listen to my story.

I want them to recognise something of their own story within it.

Invite John to speak

If you're organising a conference, event, workshop or conversation and think these ideas could be valuable to your audience, I'd be happy to hear from you.

Every audience is different. We can talk about your event, the people who will be in the room, and what you would like them to leave thinking, feeling or doing differently.

The starting point is simply a conversation.