Keynotes
Trusted By
- Accenture
- Amazon
- Apple
- BBC
- Bank of America
- Deloitte
- Financial Times
- Goldman Sachs
- Guinness
- HSBC
- Johnson & Johnson
- MDRT (Million Dollar Round Table)
- Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
- Meta
- Microsoft
- Nespresso
- Pfizer
- Red Bull
- TED
- UBS
- Unilever
- Visa
- World Economic Forum
Unbreakable framework
Mark’s keynotes are built on the Unbreakable Framework, three decisions that give leaders and their teams a clear, repeatable way to respond when unexpected challenges strike. Rather than waiting for certainty that isn’t coming, they learn to deal in facts, differentiate between what they can and can’t control, and do what it takes to get the job done.
Choose your keynote
Expect Problems, Explore Possibilities
About the keynote
What do you get?
In-person, virtual or hybrid?
Topics Covered
- The Unbreakable Framework as a working decision-making tool
- Deal in facts
- Differentiate between what they can and can’t control
- Do what it takes to get the job done
- The challenges change, but the decisions that drive the breakthroughs don’t
When the Challenge Chooses You
About the keynote
What do you get?
In-person, virtual or hybrid?
Topics Covered
- The market shift they didn’t see coming
- The restructure they didn’t ask for
- The target that hasn’t moved despite everything changing around it
- Turning challenges into opportunities.
Where Humans and Technology Collide
About the keynote
What do you get?
in-person, virtual or hybrid?
Topics Covered
- What it takes to respond to unexpected challenges at the extremes
- Racing blind to the South Pole
- Working at the cutting edge of robotics, neuro-modulation, AI, and Brain Machine Interfaces to cure paralysis in our lifetime
- Catalysing over $150 million in neurotech projects
- The human decisions that determine what we do with technology
Need something different?
MASTERCLASSES
Built on his Unbreakable Framework, Mark's masterclasses take leaders and their teams deeper into the three decisions that determine how they respond when unexpected challenges strike. Do they step into the arena as competitors or sit back as spectators? Do they deal in facts as realists or rely on hope as optimists? Do they work together as collaborators or go it alone as soloists?
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COACHING
Mark takes on a small number of coaching clients at any one time, and he is selective about who he works with. His coaching is one specific conversation about how to deal in facts, differentiate between what you can and can't control, and do what it takes to get the job done. It is for leaders who want that conversation and are ready to act on it. Every coaching relationship starts with a call.
. Find out moreEndorsed by leaders for leaders
Having heard many speakers over the years, Mark Pollock stands out when it comes to leading through a crisis. If you are looking for inspiration and impact, look no further than Mark.
Mark held a room of over 400 people and you could not hear a pin drop - his messages on continuously reinventing yourself and using challenges to define your future was done in an engaging, perceptive, inquisitive and humorous way.
Outstanding! Mark is a skilled natural conversationalist, deep thinker, engaging speaker and resilient leader.
Inspirational, insightful and impactful. That’s how our senior leaders described Mark’s keynote and it’s why we invited him back again and again.
Mark was insanely brilliant - his story, coupled with his ‘bon humour’ and his insatiable drive was beyond inspiring.
Mark gave our newly formed global team a shared language for tenacity and collaboration. Direct, warm and meticulously prepared. If you want a team to leave the room ready to take ownership of what comes next, book Mark.
By using his experiences as a backdrop, Mark presented the decisions that we all face in times of uncertainty and change. Both our tax department and the finalists of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year programme were prompted to examine their decision making when challenges appear. The relevance to entrepreneurs and corporate employees alike was excellent.
Mark’s presentation helped animate our theme for the day, ‘Making it Happen’. The messages in the stories he shared were easy to understand and easy to translate into an individual’s own outlook. It left people reflecting on how everyone’s own actions can change the overall outcome.
Booking FAQs
Mark Pollock has spoken for hundreds of organisations, including Accenture, Bloomberg, Google, Mercedes F1, Red Bull, Goldman Sachs, Unilever, Microsoft, Pfizer and UPS, as well as at TED, Davos, the World Economic Forum, Talks@Google, EG and Wired.
Mark Pollock speaks about performance, resilience and collaboration, with keynotes and masterclasses covering leadership, decision-making, mindset, teamwork, change and technology. Every session is built on his Unbreakable Framework and gives audiences a working decision-making tool, not simply a shot of inspiration. They leave knowing how to deal in facts, differentiate between what they can and can’t control, and do what it takes to get the job done.
Mark Pollock’s keynotes are talks of 30 to 60 minutes followed by Q&A, suited to leadership summits, sales kick-offs, all-staff meetings and conferences.
His masterclasses go deeper on one of the three decisions in the Unbreakable Framework, giving participants a practical model they can apply immediately. Each runs for 45 to 60 minutes in three parts: a short talk from Mark, an interview led by the client or MC using set questions provided by Mark, and audience Q&A.
Mark Pollock’s keynotes run for 30 to 60 minutes, including Q&A. His masterclasses run for 45 to 60 minutes.
Yes. All of Mark Pollock’s keynotes and masterclasses can be delivered in person, virtually or hybrid.
Mark Pollock speaks to groups of every size, from leadership teams of 10 people to conference audiences of 5,000.
Yes. Every talk is tailored to the audience in the room. Mark Pollock offers every organiser a pre-event briefing call to understand the audience, the goals of the event and how his session fits into the day, and he arrives early for a sound check. After the session, he spends time with attendees for one-to-one conversations.
Mark Pollock has been blind throughout his 25-year speaking career and paralysed since 2010, so connecting with a room he can’t see is something he has refined over many years.
The connection starts before he arrives on stage. A briefing call with the organiser helps him understand the audience, the goals of the event and how his session fits into the day, and he arrives early for a sound check. On stage, he speaks from his wheelchair using a lapel or headset microphone. He uses no notes, prompts or earpiece, delivering every talk entirely from memory, with three or four short videos, depending on the length of the talk, to bring his story to life. As he explains: “Once I’ve been wheeled into position on stage by my care assistant, I begin speaking. I can’t see the audience, so I connect with them through the ups and downs of my story, with some lighter moments and a few laughs along the way. My aim is to move people emotionally. It’s not about me. It’s about how they feel, and what they do when I’m gone and their next challenge appears.”
After the session, he spends time with attendees in one-to-one conversations. The practical arrangements for organisers are set out under “What does Mark Pollock need from event organisers?”
Yes. Mark Pollock works one-to-one with a small number of CEOs, senior executives and leaders in high-performance sport, using his Unbreakable Framework as a working decision-making tool on what they are facing right now. Every coaching relationship starts with a call, so both sides can decide whether working together is right.
Mark Pollock has been blind since 1998 and paralysed since 2010, and has spoken at events all over the world. His requirements are straightforward. He travels with a care assistant, needs a hotel room with a level-access wet room, a ramp at least 90 cm wide if the stage is raised, and a lapel or headset microphone. He also plays three or four short videos during his talk. Full details, along with headshots, biographies and the speaker pack, are on the For Event Organisers page.
Mark Pollock’s fee depends on the format, location and length of the session. Please contact Mark directly, or your speaker bureau, for a quote.
For speaking engagements worldwide, contact Mark Pollock directly at speaking@markpollock.com or on +353 87 223 3372. For engagements in North America, Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean, contact Neal Shiller at WWA Agency on neal@wwaagency.com. If you are working with a speaker bureau, they will coordinate all of the details with Mark.