Speaking

The inside story of the 1983 America's Cup — the campaign that united a nation, outwitted a 132-year dynasty and proved that audacity, meticulous planning and unreasonable belief can defeat any odds. Christopher was there — not watching from the sidelines, but running the national campaign that made Australia fall in love with 12-metre yacht racing overnight. This is the story of what's possible when a team dares to think what nobody else will say out loud.

Most people see the White House on television. Christopher received a personal invitation to walk inside it — as guest of the President's Chief of Staff, his Harvard Business School classmate. What he observed about leadership, power, perception and the gap between public narrative and private reality will change how you read every political story you encounter from that day forward.

Mikhail Gorbachev crossed a crowded room to continue a conversation Christopher had started on stage. Pierre Cardin delivered one of the great lines about living fully — when asked directly and on camera. Three Prime Ministers. A US President's Chief of Staff. The most decorated military minds of a generation. What Christopher learned in the brief moments he shared with each of them — about power, presence, generosity and what truly matters — is the kind of wisdom no textbook has ever captured.

Most people have a midlife crisis. Christopher enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force at 56. Not because he had to — because he chose to serve again. This is the story of what the military teaches you that nothing else can, why those lessons compound across decades, and how the discipline of service — whether at Camp Pendleton or RAAF Base Amberley — becomes the foundation for every reinvention that follows. For anyone who has ever wondered whether it's too late to start again — this talk answers that question definitively.

In 1978, sitting beside Olivia Newton-John in her Malibu home, Christopher heard a song for the first time that would go on to become one of the most recognisable recordings in history. Nobody else was in the room. No cameras. No audience. Just a private moment that would later become a story told on national radio the day after Olivia's passing — and that captures something profound about being present, being prepared, and recognising significance before it announces itself. A talk about awareness, opportunity and the moments that define careers.

Five decades working alongside Prime Ministers, CEOs, military commanders, media personalities and global figures. What Christopher observed — consistently, across every domain — about the gap between public persona and private reality will make you rethink every assumption you hold about success, leadership and what it actually costs to operate at the highest levels. This isn't gossip. It's the most honest talk about leadership you'll ever hear from someone who was in the room.

An Opposition Leader ignored expert advice after question three and effectively lost an election by question ten. A CEO walked into a Senate hearing having spent 100 hours preparing every word — and walked out completely exonerated. The difference between those two outcomes wasn't talent, resources or even strategy. It was preparation, discipline and understanding that under pressure, every word either builds or destroys. Christopher has been in both rooms. This talk gives audiences the framework to always be in the second one.