Stay One Step Ahead: Secure your work, your data, and your organization.
HEATHER HAS SPOKEN AT
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"Heather is ONE OF A KIND. She is the most real, most touching, & most motivating speaker we have ever had at our Microsoft DigiGirlz events."
Kim Schmidt
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"Heather brings tremendous energy and enthusiasm to all her projects and conveys it when she is speaking. Her style is young, hip and ready to get things done."
Brad Templeton
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"Heather is a futurist and visionary with super high energy levels."
Peter Vander Auwera, Innovation Leader, SWIFT
SIGNATURE SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Think Before You Click: Emotional Resilience as a Cybersecurity Superpower
Hackers don’t just target systems; they target people. This session examines the emotional dimensions of security—how our instincts of trust, moments of urgency, and fears can become vulnerabilities. Through compelling real-world examples, you’ll uncover the tactics used to exploit human emotions and bypass even the most robust technical defenses.
You’ll gain a deeper understanding of the psychology of manipulation and learn to recognize when emotions are weaponized against you. This program offers practical tools to identify emotional manipulation, pause under pressure, and respond with calm clarity. Participants will master five key rules for emotional resilience and explore strategies to foster a workplace culture that emphasizes vigilance without blame.
Your audience will leave with:
A clear understanding of how emotions are exploited in cyberattacks and how to identify manipulation tactics.
Actionable strategies to build emotional resilience and prevent emotionally charged decisions from compromising security.
Design the Possible: An Introduction to Future Thinking for Positive Impact
A dynamic exploration of how to navigate today’s challenges while shaping tomorrow’s opportunities. Starting with the provocative truth that “the solutions of the past created the problems of the present,” this talk introduces the essential tools and mindset for anticipating change and creating positive futures.
Your audience will leave with:
A framework for future thinking: Learn how to use tools like Appreciative Inquiry and scenario building to anticipate challenges and design strategies for a preferred future.
Actionable insights: Discover how to apply foresight techniques to current challenges, ensuring today's solutions don’t become tomorrow's problems.
For Security Professionals Only: Escape the Whack-a-Mole Security Trap
In the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity, reacting to threats as they arise feels like an endless game of whack-a-mole. How can you stay ahead of adversaries who are constantly innovating new attack vectors? This keynote provides a transformative approach to thinking differently about security, empowering technical and security professionals to proactively anticipate and mitigate future threats.
Your Audience will:
Change their perspective to address and anticipate problems of the future.
Master 17 factors to help predict and manage future security attack vectors.
Explore 10 future scenarios and 10 paradigm shifts to prepare for emerging threats.
Apply simple yet effective foresight methods to your cybersecurity work today.
HEATHER in ACTION
HEATHER’s BIO
Heather Vescent is a widely-recognized industry thought leader and futurist with more than a decade of experience delivering strategic intelligence consulting to governments, corporations, and entrepreneurs. Vescent’s research has been covered in the New York Times, CNN, American Banker, CNBC, Fox and the Atlantic. She has authored several books: The Secrets of Spies, The Cyber Attack Survival Manual and The Comprehensive Guide to Self Sovereign Identity. Her work has won multiple awards from the Association of Professional Futurists.
Heather Vescent has been speaking professionally for over a decade and is an influential voice in the fields of digital identity, cybersecurity, and the future of money, payments and transactions. She has spoken at RSA, TedX, SIBOS, Future Trends Forum, World Future Society, SxSW (3x), IEEE, Identiverse (3x), EIC and many other events since 2011.
