Photo Credit: Michael Brand/TED

It is exceedingly difficult to truly leverage your most powerful stories without a mirror. I take on the hard work of distilling, refining and packaging your story into something that provides the most value possible to you and your company. Read what others have said…

“John has the amazing capability to teach you how to turn facts into a compelling and engaging story that will leave your crowd asking for more. I highly recommend John’s services, especially if you are presenting to customers, investors at events etc. It has been a pleasure working with John and worth every minute I could get from him.” - Itai Sadan, CEO/Co-Founder, DudaMobile Top qualities: Expert, Good Value, Creative

“To whom it may concern; As the Founder & CEO of the Alliance of CEOs, I am very pleased to recommend John Bates and Executive Speaking Success to your group. We have asked John to speak a number of times to our Alliance CEOs because his message resonates with our CEOs and his experience is exceptionally valuable and relevant. John is engaging, involves the audience, alters his performance to fit the audience and our members really enjoy his fun, but valuable, presentations. His topic of executive communications is a skill that most every CEO recognizes they could improve and John delivers them great value in that arena. Most importantly, we receive great feedback from our members when John speaks.” - Paul Witkay, Founder & CEO, Alliance of Chief Executives

“In a world filled with the information overload, John’s masterful skills of curation – the art of extracting what’s best and what matters – is a rare gift and will make a speaker, writer, coach and/or executive, more effective in the presentation of information. He’s terrific!” – Freddie Ravel, CEO/Founder TuneUP to Success, Music applied to Business. Top qualities: Personable, Expert, High Integrity

“Recently, I hosted a TEDxTopanga. John gave insight into some of the obstacles for the event, including prepping the speakers to fit the TEDx forum. He was so wonderful with the speakers and was able to prep them in such an encouraging fashion. He knows how to find the pearls in their ideas and helps to expand them to meet the needs of the audience and the TED.com specifications. He is a real pro. Thank you John! I hope to work with you again.” - Emma Moore, Organizer TEDxTopanga Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, Expert

“John is rocking the TEDx speaker world with his high energy, passionate coaching that gets to the heart of the matter quickly. He’s fun to work with. I highly recommend if you are interested in giving the talk of your life to partner with John.” - Kat Haber Organizer, TEDxVailWomen

“John came to Surfrider-LA to train activists on effective public speaking – and blew us away with his enthusiastic approach, customized coaching, insider info and concern for what we needed. He wasted no time, got us “juiced” on his infectious energy and was supremely attentive and insightful. Bravo John & Executive Speaking Success Coaching!” - Scott Harrison, Technology & Information Systems Operations Manager, South Coast & Deserts at The Nature ConservancyTop qualities: Great Results, Expert, Creative 

“John Bates is a dynamic and engaging trainer who will get you and your staff to become more effective communicators.  He has helped the staff of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries learn presentation techniques to inspire our audiences to not only care about the ocean and marine protected areas, but to be motivated to action.” – Claire Fackler – National Education Liaison and Ocean for Life Program Director NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

“I was lucky to have a coaching session via Skype before speaking at a TEDx event in Frankfurt. Although I was familiar with the concept and had watched a few TED talks on the TED website, John made me aware of the particular nature of these talks. He managed to convey how this format differs from other forms of short talks, in that the combination of a live audience and the cameras puts certain demands on those few minutes you have on stage. Forward-oriented, personal and to the point was his advice. He reminded me that most of those invited to speak at the TEDx-events are experienced speakers, but that this particular way of transmitting a message to a combined audience poses different challenges from those we are used to face. In the end, I am not sure my TED-talk will be one of the more memorable ones, but I can assure you that without John’s coaching, I would have done a lot worse!” - Marika HedinPh.D., Tekn.D. h.c., Museum Director, Vasa Museum, Swedish National Maritime Museums

“As a government employee I have been to a lot of training sessions over the years and I have done a lot of public speaking.  I am astounded at how much insight your training offered in a brief amount of time and feel it was time well spent. Your speaker Boot Camp gave me key action items to improve my presentations and give a slam dunk performance.” - Shauna Bingham, Outreach Coordinator, NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

“Thank you so very much for your support and advice at TEDxConejo this past Saturday. It was a phenomenal experience – I learned so much from the other speakers and gained so much by sharing my story with the audience. I absolutely loved the event – you did an amazing job in helping to organize it. The workshop that you led and your advice regarding presentation format and approach were most helpful and really helped me fine tune my ‘talk.’” - Gabriella Brignardello – Founder / Mi Casa de Angeles

“Michael and John helped me understand the spirit of TED. They talked about the integrity of TED, and how integrity related to being where one was supposed to be on time, and not exceeding the number of minutes allotted for our talks. They talked about the fact that the TED and TEDx talks are curated events, that it’s an honor to be chosen to speak at these events, and that we must rise to the occasion and try to give the best talk of our lives. As a result, I aimed higher. I appreciated more than ever the privilege of speaking at such an event and did my best to be worthy of it.” – Lindsay Doran, Oscar Winning Film Producer and Studio Executive

“John and I met at a TEDx event in 2011 – and from that very moment we have shared a vision to help anyone who wants to create and deliver a TED-like talk. Working with John at our TEDx Speaker Boot Camps has given me a front row seat to witness John’s innate ability to coach and give advice to speakers – which is always valuable. What makes him truly unique is that he coaches with passion, authenticity and without any kind of agenda. John is one of those rare human beings who wants to help people and share his wisdom simply because he can. Every time we hit the stage I learn something new from John – I recommend him highly!” – Michael Weiss, Managing Partner, Figure18

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Aspiring TEDx Speakers Meetup Group in Los Angeles