Helen Russell

The Year of Living Danishly – Uncovering the secrets of the world’s happiest country

• This talk is based on Helen’s bestseller “The Year of Living Danishly” and touches upon the key areas that psychologists and experts agree are important in order to live a more content life. The key areas include trust, security, a sense of belonging, equality, addressing the aesthetics (& ‘getting hygge with it’)
• Helen offers an insightful and useful guide to becoming happier delivered in an entertaining and engaging way. This keynote is suitable for group events, human resources professionals as well as CSR agendas.

The expat experience (and how to survive it)

• In this engaging keynote, speaker Helen Russel provides an overview of the challenges foreigners face when moving to Denmark. Helen combines research with her personal experiences and funny anecdotes.
• Helen shares practical and useful tips and tricks to make Denmark feel like a home. She covers important areas like culture shock, making friends, keeping your identity. She also shares her top things not to do when moving to Denmark which stem from personal experiences.
• This keynote presentation is ideal for international organisations as well as companies looking to hire expats.

The cultural differences between Denmark and the UK

• As someone who has worked across Europe, America and Asia, Helen Russell keeps discovering more about what it means to be British. In this eye-opening keynote, Helen shares the most notable differences between Denmark and the UK.
• When Helen moved to Denmark she was appalled to discover that Danes have no word for “please”, don’t hold doors for each other and talk salary like it’s everyone’s business – something that verges on taboo in the UK. This keynote offers an amusing look at why Brits behave as they do as well as the norms in British society like manners, money, family, traditions and honesty.
• This presentation is perfect for international companies with employees working in Denmark or thinking of expanding as well as cultural adventurers, schools and universities.

The science of change and taking leaps into the unknown

• In this keynote, Helen Russel presents her discoveries from her book “Leap Year – How small steps can make a giant difference”. Helen spent several years researching the science of change and now presents the best tools and strategies for embracing change.
• The audience will learn how to feel more confident with decision making, the power of making changes in incremental steps and Helen’s 10 tips for making leaps into the unknown. Helen draws on the knowledge of neuroscientists, psychologists, business leaders, nutritionists and even FBI hostage negotiators.

The secrets of happiness from around the world

• In this insightful keynote, speaker Helen Russel shares the secrets of happiness from 30 countries. This keynote is based on research from her new book “The Atlas of Happiness” and Helen uncovers lots of interesting habits and attitudes that we can all learn from.
• Helen talks about how she started her book and why we need to look to other countries for inspiration in the face of negative bias. Helen inspires her audience as she shares examples of unique happiness concepts as well as what she learned herself during her research.

Happiness at work post-lockdown

Work isn’t working. Free lunches and colourful bean bags in the office no longer cut it. During the pandemic, the boundary between work and home life blurred more than ever – and studies show we’ve been working an average of six hours extra overtime a week. Burnout is a very real problem and morale is at an all time low. So what can we do to foster greater understanding, empathy, respect – and resilience? How can we find meaning and joy at work? In this informative and engaging talk, Helen explores the different cultural approaches to working life that we can learn from, the origins of the Scandinavian way of working, how it aids productivity, where it falls short, the importance of rest, plus where Malcom Gladwell missed a trick. From arbejdsglæde to autonomy and entitlement to equality, we take a fresh look at the landscape of big business, the rocks in the path and how diversity and rest are our best hopes of navigating them.