Be inspired
By great guests
At Immerse Education, guest speakers are a core part of the participant experience, offering students the chance to engage with inspirational individuals from a wide range of fields. From acclaimed broadcasters and world-travelling writers to celebrated philosophers and Olympic athletes, these talks aren’t just about listening – they’re designed to spark critical thinking, build confidence, and encourage lively discussion. Participants aren’t passive audiences; they’re invited to question, reflect and debate, making these sessions a vital catalyst for personal and academic growth.
Learn From World-class *speakers*
Every summer, we are delighted to welcome motivational guest speakers from a variety of inspiring backgrounds.
Kate Atkin
Speaker, Author and Facilitator
Dr Kate Atkin is an award-winning speaker, author and researcher specialising in the imposter phenomenon – often mislabelled as “imposter syndrome. ” Drawing on over 25 years of training and coaching experience, she delivers engaging keynotes, workshops and seminars that help individuals and organisations turn self-doubt into confidence and performance. Her acclaimed keynote “Success: What Lies Behind the Mask” and her book The Imposter Phenomenon share practical insights from her PhD research into confidence, courage and coping strategies. A former Fellow of the Professional Speaking Association, Kate has worked across sectors worldwide, including finance, technology, public service and education.
Dr Nigel Warburton
Philosopher, author & journalist
Nigel Warburton is a freelance philosopher, writer and podcaster. He is best known as a populariser of philosophy, being author of a number of books of this genre, but he has also written academic works in esthetics and applied ethics. He regularly teaches courses on philosophy and art at Tate Modern and writes a monthly column 'Everyday Philosophy' for Prospect magazine. He runs a popular philosophy weblog Virtual Philosopher and with David Edmonds regularly podcasts interviews with top philosophers on a range of subjects at Philosophy Bites.
Dr Lynda Shaw
Neuroscientist & entrepreneur
A journey in personal development - how to create your own set of tools to fast track success Dr Lynda Shaw is a cognitive neuroscientist and business psychologist, working with senior leaders and their teams who want to better understand emotional responses of clients and colleagues and harness this power to improve business culture, ensuring job satisfaction in the workplace. Having owned three businesses, including a health club with 2000 members and 20 staff, Dr Lynda Shaw is an entrepreneur and businesswoman. She is also a business psychologist and holds a doctorate in neuroscience, specialising in unconscious processing of emotion and communication.
Beatrix Mészáros
British Explorer
Beatrix is a digital marketing expert with over 15 years of experience, having worked with 100+ global brands including Estée Lauder, NIVEA, and the European Parliament. She founded the agency, Mindea, and relocated to London in 2021 to expand her international career. Her global work includes a five-month stint in Bhutan as a Digital Marketing Master Trainer for the government. Today, Beatrix helps professionals integrate AI into their marketing through consultancy, masterclasses, and training programmes. A regular speaker at conferences and podcasts, she also teaches at two London colleges, delivering practical, hands-on education in digital and AI marketing.
Sarah Outen
British Explorer
British adventurer Sarah Outen circumnavigated the world by rowing solo between 2011 and 2015. In doing so she became the first person to row from Japan to Alaska and the first woman to have rowed West to East across the Mid-Pacific. Sarah overcame huge obstacles during this 20,000-mile journey which took her a total of four and a half years. She endured extreme conditions in remote environments, often alone for months at a time. A typhoon on the North Pacific forced a mid-ocean rescue from her rowing boat in 2012 and a hurricane on the Atlantic forced an evacuation after 143 days at sea. As part of her journey, she also kayaked some of the most treacherous waterways in the world and cycled across North America during one of the harshest winters on record.
Grace Prendergast
Olympic Rowing Gold Medallist
Grace Prendergast is a double Olympian and one of New Zealand’s most decorated rowers. She won gold and silver medals at the Tokyo Olympics, having also competed at Rio 2016. A five-time world champion and current holder of two worldbest times, she was ranked the world’s top female rower for two consecutive years. Grace also earned victory in the OxfordCambridge Boat Race while completing her Master’s at the University of Cambridge, setting a record time. Beyond sport, Grace has been appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit and made an Honorary Fellow of Queens’ College, Cambridge, in recognition of her contributions to rowing and leadership.
Abi Oyepitan
Commonwealth Gold and Silver medallist
Commonwealth Gold and Silver medallist, 2 time Olympian and one of the fastest sprinters Britain has ever produced. Abi Oyepitan is a two-time Olympian and Commonwealth Gold and Silver-winning track and field athlete. Her retirement from athletics came after participating in London 2012, but this did not diminish her drive to compete and pursue success. Since retirement, she’s gone on to take up new and exciting challenges/adventures, her most recent being the prestigious Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race on board the Great Britain boat as part of the crew on the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race. Away from the track, Abi graduated from Brunel University with a BSc in Politics and has an MA in Human Rights and Social Rights from City University, London. Since retiring, Abi has also ventured into the world of health and well-being, launching a natural cosmetics brand, which has garnered a cult following and is stocked in Liberty London, Anthropologist and Independent stores throughout the UK.
Dr Keith Siew
Senior Research Fellow in Salt Mediated Diseases
Dr Keith Siew is the NASA SciX Ambassador for Biological and Physical Sciences, recognised for his pioneering research in Space Biomedicine, which has been profiled by over 280 news outlets worldwide. He is currently developing a Global Certificate Programme in this field in collaboration with NASA and several leading universities and space agencies. A Senior Fellow at University College London, Keith also holds visiting scholar positions at Université de Paris and Harvard University. He earned his PhD in medicine from Gonville & Caius College, University of Cambridge, and is trained as a physiologist with subspecialisations in pharmacology and microscopy.
Dara Canavan
Go-To-Market at OpenAI
Dara Canavan leads Enterprise Success within the Go ToMarket team at OpenAI, where he helps organisations safely and effectively adopt artificial general intelligence (AGI) technologies. His work bridges cutting-edge AI with practical implementation at scale. He holds a BSc and MSc in Theoretical Physics from Imperial College London and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business, where he graduated in the top 10% of his class. Dara has previously worked as a Senior Strategy Manager at Deliveroo, a Senior Technical Product Manager at Amazon, and an AI Researcher at Stanford University.
Jody Bragger
Co-Founder, Tellus Conservation.
Jody Bragger is a biodiversity conservationist, veteran, and award-winning producer. As co-founder of Tellus Conservation, he works to protect the world’s endangered ecosystems by mobilising private-sector funding. Current projects include supporting Ukraine’s national park network during the war and leading one of Africa’s largest ecosystem restoration initiatives. Before Tellus, Jody had a diverse career in business and defence. He served eight years as a British Army officer in Afghanistan, Somalia, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, receiving the MSM from the U.S. State Department for services to the twostate solution. As CEO of Midnight Runners, he grew a free running club into a global sports brand spanning 18 cities on five continents. Beyond work, he’s passionate about endurance sports and scientific exploration. His projects include the award-winning film Running the Roof (Tajikistan), founding the Mogadishu Marathon in 2016, and leading In Search for Ghosts, an expedition to rediscover a lost tree kangaroo species in West Papua.
Simon Hall
Director, Creative Warehouse
Simon Hall created and leads an award-winning course in public speaking, storytelling and writing skills at the University of Cambridge, and runs his own business communication agency, Creative Warehouse. He has 20 books published, ranging from business and communication to crime fiction. The most recent, Compelling Communication (Cambridge University Press, 2024) accompanies his university course. Previously, Simon was a BBC Television, Radio and Online News Correspondent for 20 years.
FAQs
While we have no official policy for selecting guest speakers, our academic team chooses speakers who will motivate, inspire and enthuse our participants. We aim to give students a wide variety of opinions, experiences and backgrounds, for a well-rounded educational experience.
Guest speakers have dedicated slots in the evening. During this 90-minute slot, guest speakers deliver an inspiring talk and hold a Q&A as part of Immerse’s supercurricular offering. Tutors may also invite guests to deliver subject-specific talks and demonstrations during teaching hours.
Yes! Students will also attend Fireside Chats. These are different from guest speaker slots and feature our own undergraduate mentors, who talk about life at university and how they got there.
Our guest speakers frequently host a Q&A session at the conclusion of the event and often remain afterwards to engage with participants on a more personal level. We warmly encourage attendees to take advantage of these opportunities to connect with our outstanding speakers and gain further insights.
Learn Directly From Expert Academics From World-class Universities
You will explore novel concepts and share ideas in small groups of like-minded and ambitious peers from around the world. Our small class sizes average seven students.
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