PeterCHATTERIS.com
Introducing Peter CHATTERIS
Peter Chatteris is a keynote speaker, author and educator based in Auckland. For more than four decades, he has spoken, taught and built businesses across diverse industries. Over that time, he has seen a consistent pattern. Some individuals and organisations sustain performance under pressure. Others do not. It often comes down to belief.
He began his working life as an avionics engineer, where precision and systems thinking were essential. He later moved into music and business, eventually founding an antique restoration company in Australia and developing a complete restoration system that gained national recognition.
His expertise in Australian furniture and historic homes led to lectures throughout Australia, as well as appearances on television, talkback radio and in international publications.
A serious illness in the late 1990s brought his business to an end and required him to begin again. Rebuilding meant returning to music education, teaching for many years, recording nine albums and developing structured programmes for schools. He later worked in real estate and digital marketing, continuing to write and speak throughout.
In 2024, Peter was invited to step fully onto the professional speaking stage after being shoulder tapped by a talent scout who recognised both his depth of experience and his ability to command a room. His speaking reflects lived experience and structured thinking. He blends story with clarity and challenge with warmth. Audiences respond to his directness and his ability to articulate what many people sense but have not yet named.
He has a long record of competitive speaking success, winning multiple Toastmasters championships, including eight Division titles, and competing at District and international levels.
Peter serves on the board of the Professional Speakers Association of New Zealand and was honoured with the 2025 David Nottage Legacy Scholarship in recognition of his contribution to the profession and his continued development as a speaker.
Peter lives in Auckland with his partner Rosie.
Charitable Causes Peter Supports
Peter grew up as a Christian and still has a strong faith. This is not a "I'm right, and you are wrong" type of faith. It is deeply personal to Peter, but it motivates a lot of his work. As part of this, Peter has always helped children in need. From his early days putting coins in a Barnardo moneybox to travelling to areas of abject child poverty, Peter has remained steadfast in his stand against child poverty.
Peter is also an outspoken advocate for men's mental health. He regularly gives speeches about general mental wellness to charitable organisations at little or no charge. If your organisation would like Peter to speak, please get in touch. There is an application process we will take you through. If there are any costs involved, Peter donates gifts. These can be auctioned off or sold to more than cover those costs.
A percentage of all Peter's profits goes into supporting these causes.
A Personal Note from Peter
"Why I Do What I Do"
For most of my first half-century years on this tiny blue planet, I wondered what my true purpose in life was.
Why was I born?
What use could I be to the world around me?
How could I positively influence the people whose paths I crossed each day?
I was left wondering about my talents and skills. I wondered if people would notice if I were somehow zapped back to whatever universe I was from.
All this changed in 2014 when I travelled with World Vision to the region of Kaoh Andaet in Cambodia. This is one of the most poverty-stricken areas in the poorest country in Asia. I saw abject poverty, disease, and malnutrition. I saw children dying before my eyes. I saw people maimed by landmines. One in three women died at childbirth. Even if a child survived, there was only a 50% chance that they would live to see their fifth birthday. These were things that no human should have to endure. It shook me to the very core.
However, amid these horrible atrocities happening before my eyes, one thing stood head and shoulders above it all: the people of Kaoh Andaet had hope. It wasn’t just any hope. It was a hope that produced drive. It was a hope that produced action. It was a hope that forgave and a hope that empowered. These people wanted a better life. Their hope was more than a mere dream. They had goals, and they believed in them. They could picture a better life for their family. World Vision was the catalyst these people needed to achieve these goals. The change happened in their minds long before the change became a reality.
Today, the amazing people in Kaoh Andaet have a vastly improved life. Children go to school. The region has proper sanitation. They grow their own crops and have enough to eat. Life isn’t perfect, but then again, what is perfection? These people had hope. That hope enabled them to believe in their goal. World Vision enabled those goals to become a reality.
On my return to New Zealand, I realised that despite our comparatively wealthy nation, hope seemed to be lacking in the lives of many people. The people of Kaoh Andaet had taught me that the only way forward was to have hope and convert that hope into believable, concrete goals. However, just as World Vision was the catalyst for change in that poverty-stricken community, the people who lacked hope in my community needed a catalyst as well. Could I be a catalyst for change? Was this the life purpose I had been searching for?
Over the next few years, I suffered a serious illness, which, in 2021, ended in a suicide attempt. As a result, 2 years later, I was made homeless. I could have accepted a lonely life without purpose, without a home and without the basics of life. However, the lesson of hope I learned in Cambodia was powerful, and I had to use it to empower my own life. I needed to embrace hope and I needed to believe in my own better future.
I was able to seek shelter in an old caravan, and hope became my mantra. My hope empowered me to set a set of outlandish goals. My goals were so preposterous that nobody in their right mind would have believed they could be achieved. I wanted to love and be loved. I wanted to get back on stage as a professional speaker. I wanted to live in a nice home near the beach. I wanted to have a decent income and be financially secure. I wanted to help other people realise their dreams.
These goals were ridiculous in their absurdity. I had nothing. I was living in squalid conditions with no running water, no bathroom and no food. However, this situation existed on the outside, and change had to come from the inside.
I realised that a positive change had to happen inside my head before my goals could become a reality. Throughout the initial process of converting that hope to a set of goals, I had support from a close-knit group of friends who found out about my situation. Just as World Vision had been the catalyst for change in Kaoh Andaet, they became my catalyst for change.
To reinforce those changes, I listened to some of the great inspirational speakers. People like Jim Rohn, Earl Nightingale and Napoleon Hill filled my caravan with their words. I recorded messages to myself and played them at night. I wrote my goals down and put copies of them on just about every surface I could find. Everything I saw, listened to and told myself inspired me to achieve what I hoped for. I began to understand that when the flame of hope is fuelled by inspiration, the light glows strongest.
Today, that reality I hoped for is my life. I have an incredible partner, Rosie, who gives me the love and support to keep aiming for the stars. I am living in an amazing home, only 5 minutes from one of New Zealand’s best beaches. I have won many public speaking contests and am a member of the Professional Speakers Association of New Zealand. My life is spent inspiring people from all walks of life, and vastly different from what it could have been if I had accepted my fate.
Today, I love and am loved. Today, I know my purpose. Today, I know why I was born. Today, I know how to enhance people’s lives with a clear message. Today, I am a professional inspirational speaker. Today, I am writing my tenth book. Today, I earn a good income and am heading towards financial security. Today, I hope only for the best. Just as World Vision was the catalyst for a positive change in Kaoh Andaet, I am now the catalyst for a positive change in the world around me.
For those people who question their abilities. For those people who don’t believe in themselves. For those people who are stuck in a life they don’t enjoy. For those people who suffer from a mental health issue. For those who can’t find hope.For people who are facing tough times. For people who need some light to illuminate their personal path ahead. For you.
Thank you to the people of Kaoh Andaet for showing me my purpose and what I live for. This is absolutely why I do what I do.
Cheers
Peter Chatteris
