Speaker
As the founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, a collection of over 200,000 testimonies of gender equality, Laura’s talks, workshops and keynote speeches draw on over a decade of anti-sexism activism.
Taking in topics from workplace sexual harassment to school sexism, women in tech to online abuse, Laura’s speaking work has taken her around the world, from Mexico to the Cayman Islands, from the United Nations to the Council of Europe. She has spoken at Wembley stadium, addressed 4,000 Teach First trainees, and presented at the House of Commons, the Royal Academy, the Sydney Opera House and New York Public Library, among many others.
Laura regularly speaks at schools and universities across the country and has worked with young people across the world, from university students in Colombia to aspiring journalists in Wales.
She is also an experienced interviewer and chair, interviewing authors from Gloria Steinem to Lindy West to Philippa Gregory and hosting events and panel discussions at festivals such as Hay and WOW.
As a keynote speaker, Laura offers four main focus topics:
Everyday Sexism at School
Exploring the reality of gender inequality across our society and looking at the ways in which it manifests itself in young peoples’ lives. Tackling issues such as intersecting injustice, media sexism, political inequality, gender stereotypes and sexual consent. Examining questions like ‘what is sexual harassment?’ Looking at how young people can play a vital role in creating a more equal future. As well as talks for students Laura also offers training for teachers and talks for parents.
Workplace Equality
Starting with a contextual framework of the wider picture of gender inequality across politics, media, STEM, culture and the scale of violence against women in our society, before zooming in to look at how these issues manifest themselves uniquely within the workplace. Exploring the complexity of workplace harassment and discrimination, the ways it intersects with other forms of prejudice such as racism and homophobia and the barriers to reporting. Highlighting the business case for tackling the problem and suggesting robust and actionable solutions from both an organisational and individual perspective.
Male Allyship
Workshops focused on what men can do to help. Against a broader backdrop of societal gender imbalance, exploring the ways in which stereotypes and expectations present challenges to men as well as women and deconstructing some of the myths and misconceptions that might prevent men from being part of positive change. An active look at practical, positive action male allies can take to shift stereotypes, support survivors and create change in their own sphere.
Incels and extremist misogyny
A journey inside the secretive online world of the ‘manosphere’, lifting the lid on over 2 years of undercover research, infiltrating communities from incels and men’s rights activists to pickup artists and ‘men going their own way’. A comprehensive overview of this little-understood form of extremism, including close examination of radicalisation and recruitment techniques, particularly impacting vulnerable young people, and some of the ways in which teachers, parents and law enforcement can recognise potential red flags and play a positive role in supporting young people who might be at risk.
Enquire now about booking Laura as a speaker:
Email: michael@speakingoffice.com
Phone: +44 (0)7970 170 848
“Everybody has a tipping point…”
Laura’s TED talks have been viewed 1.5 million times.
“I continue to be hopeful…”
Discussing Men Who Hate Women and the many ways people can stand up to sexism with the Royal Academy
“Around a third of teenage girls experience sexual assault at school”
Discussing sexual harassment in schools and tackling misogyny with Channel 4 Newsreader Krishnan Guru-Murthy
Previous Clients include
Testimonies
“Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Thank you so much - by far one of the most engaged audiences we've had and I'm not surprised - as someone has said it's just such a beautifully simple idea it's delightful to see the fires it's lit. Really well done.”
— Elaine Arthur, Account Manager, Ogilvy
“Many thanks for your fantastic talk at GSS. For many people, yours was the highlight of the conference.”
— Max Harris, Global Scholars Symposium, Oxford University
“I have never known such a response to a speaker before. So many staff and pupils have spoken to or emailed me already, saying they think you should come back next year – or next week actually! – as you were the most amazing speaker we’ve ever had and your topic and project are so hugely relevant. I felt as though my eyes had been opened.”
— Cathy Scott-Burt, Head of Enrichment, Bablake School
“On behalf of the partners of Taylor Wessing LLP I just wanted to say a huge thank you to Laura for presenting at our offices last week. Her presentation was pitched at just the right level and was considered by us all to be a huge success – hard hitting but thoughtful and insightful at the same time. We've had some great feedback from many of the attendees and that is exactly what we were hoping to achieve.”
— Tandeep Minhas, Partner, Taylor Wessing LLP
“Your visit last time was truly inspirational for all. It was a wonderful highlight of the year… a truly fabulous session. If I may say so, there was no finer guest speaker in my nineteen years here.”
— Simon Etheridge, Bishop’s Stortford High School
“Genuinely had a bit of a cry listening to Laura. Don’t know if it’s just feeling validated and that my own experience isn’t me ‘being dramatic’. But thank you. Incredibly stark and scary but I think that having a talk like this really had a massive impact.”
— Anonymous attendee, O2 talk
“What an inspirational talk for us! Thank you so much for delivering such an empowering and encouraging message with such clarity, confidence and intelligence. Girls and staff were all raving about it afterwards.”
— Lucy Elphinstone, Headmistress, Francis Holland School
“One of the most thorough, well-researched and explained talks I have ever attended. Thank you for what you have done and continue to do. I will take this forward at my organisation. Expect a flood of book orders.”
— Attendee from workshop event with UK police, Home Office and counter-terror staff
“Your talk was fantastically engaging and debunked so many of the myths we hear and even hold subconsciously as women. My colleagues were still talking about your talk at lunchtime – people left the room very invigorated and spurred to action.”
— Bethan Chatters, CFO Allen & Overy LLP
“I have received many positive comments from staff and boys alike about the day and I would like to thank you once again for the tremendous work that you did for us.”
— Dr Bob Stephenson, Deputy Headmaster, Eton College
“Laura was an absolutely brilliant speaker -- her presentation was accessible, powerful, impeccably researched and evidenced and engaging. It was a masterclass and did a tremendous amount to elevate our event and the dialogues that took place during it.”
— Organiser of YoungPOWER conference for students from secondary schools across London
“Thank you so much for today, it was an amazing message for our school community to hear. Thanks for planning and delivering it so well. The content is so important and for all of us who have been subject to sexism in all its forms. You pitched it perfectly and your mastery when it came to adapting it for the older ones was impressive. The staff room was buzzing and so were our kids.”
— Mrs Becky Wilcox, Head of PSHEE and Careers, Westbourne School
