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Author: johnzimmer

What a Medieval Fortress Can Teach You About Public Speaking

Build your presentation like a fortress for better presentation structure

What does a medieval fortress have in common with presentation structure? More than you might think. Recently, I visited Akershus Fortress in Oslo, a stronghold that has stood watch over the city for more than 700 years. As I walked the ramparts, it struck me that the very elements that made this fortress endure are […]

Breaking the Pattern

Break the pattern like in a great musical composition

This is a guest post by Stephen Welch. He is an expert in communication, HR and professional change. Stephen is the Director and Co-founder of Archetypical Ltd, the company behind Corporate Snakes and Career Ladders, a new approach to learning through play. He is also a visiting lecturer at the University of London. You can find […]

Content or Delivery: Which Matters More?

Content or delivery? This is one of the oldest and most frequently asked questions in public speaking: What’s more important—what you say, or how you say it? In truth, both are essential. Content is the foundation of your message. It’s what gives your speech structure, purpose and value. Without good content, all the style in the […]

5 tips for drinking water on stage

Why do some speakers look polished even when taking a water break, while others seem to fumble? Most speakers focus on their content and delivery, but overlook the small things that can make or break their stage presence. Something as simple as how you drink can either enhance your professionalism or create an awkward distraction. […]

Create mental bookmarks for your audience

Mental bookmarks

I love reading books. Especially physical books. (Remember them?) If you are going to read a physical book, you will undoubtedly want to use a bookmark so that you know exactly where you stopped when you put the book down. It might be a scrap of paper. It might be a treasured bookmark that you […]

Take a risk

Take a risk

It can be scary to take a risk. But as the saying goes: No risk, no reward. Last month, I spoke at the 2025 edition of the Summer School of Rhetoric in Hämeenlinna, Finland. My talk was about how speakers can connect with their audiences when speaking. One of the points I stressed was the […]

Sore throat before a speech?

Sore throat

A sore throat is exactly what I was dealing with earlier this month in Hämeenlinna, Finland. I was speaking at the Summer School of Rhetoric (Retoriikan kesäkoulu). On 5 June, I ran a full-day workshop for 25 people and on 6 June, I gave a 40-minute talk to 200 people at the conference. The evening […]

⬇️ Movement on Stage Emphasizes an Idea ⬆️

Movement on stage

Your movement on stage is important. Moving 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙 on stage can be a simple, but powerful way to emphasize an idea. When you want to emphasize a positive idea, take a step or two forward. When you want to emphasize a negative idea, take a step or two backward. Examples of movement on […]

𝙍𝙀𝙈 𝙏𝙀𝙉𝙀, 𝙑𝙀𝙍𝘽𝘼 𝙎𝙀𝙌𝙐𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙀𝙍

Cato the Elder

📜 𝙍𝙀𝙈 𝙏𝙀𝙉𝙀, 𝙑𝙀𝙍𝘽𝘼 𝙎𝙀𝙌𝙐𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙀𝙍 📜 “Grasp hold of your subject, the words will follow.” – Cato the Elder There is often a temptation, when preparing to speak, to focus on the words. We spend hours crafting sentences, rehearsing phrasing, tweaking the script. All in pursuit of saying it just right. And yet, Cato the Elder—speaking […]

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Testimonials

John delivered a keynote address about the importance of public speaking to 80 senior members of Gore’s Medical Device Europe team at an important sales event. He was informative, engaging and inspirational. Everyone was motivated to improve their public speaking skills. Following his keynote, John has led public speaking workshops for Gore in Barcelona and Munich. He is an outstanding speaker who thinks carefully about the needs of his audience well before he steps on stage.

Karsta Goetze

TA Leader, Gore and Associates

I first got in touch with John while preparing to speak at TED Global about my work on ProtonMail. John helped me to sharpen the presentation and get on point faster, making the talk more focused and impactful. My speech was very well received, has since reached almost 1.8 million people and was successful in explaining a complex subject (email encryption) to a general audience.

Andy Yen

CEO, Proton Technologies

John gave the opening keynote on the second day of our unit’s recent offsite in Geneva, addressing an audience of 100+ attendees with a wealth of tips and techniques to deliver powerful, memorable presentations. I applied some of these techniques the very next week in an internal presentation, and I’ve been asked to give that presentation again to senior management, which has NEVER happened before. John is one of the greatest speakers I know and I can recommend his services without reservation.

David Lindelöf

Senior Data Scientist, Expedia Group

After a morning of team building activities using improvisation as the conduit, John came on stage to close the staff event which was organised in Chamonix, France. His energy and presence were immediately felt by all the members of staff. The work put into the preparation of his speech was evident and by sharing some his own stories, he was able to conduct a closing inspirational speech which was relevant, powerful and impactful for all at IRU. The whole team left feeling engaged and motivated to tackle the 2019 objectives ahead. Thank you, John.

Umberto de Pretto

Secretary General, World Road Transport Organization

I was expecting a few speaking tips and tricks and a few fun exercises, but you went above and beyond – and sideways. You taught me to stand tall. You taught me to anchor myself. You taught me to breathe. You taught me to open up. You taught me to look people in the eye. You taught me to tell the truth. You taught me to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. I got more than I bargained for in the best possible way.

Thuy Khoc-Bilon

World Cancer Day Campaign Manager, Union for International Cancer Control

John gave a brilliant presentation on public speaking during the UN EMERGE programme in Geneva (a two days workshop on leadership development for a group of female staff members working in the UN organizations in Geneva). His talk was inspirational and practical, thanks to the many techniques and tips he shared with the audience. His teaching can dramatically change our public speaking performance and enable us as presenters to have a real and powerful impact. Thank you, John, for your great contribution!

Sara Canna

HR Specialist, World Health Organization

John is a genuine communication innovator. His seminars on gamification of public speaking learning and his interactive Rhetoric game at our conference set the tone for change and improvement in our organisation. The quality of his input, the impact he made with his audience and his effortlessly engaging style made it easy to get on board with his core messages and won over some delegates who were extremely skeptical as to the efficacy of games for learning. I simply cannot recommend him highly enough.

Thomas Scott

National Education Director, Association of Speakers Clubs UK

John joined our Global Sales Meeting in Segovia, Spain and we all participated in his “Improv(e) your Work!” session. I say “all” because it really was all interactive, participatory, learning and enjoyable. The session surprised everybody and was a fresh-air activity that brought a lot of self-reflection and insights to improve trust and confidence in each other inside our team. It´s all about communication and a good manner of speaking!”

Jon Lopez

General Manager Europe, Hayward Industries

Thank you very much for the excellent presentation skills session. The feedback I received was very positive. Everyone enjoyed the good mix of listening to your speech, co-developing a concrete take-away and the personal learning experience. We all feel more devoted to the task ahead, more able to succeed and an elevated team spirit. Delivering this in a short time, both in session and in preparation, is outstanding!

Henning Dehler

CFO European Dairy Supply Chain & Operations, Danone

Thanks to John’s excellent workshop, I have learned many important tips and techniques to become an effective public speaker. John is a fantastic speaker and teacher, with extensive knowledge of the field. His workshop was a great experience and has proven extremely useful for me in my professional and personal life.

Eric Thuillard

Senior Sales Manager, Sunrise Communications

John’s presentation skills training was a terrific investment of my time. I increased my skills in this important area and feel more comfortable when speaking to an audience. John provided the right mix between theory and practice.

Diego Brait

Director of the Jura Region, BKW Energie AG

Be BOLD. Those two words got stuck in my head and in the heads of all those ADP leaders and associates that had the privilege to see John on stage. He was our keynote speaker at our annual convention in Barcelona, and his message still remains! John puts his heart in every word. Few speakers are so credible, humble and yet super strong with large audiences!

Guadalupe Garcia

Senior Director and Talent Partner, ADP International