Speaking & Storytelling Advisor to Business Leaders

Jay Acunzo is the world’s most inspiring Speaker on Differentiation and Business Storytelling

“Multiple attendees came running up to me and said:

“that was the best keynote I’ve ever seen!”

—Mary Jo, Events Director (booked Jay multiple times, including to open their 10-year anniversary event)

For years, Jay has wow’ed audiences from stages across the US and around the world, virtually and in-person. From expo audiences of 4,000 marketers to closed-door summits of 40 powerful people, and everyone in between, attendees walk away inspired, empowered, and ready to compete on the impact of their thinking and their communication, rather than rely on the volume of their marketing or size of their budgets.

 
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“I was literally saying to our event manager:

“we hit it out of the ballpark with this guy!”

—Veronica Martinez, Events & Partner Marketing Specialist

 
 

Select Upcoming Talks

Jay speaks across sectors and event types, both publicly and privately, customizing his talks to his clients' needs. The following is a sampling of Jay's upcoming speaking engagements.

April 30 - Private client (entrepreneur summit)
May 29 - Private client (B2B marketing team retreat)
June 4-5 - Eventastic (virtual conference)
June 8 - Tufts University (Medford, MA)
July 11-2 - BookThinkers LIVE (Boston, MA)
October 1 - The Content Summit (Odense, Denmark)
November 2-4 - B2B Forum (Boston, MA)

 

Jay’s Storytelling from the stage:

 

“Our entire company needs to hear this”

Through timely thinking, customized speeches, and irresistible stage presence, Jay gets Rave Reviews from event organizers and attendees

 

“Jay was every meeting planner’s dream come true.”

“Attendees and my leadership team kept commenting over and over on how meaningful and memorable his session was. I very much appreciated how customized his session was to our very diverse audience. We loved him so much, we’re already booking him for another event!”

— Haley Sevalstad, on behalf of her global brand client

 
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Grateful to work with Great Clients

 


“I mean, if we’re all crying in the first keynote, I am going to say B2BSMX is a success.”

- Annette Falvo, National Account Director, Demand Gen Report

 
 


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“An original thinker and dynamic presenter, Jay is becoming one of the "must-see" speakers at any marketing and communication event.”

—Joe Pulizzi, bestselling author and creator of two industry-leading events (Content Marketing World and Content Entrepreneur Expo)

 
 
 
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“The first thing I heard at the conclusion of Jay’s presentation was that attendees were looking at things from a different perspective. He really knocked it out of the park. He connects to the audience in a real way, making it a conversation, not a speech. You feel involved and drawn into his stories.”

—Jacquie Francisco, Managing Partner, The Brand Establishment

 
 
 
 


[ Popular Speech topics ]

Jay customizes every speech to ensure maximum impact for your audience.



Jay’s most-booked keynote:

Be Their Favorite:

How to compete on the influence of your ideas, not the volume of your marketing

In a world where everybody obsesses over marketing more, the question becomes: How can we matter more?

You don't need to be the biggest or best to resonate deeper, influence the market, and drive more results. Instead, you need to use your words to become the 1 thing people pick when surrounded by infinite choice:

Their favorite.

In this eye-opening session, messaging and storytelling strategist Jay Acunzo will show you what it takes to resonate. You'll learn to clarify your message faster and align everything you do around 1 ownable idea capable of influencing your market. You’ll go outside your echo chamber to see the hidden techniques used by storytellers and business builders to create greater momentum, and you’ll walk away with a practical method to compete on the influence of your ideas, not the volume of your marketing.

When people make choices, they play favorites. Are you one of them?

Don't be the best. Be their favorite.

In this session, Attendees learn:

  1. A framework to develop any idea to resonate with others

  2. A process to develop and drive revenue from your Signature Idea

  3. Techniques to shape how your buyers think and act, so you can stop competing as a commodity and become a market leader

 



The Last Great Advantage

Mastering Public speaking, humanity’s Biggest Differentiator in the A.I. Era

In the AI era, there is one skill that remains defensible, irreplaceable, and more important than before. It increases your value everywhere and ensures others want to align with you and take action because of you: public speaking.

No ChatGPT prompt can replace it. No Claude terminal is taking the stage at their event. Gemini isn’t speaking to boards, teams, prospects, or partners.

This is the last—and biggest—competitive edge in growing our businesses, our careers, and our causes.

In this practical, engaging session, Jay will show attendees how to make public speaking their superpower. He will dissect real examples from standout speakers, extract their frameworks, and give attendees tools to immediately apply. They'll leave with concrete techniques that work—and the confidence to make your next talk your best one yet.

Because in a world where AI can do pretty much everything, the one thing it can't do is stand in front of another person or group and deliver with the presence, conviction, and human connection that turns ideas into action. This is the last great advantage.

In this session, Attendees learn:

  1. A repeatable structure to develop presentations with less stress and greater impact.

  2. The 3 missing elements from most talks, and how to wield them

  3. How to ensure people lean in, take notes, and take action when you speak

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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“Jay Acunzo is relevant, thought-provoking, and entertaining. While Jay is a sought after speaker with a big resume of experience, he is also approachable and eager to tailor his presentations to the audience’s needs. He provides realistic and actionable takeaways that all levels of professionals want to implement.”

—Julie Huval, Head of Marketing, Beck Technology

 
 
 
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“As a speaker, Jay has an incredible ability to relate to the audience and perform with impeccable polish. He is a seasoned speaker, and it shows. As a host, I was particularly gratified with the reaction from the attendees, who stayed well past the end of the event to speak to him and have been contacting me personally to thank me.”

—Devin Bramhall, B2B community leader + agency CEO

 

 

 
 
 
 

Meet JaY

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For a bio meant to be read out loud to announce Jay to the stage, see these resources for event organizers.

Jay Acunzo helps business leaders become stronger speakers and storytellers, so they can differentiate and resonate.

After working in media and marketing roles at brands like Google and HubSpot, Jay wrote the book Break the Wheel and began touring globally as a keynote speaker. Brands like Mailchimp, Salesforce, Wistia, and GoDaddy, plus dozens of individual authors, founders, execs, and creators trust Jay to develop their stories, speeches, and thought leadership.

Jay lives in the Boston area with his family as a proud Yankees and Knicks fan (yes, enemy territory). In the 60 seconds per week he’s not creating stuff for work or making his kids laugh, he likes to shoot hoops, sip nice bourbons, cook with his wife, and daydream about telling stories like his storytelling hero, Anthony Bourdain.

🏅 “A marketing newsletter you need to subscribe to.” (Forbes)

🏅 One of Boston’s “50 On Fire” (American City Business Journals)

🏅 “One of 15 must-hear marketing podcasters” (LinkedIn Editors)

🏅 “One of the 50 most influential B2B voices.” (TopRank Influencer Marketing)

Watch an interview with Jay on differentiation, Modern Marketing, storytelling, and how to resonate in a noisy world

 
Book Jay for your next event