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Travels From:
Sydney
Fee Range: E
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Former Olympian, broadcaster and author, Lisa Forrest, has been successfully managing change all her life. The rapidly changing landscape of Olympic sport during the mid-1970’s meant that Australia’s amateur athletes, like Lisa, had to reconcile competing on a world stage against increasingly professional (and drug-fuelled) competitors.
That was before the disruption to training while campaigning – as the 16 year old captain of the women’s Olympic swim team – against the Malcolm Fraser government, and much of the media’s call for a boycott of the Moscow Games, due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In the years that followed her retirement she was the trailblazer for high-profile female athletes moving from sport into the media – a path that had only available to retired football players and cricketers before Lisa.
In 1986, she landed the role of host of Saturday Afternoon Football on ABCTV, and at just 22, became the first woman to be made full-time anchor of a national sports program. Never one to shy away from change, she moved on from sport when offered the role of roving reporter on The Midday Show with Ray Martin, and has since hosted a range of TV and radio programs, returning to sport for Commonwealth and Olympic Games duties – most recently as one of the hosts of the Foxtel’s coverage of the 2012 London Games.
In between her media commitments Lisa pursued her passion for the creative arts, studying acting in New York through the early-90’s, she performed in TV and on stage, before publishing her first novel for teenagers in 2000, Making the Most of It. She has since published four more novels, including Boycott, a non-fiction account of the controversial months leading up to the 1980 Moscow Games and most recently, Inheritance, a fantasy adventure set in the circus. Both were written while managing the changing demands of a young son.
While her career choices have been diverse, Lisa has not disrupted her life, over and over again, for the sake of it. Rather she would say that curiosity has been her guiding force – to try to swim faster, to be the interviewer rather than the interviewee, to play a character other than herself, or write a story like those she enjoys reading. Staying curious, trusting her instincts, not getting bogged down in the way things should be, and being open to the possibility of the new, is the way she has managed change.
Lisa has recently combined a professional coaching course with her own life experience and created a framework for delivering successful goal outcomes for the individuals and teams she works with.Lisa Forrest is many things to many people: actor, author, emcee, TV and radio presenter, interviewer, mother, Olympian. Altogether that makes for something rare to find in these homogenised times: a true individual.
"Our high-performance team faces immense pressure constantly and Lisa provided practical tools and techniques on how to achieve improved levels of resilience through the creation of space in the moment. It has not only helped us to reflect individually but also provided us the chance to find ways to work better as a team. Understanding what happens to our brains in times of stressful situations has been helpful to ensure we are mindful of how we respond. I strongly recommend Lisa's session to high performance teams or to individuals who strive to improve performance."
Ian Gutierrez: Strategy Director, Westpac Group
Lisa is a tremendously knowledgeable and motivational presenter that brings a wealth of life experience to her discipline. Her presentation on mindfulness was delivered with passion and rigor that was solidly underpinned by evidence-based science and academic research. I would highly recommend Lisa to talk at your next corporate team building session and look forward to crossing paths with her again.
Daniel Noonan Project Manager - Strategy and Transformation Advice BT FINANCIAL GRO
Many of the boys who heard her speak have commented very favourably on the 'life skills' aspect of her presentation, as have mothers, telling me about their sons reactions. Sometimes we forget that the boys need to be able to talk about their emotional lives and hear from an outsider that it is OK to have feelings. I especially thank her for that.
Sue Richer, Senior Librarian, Newington College
The event was very successful with more than 100 attendees. We had an extremely positive reaction and received many compliments and appreciative comments from the audience. As you also noticed, your talk prompted reflection and discussion. In considering speakers for these events we look for those who are not only achieving in their chosen career path but can relate well to such a wide audience and provide both business and social guidance. I must also compliment you on your ability to include the audience in your discussion as well as achieving our goals of fostering a networking environment for Canberra women generally.
Alison England
For and on behalf of the Organising Committee
Women With Ambition Networking Breakfasts
I think her keynote address lasted for almost an hour, but I could have listened for two. Her engagement with the audience was brilliant: she was insightful, funny, inspiring. She had the audience absolutely silent, occasionally in tears one minute, and rolling around with laughter the next.
Mark McLeod, President, The Children's Book Council of Australia
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