Speaking & Storytelling Advisor to Business Leaders
 

Public Speaking Accelerator [Virtual Program]

“I’m not even done with the program and it has been worth every penny already. I’ve taken other trainings and always felt like I was reading a speech, not embodying it. I wasn’t connecting the way I know I can. I just am so appreciative of this program. The lessons, the work, the notes from Jay — this was exactly what I was looking for.” — Michelle P., executive coach + former creative executive at CBS

Built for extremely busy professionals who sell services, charge a fee to speak, or both.

8 weeks of learning, lessons, homework, and coaching from Jay to transform your speaking + signature speech.

All the tools you need to Give better Talks to bigger audiences

  • Marketing and sales strategy

  • Pitching to get booked

  • Setting and raising your speaker fees

  • Crafting your signature speech (openers, closers, stories, and structure)

Delivered as video lessons, with resources, templates, and examples, plus assigned work and direct coaching from Jay.

Next cohort begins in August

    “After just one session, I've already received a positive return on my investment. He gave me actionable advice to improve my talk and take it from 'meh' to 'this is going to be amazing.' Before working with Jay, I felt like I was just winging things and trying to figure things out on my own. Jay helped me rethink things and add emotional stakes to my talk to help me stir the hearts and engage the minds of my audience.” — Ramli J., SaaS growth advisor, product expert, and author

     

    The bar is SO low to give great presentations in the business world. Learn to leap over it.

    Through a blend of learning, practice, and direct coaching from me, you will master the 3 most important elements of a presentation you can add to immediately make it great.

    We’ll also cover speaking strategy (how to align your approach to your brand and offerings) and how to pitch event organizers & community leaders to get booked more.

    From scattered thinking to focused message.

    From passive audience to passionate fans.

    From “wall of smarts” talks to powerful presentations, built get buy-in and create follow-up opportunities.

    An 8-week Cohort Consciously customized for crazy Calendars

    (And also attendees who adore alliteration.)

    You receive:

    • PILOT COHORT ONLY: one-hour 1:1 call with me

    • PILOT COHORT ONLY: Multiple rounds of notes on your work from me

    • 6 hours of group coaching/workshopping with me, alternating between Wednesdays and Thursdays, 12:30ET

    • 5 video lessons covering strategy, pitching, generating follow-on business, and developing stronger speeches (openers, closers, stories, structure, and more)

    • All relevant templates, resources, and prompts accessible forever

    Join the waitlist to access early-bird pricing

    Next cohort starts in August!

      Transformative in a way I didn’t expect”

       
       
       
       
      • 📅 Week “0”(after registering, before kickoff)

        • You’ll receive my calendar link to book a 60-min 1:1 coaching call.

        • You’ll also get a video lesson on getting more results from your speaking (covering strategy, pitching events, and how to generate follow-on business from your speaking)

        I’ll even give you a brief look at how I really negotiate my own speaking engagements, including paid gigs.

        📅 Tuesday, May 6 from 12:30 to 2pm ET:

        In this 90-min session (also recorded), we’ll get a chance to meet live to build rapport and to discuss:

        • Getting the most from the program

        • How to structure effective talks for impact and flow

        • An intro to the frameworks and techniques we’ll be mastering in the program

        • Plus plenty of discussion and initial Q&A with me

        📅 Weeks 2-7, you’ll experience as two-week modules (for a total of 3 modules)

        Each module emphasizes 1 of our 3 key areas of immediately and noticeably improving your speaking.

        Once you understand each, you’ll be able to immediately increase the impact of any talk or presentation.

        These two-week modules follow the same cadence:

        • LEARN IT (the first Monday, you’ll get a video lesson via email from me along with relevant resources I’ve built and curated, plus prompts and templates you’ll be using)

        • WRITE IT (You then have several days to answer the prompts and develop a draft of the work. You’ll have the option of submitting the draft to our cohort’s online portal for direct feedback from me. You’ll also see others’ drafts and my notes for them, so you have a broader array of insights.)

        • PERFORM IT (You’ll then submit a recorded version of you performing what you built. This is due 10 days after the video lesson arrives. You’ll have the option of submitting the recording for my feedback too.)

        • IMPROVE IT (Weeks 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 each offer a 1-hour group coaching call with me for Q&A and workshopping material. I’ll alternate between Wednesdays and Thursdays, 12:30-1:30pm ET, to try and cover as many time zones as possible.)

        📅  Week 8: Showcase + Celebrate

        • On Friday, June 27, 11-12:30 ET, you’ll gather with me and the cohort for one final celebration. Volunteers will be confirmed ahead of time to deliver a sampling of their speech.

      Watch me Work with Clients in realtime

      With permission, I’ve published several of my 1:1 coaching interactions, edited for runtime.

      These are not accelerator participants, but this will give you a feel for how I think and how I can support you!

       

      ABOUT MY SPEAKING AND SPEAKER COACHING:

       

      Hi, I'm Jay Acunzo! I'm the former head of content at HubSpot, a digital media strategist at Google, and VP of content and community at NextView Ventures, a seed-stage VC. But since 2016, I've been traveling the world giving keynote speeches. As a professional, I've spoken in 25 states and several countries, to crowds as big as 4,000 marketers and as tightknit as 40 CEOs in a closed-door meeting. I can charge five-figures for a speech, but I also use my speaking both virtual and in-person to drive leads and sales of my client services.

      For the last few years, I've spent most of my time coaching and consulting dozens of entrepreneurs, consultants, creators, business authors, and small business owners to help them package and communicate their expertise for impact. That means messaging, speaking, and thought leadership, with a big idea we develop and they eventually own in the market. I help others compete on the impact of their ideas, NOT the volume of their marketing. When you matter more, you need to hustle for attention less.

      I've also partnered with brands like Salesforce, Mailchimp, Wistia, and GoDaddy to help improve their storytelling. 






        “It was like a magic trick … I was honestly blown away.”

        —Steve Pratt, veteran entrepreneur, marketer, and podcasting OG, on his coaching calls with me.

        Steve is a brand consultant & cofounder of Pacific Content, which built podcasts for Slack, DELL, Zendesk, and more.

         
         

        Most speaker trainings pose 2 problems for business communicators and leaders:

        1. We feel too pulled away from the "real" work. We have so much going on that we can't hit pause and go learn or practice, and we're also worried most speaker trainings aren't tailored for (A) the business world and (B) producing the work DURING the training. So we have some fun (or maybe cringe) doing group exercises, but we haven't made tangible progress on actual work ... all while we're stressed about taking time away from the rest of our jobs.

        2. We aren't well-served by most trainings, which emphasize the extremes. Most individuals and orgs focus on beginners (i.e. the fear of speaking) or outliers (paid keynote speakers; execs and celebs addressing huge audiences constantly, with massive stakes each time). The thing is, you aren't a beginner. You're a professional communicator. But you're also not spending much time thinking about all the talks you'll give this quarter to 20,000 attendees or millions of viewers.

        This accelerator is tailor-made for business builders using speaking as a powerful marketing approach, but not a career path

        “A night & day difference from when I came to him.”

        Justin Moore is a well-known entrepreneur and business owner in the creator economy who trusted me to help him develop his signature talk when the stakes were highest: he was looking to expand his revenue by meeting new types of clients, meeting his existing buyers earlier in their journey, and building the talk associated with his new book to get on bigger stages.

         
         

        FAQ’s

        Do I need to attend live? What if I have conflicts?

        Everything will be recorded, and all video lessons (except Week 1) happens entirely asynchronously via email too. The most important live element are the office hours to get questions answered and workshop materials with me.

        Is this like your “Design My Signature Talk” bootcamps?

        It certainly benefits from having honed that material, but no, this is different in 2 important ways, given what I learned from my bootcamps:

        1. More emphasis on instantly and radically improving your abilities to craft and deliver exceptional talks. My bootcamps emphasized your talk’s structure and flow. This will contain elements of that of course, but it’s much more built to actively develop, practice, and receive my feedback on your work both 1:1 and 1:few, asynchronously and live.

        2. More tailored to busy pros with busy schedules (and lives!). I've moved this from the previous 2-day virtual intensive, which some folks said were tougher to make time to attend, to instead be an 8-week experience. I’ve also separated out the teaching I’m doing (now delivered async) from the coaching (now more highly emphasized and of course delivered live, because there’s so much value in the back-and-forth). 

        What’s your refund policy?

        I’ve had people contact me for prior programs about radical changes in circumstance, where they really need their money back to cover that life change or issue. To be sympathetic to those cases, I’m offering a full refund to anyone who requests it of me up until 7 days prior to kickoff. After that, I do not offer any refunds.

        The Next cohort starts this August

        Join the waitlist to receive access to early-bird pricing when enrollment opens.

           
           

           

          Much of the experience felt like 1:1 coaching with the added benefit of learning from others getting notes from Jay, who is quick on his feet providing real-time feedback. It was liberating. I feel less imposter syndrome and more inspired and confident. Jay busted myths I've long held and built back up a framework I'll be using for all my creative work.”

          Dr. Jade Wu (author and sleep psychologist)

           
           

          Some talks are blog posts with a runtime.

          Your talk should stir hearts and engage minds.

           
           

          “The most inspired I’ve been in the longest time”

           
           
           
           

          Common needs we address together:

          🏗️ Structuring engaging speeches

          Turning too many ideas into a succinct talk 🎯

          ✅ Packaging and pitching your speech

          Translating ideas you usually write into effective spoken word ♻️

          ❤️ Crafting stories for the stage

          Whether, when, and how to use CTAs in your talks 🚦


          "I've been delivering keynote talks for over 20 years. To say this was outstanding simply would not give it justice. Jay, in a very short period of time, was able to dissect the message I was struggling with and taught me to actually deliver it concisely. He found a premise for me that worked and the flow to my new outstanding talk that I cannot wait to release out into the world. If you want your talk to go to the next level, you want to work with the best in the business, and I don't say that lightly. Jay Acunzo is your man."

          —Shawn Shepheard (performance coach for small business owners)

           
           
           
           


          Who Is this for? How can I decide?

          This intensive is for anyone using speaking to build their business and evangelize their ideas. However…

          1. This is NOT meant to help clarify your overall message or sellable offers. You should have at least a rough idea of what you teach, what you’re saying to the world, or at very least, what problem you want to solve for others.

          2. This bootcamp centers on how to intentionally design a speech to resonate, but part of being intentional means actually rehearsing the talk and actually giving the talk, so you can rapidly improve. No talk is “final” after designing it in theory in just two days. But you WILL leave with a far superior product than you arrived with.

          3. A bootcamp is an intensive. That’s a specific type of learning experience. We’ll move fast, cover a lot, and do some active, prompted work that might make you feel a little uncomfortable, but I promise to provide a helpful, encouraging hand as I push you slightly outside your comfort zone.

          4. This is NOT a substitute for my 1:1 coaching and consulting. My job is to steward the entire group forward, while personalizing to everyone as best I can. But for deeper, ongoing 1:1 support, visit jayacunzo.com/services.


          Still not sure? Contact me here

          We can swap emails or even schedule a call

          I will NOT push you to attend. Unhappy registrants hurt my business. (Also? My heart.) If you contact me, I’ll be honest with you. Maybe the intensive isn’t right for you, maybe it is, or maybe it’s right for you but just not at this time.

          Contact me, and we can either swap emails or set up a 10-min call.


          WHAT’s INCLUDED:

           

          reusable documentation to design your talks

          You’ll learn a method for developing more effective talks in the future, structuring your material for maximum impact and spotting missing pieces. You can use this forever, regardless of your message or business, across both virtual and in-person speaking engagements.

           

          Meaningful progress made developing your speech

          You’ll focus on the pieces of the process most critical to your own speech being better designed, better delivered, and better positioned to win you more and better opportunities.

           

          All questions answered directly by Jay

          Each of my intensives offers a chance to talk shop directly about your unique situation in our small group setting, as well as lots of different office hours available, included for no extra cost.

           

          Speech Packaging and Pitch materials

          You’ll also leave with clarity for how to more effectively write your talk’s title, subtitle, and pitchable blurb to better showcase your value everywhere you’re trying to speak.

           
           


          More about my speaking

          For years, I’ve been a professional keynote speaker able to charge five-figures per speech and earn six-figures through my speaking. I’ve also given hundreds of virtual talks in support of my business, some organized by me, most as the guest speaker at others’ virtual events.

          I’ve also advised dozens of experts, entrepreneurs, and execs as my clients to help them write and speak with greater impact as thought leaders and storytellers. Because it’s not just what you know that ensures others care. It’s what you say, how you say it, and how it makes them feel.

          This is a skill, and the crafting of a signature talk is a repeatable process.

          This guy’s thinking, “Why shouldn’t YOU be the opening keynote to the whole dang event?”

          About My Public Speaking Experience

          • I’ve given talks in 25 states and 3 countries

          • …to audiences as large as 4,000 marketers and as intimate as 40 CEOs behind closed doors

          • I’ve spoken to HR professionals and HVAC entrepreneurs, higher-ed marketers recruiting new minds and dentists working on old mouths (young mouths too, for that matter).

          • Among 150 speakers at one of the marketing industry’s biggest events (Content Marketing World), attendees ranked my speech #1. (This earned me the coveted opening keynote the following year to thousands of attendees. I became the youngest speaker to ever open the whole dang thing.)

          • My speaker story has been featured in three books: The Referable Speaker (Andrew Davis and Michael Port), The Successful Speaker (Grant Baldwin), and Content Inc (Joe Pulizzi).

          Through it all, I learned the craft of actively developing your speech to differentiate, resonate, and spark action in others.

          Today, I’m mostly off the road to stay home with my kids. I’m much more focused on empowering others to craft their signature talks, their differentiated messaging, and their underlying premise and IP—the big idea you own, and the thinking behind it, empowering you to develop, distribute, and monetize your thinking.

          Watch me in action:

          I’ve built a career helping exceptional experts become stronger storytellers

          “Jay is a savant in all things creativity.”

          Heike Young, Head of Content, Microsoft

          “Jay's teaching has been much more than a how-to. He's more of a guide for creative revelation.”

          Jade Wu, Author/Psychologist, Duke University

          “I feel more confident as an editorial leader thanks to Jay.”

          Kevin Leahy, Sr. Producer, Guy Raz’s Built This Productions

           
           

          I’m also grateful to have partnered with brands like these: