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They move past fear.
Uncertainty makes people freeze, just as pain makes a patient stop moving. Kate spent 20 years and more than 5,000 patients helping people move again.
STORYTELLER, AUTHOR AND KEYNOTE SPEAKER ON IMAGINATION, TRUST AND LEADING THROUGH UNCERTAINTY | KATE MARKLAND
Nobody can see the ending. Your people can still imagine a better one, and build it together.
The answers are in the white space. You have to listen to the story
20 years as a physiotherapist
More than 5,000 patients
Three Amazon bestsellers
465 children in nine UK primary schools
BBC News, Times Radio and The Yorkshire Post
Evidence accepted by the UK Parliament
Sound Familiar?
When nobody can see the ending, people go quiet. They stop sharing ideas, stop saying what's really going on, and wait to be told what happens next. This 45-minute keynote gets them talking, listening and moving again. Your delegates don't just hear about trust. They practise it, in pairs, before they leave the room.
Sound familiar?
Cameras off and one-word answers on the Monday call.
Good people waiting to be told what happens next.
Ideas corrected or talked over before they are fully said.
And at home: "How was school?" "Fine."
Your people have plenty to say. But nobody can see the ending, and guessing out loud doesn't feel safe. So the ideas stay unsaid, problems surface late, and change happens to people instead of with them. Another forecast won't fix that. Being heard will.
The Markland Method
Everything Kate knows, she learned helping people move forward when they couldn't see the ending: as an athlete, a physiotherapist, a business owner and a mum. When people kept asking how she did it, she realised she had been using the same four principles all along. She calls it the Markland Method: how to listen to the story.
It works far beyond the treatment room: in business, at the kitchen table, with 465 children in nine schools, and with your team.
Rapport. Build trust before the first word is spoken.
Permission. One rule: anything is possible. Invite the whole story, not the safe version.
The Verbal Handshake. Say it back to check you heard it right: "Did I understand that right? Tell me more."
The Golden Question. Ask "What was it like?", not "Did you enjoy it?"
Genuinely curious, never leading.
Your audience doesn't just hear about the Markland Method. They practise it, in the room.
What your people leave with
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They feel heard, so they speak up.
Your audience learns to listen without correcting, and to say a story back to check they've got it right. It's the moment delegates talk about at the coffee break.
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They build trust fast.
One hour a week on a FaceTime call was enough for Kate and her son to build a world, and a trust distance couldn't break. Your teams have more than an hour.
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They choose the ending.
You can't predict the ending. You can choose it, and listen your way there.
What happens in the room
Create the World You Want, built on the Markland Method. Halfway through, your audience puts it to work in pairs with the Verbal Handshake: one asks a single question, the other answers, and nothing is corrected. Then they read it back to check they heard it right, and swap. They leave with one question for Monday morning, and one for the kitchen table tonight.
Every delegate can take the trilogy home, with your organisation's logo on the bookplate.
Proof, room by room
Business and leadership · Education · Parents and families · Families apart (forces, defence and international audiences) · Foundations, charities and annual events
The boat.
20 years as a physiotherapist, four award-winning clinics, more than 5,000 patients.
The treatment room.
20 years as a physiotherapist, more than 5,000 patients. Fear only moved once someone listened.
The business.
Four award-winning clinics, Business Person of the Year, and a book that teaches clinic owners to run a practice like a living body.
The kitchen table.
When it mattered most, as a mum, she had to use everything she knew. One hour a week on a FaceTime call became three Amazon bestsellers. Book 2 reached number one in the US and Canada. New: Book 3, The Thunderbolt of Hindustan, completes the trilogy.
The classroom.
The same method has been used with 465 children in nine UK primary schools.
"Every child felt included, supported, and empowered to express their ideas freely. It was a motivating experience where every voice was heard and every idea celebrated."
Ben Linsel, Year 6 Teacher and KS2 Lead, Foxhill Primary School
The Virtual Hug.
Every keynote starts with a handshake and ends with a hug. The whole room sends Gabriel a hug, and Kate passes it on when they next speak. At one conference, 400 people did it. That is the feeling your delegates leave with.
Press or podcast:
For event organisers [link]
Is this right for your event?
Tell Kate about your audience and what you want them to leave with. On a 20-minute call she'll tell you honestly whether this talk fits, and if it doesn't, she'll say so.
Planning an event? One-page sheet, bios, photos and answers to the questions organisers ask.
P.S. Your people can't see the ending. A mother and son with one hour a week couldn't either. They imagined a better one anyway, by leaving room for the story. Your audience can start the same evening.
Imagining a different world isn't an escape from this one. It's how you change it.
Not booking a speaker? If you are a parent or grandparent, join the Coral Cove Club free.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
What People Say About Kate and StoryQuest
From captivated audiences to inspired classrooms, hear how Kate’s storytelling encourages imagination, confidence and meaningful connection.
“Practical Steps You Can Use Straight Away”
“I found it fascinating how Kate took a familiar fairy tale and drew out practical steps you could implement straight away.”
— Rashmeet
“Powerful, Humorous and Touching”
“Kate wove a well-known story into a powerful message about expectations, mindsets and how we approach things.”
— PSA Attendee
Absolutely Magical”
“Kate’s use of imagery and metaphors was brilliant. The whole presentation was absolutely captivating.”
— Diana
“A Voice Made for Storytelling”
“Kate has a wonderful warmth and a beautiful voice made for storytelling. She really knows how to engage an audience.”
They Didn’t Want to Leave”
“Even the children who do not usually enjoy writing wanted to stay. They wanted to keep creating and asked to do it again.”
