Speaking & Events

Twenty years inside elite sport.

A different perspective on performance, people and pressure.

Kate Oram spent more than twenty years working inside professional sport, predominantly in elite rugby. She saw first-hand how exceptional performers prepare, make decisions, respond to pressure and sustain the standards required to perform consistently.

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She also spent much of that career as the only woman in the room, navigating environments in which assumptions about credibility, capability and leadership were often shaped long before she spoke.

Those experiences gave her two perspectives that now sit at the heart of her work: an understanding of how high performance actually operates, and an appreciation of the human challenges that can prevent capable people from performing at their best.

Today, Kate brings those lessons to audiences beyond sport. Her talks combine stories from inside professional rugby with practical ideas that people can apply to their own careers, organisations and lives.

She speaks about the systems behind performance, the relationship between confidence and capability, professional identity, and what it takes to establish and maintain credibility under pressure.

What audiences take away

Kate's sessions are designed to leave audiences with more than an interesting story. They explore how to:

Build self-belief through evidence, preparation and action rather than waiting to feel confident.
Make clearer decisions and maintain standards when pressure increases.
Establish credibility and manage professional perception.
Navigate changes in identity, expectations and career direction.
Apply practical principles from elite sport to everyday performance.

Every session can be adapted to the audience, the occasion and the challenges the organisation wants to address.

Speaking topics

Kate offers keynote talks, workshops, panel contributions and bespoke sessions. The following themes can be delivered individually or combined to suit an event.

The Confidence Myth

Why capability matters more than how you feel.

We have given confidence enormous power over our decisions. We wait to feel ready, interpret uncertainty as evidence of inadequacy and overlook the experience that already tells us what we are capable of.

Drawing on twenty years inside elite sport, Kate explores why the best performers do not depend on feeling confident, how preparation creates evidence, and how to build the self-belief to act when doubt is present.

Ideal for: Leadership teams, founders, professional networks, emerging talent and anyone navigating a new challenge.

Getting in the Room and Staying There

Building credibility when the environment was not designed for you.

For much of her career in professional rugby, Kate was the only woman in the room. She learned that being good at your job and being recognised for it are not always the same thing.

This talk explores the realities of establishing authority in male-dominated environments, the assumptions that influence how competence is perceived, and the practical lessons Kate learned about earning trust, maintaining credibility and making herself heard.

Ideal for: Women's leadership programmes, professional networks, emerging leaders and organisations working to improve representation.

Every Phase of Womanhood Has a Professional Consequence

Navigating changing expectations without losing your professional identity.

Across twenty years in professional sport, Kate experienced how perceptions of women shift with age, relationships, motherhood and career progression. The expectations change, but the requirement to demonstrate capability often remains.

This talk examines how those assumptions affect opportunity, credibility and confidence, and how women can navigate different career stages without allowing other people's expectations to define their contribution.

Ideal for: Women's networks, leadership programmes, organisations supporting career progression and events focused on women's experiences at work.

Identity and Self-Belief Under Pressure

Knowing who you are when everything around you is changing.

Professional sport is an environment of constant scrutiny, uncertainty and change. Careers can shift quickly, roles evolve and external expectations rarely stand still.

Kate explores the relationship between identity, self-belief and performance, drawing on what she observed in elite sporting environments and her own experience of navigating professional change. Audiences will consider how to separate their identity from their job title, make decisions without relying on external validation and build a stronger foundation for performance.

Ideal for: Leaders, athletes, people navigating career transitions, founders and teams experiencing change.

Your PR Is Your Responsibility

Why how you are perceived matters, and what you can do about it.

In professional sport, reputation, communication and public perception are part of the performance environment. Drawing on her extensive communications experience, Kate explores why excellent work does not always speak for itself, how reputations are formed, and what individuals can do to communicate their value more effectively.

From handling difficult conversations to responding under scrutiny, this session offers practical lessons in professional visibility, credibility and communication.

Ideal for: Leaders, founders, athletes, professional networks and organisations developing emerging talent.

Performance Is a System

What twenty years inside elite sport taught me about making excellence repeatable.

We often admire exceptional performance without examining what makes it possible. Behind the moments people remember are preparation, clear standards, effective decisions, honest reviews and the ability to recover when things go wrong.

Kate explores the structures and behaviours she observed across two decades of professional sport, and how individuals and organisations can apply those principles to improve consistency, decision-making and execution.

Ideal for: Corporate leadership teams, founders, sporting organisations, business events and teams seeking more consistent performance.

See Kate in action

The Confidence Myth

Confidence is a feeling. Capability is evidence.

In this recorded masterclass, Kate challenges the idea that confidence must come before action. Using examples from professional sport and practical tools for everyday performance, she explores the difference between confidence, capability and self-belief, and why the work we have already done matters more than how we happen to feel.

Watch the masterclass

Kate Oram presenting The Confidence Myth masterclass

Who Kate works with

Kate's speaking and workshop sessions are suitable for corporate organisations, leadership programmes, women's professional networks, sporting organisations, educational institutions, founders and teams navigating change.

Whether the event is a keynote, an intimate leadership discussion, a practical workshop or a panel conversation, the content can be shaped around the people in the room.

Bring Kate to your event

A perspective shaped by twenty years inside professional sport. Practical lessons for the environments we work in today.

If you're planning an event, leadership programme, workshop or conversation about performance, confidence, identity or professional credibility, Kate would welcome the opportunity to discuss it.

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Please include your event date, audience, location and the themes you would like to explore.