Ruth Pearce, Keynote Speaker Mental Health & Leadership

Lead your organization to transform stress into resilience & sustainable performance, by putting nervous system state before organizational strategy

Ruth Pearce is a keynote speaker, leadership coach, and author. Drawing on neuroscience, nervous system intelligence™, ethics, and positive psychology, she delivers keynotes on mental health, leadership, and "burnout" prevention (she calls it collapse) that spark lasting change.

Trusted by 200,000+ attendees across industries and locations!


Whether speaking to global corporations or professional associations, Ruth brings humor, insight, and actionable strategies to every event—empowering audiences to build mentally healthy, hopeful, and high-performing workplaces.

  Get Shorter Times to Delivery
 Experience Better Decisions Under Pressure
 Enjoy Greater Tolerance for Uncertainty

Building Connection & Trust From the Audience to the Speaker

 Experimentation Meets Explanation

Across 650+ hours of coaching and talks to 200,000+ people, I’ve helped clients get real results—often by feel and iteration. Clients have benefited from the wisdom of countless experts, whose work I have synthesized to create life changing experiences. Now,  Shannon Eastman’s Nervous System Economy has provided me the framework to explain that success and sharpen it. Together, we can name the state, match the intervention, and predict when to switch gears—so we stop wasting effort, reduce friction, and tailor the work to each person or team. In short: what I learned by trial and error now has a clear map—why it works, when it works, and how to adjust it faster and more precisely for the client in front of me.

 Application Begins at Home

Preparing for the bar this time, I paired experience with nervous system intelligence to work with my energy instead of against it. I tracked my nervous system state in real time: when I was “yellow” and mobilized by fear, I reset with short movement or grounding; when I dipped "red" and toward shutdown, I used gentle orientation and small wins; when I was "blue" and settled, I did the deep study blocks. That alignment meant fewer battles with willpower, more consistency, and better recall. In short, I stopped forcing “blue” tasks in “red” moments and let my biology set the sequence.

 Support Selected with YOU in Mind 

I build every talk and coaching practice around nervous system intelligence—the skill of noticing your current state (mobilized, collapsed, or settled), understanding what it can and can’t do, and choosing right-fit ways to shift.
Why it matters: individuals learn faster, feel safer, and regain agency when the ask matches their biology; organizations get better meetings, steadier performance, and change that actually sticks.
So I start where people are, not where we wish they were—selecting interventions that fit this moment (e.g., grounding or brief movement for high activation, gentle orientation and breath for shut-down, focused tasks only when settled). In short: align the dose to the state. No “blue” interventions—complex strategy, mindset lectures, or heavy cognitive work—for people who are stuck in “red” survival. This approach is informed by Shannon Eastman’s Nervous System Economy, and we acknowledge her foundational contribution to this work.

Speaking Topics: Mental Health, Hope, and Leadership in Action

Science & APPlication of Hope
Character Science & APPLICATION
SCience & APPLICATION Of Curiosity
Science & APplication of Courage
Ethical Balanced Decisions
Bar Prep That Worked

Coaching Approaches to Match Your Needs

Hybrid Coaching - IN GROUPS
HYBRID COACHING - 1:1
HUMAN SPEED COACHING

Program Promises & Recommendations

  • We help you build psychological safety deliberately (leader behaviors, meeting norms) to enable honest voice and brave experiments. Measure it quarterly.

  • We teach hope skills (clear goals, multiple pathways, agency check-ins) to fuel energy and zest between attempts.

  • We help you to normalize small, reversible risks (safe-to-fail pilots) to practice bravery & curiosity without betting the farm.

  • We focus on rewarding perseverance with learning (close feedback loops, retire low-value work) rather than raw hours and grind.

  • We support you as you develop moral courage via scenario practice and leader modeling so ethics are enacted, not just talked about. 

    • Why Event Planners Choose Ruth Pearce

    Serve Your Audience 

    Plan a Session Together:A 15-minute fit check: your goals, your audience’s current state, and what “good” looks like.
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    Hybrid Coaching

    Advanced Level — Hybrid Coaching

    Translate event momentum into durable behavior change with group cohorts plus targeted 1:1 work, supported by an async AI assistant for nudges, reflections, and micro‑drills.

     Cohort of 6–10, every 2 weeks, 8–12 weeks
     Anchor Audit → Where am I? Where are We?
     Install → Stress‑Test → Generalize sprints
     Leader Huddles + 1:1 deepening (kickoff/mid/consolidation)

    10-Week Sample

    1. Intake & baselines; choose anchors; schedule 1:1s.
    2. Session 1: Ladder refresh; install two anchors.
    3. Practice + 1:1 #1; apply to a real meeting.
    4. Session 2: Strengths→Work; Stop/Start/Sustain.
    5. Practice + Leader Huddle; capture wins.
    6. Session 3: Stress‑testing under pressure; refine.
    7. Mid pulse + 1:1 #2; apply to cross‑team moment.
    8. Session 4: Generalize; codify team norms.
    9. Practice + Huddle; outcome stories.
    10. 1:1 #3 + final pulse; executive summary.
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