Speaker on stage in front of an audience.

Pick Up the Mic

You know how most talks at conferences suck? I fix that.
Let’s make you stand out.

5-week public speaking accelerator for founders, entrepreneurs, and emerging leaders who need to take the stage.

June 10th – July 8th (In Progress)

The next cohort will be announced via my twice monthly newsletter, Permission to Experiment.

Sign me up

It’s conference season and “give a talk” is on your list (or has been put on your list).

You’ve watched others in your space take the stage (some of them good, most of them just surviving) and you think: I have more or better things to say than that.

But you haven’t pitched. Or you pitched once, got booked, got on stage, and then nothing followed because the talk didn’t stick.

This course fixes both.

Who this is for

Whether you’re a founder or entrepreneur, or a software dev or operator or marketer who needs to get on stage, this course is for you.

You know it’s time for you to give a talk, or you’ve been voluntold by someone on your team, this course will take you from talk idea to ready-to-go talk with support every step of the way.

You have something important to say. This is the course to get it on stage, confidently.

The problem with most talks

Founders and operators are subject matter experts first. They learned to communicate in a world that rewards information density. Prepping for the conference stage looks like: fill a deck with bullets, rehearse once, and show up.

The end result? A wall of information at the audience, and the speaker left wondering why nothing sticks, why the leads don’t materialize, and why they aren’t invited back.

The gap is process and architecture.

This course will help you solidify your process. One that gets clear on your goals (WHY) and your audience (WHO) before even opening a slide. Then intentionally designs WHAT you will say and HOW you will say it so that you resonate with your audience and reach your goals.

You’ll leave with a story architecture that makes it easy to turn your experience into a compelling story that will stick with your audience two weeks (and longer!) later.

What you walk away with

A talk ready for stage: title, description, script, deck, and the practice and feedback to know you can deliver it well.

Pitch it today, deliver it tomorrow.

Plus: a workflow for building the next one, and the instincts to know what makes a talk interesting.

The framework

This course works through four questions in order.

Why. Two layers. The talk’s goal: what you want your audience to feel, know, or do after they hear you, and how you want to haunt them two weeks later. And the personal why: why this stage, why now. Most people skip this entirely and open a deck.

Who. The specific audience. Who’s in the room? Who needs to hear you?

What. The content. Outline, story, slides. What is the core of your message? What are the stories that support it? What makes it unique and intriguing? What earns the spot at the front of the room?

How. Delivery. Voice and presence. How do you embody the talk? How does your physicality, inflection, and vocal tone double the impact of your words?

Perform. You deliver your talk to the peers, it’s recorded, and you walk out with something ready to pitch to conferences.

What’s included

5 weeks.
Max 10 participants.

4 live 90-minute group sessions on Zoom.
1 live 2-hour performance + recording session via Zoom

Plus one 30-minute 1:1 with me, your coach.

Beta pricing: $850.
Starts June 10th.

Schedule

Week 1: Why and Who
Wednesday June 10th — 5pm–6:30pm PT

Week 2: What — Part 1: Outline and story
Tuesday June 16th — 5pm–6:30pm PT

Week 3: What — Part 2: Make it sticky and slides
Tuesday June 23rd — 5pm–6:30pm PT

Week 4: How
Wednesday July 1st — 5pm–6:30pm PT

Week 5: Perform
Wednesday July 8th — 5pm–7pm PT

1:1 sessions booked between Week 1 and Week 5.

All group and individual sessions via Zoom

The proof

My clients have delivered 6 TED Talks, 17 TEDx Talks, 31 industry keynotes, and closed $142 million in funding. Their talks have generated millions of YouTube views.

That happens when you stop avoiding the stage, go beyond presenting information, and start telling a story.

I’ve been coaching speakers for 13 years: hundreds of reps with speakers at every level. First-time presenters. Researchers with two PhDs and no stage time. Performers who’d been on stage for decades but had never had to structure their own material. Founders with brilliant ideas and no communication skills.

What I learned across all of them: the gap is almost always story structure and process.

About Tre

I teach highly technical founders how to talk like humans. For 4 years I’ve been helping founders and executives in deep tech, biotech, climate solutions and other high complexity spaces, communicate with impact so they can raise funds, build awareness, increase revenue, and recruit talent.

I’ve been coaching speakers of all kinds and skill level for 13 years across stages like Odd Salon and The Long Now Foundation

I work directly. I won’t bullshit you. The feedback is specific, actionable, and sometimes harder to hear than you’d like, but always in your best interest. That’s exactly why it works.

A client messaged me one word after her first real talk: “survived.” Two years later, a different message came in: “I killed it.” That’s the arc. Avoidance to survival to delivery to owning the room, to building movements. It takes repetition to get there, which is why most of my clients are long-term: the process takes time to make it second nature. But it works.

You know how most talks at conferences suck? I fix that. Let’s make you stand out.

The next cohort will be announced via my twice monthly newsletter, Permission to Experiment.

Sign me up

FAQ

Do I need to have a topic already?

No. Week 1 includes work to help you find and sharpen your topic. If you have a general direction, great. If you have a Notion doc full of half-formed ideas, that counts. You don’t need to arrive with anything polished, just something worth saying.

I've never given a solo talk. Is this too advanced for me?

This is the right place to start. The course builds the architecture from scratch. You don’t need prior stage time to do the work or deliver in Week 5. You need something worth saying and the commitment to build it.

I've given talks before. Is this too basic?

Probably not. Most experienced speakers have reps but not process. If your talks feel inconsistent (sometimes landing, sometimes not) that’s a process problem. This course gives you a repeatable system for building talks that work, not just better delivery on the ones you already have.

My field is very technical. Will you understand what I do?

Yes. I’ve coached founders in deep tech, biotech, AI, conservation, and research. I don’t need to be the expert in your field. That’s your job. My job is to understand your audience well enough to help you build something that lands with them. I get up to speed fast, and I ask a lot of questions.

What does stage ready actually mean?

You leave with a title, a conference-submission description, a script, a slide deck, and a recorded delivery. You can submit to a conference CFP tonight and walk on stage tomorrow. That’s what stage ready means: the full package, not a work in progress.

How much time should I plan for each week beyond the sessions?

2–3 hours. Each week has worksheets and a recording assignment. Week 4 is the heaviest; that’s when you practice. If you put the time in between sessions, you’ll finish Week 5 with something real. If you don’t, you won’t. This is honest, not a warning.

What if I miss a session?

All sessions are recorded. If you miss one, watch the recording within a day so you can stay on track with that week’s homework. The one session you can’t skip is Week 5, the live performance. That’s when the cohort gives you feedback, and that’s where you get the recording you leave with. If something comes up and you genuinely can’t make it, send me a recording within a day and I’ll give you written feedback. But you’ll miss the live experience, and that matters.

How is this different from Toastmasters or other speaking programs?

Toastmasters builds general speaking reps over months for anyone. It is a generalized program with generalized support. This course builds one specific, complete talk in 5 weeks. It is built for people in tech and other complex spaces with specific support for you. You leave with a deliverable (title, description, script, deck, recording) not just improved skills. The focus is story architecture and the process of building a talk that does something. That’s a different goal.

What does beta pricing mean? Is there a refund policy?

Beta pricing means $850 while this first group. When the beta is over, the price goes up, likely by 40-50%. So this is the lowest it’ll be.
On refunds: if you attend every session, turn in all the homework, show up to your 1:1, do the live performance, and still feel you didn’t get value, you can request a refund of up to 75%. That offer exists because I’m confident in the process, and because a guarantee only means something if it’s specific.

Who else will be in the cohort? Will I be presenting in front of strangers before I'm ready?

Max 10 people, all founders, operators, and entrepreneurs working toward the same goal. You’ll give feedback to each other throughout the course using a structured format, not open critique. By Week 5, these won’t feel like strangers. And you won’t deliver your talk until you’re ready, because the whole course is building toward that moment.