Ros Atkins Keynote Speaker

BBC Analysis Editor & “Explainer-in-Chief” (2022– )
Author, The Art of Explanation bestseller (2023)
Founder, 50:50 Project driving global content balance (2017– )

Ros Atkins's Biography

Ros Atkins is the BBC’s Analysis Editor and, to many viewers, the nation’s “Explainer-in-Chief.” Seen across the corporation’s flagship outlets—from News at Ten to the BBC News website and Sounds—he unpacks breaking stories with precision, context and authority.

Since 2019 his Ros Atkins On… explainers have become a global phenomenon, prompting The Sunday Times to say he had “invented a new genre of reporting.” A BBC executive calls the style “assertive impartiality,” capturing his data-rich, blame-free approach that both challenges and enlightens audiences.

Over more than two decades Ros has anchored milestone events—from Brexit and COVID-19 to Mandela’s funeral, multiple World Cups and myriad U.S., UK and European elections—reporting from five continents. He created and fronted the award-winning programme Outside Source for nine years, co-presents BBC Radio 4’s The Media Show, and in 2024 launched the podcast Communicating with Ros Atkins featuring Tina Brown, Michael Johnson and others. His bestseller The Art of Explanation distils these lessons into a practical playbook for leaders and learners.

A champion of inclusive storytelling, Ros founded the 50:50 Project in 2017. Adopted by hundreds of BBC teams and global partners, the initiative has become a Harvard- and LBS-studied blueprint for measurable culture change.

In 2024, Ros made his DJ debut at Glastonbury with a drum-and-bass set, and a remix of the BBC News theme he co-produced garnered widespread media attention. His Panorama investigations, most recently on record UK migration figures and government spending, show equal rigour on long-form storytelling.

Truth, truth and authenticity in the age of AI - techniques to take on a new information era

How do we know something is real? How do we know something was produced by a human? How do we know something is true? How do we know an idea is original?

Any business relies on quality, reliable information to work and to communicate. But how information and communication is being produced is fundamentally changing - in ways that offer opportunities and challenges.

As businesses and individuals explore how to work with AI, there are tools and techniques we can use to assess the information coming at us. These will help us identity the information that is trustworthy and valuable to us.

Equally how do we maintain our own authentic, trustworthy voice - as an individual or organisation - as AI becomes more central to how many communications are generated. These are all challenges I face as a BBC journalist in BBC Verify and as an author. This talk with advice and actions, to start the process of assessing the information coming towards you - and the content you’re producing.

Leadership, communication and change

Great ideas or great strategies often aren’t enough on their own - they need to be communicated if they’re to have impact. Communication can be the difference between success and failure.

In this talk, Ros will talk through his approach to communication, organisational change and the scaling of ideas. His work has been the focus of a study by London Business School and Harvard Kennedy School.

Using skills learned as a journalist, format creator and innovator, Ros will explain how we can give our ideas and strategies the best chance - and how organisations can develop communication-based cultures which can transform creativity and productivity. This talk will leave you with practical, easily-actionable ideas to improve how you communicate with colleagues, clients and the business world.

The new world order

A lot has changed in a very short space of time. Donald Trump’s second term has brought in a new era of geo-politics, leaving every country with decisions to make about how to respond.

These shifts in trade, defence, politics, climate strategy and alliances are creating a new world order. It can be an overwhelming prospect. This briefing will walk us through what’s been said and what’s been done, what has already impacted, what will impact in the future. And will unpack how the different dimensions to this moment interconnect.

The talk will leave you with a clear framework through which to understand a crucial moment in world affairs.

Lessons from live TV

To stand in front of a camera, in a place you’ve not been to before, to talk about an event that hadn’t happened a few days ago, to dissect subjects you’ve never spoken about in detail, and to try and explain what is happening to millions of viewers without notes or autocue, over many hours each day, focuses the mind! And teaches you many lessons…

My efforts to navigate these moments has taught many techniques and lessons about communicating effectively in the most demanding of circumstances.

Fun talk with a mixture of advice and anecdote about what 20 years of presenting live news has taught me.

Preparing for high pressure presentations
Preparing for high pressure meetings or interviews
How to choose what to say and what not to say
Making sure you get the most important information across
Giving your audience the best chance of remembering what you say
Memory techniques to use lots of detail without notes
What to do when things don’t go plan
Dealing with nerves
And much more!

Passion without a plan

Short, high impact speech about how it can better to encourage your employees to follow their passions as much as a strategy.

A mixture of advice and anecdote on how many of the highest impact moments of my working career have happened because I’ve pursued passions - often without any end goal as I began. Glastonbury is one example, becoming a radio presenter another.

This speech looks across a range of interests I pursued for no other than enthusiasm and interest - and how they came together as my working life played out.

You can see a version of this at 53’40. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISMhDgngmTU

He sits at the heart of the BBC’s biggest stories as Analysis Editor, bringing the judgement, authority and real-time clarity leaders need when stakes are high and facts are moving fast.
He turns complex breaking news into crisp, evidence-led narratives through his globally recognised Ros Atkins On… explainers, helping audiences understand what matters, what changes next and why.
He brings more than two decades of frontline experience anchoring milestone events from Brexit and COVID-19 to elections and World Cups, giving organisations a practical framework for making sense of uncertainty and pressure.
He distils the craft of clear thinking and communication into actionable tools drawn from his bestseller The Art of Explanation and his podcast Communicating with Ros Atkins, strengthening how executives brief, persuade and lead.
He offers a proven blueprint for measurable culture change as founder of the 50:50 Project, showing organisations how inclusive storytelling can shift behaviours, improve representation and build trust at scale.