Kate Atkin is a speaker on imposter syndrome who offers training consultant and coaching on overcoming the ‘Imposter’.
Offering her keynote talk “Success: What Lies Behind the Mask? Understanding and Exploring the Imposter Syndrome (and why it’s really a phenomenon)”, Kate has worked with many high-end clients on business, management and communication issues within their workplace.
Kate Atkin was known for her shyness at school, often being compared to Bashful, one of the seven dwarves, and she often found social occasions awkward. Sadly, when she was 23, her older sister died from leukaemia. Losing her had a profound effect on Kate’s desire to seize life, knowing she was “playing it safe”.
On impulse, Kate resigned from her bank job and travelled around Australia and New Zealand, arriving back in the UK feeling more confident. However, as her professional success grew, so did her imposter feelings.
She since discovered the psychological reasons for this after completing an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology in 2015, and now shares her tips with audiences of all sizes and in all industries. Kate recently completed her PhD into the imposter phenomenon in the workplace.
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Kate explains what The Imposter Syndrome is clearly and succinctly. It is not the people who are indeed imposters or fraudsters, it is not those who ‘fake it till you make it’, and they are not the little self-doubt thoughts we all have from time to time. She believes that imposter syndrome is when you have an “intense, internal feeling of phoniness”, regardless of what external factors are telling us.
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As a recognised Imposter Syndrome speaker, Kate has written a number of successful speaking and business books, including:
The Business of Professional Speaking (2013): A collection of tips from the UK’s most successful speakers to help you improve your public speaking abilities.
The Confident Manager (2015): This book offers valuable lessons to aspiring managers on how to improve their self-confidence in the workplace.
The Presentation Workout (2015): Packed full of advice, this book contains a 10-step improvement plan to enhance your workplace skills.
The Imposter Phenomenon: Why You Feel Like a Fraud and What To Do About It (2025): readers are invited to embark on a transformative journey, equipped with tools to challenge their imposter thoughts and feelings and embrace their true potential.
Kate’s expertise has seen her contributing to The Financial Times, the Oxford English Dictionary online blog and other several popular magazines.
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Kate now inspires others to overcome their inner fears and beat the imposter syndrome.
Kate Atkin built up her speaking ability through the likes of the Junior Chamber International, becoming a world debating champion, and was a runner-up in the European Public Speaking competition. This honing of skills has meant Kate is in high demand for her keynote speeches and has since spoken to audiences as far and wide as America, France, Malta, Spain and Outer Mongolia.
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She works with individuals, large corporations, charities and event organisations to deliver inspiring, interactive talks and presentations that will make a real difference to people’s professional and positive confidence.
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Kate Atkin Clients: Bouygues, Cancer Research UK, City University London, Eastern Academic Health Science Network, Highways England, Hiscox, Innovia Technology, Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Jagex, London Business School, MedImmune, NHS, Numis, Taylor Vinters, Totaljobs, University of Aberdeen, the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, Vanguard, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
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Thank you for delivering an informative and engaging session on Imposter Syndrome for the Home Office Gender Equality Network. We had initially planned for this session to be delivered in person. You quickly adapted when it was moved online due to COVID-19 restrictions, and used your confident and personable presenting style to ensure the session remained interactive and that attendees engaged throughout. Your expert knowledge of the subject matter shone through during the presentation, and you gave precise and empathetic answers to questions raised, often signalling further resources on the issue. Attendees have commented on how valuable they found the practical focus of your presentation. Everyone left the session with a set of things they can start doing today to build their confidence and tackle imposter syndrome.
Corinne Ribbons, The Home Office
As someone who left medicine essentially because I was unable to shake feelings of what I now realise were classic of imposter syndrome, it was incredible for me to hear the talk on this; thank you Kate. I will be doing lots more research into this!
NHS Doctor
Kate is like no other speaker we have worked with, she is truly inspirational. She shares her vulnerabilities with her audience and examples of the imposter phenomenon to bring to life some of the theory which helps people with practical coping mechanisms – she is empowering.
Janine Menasakanian, Vanguard Asset Management
Kate is an outstanding speaker and a facilitator. She delivered two virtual sessions during this COVID19 pandemic on ‘Impact and Influence’ and ‘Success – what lies behind the mask’, which received positive feedback especially with her ability to engage and interact with the audience. Thank you Kate.
Jamal Uddin, Organisational & Staff Development Team, Middlesex University
Kate is a fantastic speaker, knowledgeable, approachable and with a great stage presence. The hour-long session on the Imposter Syndrome flew by and we had glowing feedback afterwards. Lots of people said they’d never heard it discussed openly before, or didn’t even realise it was something that had a name, and that the session had made them feel more comfortable about sharing their own experiences. By the end of the event, 60% said they were either quite or very confident in their ability to tackle Imposter Syndrome in the future, in comparison to only 20% who said the same right at the start. I would highly recommend Kate as a speaker and expert on this topic, and I hope our paths cross again in the future.
Tor Goldfield, Internal Communications Director, Expedia
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