Emmy Nominated Executive Producer:I make audiences rebook you, refer you, and buy from you.
You're already good at what you do.
Your content is solid.
Your expertise is real.But there's a gap you can feel even if you can't name it.The gap between "good talk" and "how do we get you back next year?"Between "interesting podcast" and "I have to share this."Between "solid presentation" and "I need to hire you right now."That gap is rarely about needing smarter material or funnier jokes.It's almost always about two things:Whether the pieces of your message are actually working together to make your audience feel something, not just hear it.And whether your message is tuned to the specific audience in the room — so they feel like you built the whole thing just for them.Those are two different problems.I solve both.
Head writer, showrunner, executive producer. Emmy-nominated.I've run writers' rooms and built shows with Martha Stewart, Snoop Dogg, Kevin Hart, George Lopez, Arsenio Hall, and Nikki Glaser.My job every night was the same: make it land. For a live audience with a twitchy finger holding a remote.
You fixed it fast or failed publicly.That's where my skill set comes from. A career of figuring out – fast - why something isn't landing and how to fix it before the next segment.I don't see presentations. I see shows.Your keynote. Your podcast. Your annual meeting. Your next high-stakes room. I look at all of them the way a showrunner looks at a pilot episode : structure that builds, pacing that holds, an opening that connects, and an audience that can't look away.
You speak to grow your business.
Your expertise is real. But your audience can't tell you apart from the last person who stood where you're standing. The gap isn't expertise. It's one story that blows them away.You have a keynote
One you've delivered many times and a high-stakes engagement coming up where the usual version won't cut it. You need to connect in 90 seconds or you've lost the room.You have real expertise
But your keynote sounds like everyone else's. You want to walk on stage and have people say they've never heard anyone talk about your topic the way you do.You have a sharp content team
They are creating work that should be getting more traction. What you haven't tried is treating your content like a show.
I build your show: signature stories, keynotes, and interviews from the ground up ... the deep architecture that grabs attention immediately and turns expertise into something an audience can't stop thinking about.I customize your show for the room: specific audiences, specific events, so the room feels like you built the whole thing just for them ... the same way late-night writers prep a host to connect with a live audience every night.
Emmy-nominated executive producer.
A career building stories and moments under pressure.
Most speaking coaches teach you a framework. Beginning, middle, end. Problem, solution, takeaway. You learn the parts in an afternoon. Your next talk still lands the same way.Most ghostwriters hand you a script. You deliver someone else's words. It works once. You can't adapt it. You can't riff on it. It doesn't feel like yours because it isn't.Most consultants give you feedback. Slow down here. Pause there. Make eye contact. They're adjusting the performance. Nobody's looking at the engine.I come from television. My job was to design the show and figure out ... fast ... why something wasn't working and fix it before the next segment.I can teach you frameworks and give you performance notes, but my super-power is looking at your material and seeing what you can't see because you're too close to it. I think about presentations in a way you don't.Then we fix it together so it's yours, it's real, and it works every time you deliver it.
You bring me what you're working on.
A keynote. A story. A podcast. A high-stakes presentation. I listen. I diagnose. I tell you what I see.From there, the work depends on what you need:The Signature Story: You need one defining story that makes your audience choose you. We find it, build it, and polish it until it's ready for any stage. You leave with a story that differentiates, builds trust, and does the selling for you.The Quick Connection: You have a high-stakes engagement coming up with a specific audience. We customize your material so the room feels like you built the whole thing just for them. You walk in connected from the first 90 seconds.The TV Treatment: Your keynote, podcast, or content needs a full rebuild. We treat it the way a showrunner builds a pilot ... structure that builds, pacing that holds, an audience that can't look away. You leave with a show, not a presentation.It starts with a diagnostic call. I listen to what you're working on and tell you what I see. No pitch, just perspective.
“I got hired to give my highest paid keynote speech. Chris helped me connect quickly with my audience to gain the trust to deliver my content. He is the hardest working person I know in the industry and you will not go wrong if you invest in him.” - Darren Lacroix, World Champion of Public Speaking, CSP"Chris is one of the best out there... a master of his craft, a true gentleman, and outstanding at helping people apply what he knows in their work. I ALWAYS love working with Chris, and truly wish he were a full-time member of my team!" - Robert “Cujo” Teschner, F-15C Weapons School Instructor, Author, Speaker, Lt Col, USAF (ret))"In a few minutes of conversation with Chris, my presentation which I had honed over years of delivery to thousands of people was immediately taken to the next level." - Richard Bliss, Author and International Speaker"If you’re serious about competing or just want to tell stories that connect deeply with an audience, you need Chris in your corner." - Angeli Fitch, ESQ, Moth Winner"I'd always wanted to tell a funny story on The Moth stage, but I never had the guts. After working with Chris, I didn't just find the courage; I had the winning story. Turns out, humor really is a superpower." - Liubov Ananeva, Moth Winner."Even after 25 years as a motivational humorist and keynote speaker, Chris’s program finally gave me the structure and terminology I needed to make my keynotes and workshops more impactful and easier to customize." - Carol Ann Small, Motivational Humorist"Working with Chris changed everything. Instead of trying to figure it out myself, he gave me bite-sized pieces of information and brilliant techniques that made the mechanics of humor finally make sense." - Jennifer Leone, Storytelling Speech Coach (Sydney, Australia.)
"I'm not trying to be funny."Good. Most of my clients aren't. The work is about structure ... making the pieces of your message work together so your audience feels something, not just hears it. Humor shows up naturally when the structure is right. It always does. But if all we add is levity ... a light touch that builds trust and likability ... that alone improves any speech, any podcast, any presentation. This isn't about being funny. It's about being unforgettable."My topic is too serious for this."Some of my best work has been on serious stories. Any story, especially a serious one, can benefit from levity ... a light touch that makes the audience trust you enough to go somewhere heavy. I'm not going to turn your keynote into a standup set. I'm going to make sure your audience leans in instead of checking out."How long does this take?"Depends entirely on what you need. Sometimes I hear a story and the fix is one conversation. Sometimes we need to tear it apart and rebuild from the ground up. That's why everything starts with a diagnostic call ... I listen to what you're working on, tell you what I see, and we figure out the right path from there."Is this just for speakers?"No. I work with speakers, executives, podcast teams, and organizations. If you have an audience and they should be responding differently than they are, this is for you.
Let's start with a short diagnostic call ... I will listen to what you're working on and tell you what I see.That's how most of my client relationships start.
Connect with me on Linkedin, check my insights on Substack, or sniff around my TV resume on IMDB.
Most consultants see presentations. I see shows.
© Chris McGuire, 2026. All rights reserved.