Resources for Keynote Speakers
How to book more and better keynotes and make public speaking a revenue engine.
I’ve spent 20 years creating and refining the exact kind of thought leadership and storytelling I now help you create—not as theory but as my own daily practice.
Former marketing leader at Google, HubSpot, innovative startups, and a premier VC firm, where I learned how the best business leaders shape markets through their ideas, not just their products.
Built a six-figure speaking business before launching my current advisory—I know what it takes to become a sought-after voice and main stage presence.
Author of Break the Wheel, a book about questioning best practices in the age of Advice Overload.
Trusted by brand partners like Mailchimp, Wistia, Salesforce, and GoDaddy to train their teams and partner on publicly visible storytelling projects.
Featured in 3 books on public speaking and creative work. My story is a case study other experts cite.
“Jay’s a practitioner, not a consultant. He’s got frameworks and lessons from years of speaking professionally and helping some of the best in the business, but his advice is not one-size-fits-all. Whether you’re prepping for your first keynote or you’ve given hundreds, Jay will make you better.”
—Simone Stolzoff (writer for The Atlantic & The New York Times; mainstage TED speaker; bestselling author of The Good Enough Job)
Start here: the key to keynotes
Whether you speak for free or a fee, this is the engine making it sustainable, growable, and lucrative.
(Everything else on this page is subservient to this major insight.)
Don’t invest time or money into anything until you understand this:
Diagnostic framework:
Where are you on the Idea Impact Matrix?
Don’t market more. Matter more.
The goal is to compete the impact of your ideas, not the volume of your marketing. When you matter more, you need to hustle for results less.
The impact of Your idea is proportional to its value plus its originality
Keynote speakers must deliver both at a high level. That’s what makes them transformational voices.
Think resonance over reach.
Don’t be the best. Be their favorite.
Pitching events to speak?
We use pitching strategically to get into densities of our ideal audience and niches where we’re not present, or to secure opportunities to speak at pipeline-feeding events.
The goal remains “stage-side leads,” so we use pitching in a focused way, in order to stop pitching.
The goal is to get invited more, so we can Pitch less*
*Remember: breakout speakers pitch. Keynote speakers get invited.
Watch Jay rework speeches in realtime
with other speakers
Success Story:
Mykel Dixon is an author, musician, & speaker booking 5-figure gigs
He worked with Jay to clarify his message, develop a stronger premise, and design his signature talk.
“Helping people articulate the essence of their ideas is Jay's sweet spot.”
“He's obsessed with going above-and-beyond to help you find YOUR unique voice, YOUR unique message, and pull it together in a way that others can REALLY hear it. Throw every bit of money you can at that guy. He's extraordinary.”