Motivational Speaker for Middle & High School Students

Named one of the 5 Best Speakers in Mental Health along with Brené Brown.

Empower your students to be leaders in your school community and discover their unique path to mental wellness. Mental wellness is essential to suicide prevention and a well-rounded education.

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Programs:

• Transforming Stigma® in Youth
• The Unleash Your Groove™ Workshop

“When you first spoke at my school, I had just moved there. I was struggling with some serious mental health issues and needed change in my life. Listening to you speak about moving through depression and living to the fullest really moved me in a more positive direction. I am now four months clean of self harm and am able to live without my depression taking over. And for that I would like to thank you. For being who you are and speaking openly about matters that people around the world should know. Mental health should not be taboo. People should be able to be open and accepting. Thank you again for being an inspiration and a life changer for me.”

– High School Student

Approach

Mike combines his lifetime years as a person living with depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder with his experiences as a professional musician. He has the same vision for every college presentation: to add exceptional value to your event and offer practical tools to help your students and faculty solve problems. It’s that simple!

Promotional Resources

• Additional Video
• Press photo
• Rider / AV needs (PDF)
• Speaker Introduction (PDF)
• Bio
• Books
• Blog Posts
• HealthCentral Articles

IMPORTANT: All of the programs below are remarkably customizable. Mike and his team will work with you to find a solution to achieve your goals. You choose from the options below to create an awesome program for your event students.

Transforming Stigma® in Youth

This energetic, entertaining, compelling and PG-13 program has been a source of MOTIVATION and SUICIDE PREVENTION for students throughout the world. It’s an abundance of simple and practical steps that at-risk youth can take to transform self-destructive behavior – IMMEDIATELY. This program also offers HOPE and TOOLS for all students who are struggling with mental health challenges, behavioral health challenges, and self-destructive behavior.

Mike Veny shares his story about living with depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. He will then introduce The Stigma Cycle™: “Stigma starts with shame. Shame leads to silence. Silence leads to self-destructive behavior and suicide.” The process repeats, and it becomes an endless, downward spiral.

Learning Outcomes

Through this engaging and entertaining keynote, students will learn practical tools to help:

• Understand The Stigma Cycle™ and what prevents students from asking for help.
• Understand how to replace shame through self-care.
• Use conversation to transform silence.
• Transform sabotage, social injustice, self-destructive behavior, and prevent suicide by connecting with others.

CAS learning and development outcomes this workshop focuses on:

• Intrapersonal development
• Humanitarianism and civic engagement
• Practical competence

Presentation details:

• 1-hour keynote presentation.
• Includes the option to purchase a book and a workbook for each student.
• Often used as part of an existing training or Active Minds programming.
• Download the Rider for logistics and room setup details.

“Mike’s ability to connect with students is a talent that very few adults have. His ability to address a group of 200 students and have them engaged for well over an hour shows just how deep his talent runs.”

– Jesicah Rolapp – Principal, Los Angeles Leadership Academy