Petra Velzeboer Speaker

Petra Velzeboer Keynote Speaker

  • Keynote Speaker on Workplace Mental Health & Culture Change
  • CEO, PVL Mental Health Consultancy (2018–present)
  • Author: Begin with You (2023) & Digital Wellbeing (2025)

Petra Velzeboer's Biography

Petra Velzeboer is a TEDx speaker, author and business consultant advising leaders and organisations on how to high-performing teams in an age of digital overload, AI disruption and constant change. With expertise in sustaining high performing teams, leadership and elite culture underpinned by healthy working practices, she is known for her sharp insight and no-nonsense delivery – challenging outdated approaches to “bubble bath wellbeing” and replacing them with practical strategies that strengthen performance, trust and psychological safety at scale.

Raised in a notorious extremist cult and later recovering from addiction, Petra rebuilt her life from rock bottom to become a globally recognised thought leader. This lived experience underpins her work with organisations operating in high-pressure, high-risk environments, exposing how fear and silence impact burnout make your talent walk. Even in healthy teams where groupthink is low risk, performance in changing environments evolves and must be highlighted to give organisations edge.

Petra equips leaders with tools to tackle technostress, hybrid working strain, AI anxiety and the growing mental health challenges of modern work. Her uplifting work focuses on clarity under pressure, healthy authority and honest conversations, helping people perform at their best without burning out.
Author of Begin with You and Digital Wellbeing: Recharge Your Focus and Reboot Your Life, Petra has been featured in Newsweek, Harvard Business Review and The Huffington Post. She delivers keynotes and advisory work for global organisations including Deloitte, PwC, Microsoft, KPMG, Channel 4, Novartis, US Bank, Monzo and Warner Media, and is increasingly sought after at cyber security conferences for her expertise on human risk, psychological safety and trust in high-stakes environments.

Whether on stage, in conversation with leaders or advising organisations through change, Petra leaves audiences energised, challenged and clear on how to lead and perform differently in a world of work evolving faster than ever before.

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Petra Velzeboer's Speaking Topics

  • Digital Wellbeing: Recharge Focus in a Distracted AI World

A practical and uplifting keynote that helps people take back control of attention, energy and technology, reducing burnout while improving focus, creativity and performance in an always on world.

  • Leading Under Pressure: Resilience through Change

This session equips leaders to stay clear, grounded and effective during rapid change, showing how to lead with confidence, protect performance and support teams without absorbing toxic pressure.

  • From Burnout to Performance: Helping Teams Thrive Through Change

A powerful reset on burnout prevention that reframes wellbeing as a performance strategy, giving teams the tools to recover faster, work smarter and sustain high performance over time.

  • Adversity to Resilience: Cult Survivor to Thought Leader

Petra’s personal story of surviving an extremist cult and addiction delivers a compelling message about responsibility, courage and growth, leaving audiences inspired and equipped to navigate adversity with strength and clarity.

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Why Book Petra Velzeboer as a speaker?

  • She advises global organisations on building high-performing teams in environments shaped by digital overload, AI disruption and constant change.

  • She translates complex workplace challenges into practical strategies that help leaders strengthen performance, trust and psychological safety.

  • She brings a powerful perspective shaped by lived experience, challenging conventional approaches to wellbeing and leadership.

  • She is a compelling speaker and author, delivering direct and actionable insight to leaders across industries.

  • Her insights help organisations reduce burnout, retain talent and perform at their best in high-pressure environments.

Videos of Petra Velzeboer

Petra Velzeboer 2026: Keynote Speaker. Digital Wellbeing, AI, Leadership and Mental Health at Work
Reframing Diagnosis and the Road to Recovery | TEDxJönköping University
Three Ways to Live the Life You Want | Petra Velzeboer | TEDxOxford

Books by Petra Velzeboer

Begin With You: Invest in Your Mental Well-being and Satisfaction at Work
Digital Wellbeing: Recharge Your Focus and Reboot Your Life
Digital Wellbeing: Recharge Your Focus and Reboot Your Life

Comments & Testimonials

"Petra Velzeboer is one of the leading voices in this space, and rightly so. As the most popular and impactful speaker at our Conference, her work is a masterclass in reclaiming control in a world that demands so much of our attention. She blends actionable advice with powerful insights guiding her audience towards clarity, balance and resilience" Paul Devoy, CEO Investors in People. “Given that a third of our lives are experienced through a screen, there is nothing more important than learning how to configure technology to serve us rather than the other way around. We have to work out how to make it work for us and Petra helps us get there!”
Ryan Hopkins Chief Impact Officer, JAAQ 
“Petra Velzeboer is a master storyteller. She paints the landscape of digitalisation in societies, shows why we’re hooked to our devices - then outlines a credible path to wellbeing through richer human connections, better boundaries and moving from staring at our devices to making peace with each other.”
Dr Ardeshir Mehran Psychologist and Author 
So many of us have unwittingly become slaves to our devices. Petra not only explains the problem of digital addiction but more importantly provides practical guidance on how to break free.”
Ed Crosse Partner, Simmons and Simmons 
“Petra captures the most important issues of our times, debunking myths and offering practical ways we can focus thereby boosting mental health.”
Nilema Bhakta-Jones Multi Award Winning Founder Courageous Leaders
Petra is a phenomenal speaker and storyteller"
Ed Kirwan Empathy Studios 
"Petra helps people sit up and take action"
Kirsten Furber People Director Channel 4 

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