As a corporate functions MC, Ruda adds a touch of elegance, credibility and sophistication; but what of her roots? Ruda Landman grew up in the Northern Cape and read languages at the University of Stellenbosch. She started her working life as a journalist at Die Burger, later moving to the SABC as a radio and television reporter. After a number of years with Sarie magazine she became co-anchor of Carte Blanche on M-Net, where she has been for the past 18 years. She serves on the Board of Media 24 and chairs the board of Helpmekaar, the private school her son attended. She has been married to JP Landman for almost 30 years and has one son, now 20.

Ruda’s new talk, “To Dance and to Fish” is holding audiences spellbound. Starting with a deeply moving folk tale from Scandinavia and moving on to draw examples and illustrations from Ruda Landman's private and professional life, this very personal and direct talk focuses on the responsibility we have for our own choices in life; the price tag of each such choice, marked in days, hours and minutes; and the danger of being bullied into/drifting into a place where we never wanted to be.