Workplace Safety Presentations
20 years of changing how young people think about driving. Now I'm bringing that to your workplace.
For over two decades, I've been standing in front of young people and shifting how they think about risk, choices, and consequences behind the wheel. The same lies I help students recognize are the same lies your experienced workers believe every day. I'm here to change that.
On April 29, 1994, a car crash killed three of my friends and left me with burns covering 75% of my body. I was 18. We believed the lie every young driver believes: "It won't happen to us." I've spent the last 23 years making sure other people don't have to learn that lesson the way I did.
Where this work began
I've spent 20+ years learning what actually changes behaviour in young people. It's not fear. It's not facts. It's belief.
After the car crash that nearly killed me, I started speaking to students. Not to scare them. Not to lecture. To do something harder: to get inside the lie they already believe and replace it with the truth before the consequences teach them instead.
Over 850 presentations later, I've learned something about behaviour change that most safety programs miss entirely. You don't change what people do by telling them what to do. You change what people do by changing what they believe about themselves, about risk, and about the choices they're making without thinking.
Working with young people taught me this. A teenager who's been bullied, who feels invincible, who thinks rules are for other people — they don't respond to warnings or statistics. They respond when someone who's lived the consequences stands in front of them and tells the truth. And then gives them a framework for seeing their own thinking differently.
That's what I've been doing for over 20 years. Shifting beliefs. Shifting choices. Shifting behaviour. With the hardest audiences to reach — young people who think they already know everything.
Your experienced workers believe the same lies. And they're just as hard to reach. That's exactly why I can help.
The connection
The lies are the same. The stakes are the same. The approach that works is the same.
Here's what 23 years and 850+ presentations have taught me: the lie a teenager tells themselves before getting behind the wheel is identical to the lie a worker with 20 years of experience tells themselves before skipping a safety step.
It's not the same words. But it's the same belief underneath: "The rules don't apply to me because I know what I'm doing." In a teenager, that belief comes from overconfidence. In an experienced worker, it comes from years without consequences. The result is the same.
What I hear from young people
What I hear from experienced workers
Different words. Same lie. Same consequences. And the same approach works to reach both audiences — because the approach isn't about information. It's about getting someone to see their own thinking before it costs them everything.
Trusted by safety leaders at
Pure West Energy • Veren Inc. • Red Sea Global • Halifax Water • Innovative Risk Management • Maple Reinders Constructors • Permian Road Safety Coalition
The challenge you're facing
Your safety programs are doing everything right. Your people are still taking risks.
You've invested in the training. You've updated the policies. You've run the toolbox talks, posted the reminders, tracked the metrics. And your people — particularly the experienced ones — are still cutting corners, still skipping steps, still believing they're the exception.
This is the problem I've spent my career solving. Not with fear. Not with statistics. With a message that reaches the part of a person that policies can't touch: what they actually believe about themselves and about risk.
Here's what your experienced workers are telling themselves right now:
- "I've done this a thousand times — I don't need the checklist."
- "Rules are for the new guys."
- "Nothing bad has happened, so my approach must be working."
- "I can handle a quick glance at my phone."
- "That safety training doesn't apply to someone with my experience."
These aren't decisions. They're rationalizations. They're the same kind of false confidence I've been helping young people recognize and reject for over 20 years. And I've learned exactly what it takes to cut through them.
Why this works
I don't teach safety from a textbook. I teach it from a burn unit.
My credibility with your team doesn't come from a certification or a slide deck. It comes from the fact that I'm standing in front of them as a burn survivor — someone who lived the consequences of the exact lie they're telling themselves.
When I speak, your workers aren't listening to a trainer. They're listening to someone whose three friends died, whose body was burned beyond recognition, because of the same belief your experienced workers carry every day: "I know what I'm doing. It won't happen to me."
That can't be dismissed. That can't be tuned out. And when I pair that story with the methodology I've developed over 850+ presentations — a framework built on 20+ years of actually shifting beliefs and behaviour in the hardest-to-reach audiences — something changes in the room.
My mission is simple: nobody should ever have to walk through what I walked through. Not your workers. Not their families. Not the people they share the road or the job site with. Everything I do comes from that.
"John helped put all aspects of a single crash into real life visualization. The session was well organized with a speaker that was calm, smooth delivery."
Vinny P. — Innovative Risk Management, Safety Training, Las Vegas
The methodology
Learn. Heal. Grow.
This is the framework behind every presentation I deliver. It's not a motivational formula. It's the actual process of shifting beliefs, choices, and behaviours — tested over 23 years with audiences ranging from teenagers to experienced tradespeople.
Learn
Recognize the lie
Before behaviour changes, the belief driving it has to become visible. Your workers don't know they're operating on a lie — years without incidents have turned false confidence into an invisible autopilot. The first step is making what's unconscious conscious. I name the lies. I show your team how they sound. And I make it impossible to unhear them.
Heal
Face the truth
Behind every "it won't happen to me" is an unwillingness to sit with what's actually at stake. I don't use scare tactics. But I tell the truth — from my own body, my own story, my own loss. That truth creates a space where your team can acknowledge the real consequences without defensiveness. That's where the shift begins.
Grow
Own the choice
Awareness without action fades. Growth means your people leave with practical tools — a way to catch the lie in the moment, a question to ask themselves before every shift, every drive, every task. Not compliance. Ownership. The kind of personal responsibility that doesn't require a supervisor watching over their shoulder.
The program
What your team gets
Pre-event consultation
We talk about your specific challenges before I build the presentation. Your industry, your incident patterns, your culture, your people. The content is shaped around your reality, not a generic template.
Keynote: "The lies that get us hurt"
A 60-90 minute presentation that names the lies your workers are telling themselves, anchored in a story of real consequences that they won't be able to dismiss. Delivered by someone who's spent 20+ years learning what actually shifts behaviour — first with young people, now with workforces across high-risk industries.
Practical takeaways your people will actually use
Your workers leave with tools they can apply immediately. Not a binder. Not a poster. A shift in how they see their own thinking — and a simple, repeatable practice for catching the lie before it becomes a consequence.
A message they'll still be talking about
After 850+ presentations, the feedback I hear most from safety leaders is this: "My team is still talking about it." That's the difference between a training event that checks a box and a presentation that changes how people think.
"During John's presentation, you could have heard a pin drop as the audience was completely captivated. The feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive — inspiring and humbling. John spoke from the heart, reminding us all that safety is our responsibility. No matter your experience, age, or gender, it can happen to you. That was a powerful takeaway that left a lasting impression on everyone present."— Shawn Lingenfelter, Saskatchewan Senior Health and Safety Advisor, Veren Inc.
What safety leaders are saying
Trusted by safety professionals across industries
"The event was a huge success. We had so many positive comments following your presentation. It certainly made an impact on our business and a huge positive impact on our people."
Group Head of Health and Safety, Red Sea Global
"I've heard from so many folks that really thought the sessions were impactful and on target. The main sponsor said she was proud to have her company's name on the event. We appreciate your message so much."
Executive Director, Permian Road Safety Coalition
"John's speaking session was immensely moving and personal. As someone who does a lot of driving in both my personal and professional life, there were certainly a lot of important reminders to keep at the front of my mind."
NCSO & GSC Safety Professional, Maple Reinders Constructors Ltd.
"POWERFUL! As a mother and a health & safety advisor, I found John's talk riveting and heart-wrenching. Understanding the preciousness of life and what happens in an instant does not define the end, but the beginning."
Mental Wellness Architect, Humanology Partners
From the people in the room
What workers said after hearing the presentation
"John's talk really makes you want to drive more safely. It made me think about doing better about avoiding distractions."
Keith C. — Innovative Risk Management, Las Vegas, NV
"It's not about ME — it's about everyone else."
Kenneth Wenham — Innovative Risk Management, Las Vegas, NV
"The true impact of a simple bad decision is staggering."
Zane Card — Innovative Risk Management, Las Vegas, NV
"It makes a difference to learn and hear from someone that had experienced this major situation and the impact that takes on your personal circle."
Hector De La Cruz — Innovative Risk Management, Las Vegas, NV
"John's story should resonate with everyone, whether it is doing tasks at home or work. Always take time out to think through something that could potentially be dangerous."
George Hardy — Pure West Energy, Pinedale, WY
"Shocking, powerful, heart wrenching, inspiring, worth the painful feelings when listening to him speak."
Attendee — Halifax Water, Driving Safety Presentation
"You don't realize who is impacted by your decisions, so I recommend listening."
Attendee — Halifax Water, Driving Safety Presentation
"Very inspiring story, definitely makes me think twice about road safety and how it affects more than just myself."
Attendee — Halifax Water, Driving Safety Presentation
"This is a great and powerful session. John's story and his resilience in the face of terrible adversity is inspiring."
Attendee — Innovative Risk Management, Las Vegas, NV
Feedback from presentations at Innovative Risk Management (Las Vegas, NV), Veren Inc. (Saskatchewan), Halifax Water (Halifax, NS), Pure West Energy (Pinedale, WY), and Red Sea Global (Saudi Arabia). All testimonials used with full permission.
Is this right for your team?
Built for safety leaders who need a message that sticks with the people who think they've heard it all.
Your experienced workers have stopped listening
They've sat through the same safety talks for years. They know the material better than the trainer. They need someone with credibility they can't dismiss — not another PowerPoint.
Your incident rates are flat despite your investment
You've done the training. You've updated the policies. The numbers aren't moving. The problem isn't the program — it's the beliefs your people carry underneath the compliance.
You need a safety stand-down that actually changes the conversation
Your next event needs to be different. Not louder. Not scarier. Different in a way that reaches the workers who think rules are for everyone else.
You want culture change, not just compliance
You're trying to move your team from "following rules because someone is watching" to "owning their choices because they understand what's at stake." That's the shift this presentation is built to create.
"Your story was very heart touching and it made me realize how much we are needed to our family and friends. Especially the part in which you said to put ourselves in your shoes put me in a deep thinking mode. I shared your story with my husband and my kids."— Ann Sandhu, Attendee, What If One Health & Safety Conference
Take the next step
Nobody should have to walk through what I walked through. Let's make sure your people don't.
A 15-minute conversation about your team, your challenges, and whether this presentation is the right fit. No pressure. No pitch. Just a conversation between two people who care about sending everyone home safe.
Book a discovery callAvailable for in-person bookings across Canada and the U.S., or virtual delivery from studio.
Everyone goes home safe.