Global Speakers Summit 2026 – Cairns
by Chris Johnson
In March of this year, on Wednesday the 11th, I flew to Cairns, North Queensland.
I was one of many from not only around Australia, but around the world, to gather in this beautiful and extremely humid location.
The occasion, the Global Speakers Summit.
Since leaving the Aquatics and Recreation Industry, as previously reported, I became a qualified counsellor. As much as Mental Health is my new focus and industry, my goal is not to work with individual clients every day of the week. Sure, I love the idea of helping people one on one, but not the key focus of my business, Lifestorm.
Rather my intent is to deliver mental health focused workshops to schools, communities and teams (sports, business, etc), thus throwing myself into a new industry; public speaking!
When I first saw the opportunity to attend the event, I vaguely considered it, flights, accommodation, conference ticket, time off work. It was too much to consider as a real option. It wasn’t until the 3rd time I received emails about the event did I seriously start a plan and attempt to make it a reality.
And I am so glad I did!
Attending an International event, would be the perfect way to start my networking, creating connections and finding possible mentors. There was one familiar face, Carmen Braidwood, I had the pleasure of meeting this wonderful lady at 2 other events back here in Perth. One was a short course she was running regarding Confidence when Speaking.
I attended as many talks as I could. Writing notes. Collecting brochures. Appreciating styles and characters. I’m not going to write a list of names of all the people I met, however I already have times set to speak with new people and others I am looking forward to working with in the future.
Although it was clear there was many a business opportunity for some, this absolutely created a valuable experience, networking in ways I was not able to from my little corner of the world, as well witness and develop new skills I strongly look forward to implementing in my own style and business.
While I would love to share my thoughts and opinions on every talk I went to (Yes, I took a lot of notes), I’m going to share 2 sessions.
The first was from Darren Pratley. He held a session titles “19 moves to Build a High-Performing Speaking Business”.
When he put forward his idea, he had been told he wasn’t going to be able to get through that much in 1 talk slot, but he wanted to help new speakers starting out. This would be perfect for me.
And it was. He was determined and I was extremely grateful after he went through his plan.
There is plenty for me to work on now from this workshop alone, but the most important rule to come out of it. IMPLEMENTATION! This goes for everyone attending a range of workshops. You will hear some wonderful idea, take down plenty of notes, photograph various slide shows. But without this word, its all for nought.
Finally I attended a workshop on Resilience with Tiffanee Cook. Perfect right? Something I already work on with our youth. She was fantastic. Sharing her story, an out of the ordinary opportunity presented itself, and her feisty attitude encouraged her to throw herself into it: a boxing match after so many weeks training to encourage those stuck in the office of a corporate lifestyle, to be active and challenge themselves to do something they never even knew they could do.
The story was incredible. The confidence leaking as reality approached. The consequences outweighing the accomplishment. But despite the nerves, she not only competed but won the fight. And when she was handed that microphone to thank people, she found a new calling.
I may not consider my story as exciting as that. But the same way I knew I would become a counsellor one day, I know I can help people with their resilience, their direction, their success and overall, their mental health.
It’s about learning how to navigate change — a skill they’ll use for life.
