Each keynote is designed to deliver insight, clarity, and actionable strategies, not just anecdotes or motivational platitudes. These sessions provide a rare opportunity to explore high-performance principles, leadership, and resilience, and to apply them directly within corporate or high-pressure environments.
Current engagements focus on four distinct themes (outlined below), each crafted to challenge assumptions, sharpen thinking, and inspire deliberate action.
Delivery:
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60 minutes of structured, research-informed content
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Optional 30-minute discussion with the audience
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Total engagement: 90 minutes++
Every session is tailored to the audience, ensuring relevance, impact, and tangible takeaways that extend beyond the keynote itself.
Speaking & Lectures
Leadership Through Adversity
This keynote explores how resilience, mindset, and high-performance thinking drive effective leadership under pressure. Through real-world experiences, including personal adversity and elite operational challenges.
Attendees will gain practical insights into:
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Making decisive, high-stakes decisions with clarity and confidence
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Cultivating resilience and focus in uncertain or high-pressure environments
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Translating lessons from extreme circumstances into actionable strategies for corporate teams
The session is designed to be insightful, engaging, and immediately applicable, combining storytelling with frameworks and tools that empower attendees to perform at their best.
Home Grown Resilience
This keynote explores how mental resilience, motivation, and mindset drive performance in high-pressure environments. Drawing on real-world experiences leading elite teams and overcoming personal adversity.
Attendees will gain practical insights into:
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Understanding and harnessing intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
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Developing a growth mindset and personal resilience
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Building resilient teams and systems that thrive under pressure
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Applying resilience strategies to everyday corporate challenges, not just extreme situations
The session combines storytelling with evidence-based frameworks and actionable tools, helping attendees perform consistently at their best and foster a resilient culture within their teams.
Cultural Adaptations in Leadership
This keynote explores how cultural awareness, adaptability, and communication drive success in complex, multi-cultural environments. Drawing on real-world experiences leading elite teams overseas.
Attendees will gain practical insights into:
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Understanding the difference between cultural norms, values, and beliefs
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Developing cultural competence to navigate diverse teams and international contexts
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Applying active listening, verbal strategy, and universal principles to overcome cultural and ethical challenges
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Translating lessons from high-stakes operational environments into actionable strategies for corporate leadership
Through storytelling, experiential insight, and practical frameworks, participants leave equipped to operate effectively across cultures, make better decisions, and foster inclusive, high-performing teams.
Coal Face Negotiation & Influence
This keynote explores how understanding human behaviour, motivation, and communication can transform the way individuals and teams handle conflict. Drawing on experiences from elite operational settings.
Attendees will gain practical insights into:
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Why conflict arises and how to anticipate common behaviours
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Influencing and persuading others while respecting intrinsic and extrinsic motivations
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Applying proven negotiation frameworks, including BATNA, ZOPA, and interest-based strategies
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Leveraging active listening and strategic communication to achieve outcomes under pressure
Through real-world examples, storytelling, and actionable tools, participants leave equipped to navigate conflict with confidence, negotiate effectively, and influence outcomes in high-stakes situations.
Podcasts
Adam Dikker, S&P Global
It is not every day that you find a speaker quite like Matthew; our employees were so impressed with his resiliency, and the way that he was able to translate rigorous academic concepts in a way that is palatable for a wide audience.
I cannot recommend him highly enough!
His leadership expertise and consultative services can help you in your organization.
Centre for Army Leadership
I really enjoyed the session.
I am deeply passionate about understanding how leadership is taught and connecting people to the underlying thinking and theories. Your lecture was an excellent example of how this should be approached.
I really appreciated how you began with the Doctrine, linked the infographics to real world scenarios, connected academic models, and brought everything to life with engaging stories. It was both very insightful and very I think, inspiring.
Thank you once again.
Dan Lansley, 59 Cdo
His ability to make complex ideas accessible and thick concepts digestible made for a profound period of focussed reflection and learning.
Independently of his professional services as a leadership authority, his own life story is remarkable. I’m very fortunate to have worked with many extraordinary people in my career in the UK armed forces, yet he surely ranks as one of the most extraordinary I’ve ever had the good fortune to meet.
Thank you Matt for the impact you’ve already made on me and my unit.
To anyone reading this, I cannot recommend his services highly enough.
Chris Townsend, Felsted
Matthew Addison Black, Felsted alumnus (1996–2006), delivered a compelling and inspiring talk on leadership, drawing on his experience in the British Army and his reflections on the life and legacy of Lieutenant Walter Hamilton VC, one of Felsted’s most distinguished former pupils. Lieutenant Hamilton’s bravery during the Battle of Fattehabad and his ultimate sacrifice in Kabul exemplify the courage, integrity, and selfless service that Felsted seeks to instil in our community.
Having recently returned from service in Afghanistan and drawing on his own leadership experience in the British Army, Matthew connected these historical acts of courage to modern leadership challenges, offering practical insights for students and staff alike.
Our students and staff were inspired by Matthew’s reflections, gaining a deeper understanding of what courageous, values-driven leadership looks like in practice. His talk reinforced the enduring Felsted values of respect, adventure and inspiration, leaving a lasting impression on the whole community.
Col Shaun Chandler
I was Matthew's Company Commander when he was a young Platoon Commander, even then proximal to the challenges he talks about with Veritas, he led with authenticity, humility, and quiet strength.
To hear him now, openly sharing the raw realities of service, illness, and identity, makes me even prouder to call him a friend.
His journey through cancer didn’t just test his resilience; it redefined it. And now, as a coach, he brings that hard-won perspective to others.
If you need someone who truly gets what growth through adversity means: Matt’s your man.