Professional Speaking
Your Professional Speaker, Yoke van Dam
Professional Speaking to transform attitudes and behaviours
How can professional speaking make a difference at your speaking event?
Yoke van Dam is a professional speaker, a behavioural change expert and a storyteller. She delivers her message using humour and energy, fully engaging the audience. She is respected as a thought leader in the sales, people engagement and leadership space. Her talks feature practical case studies, challenge perceptions and encourage change that can be implemented holistically.
Yoke van Dam has been called the Kintsugi Queen because of her ability to join, repair and transform teams into something quite wonderful.
Her work is like Kintsugi, the Japanese art form that mends broken pottery with gold. Her tried and tested high-performance processes have seen even the most underperforming and fractured teams join together and become stronger and more remarkable.
She works with leaders who want to effectively articulate and communicate their vision so that their teams buy into it, and are prepared to follow them to hell and back to make sure that vision is achieved.
If she is not advising, speaking or coaching in South Africa, you can also find her doing work abroad online or in person, hiking up a mountain, or having a glass of wine with her husband, Etienne.
You can look forward to Yoke:
- Instilling a passion for persuasion, leadership, and feedback
- Inspiring leaders to act with integrity
- Challenging your team to live happy, productive lives.
Yoke speaks on Behavioural change, Leadership and team development, Persuasion, and feedback. Download her Speaker kit here
1. Putting a lid on toxic relationships- Building teams where people actually thrive
A keynote for organisations serious about culture, psychological safety, and sustainable performance
Your organisation may have the strategy right. The structure. The targets. The talent.
But if the culture is quietly broken — if your people are exhausted by the politics, walking on eggshells, or playing games they never wanted to play — none of that will matter.
Toxic workplace dynamics are among the most expensive and most underestimated threats to organisational performance. They don’t arrive loudly. They creep in through unspoken rules, unmet needs, and the slow erosion of trust — until your best people are no longer bringing their best. They’re just surviving.
And here’s what makes it complicated: most toxic patterns aren’t driven by bad people. They’re driven by good people in unsafe environments, doing what they’ve learned to do to protect themselves.
This keynote breaks that cycle.
In this powerful, practical session, professional speaker and behavioural change specialist Yoke van Dam — the Kintsugi Queen — gives leaders and teams the insight, the language, and the tools to identify what’s really going on beneath the surface of their workplace culture — and the courage to change it.
Drawing on neuroscience, behavioural psychology, and over 17 years of experience transforming fractured teams across industries, Yoke creates a space that is honest, engaging, and deeply practical. This is not a talk about being nice. It’s a talk about building teams that are genuinely safe, genuinely effective, and genuinely human.
Your audience will be able to:
- Identify the invisible traps and patterns their team keeps falling into — and understand why
- Create genuine psychological safety so every voice in the room can contribute without fear
- Recognise and interrupt toxic dynamics before they poison team culture and performance
- Set healthy, assertive boundaries that command respect without damaging relationships
- Communicate with clarity, confidence, and care — even in high-tension environments
Build the kind of trust and cohesion that turns a group of individuals into a high-performing team
Who is this for?
This keynote is the right fit if your organisation is experiencing any of the following:
Teams & Culture: Silos, gossip, low morale, high conflict, or a noticeable drop in collaboration and engagement.
Leadership: Leaders who are technically strong but struggling to create safe, inclusive team environments — or who are absorbing team tension rather than transforming it.
Change & Transition: Organisations going through restructuring, mergers, or rapid growth where trust and culture need to be actively rebuilt.
Wellness & Performance: Burnout, absenteeism, or high turnover driven by relational tension and a lack of psychological safety.
Perfect for:
- Leadership conferences and executive retreats
- Corporate wellness days and mental health awareness events
- Team away-days and culture reset sessions
- HR and L&D conferences
- Women in leadership forums and diversity & inclusion events
- New manager and emerging leader programmes
Psychological safety is no longer a soft concept — it’s a measurable driver of team performance, innovation, and retention. Google’s landmark Project Aristotle identified it as the single most important factor in high-performing teams. Organisations that invest in building it don’t just improve their culture. They improve their results.
The cost of not addressing toxic dynamics — in lost productivity, staff turnover, sick leave, and reputational damage — far exceeds the investment in getting ahead of it.
Format & Booking
Available as:
- Keynote — 45 to 60 minutes
- Half-day workshop — with team application exercises and facilitated reflection
- Full team transformation programme — multi-session, customised to your organisation’s specific culture and challenges
Yoke works closely with event organisers and L&D teams to ensure every session is contextualised to your audience, your industry, and your current organisational moment.
Ready to bring this to your team or conference? Contact Yoke to discuss how Lid on Toxic can be tailored for your next event.
2. Build Your Personal Brand — Using AI the Ethical Way
A keynote for organisations that want their leaders to be visible, credible, and magnetic — online and in the room
Your organisation has talented leaders.
But are they visible? Are they recognised as authorities in their field? Are they attracting the right clients, the right talent, and the right opportunities — or are they the best-kept secret in your industry?
In today’s digital-first world, personal brand is no longer a vanity project. It is a business development strategy, a talent attraction tool, and a competitive advantage — all in one. And with AI now reshaping how content is created and distributed, organisations that empower their leaders to show up consistently, authentically, and ethically online are pulling ahead of those that don’t.
The question is no longer should your leaders have a personal brand. It’s how do you build one that actually works — without losing your voice, your values, or your credibility in the process?
The Keynote
In this dynamic, practical 2-hour masterclass, professional speaker and leadership development specialist Yoke van Dam — the Kintsugi Queen — gives leaders and their teams a clear, ethical, and immediately actionable roadmap to building personal brands that open doors, generate inbound opportunities, and position your organisation as a destination for top talent and high-value clients.
Drawing on her experience delivering leadership programmes globally — including three years of Women in Leadership programmes in Dubai — and her pioneering work integrating AI into personal branding strategies for business schools and corporates, Yoke brings together the human and the digital in a way that is both inspiring and deeply practical.
Your leaders will be able to:
- Understand why visibility is now the most underutilised business development tool in most organisations
- Align their personal brand with their core values and leadership style — so it feels authentic, not performative
- Manage their digital footprint and online reputation with intention and confidence
- Use AI tools ethically and effectively to personalise, scale, and sustain their brand presence
- Implement employee advocacy strategies that turn your team into powerful brand ambassadors
- Repurpose existing media, interviews, and content into multiple high-impact pieces — without creating more work
Who is this for?
This keynote is the right fit if your organisation is experiencing any of the following:
Brand & Visibility: Senior leaders who are respected internally but largely invisible externally — missing opportunities to attract clients, talent, and partnerships through their profile.
Talent Attraction & Retention: Organisations struggling to attract top talent in a competitive market, where a strong employer brand and visible leadership culture make all the difference.
Business Development: Professional services firms, consultancies, and financial institutions where relationship-led business development depends on trust, credibility, and thought leadership.
AI & Innovation: Leadership teams navigating the rise of AI who want to understand how to use it responsibly and effectively — without compromising their authenticity or ethics.
Perfect for:
- Leadership conferences and executive development programmes
- Marketing, communications, and brand strategy events
- Professional services and financial services firms
- Business schools and executive education programmes
- Women in leadership forums and diversity & inclusion events
- HR and talent acquisition conferences
The Business Case
Research consistently shows that brands led by visible, credible leaders generate more trust, more inbound enquiries, and stronger talent pipelines than those that don’t. LinkedIn alone has become one of the most powerful B2B business development platforms in the world — yet most senior leaders are barely scratching the surface of what’s possible.
Add AI to the mix — used ethically and strategically — and your leaders can build and sustain a brand presence that would previously have required an entire marketing team.
Build Your Personal Brand gives them the roadmap to do exactly that.
Format & Booking
Available as:
- Keynote — 60 minutes, ideal for conferences and leadership events
- Masterclass — 2 hours with hands-on application, tool demonstrations, and personalised brand strategy exercises
- Leadership programme module — integrated into existing executive development, women in leadership, or management training programmes
Yoke works closely with L&D teams, event organisers, and marketing leads to ensure every session is contextualised to your industry, your leadership culture, and your organisation’s specific brand and business development goals.
Ready to make your leaders the faces your industry recognises and trusts? Contact Yoke to discuss how this keynote can be tailored for your next leadership event or conference.
3: The Michael Jordan Effect — Winning the Deal When You're the Underdog
A keynote for organisations that want their people to sell strategically, pitch boldly, and close with confidence
Do your people get overwhelmed when they’re pitching against competitors?
Do they shrink when the stakes are high — second-guessing their value, dropping their price, or losing deals they should have won?
In a competitive market, the difference between winning and losing a deal rarely comes down to who has the best product or service. It comes down to who tells the most compelling story, creates the most urgency, and holds their nerve when the pressure is on.
Most sales training teaches your people what to do. This keynote shows them how to think — strategically, boldly, and with the kind of conviction that makes clients choose you, even when you’re not the obvious frontrunner.
The Keynote
In 1984, Nike was bleeding money. They were the underdog — outgunned, outspent, and competing for a brand ambassador who didn’t even want to sign with them. Business developer Sonny Vaccaro made an audacious, unconventional move. What followed became one of the greatest commercial deals in history.
In this high-energy, practical masterclass, professional speaker and influence specialist Yoke van Dam — the Kintsugi Queen — unpacks the psychology, strategy, and nerve behind the Nike–Michael Jordan deal, and translates it into a immediately applicable playbook for your sales, business development, and client-facing teams.
This is not a motivational talk. This is a strategic masterclass grounded in the neuroscience of influence, the psychology of buying decisions, and the real-world mechanics of winning deals under pressure.
Your teams will be able to:
- Pitch with confidence and strategic precision — even against stronger, better-known competitors
- Understand how buyers make decisions and use that knowledge to accelerate the close
- Create genuine urgency without pressure tactics or manipulation
- Strengthen their negotiation style and hold their value without discounting
- Tell a compelling story that makes clients choose them — and remember them
- Convert opportunities faster using the neuroscience of persuasion and influence
Who is this for?
This keynote is the right fit if your organisation is experiencing any of the following:
Sales & Business Development: Teams that are losing deals to competitors despite having a strong offering — or struggling to convert leads into committed clients.
Negotiation & Pricing: Professionals who default to discounting under pressure rather than holding their value and making a compelling case.
New Business: Teams entering new markets, launching new product lines, or pitching for larger, more competitive contracts and tenders.
Confidence & Mindset: Client-facing professionals who have the skills but not the strategic mindset or self-belief to compete at the highest level.
Perfect for:
- Sales conferences and business development kick-offs
- Leadership and strategy away-days
- Financial services, consulting, and professional services firms
- Entrepreneurship and SME growth events
- Tender and pitch training programmes
- New business and growth strategy sessions
The Business case:
The ability to pitch strategically and win competitive deals is one of the highest-value skills in any organisation. Yet most professionals — even experienced ones — have never been taught how buyers actually make decisions, or how to structure a pitch that speaks directly to the buying brain.
The result is predictable: talented people losing deals they should be winning, leaving revenue on the table, and defaulting to price competition when they should be competing on value.
The Michael Jordan Effect changes that. One session can shift how your entire team approaches new business — permanently.
Format & Booking
Available as:
- Keynote — 60 minutes
- Masterclass — 2 to 3 hours with live pitch practice and application exercises
- Sales culture programme — multi-session, integrated into your existing sales enablement or leadership development framework
Yoke works with event organisers, sales directors, and L&D teams to ensure the session is customised to your industry, your competitive landscape, and your team’s specific growth goals.
4. Exiting fight and flight mode - EQ for sales professionals
Your people are technically excellent.
They know the products. They know the regulations. They know how to build a case, present a solution, and manage a portfolio.
But do they know how to manage themselves when a high-value client goes cold, delays a decision, or suddenly requests three competing quotes?
In financial services, the pressure is relentless. Targets don’t move. Deadlines don’t flex. And clients — whether they’re HNW individuals, CFOs, or procurement committees — make decisions on their own timeline, not yours.
The result? Even your most seasoned relationship managers, advisors, and business developers can find themselves operating from a place of anxiety, reactivity, and invisible stress — leaking into client conversations, team dynamics, and ultimately, your bottom line.
This isn’t a resilience problem. It’s a neuroscience problem. And it has a solution.
The Keynote
In this high-impact session, professional speaker and behavioural change specialist Yoke van Dam — the Kintsugi Queen — brings together neuroscience, performance psychology, and real-world financial services context to equip your people with the tools to stay regulated, grounded, and effective — even under sustained pressure.
Using the memorable framework of always being Gandalf — the trusted guide, the calm expert, the steady hand — Yoke explores what happens when your client-facing professionals lose that grounding, and what it costs your organisation when they do.
Your teams will be able to:
- Identify personal and professional triggers that undermine client relationships and deal conversion
- Apply neuroscience-backed techniques to exit fight and flight mode in real time
- Build a growth mindset that processes setbacks, slow decisions, and difficult clients without reactivity
- Show up to every client interaction regulated, present, and professionally compelling
- Strengthen long-term client relationships through emotional intelligence and adaptive communication
- Create a team culture where pressure is managed — not absorbed in silence
This session is ideal for:
- Relationship managers, financial advisors, and business developers
- Client-facing teams in banking, insurance, wealth management, and asset management
- High-performance sales teams under sustained target pressure
- Leadership teams navigating change, restructuring, or market volatility
The Business Case
Stress and reactivity in client-facing roles doesn’t just affect wellbeing — it affects retention, conversion rates, and client satisfaction scores. Organisations that invest in regulating their people’s performance under pressure don’t just build healthier cultures. They build stronger books of business.
This is not a wellness talk. This is a performance investment.
Format:
Available as a keynote (45–60 min), half-day workshop, or integrated leadership programme module. Customisable to your organisation’s specific context, culture, and challenges.
Contact us to discuss how this session can be tailored for your team.
Download the one-shet
5. How to make the horse thirsty - Persuasion Tactics for Sales Teams & Leaders
A keynote for organisations that want their leaders and sales teams to influence, inspire, and get people to say yes
You can lead a horse to water. But you can’t make it drink.
Every leader and sales professional knows this frustration. You have the idea, the solution, the proposal — and you know it’s the right move. But people don’t buy in. Teams don’t act. Clients don’t commit. Decisions stall.
So what separates the leaders who get followed from the ones who get ignored? What do the most magnetic communicators and influential executives have that others don’t?
They’ve learned how to make the horse thirsty.
The Keynote
Influence is not a personality trait. It is a skill — and like every skill, it can be learned, practised, and mastered.
In this high-energy masterclass, professional speaker and influence specialist Yoke van Dam — the Kintsugi Queen — takes your audience deep into the neuroscience of the buying brain and the real-world strategies behind genuine persuasion. Drawing on 17 years of experience working with sales teams and leaders across industries, Yoke reveals exactly why some people command a room and others lose it — and what your people can do differently, starting today.
This is not a talk about manipulation. It is a masterclass in genuine influence — the kind that builds trust, creates urgency, and moves people to action in a way that feels natural, compelling, and human.
Your teams will explore:
- How the buying brain works — and how to speak directly to it in pitches, proposals, and leadership communication
- Why people resist ideas, stall on decisions, or disengage — and how to remove those barriers
- How to become a Maven — a trusted, credible voice that people naturally turn to and follow
- Persuasion strategies that work immediately across sales, marketing, and leadership contexts
- How to create genuine urgency and buy-in without pressure, force, or politics
- Communication techniques that make people feel understood — and ready to act
Your teams will walk away with:
- A practical persuasion toolkit they can apply immediately
- A deeper understanding of how buying decisions are actually made
- Greater confidence in pitching, negotiating, and leading others to action
- A shift from pushing for decisions to creating the conditions where people want to say yes
Who is this for?
Sales & Business Development: Teams that are technically strong but struggling to convert — losing deals not on product or price, but on connection and conviction.
Leadership Influence: Leaders who are respected for their expertise but find it difficult to create genuine buy-in and move teams from agreement to action.
Change Management: Organisations rolling out new strategies or cultural shifts where getting people on board quickly and authentically is critical.
Marketing & Communication: Teams who need to sharpen the persuasive power of everything they put out — internally and externally.
Perfect for:
- Sales conferences and business development kick-offs
- Leadership development programmes and executive retreats
- Team breakaways and culture alignment sessions
- Financial services, consulting, and professional services firms
Format & Booking
Available as:
- Keynote — 60 minutes, high-energy and immediately applicable
- Masterclass — 2 to 3 hours with live application exercises and role-play scenarios
- Sales & Leadership Development Programme — multi-session, integrated into your existing framework
Ready to give your team the tools to make the horse thirsty?
Contact Yoke to discuss how this keynote can be tailored for your next sales conference or leadership event.
Download the one-sheet
6. Outperforming the giants-High performance is a Team Sport
A 2-hour interactive workshop for teams that want to perform under pressure, stay aligned through change, and finish strong — together
Your team is capable. Talented. Experienced.
But capability alone doesn’t win races.
In today’s business environment, the pressure is relentless. Deadlines compress. Client briefs shift. Priorities change overnight. And somewhere in the middle of all that noise, teams lose their rhythm — communication frays, trust quietly erodes, and people stop leaning on each other and start carrying the weight alone.
The result? Burnout. Misalignment. Good people running hard in the wrong direction.
The world’s highest-performing teams don’t just work harder. They work together. With clarity. With trust. With a crew that knows exactly what to do, when to do it, and how to support each other when it counts.
This is the lesson of Formula 1. And it’s the lesson your team gets to live inside for two unforgettable hours.
The Workshop
Drawing on the world of Formula 1 and the legendary legacy of Ayrton Senna, professional speaker and team transformation specialist Yoke van Dam — the Kintsugi Queen — brings your team an experience that is as energising as it is practical.
Outperforming the Giants combines compelling storytelling, facilitated team dialogue, interactive games, and immediately applicable tools — designed to rebuild connection, sharpen clarity, and reignite the trust and cohesion that makes teams genuinely unstoppable.
Because high performance isn’t a solo sport. It never was.
Your team will explore:
- Staying steady and moving forward through disruption and constant change
- Building confidence when client briefs are unclear and information is incomplete
- Rebuilding trust and knowing when to lean on your support crew
- Clarifying who does what, when — like a pit crew where every second counts
- Recognising when to push and when to rest — before burnout takes hold
- Listening deeply to clients and each other, and acting on what you hear
- Replacing perfectionism with progress, precision, and momentum
- Aligning around the right clients and goals — and letting go of the ones that don’t serve you
Your team will walk away with:
- Renewed connection, energy, and shared purpose
- Practical tools they can apply immediately — in client interactions and under pressure
- Greater clarity on roles, responsibilities, and how to support each other
- A stronger culture of trust, communication, and mutual accountability
What teams are saying:
“Thank you for the mechanisms one can use to manage stressful situations.”
“Very engaging, great activities that relate to the topic. What a confidence booster.”
“After your session, 2 out of 3 presenters immediately applied the techniques you taught us.”
— Corlien Agenbach, Anglo American
Who is this for?
Team Performance: High-pressure teams showing signs of fatigue, disconnection, or communication breakdown.
Change & Disruption: Teams navigating restructuring, new leadership, or rapid growth who need to rebuild alignment and trust quickly.
Sales & Client-Facing Teams: Teams that need to sharpen client listening, improve brief interpretation, and align around the right opportunities.
Leadership Development: Emerging and mid-level leaders who need to experience genuine team cohesion and shared accountability in practice — not just in theory.
Perfect for:
- Corporate team away-days and off-sites
- Sales team kick-offs and performance reviews
- Leadership retreats and culture reset sessions
- High-performance team conferences and industry events
Format & Booking
Available as:
- 2-hour interactive workshop — ideal for team away-days and off-sites
- Half-day extended experience — with deeper facilitation and structured action planning
- Conference keynote — 60-minute version combining the key storytelling and insights
Ready to help your team finish the race strong? Contact Yoke to discuss how Outperforming the Giants can be tailored for your next event.
