Paul de Gelder

Why you should book speaker Paul de Gelder

• Paul is an incredible storyteller and people in the audience are entertained from start to finish when he is on stage. Few people are able to laugh at their own brutal shark attack but Paul manages to bring light and energy to his darkest hours.
• As a motivational speaker Paul de Gelder knows how to get to the core of the fundamental issues most people face. It’s through challenges that we grow and Paul’s keynotes encourage just that.

Keynote speaker Paul de Gelder has already been through more challenges than what few people experience in a lifetime. As a hoodlum teenager, he didn’t get to start his life the way most people dream of, and as a young adult he battled with drugs and alcohol while working at a strip bar. Paul went on to join the Australian Defense Forces as an Army paratrooper and then as a Navy bomb disposal diver where he finally felt like he belonged. One day, when he was diving for the Navy in Sydney Harbor he came face to face with a shark – and his life changed for good.

Since his shark attack and incredible recovery, Paul has toured the world as a motivational speaker. Paul is also an encouraging mentor to school kids and a passionate environmentalist. He has been featured in the media several times and is especially active during Shark Week. Paul has been named in the top 15 inspirational Australians and top 10 speakers. When he’s not speaking, he’s filming documentaries and diving with sharks.

As a speaker Paul de Gelder is dynamic and engaging with lots of charisma and great presentation skills. Clients are blown away by his inspirational story of never giving up and growing through adversity. Paul often receives standing ovations and has been named the highlight of a conference or event several times. Paul recently published a book “No Time For Fear: How a shark attack survivor best the odds”.