How Stories Happen

Improving the signature speech of a marketing entrepreneur

Go inside inside my public speaking accelerator, Design My Signature Talk, with this clip from our final group call.Watch the full video of this episode→Join the next cohort of Design My Signature Talk (starts Feb. 23, 2026)→In this episode, hear Brian Piper deliver his brand new signature story as a reliable opener of his brand new signature talk that we developed in the cohort. He used this material to get 3 brand new client leads from his first attempt.Brian is a marketing consultant and an author who works with people in higher ed. He helps them embrace AI and become more analytical and data led. But for years, he struggled with developing a SIGNATURE speech, instead building new talks every talk. He also struggled to draw from a major source of ideas and identity and stories in his life, refusing to put that material on stage -- a problem we navigated in the cohort to finally crack the code on a stronger opening story for him.***ABOUT ME, JAY ACUNZOI work with entrepreneurs, execs, and teams on the journey from competent to resonant. To do that, I help transform your thinking into clear, captivating ideas, speeches, and IP. Stop chasing attention. Become the one others seek.I’m a former marketing leader at Google and HubSpot and globally touring speaker and author. I've spent 20 years building the exact thought leadership I now help clients create—as a practitioner-peer, not a coach with templates.Work with me 1:1, book me to speak, or explore free resources at jayacunzo.comDon't market more. Matter more.Think resonance over reach.Don't be the best. Be their favorite.***ENJOY THE SHOW? PLEASE SAY THANKS!Leave a review on Apple Podcasts Leave a rating on Spotify Thanks for listening!

My process for booking keynotes (the engine most overlook)

If you want to book more and better speaking opportunities, this is the episode for you. I take a closer look at the process most speakers miss, not because they haven't had any success selling their offerings, but precisely because they have. Speaking works in the opposite way to almost everything else. It's an inverted commercial model. We need to embrace this fact and invest our time, energy, and budget accordingly, if we want to book more and better stages, charge or raise our speaker fees, and develop a sustainable pipeline of keynotes and speaking engagements.There's a paradox at the center of what it takes to do this well. Get ready to reverse your process!Join the next cohort of Design My Signature Talk (starts Feb. 23, 2026)→Get the full transcript and visual model from this episode→Get my best resources for keynote speakers→***ABOUT ME, JAY ACUNZOI work with entrepreneurs, execs, and teams on the journey from competent to resonant. To do that, I help transform your thinking into clear, captivating ideas, speeches, and IP. Stop chasing attention. Become the one others seek.I’m a former marketing leader at Google and HubSpot and globally touring speaker and author. I've spent 20 years building the exact thought leadership I now help clients create—as a practitioner-peer, not a coach with templates.Work with me 1:1, book me to speak, or explore free resources at jayacunzo.comDon't market more. Matter more.Think resonance over reach.Don't be the best. Be their favorite.***ENJOY THE SHOW? PLEASE SAY THANKS!Leave a review on Apple Podcasts Leave a rating on Spotify Thanks for listening!

Scott Stratten: Keynotes say, "I dare you to look away"

There’s this THING that happens to a public speaker and storyteller that feels addicting. It happens after you’ve internalized your content and put in the reps. You’re no longer consciously thinking about what to say next or how to say it. Instead, you can just walk up on stage, or fire up the camera, or switch on the mic, and just BE.Few speakers and storytellers have achieved that level of internalized, authentic performance like Scott Stratten (LinkedIn).Scott is a Hall of Fame public speaker and the founder of UnMarketing. He believes we can build a better business world based on integrity, community, and authenticity. Together with his wife and business partner Alison, they’ve written 6 bestselling business books, while Scott travels the world performing from stages to thousands of people at a time. To hear Scott is to experience just that. A performance.Today, we’ll hear an incredible story Scott tells in his keynotes, then we’ll talk shop about the mechanics of storytelling, the misnomers and opportunities in becoming a stronger public voice, and frankly, we have some of the most fun I’ve had on this show … ever.***ABOUT ME, JAY ACUNZOI work with entrepreneurs, execs, and teams on the journey from competent to resonant. To do that, I help transform your thinking into clear, captivating ideas, speeches, and IP. Stop chasing attention. Become the one others seek.I’m a former marketing leader at Google and HubSpot and globally touring speaker and author. I've spent 20 years building the exact thought leadership I now help clients create—as a practitioner-peer, not a coach with templates.Work with me 1:1, book me to speak, or explore free resources at jayacunzo.comDon't market more. Matter more.Think resonance over reach.Don't be the best. Be their favorite.***ENJOY THE SHOW? PLEASE SAY THANKS!Leave a review on Apple Podcasts Leave a rating on Spotify Thanks for listening!

David Burkus: Stories about others should still say something about YOU

The more experienced and accomplished my guests are, the more they tend to care deeply about the little things. They're the ones who could "wing it" and actually get away with it, and yet, they don't. In their speeches, stories, messages, and everywhere they show up, they focus on the tiny details that make their words resonate.My guest in this episode is the perfect picture of this phenomenon. It's David Burkus.David is the bestselling author of 5 books, including his latest, a national bestseller: Best Team Ever: The Surprising Science of High-Performing Teams. David's TED Talks have amassed more than 4 million views, and he's given nearly 300 keynote speeches around the world.In this episode, we hear and dissect a story about the CEO of Ford which David tells on stages. He's made it his own, finding details nobody else has and crafting a narrative nobody else can. Plus, we discuss:Why you shouldn't purely or even mainly tell stories from inside your own industryHow to calibrate your voice for different audience sizesAnd the tiniest details which add up to make the biggest impact when you communicateI've always appreciated his thoughtfulness about speaking and storytelling behind-the-scenesThis is an ADDICTING exploration of the craft of business storytelling... with the wise and wonderful David Burkus!***ABOUT ME, JAY ACUNZOI help experts and entrepreneurs win more and better clients, at higher prices, with less friction. To do that, I help transform your thinking into clear, captivating ideas, speeches, and IP. Stop chasing attention. Become the one others seek.I’m a former marketing leader at Google and HubSpot and globally touring speaker and author. I've spent 20 years building the exact thought leadership I now help clients create—as a practitioner-peer, not a coach with templates.Work with me 1:1, book me to speak, or explore free resources at jayacunzo.comDon't market more. Matter more.Think resonance over reach.Don't be the best. Be their favorite.***ENJOY THE SHOW? PLEASE SAY THANKS!Leave a review on Apple Podcasts Leave a rating on Spotify Thanks for listening!

David C. Baker: Clarity comes *in* the articulation, not before it

When you’re an expert in something, it’s tempting to assume the role of your communication is to deliver something in an academic way. Instruct, advise, and teach. Sometimes, this devolves into shoving a wall of smarts *at* the world. But you need to translate what you know into language that causes others to care. That's something today's guest embraced 10 years ago, and the combination of his ideas and his influence have put him in rare company.Today's guest is David C. Baker, a 7-time author which the New York Times once called "the expert's expert." His business, Punctuation, and his seminal books like The Business of Expertise and Selling Your Professional Service Firm help business owners achieve their next milestones with clarity and confidence. Today, we hear from David about why the EASY part of our work as experts is the insight. The hard part is wrapping insight into something delicious others want to eat.Plus, he shares a rare kind of story he wrote, and we break it down together, and you'll get a fascinating look inside the thought process and creative practice of one of the world's top voices in the business of expertise.This is a great one with the great David C. Baker!***ABOUT ME, JAY ACUNZOI help experts and entrepreneurs win more and better clients, at higher prices, with less friction. To do that, I help transform their thinking into resonant, repeatable ideas that define categories, build movements, and make them the favorite voice in their space—not just another option. Stop chasing attention. Become the one others seek. I’m a former marketing leader at Google and HubSpot and globally touring speaker and author. I've spent 20 years building the exact thought leadership I now help clients create—as a practitioner-peer, not a coach with templates.Work with me 1:1, book me to speak, or explore free resources at jayacunzo.comDon't market more. Matter more.Think resonance over reach.Don't be the best. Be their favorite.***ENJOY THE SHOW? PLEASE SAY THANKS!Leave a review on Apple Podcasts Leave a rating on Spotify Thanks for listening!