About
Orla Chennaoui
Orla Chennaoui is a multi-lingual television sports presenter, journalist, podcaster and writer, with a sideline in lifelong anxiety. As a junior athletics champion, classically-trained violinist and law graduate, Orla Chennaoui was familiar with working hard to achieve success, but only later realised her years of overachieving were rooted in an as-yet undiagnosed anxiety. A plunge into post natal depression in 2015 was the trigger for Orla to begin to understand the ways her mental health had shaped her life path, letting go of alcohol as a form of self-medication and deep-diving into research that led her to her refreshing conclusion; that anxiety can be a super power.
The need to understand and reframe anxiety is more necessary than ever. It is the number one global health concern according to the World Economic Forum, with the global rebalance increasing by 25% in the first year of the Covid pandemic. In a post-Covid era, 275 million people worldwide now live with the condition, and with many of those experiencing it for the first time, the chances that you, a colleague or a loved one is struggling to understand or manage anxiety is now more likely than ever before.
Through Orla Chennaoui’s passion project, Ten Times Braver, Orla is dedicated to helping people recognise all the ways anxiety can be used for good, and helping to manage the more difficult elements through practical tips that can be easily incorporated into everyday life. As a busy mum of two, with a passion for sport herself, and with a broadcasting career that is going from strength to strength, simplicity and ease of practise are key for Orla. Orla Chennaoui is a qualified breathwork instructor and her scientific, no-nonsense approach is perfect for those who are as-yet unconvinced about the benefits of meditation and breathwork, and who need to bring wellness into their daily lives without compromising on time.
Orla has delivered her programme in long-form retreats and in short, 15 minute sessions, working with corporate executives and fitness enthusiasts to find the small, sustainable changes that lead to significant, long-term improvements.
Reasons to Book
- Orla reveals the secrets of techniques which work in a high-pressure, live television environment, where time is critical and performance standards uncompromising.
- As a journalist, Orla brings research and proven science to an area that is often dominated by spirituality, a concept that can be alien to many. Orla prefers facts and data over vague concepts.
- Orla understands the time-pressures of trying to improve your mental wellness in the modern world, and offers time-efficient practices that make a genuine difference to your day and overall wellbeing.
- As an experienced, international broadcaster, Orla delivers her talks and workshops with professional ease and passion. Story-telling is her day job and she brings the most stringent broadcast standard to her talks and workshops, while maintaining authenticity and relatability to her audience.
Topics Include
- Living in a world of fear and how to free both yourself and your workplace, including the science of fun.
- Recognising anxiety in the workplace. How to best manage anxiety at work for both you and your colleagues.
- Turning anxiety into your superpower. How to recognise the benefits of being hardwired for anxiety and all the ways in which you can use it for good.
- The power of your autonomic nervous system and how to use breathwork to up-regulate and down-regulate your emotions. In particular this session involves managing stress and how to fire yourself up for big presentations, using Orla’s tips from live TV.
- The power of language and the neuroscience behind self-talk. Using Orla’s linguistic skills she will demonstrate the ways in which something as basic as the words you use can impact your mental wellness.
Speeches
LIVING IN A WORLD OF FEAR
RECOGNISING ANXIETY IN THE WORKPLACE
TURNING ANXIETY INTO YOUR SUPERPOWER
THE POWER OF YOUR AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM AND HOW TO USE BREATHWORK TO UP OR DOWN REGULATE
THE POWER OF LANGUAGE AND THE NEUROSCIENCE BEHIND SELF-TALK
As a people focussed organisation, we are always looking for new ways to engage our team in purposeful conversations about their own well-being and mental health. Orla provided a fresh, unique approach: authentic, empathetic but full of energy and power – the team came away buzzing and inspired.
Fran Millar - CEO of Belstaff
Orla kindly supported a recent Meet for Good event to share her experience, her knowledge and insight, and articulated brilliantly her very personal passion for Ten Times Braver.
Meet for Good is a personal and business development network that focuses on high performance and sport, and helps business leaders tap into the skills and behaviours of those operating in a high-performance environment. Orla was such a great speaker- so engaging with a great story to tell and an ability to retain and convey huge amounts of highly relevant and useful information. Her talk was perfectly pitched and resonated in so many ways. The feedback has been outstanding.
Peter Rhodes - CEO All for Good / Meet for Good