Challenge your leaders, your teams, and your thinking with four keynotes built around the most extreme test of human values imaginable.
Every talk is tailored and bespoke keynotes can be built around your theme.
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/SPEAKING
“On the day she lost her sister, my mother chose who she was going to be. I have spent thirty years trying to understand what that takes and teaching it to others.”
Smajo Beso OBE
Four Keynotes
( 01 )
Moral and Courageous Leadership
Why your values only work if you set them before the crisis arrives
( 02 )
The Stories We Tell
( 03 )
How the narratives leaders create become the reality people live
Know Your Why
( 04 )
What a siege in Bosnia taught me about meaning, purpose, and the one thing that can never be taken from you
Narrative. Response. Belonging.
/LEADERSHIP AND VALUES
/BELONGING AND CULTURE
What genocide taught me about the stories, choices, and moments that define great leadership
/NARRATIVE AND CHANGE
/MEANING AND PURPOSE
Working with Smajo
Who Smajo speaks to?
Anyone leading people through pressure. Corporate leadership teams. NHS and public sector organisations. Universities and higher education leaders. Large charities and not-for-profits.
Smajo's talks have been delivered everywhere from senior executive away days to thousand-strong conferences including in Parliament, the Cabinet Office, and the House of Lords.
Not sure which talk is right for your event?
Every event is different. Get in touch and Smajo’s team will help you find the right talk for your audience, your context, and what you need the room to feel and do differently.
Testimonials
“As an English teacher, I love stories, but I had never heard story as a tool described in terms of changing thinking, feeling, and the potential to provoke action... that's powerful reframing, and Smajo epitomised it.”
Attendee, Empowering Young People Conference, 2025
“It was an incredible privilege to listen to Smajo's story. A personal, family insight into the horrors of genocide. To think these things happened within living memory makes this all the more poignant and shocking. We all have a duty to educate and be educated about the horrors of holocaust and genocide.”
Berkeley Wilde — The Diversity Trust
Ashley Ruscoe — Head of History, St Cuthbert's School
“Your talk was incredibly special, and the boys were talking about it the whole day. I don't think many people can engage a large group of year 7 and 8's in that way and for such a long time. It has really made a huge impact on them, and we are so grateful for the effort and care you put into creating such powerful experiences.”
“Thank you for sharing your incredible story — what incredible leadership and courage from your mother and auntie.”
Keir Starmer, Former UK Prime Minister, speaking to Smajo after a talk in London, 2024
Recent Keynote Speaking Clients
© 2026 Smajo Beso OBE