Cyber security keynote speaker

Gary S. Chan is a security mentalist who takes audiences on a mind-bending journey where psychology meets mystery. With over 25 years of experience captivating audiences, Gary's career includes award-winning performances and being featured at the renowned Chicago Magic Lounge. He combines psychology, game theory, and math to create daring demonstrations of influence and impossible predictions. More than just tricks, his performances challenge the way you think about choice, chance, and control. Offstage, Gary serves as Chief Information Security Officer for a leading U.S. healthcare system, bringing real-world security insights of human behavior that make his mentalism uniquely thought-provoking. Audiences leave his shows not only amazed, but also questioning what they thought was possible.

Gary is trained in behavioral profiling, conflict management, negotiation, interrogation, and mediation. He architected anti-fraud systems for state agencies, led information security for a large-cap technology company, and currently leads the security teams for a large multi-state healthcare system. He served as President of the FBI St. Louis Citizens Academy Alumni Association and Technology Officer for the Greater St. Louis Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. He holds four security certifications and a degree in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from MIT.

This is a term for exploiting human psychology for gain. Some examples of a social engineer's objectives are:

• To make you think of something specific
• To cause you to do or say something
• To steal credentials, probably to advance other objectives
• To accurately guess your password based on statistics
• To accurately predict what you will freely choose to do
• To create an environment that causes you to make specific decisions

Anywhere in the world, although primarily in the United States. The audience must be proficient in English.

The learning and fun don't need to end at the end of the event. Your participants can bring home a magic kit to play with and share with their kids. These teach security concepts, provide entertainment, and build confidence for public speaking.

A memorable keynote can set the tone for an entire event. Gary's speaker fee typically begins at $10,000 for events within the United States. The final investment depends upon the scope of the engagement, which can include multiple sessions, customizations, and giveaways branded with your logo.

To deepen engagement, many organizers invest about $500 in magic kits for attendees. These may be presented as deluxe kits for on-stage volunteers or smaller kits reserved for the first 50 audience members to arrive. While optional, this hands-on element extends the keynote beyond the stage because attendees take the kits home to share with their families, turning the experience into lasting family memories. View available Magic Kits.

To secure a date, a 50% deposit is required at the time of booking, with the balance due within 14 days after the event.

Every keynote presentation is customized for the client and typically ranges in duration from 25 minutes to 80 minutes. Almost all clients opt for a 50-minute keynote to fit into a 1-hour time slot. The remaining 10 minutes are for an emcee introduction, other announcements, and a break before the next session/meeting.

If you cancel, the cancellation fee is generally the deposit amount. If Gary cancels (which has not happened before), you will receive a full refund. The exact terms are in the contract that you will have an opportunity to review.

Mentalists and magicians both create magical outcomes, so they are both commonly referred to as magicians. However, mentalists and magicians create magic in different ways. A mentalist specializes in psychological games, whereas a magician generally relies upon dexterity. Whereas a magician might use sleight of hand to find your card, a mentalist will use mind games to determine which card you thought of. Similar to most magic shows, my security mentalism performance is highly interactive and engaging with the audience. Audience members will be joining me on stage throughout the event.

Security mentalism is the application of mentalism principles, like predicting and influencing human behavior through psychology, to security. It uses the art of mentalism to make security concepts more engaging and memorable for training and communication, by demonstrating how attackers and defenders can use psychological tactics, storytelling, and the understanding of human behavior to advance their respective objectives.

Key aspects of security mentalism include:

• Psychological principles: It uses psychology, such as reading body language and understanding emotional cues, to predict and influence behavior, both for defensive and offensive purposes.
• Predicting human behavior: It applies concepts like game theory and known statistics of predictable human patterns to anticipate how people might act in security situations and how attackers can exploit them.
• Storytelling and engagement: It shifts the focus from dry technical data to compelling stories and interactive demonstrations to make security training more effective and understandable.
• Practical demonstrations: Instead of just presenting information, it uses mentalism to demonstrate the impact of security risks in a way that is both entertaining and educational.

Many of Gary's mentalism demonstrations are based on security concepts and can also be used as part of a security awareness program. He uses game theory, math, and other techniques to understand, predict, and influence people. For example, he uses interrogation techniques to perform a truth or lie detection.

Yes. Each presentation is tailored to your audience, your goals, and the security challenges you care about most, whether your group is sales, security, leadership, or a mixed crowd. Gary works with you in advance to align stories, examples, and demonstrations with your environment so it feels built for your people, not generic content.

To book Gary S. Chan for your next event, please fill out the contact form. Gary will respond within a day.

Yes. Gary designs his presentations so they work for everyone from frontline staff to executives, regardless of technical background. He uses stories, demonstrations, and plain language to make security concepts feel intuitive, not intimidating.

Gary is a working Chief Information Security Officer for a $14B multi-state organization. With over two decades of experience, he has led enterprise security programs, architected anti-fraud systems for state agencies, advised cybersecurity startups, and served as President of the FBI St. Louis Citizens Academy Alumni Association. He holds four security certifications and a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT.