Cerys Thompson is a keynote speaker, communications strategist and founder of CT Communications, where she helps organizations Resonate with People™ by putting clarity and empathy at the heart of communication.
With more than 15 years of experience working alongside CEOs, executive boards and global leadership teams, Cerys has led communication strategy through major transformation, culture initiatives and global crises.
She has partnered with senior leaders across industries to navigate organizational change, internal engagement challenges and high-pressure environments where clarity and trust are critical. Her work focuses on bridging the gap between leadership intent and employee experience; translating complex business strategy into communication that is understood, trusted and acted upon.
Throughout her corporate career, Cerys built a reputation for navigating moments of uncertainty with practical, structured thinking and people-first strategy. She has supported global teams through restructuring, rapid growth, and large-scale operational shifts, often serving as a strategic advisor during times when communication can either strengthen culture or fracture it.
Her perspective on leadership and change, however, extends beyond boardrooms.
In her keynote, The Power of Plan C, Cerys shares how a life-threatening diagnosis at 30 forced her to rethink achievement, identity and what truly defines success. After multiple failed treatments and a final experimental therapy, where she was given just 30% chance of survival, she entered remission – an experience that reshaped not only her outlook, but the direction of her life.
Following her recovery, Cerys chose intentional reinvention. She relocated from the UK to Canada and founded CT Communications; building a consultancy grounded in clarity, empathy and practical strategy. She also developed the Resonate with People™ program, a structured framework that helps organizations and leaders communicate intentionally, with purpose, clarity and empathy.
As a speaker, Cerys combines strategic expertise with grounded, and unexpectedly humorous, storytelling. Her keynote explores burnout, reinvention and the everyday choices that quietly build resilience. Rather than offering quick fixes or dramatic formulas, she challenges audiences to examine how identity, achievement and purpose intersect – and how redefining that relationship can transform both careers and culture.
Today, Cerys speaks to corporate and leadership audiences across North America and the UK while continuing to advise executive teams on communication strategy, culture and engagement. Her work resonates particularly with high-performing professionals navigating transition, growth and evolving definitions of success.
Cerys believes that purpose is not something we chase through titles or output but something we uncover when we are willing to let go of who we thought we had to be.
Talks/Workshops
- The Power of Plan C
At 29, Cerys Thompson had built the life she thought she was supposed to want – a successful global career, a wonderful personal life and a carefully mapped-out future.
Then life intervened.
After a life-threatening diagnosis and a 30% chance of survival, everything she had relied on to measure success – hard work, achievement and control – no longer applied.
But surviving cancer wasn’t the end of her story; it was the beginning of Plan C.
In this powerful, deeply human, and unexpectedly humorous keynote, Cerys explores what happens when Plan A collapses and Plan B no longer fits; when the roles and achievements that once defined you suddenly feel hollow. When you’re forced to ask not “What should I do next?” but “Who am I, really?”
Through honest storytelling and grounded reflection, she unpacks the quieter side of resilience – not dramatic heroics, but the small, unglamorous decisions that rebuild confidence and create momentum when the future feels uncertain.
Audiences are invited to reflect on:
- How to navigate unexpected change without losing themselves
- Why burnout is often a signal, not a failure
- The difference between external success and internal alignment
- And how resilience is built in everyday choices
This talk challenges the belief that purpose is something you chase through achievement or status. Instead, Cerys shows that purpose may be far closer than we think – rooted not in what we accomplish, but in who we are willing to become.
Key Takeaways:
- Recognize how identity and achievement can become intertwined and how to separate them
- Reframe burnout as a signal for change rather than a sign of failure
- Build resilience through small, manageable daily choices
- Redefine purpose in a way that is personal, sustainable and aligned
- How to navigate unexpected change without losing themselves
- Resonate with People™ - From good intentions to intentional communication
Based on her Resonate with People™ framework, this keynote challenges the common assumption that communication fails because people “aren’t listening.”
Instead, Cerys explores what it truly takes for messages to land, be understood and inspire action.
Drawing on more than 15 years advising CEOs and global leadership teams, she shares practical insights from real-world transformation, culture shifts and high-stakes change initiatives. Audiences discover how to move beyond simply sending information to designing communication that connects, builds trust and drives clarity.
This keynote is ideal for leaders navigating change, growth or engagement challenges who want their communication to resonate.
Key Takeaways
- Why communication can fail even when intentions are “good”
- The difference between sending information and creating understanding
- How to define communication objectives that move people from awareness to action
- Practical tools to simplify complex messages without losing meaning
- How empathy and context influence trust during times of change
