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Author: johnzimmer

The Night Circus

The Night Circus

Last year, our small village in Switzerland converted a former telephone booth at the bus stop into a book exchange. It has been a great success. I have dropped off many books and in return have picked up a few gems. One of those was The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It is a beguiling […]

A lesson from Munich: You know more than you think you do

Munich

I had the good fortune to work with three dynamic individuals who have founded an exciting company in Munich, Germany. Among other things, I helped them with a three-minute pitch for funding from the European Union. While rehearsing for the pitch, they learned an important lesson, as I explain in the one-minute video below. The […]

Quotes for Public Speakers (No. 343) – Hermann Hesse

Hermann Hesse

“Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud.” Hermann Hesse

One minute of silence for Ahmaud Arbery

One minute - Ahmaud Arbery

On 7 January 2022, the three men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery were sentenced. Two received life without parole; the third received a life sentence with eligibility for parole after 30 years. The sentencing brought to a conclusion a case that had gripped the United States for almost a year. I will not dwell on the […]

Quotes for Public Speakers (No. 342) – Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs on slide presentations instead of thinking

“I hate the way people use slide presentations instead of thinking. People confront problems by creating presentations. I want them to engage, to hash things out at the table, rather than show a bunch of slides. People who know what they’re talking about don’t need PowerPoint.” Steve Jobs Photo courtesy of Ben Stanfield

Happy New Year 2022

New Years 2022

Here we are: 1 January 2022. In some ways, it feels like, in the words of the inimitable Yogi Berra, déjà vu all over again. And yet, there is something about the turning of the page from one year to another that brings with it a sense of hope for better times ahead. The seeds […]

Free Presentation Skills Assessment

Questionnaire

Jim Harvey, my co-founder of Presentation Guru, and I have been developing a comprehensive questionnaire to help people assess their level of skill when it comes to presentation skills and public speaking. We could not find any questionnaire or tool that enabled people to do so in a simple, but meaningful way. Jim and I have […]

Your audience wants meaning before detail

John Zimmer and giraffes

Imagine walking out your front door and there, right in front of you, is a giraffe. A living and breathing giraffe just standing there and looking straight at you. Your first questions will not be about the physiology of the giraffe, or the biological classification of the giraffe, or the dietary habits of the giraffe. […]

Three Lessons from the Island of Corfu

Kittens on Corfu

I recently returned from a lovely – and much needed – vacation in Corfu, Greece. Stunning scenery, beautiful weather, delicious food and, most importantly, some of the nicest people you will meet anywhere. As public speaking is never far from my mind, I am always on the lookout for inspiration from unique sources. Corfu did […]

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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