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Jay Acunzo

@jayacunzo.com

Speaking & messaging coach helping clients differentiate and resonate: jayacunzo.com 🎀 Host, How Stories Happen: https://episodes.fm/1736586770 πŸ’Œ My love letter to communicators with expertise and heart: https://jayacunzo.com/newsletter

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10.04.2023
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Latest posts by Jay Acunzo @jayacunzo.com

Wait, I had this exact thought the other day. Google Alerts has become void of value (mostly, it emails me when a LinkedIn post of my own has tons of traction).

Yet I get nothing when mentioned elsewhere, on websites or social media. Awful.

Can I/should I sign up already?

07.10.2025 15:04 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

If you want to be a great public speaker, the difference is really rehearsal time.

Rehearse.
Full speed.
Full volume.
Multiple times.
Alone in your home.
Until you've internalized the material.
And can show up to the speech and just... be.

25.09.2025 20:10 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Spoke to English majors at my alma mater this week.

They have no idea just how badly the workforce and world need their precise skills and perspectives.

So I addressed the cliche question they always get, out loud:

β€œWhat the hell can you do with an English degree?”

Whatever the fuck you want.

23.09.2025 21:20 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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How I'd Improve the Premise of a Marketing Legend: Reworking Joe Pulizzi's 3 Signature Projects Last week, my friend Joe Pulizzi was kind enough to cite my premise development methods and frameworks in his wonderful newsletter. ​Here's the full article on LinkedIn.​ Joe forwarded me the email ...

[NEW] How I'd Improve the Premise of a Marketing Legend: Reworking Joe Pulizzi's 3 Signature Projects

Last week, Joe emailed me a few of his projects' premises and asked, "Am I doing this right?"

I thought I'd share my reply to him publicly...
jayacunzo.com/blog/how-id-...

23.09.2025 15:13 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Just saying hey and hope you are well despite (waves hand).

Keep making things that matter to you!

15.08.2025 19:07 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Public Speaking Accelerator for Marketers and Leaders β€” Jay Acunzo With coaching and lessons from Jay, you’ll develop, practice, and deliver the 3 most important parts of a talk which instantly transform any presentation from meh to memorable. This is built for extre...

Now open! Fall cohort of my Public Speaking Accelerator. Make speaking a superpower.

This is tailor made for busy professionals who sell services (whether you get paid to speak or not β€” and I do share my details and advice on that too).

Next cohort begins Sept 8.

jayacunzo.com/signaturetalk

27.07.2025 13:09 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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How Stories Happen with Jay Acunzo Marketing Podcast Β· Updated Biweekly Β· Learn to package and communicate your expertise to resonate. Every episode, hear from exceptional entrepreneurs and marketers as they share and analyze real work...

Hi friends. I have a small request. If you follow me on here, or anywhere, and have gotten value from what I do, would you kindly rate and review my podcast, How Stories Happen?

It takes about 20 seconds.

Apple Podcasts is ideal! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

TY!

25.07.2025 02:39 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Rewatching Parks & Rec and man, I did NOT realize just how much the GOP looked at Jamm and said, "That."

Excited for when Chuck Schumer starts prancing around going, "Democracy BORING, guys! Boo! Welcome to TDazzle. It's not policy. It's a freedom-based social media voting experience."

08.07.2025 00:33 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Today proves that Republicans were serious about one promise: to cut taxes for the wealthy. All the rest was bullshit.

03.07.2025 19:31 πŸ‘ 10994 πŸ” 2744 πŸ’¬ 401 πŸ“Œ 170

It's really nice that Bluesky's default setting isn't to thrust you into a doomscroll-inducing feed the moment you log in.

These algorithms are no longer smart, if they ever were. You click 1 post about 1 topic, and they just open a firehose about that topic at you. It's relentless. It's awful.

03.07.2025 15:16 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
The Most Effective Way to Share Advice in a Speech | Reworking a Real Talk in Real Time
The Most Effective Way to Share Advice in a Speech | Reworking a Real Talk in Real Time YouTube video by Jay Acunzo

Just posted: a new coaching call, edited and shared publicly.

Watch me rework a real talk in realtime.

This is with the great Susan Boles. We talk about how to teach others your proprietary framework (in a way they actually absorb) www.youtube.com/watch?v=jok_...

30.06.2025 16:52 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Stop Demanding People Pay Attention. Starting Inspiring Them to Care. "Please welcome, our next speaker!" [Trots onto stage.] "Alright! How you doin' today?!" [Coughs. Crickets. Tiny "woo!" from one embarrassed attendee.] "OH COME ON, YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT!...

Stop Demanding People Pay Attention.
Starting Inspiring Them to Care.

jayacunzo.com/blog/stop-de...

24.06.2025 14:03 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Big ideas, well-developed. Personal stories, well-told. Perspective, style, and voice.

These have always been advantages to invest in.

Now, they're urgent.

17.06.2025 11:39 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image

I wish them both the worst.

05.06.2025 20:30 πŸ‘ 15434 πŸ” 1971 πŸ’¬ 482 πŸ“Œ 216
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How to resonate with experienced pros (stop being tricked by the internet) Listen to How to resonate with experienced pros (stop being tricked by the internet) from How Stories Happen with Jay Acunzo wherever you get your podcasts!

Last week's newsletter struck such a chord, I turned it into a podcast episode for this week:

"How to resonate with experienced pros (stop being tricked by the internet)"

Find and listen to the episode in your favorite app here: episodes.fm/1736586770/e...

04.06.2025 12:51 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The Internet Tricked Us, and Now We're Worse at Resonating with Decision-Makers The strongest thinkers have gone underground. Okay, I'm being dramatic. What I mean by that is, the distribution techniques rewarded today mostly reward people with basic ideas, 101-level tips, and t...

The strongest thinkers have gone underground.

jayacunzo.com/blog/resonat...

30.05.2025 15:19 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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How to Create Stronger Openers: The 3 Choices You're Making Every Time β€œIt’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.” Ever hear that phrase? I love it so much. It’s full of hope. It lets us know we should remain resilient despite any initial moments of friction or failu...

Here's how to create stronger openers, whether you write, speak, podcast, shoot video, or post to social media.

Disclaimer: you don't need clickbait or sensationalism to do this well.

jayacunzo.com/blog/stronge...

27.05.2025 13:23 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I've given keynotes in 25 states, 3 countries. The best advice I was given + give others to get booked more:

The speech does the work.

The speech is what you pitch (not yourself).
The speech is what you share (not "my story").
The speech is what drives invites to speak.

1 gig should = more gigs.

20.05.2025 15:14 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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How to Create Stronger Openers: The 3 Choices You're Making Every Time β€œIt’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.” Ever hear that phrase? I love it so much. It’s full of hope. It lets us know we should remain resilient despite any initial moments of friction or failu...

It's not how you start, it's how you finish.

But also? It's how you start.

Your opener is crucial to get right (and NOT via sensationalized "hooks").

When you open, you're making 3 choices. Knowing them helps you navigate them and create a better experience: jayacunzo.com/blog/stronge...

19.05.2025 13:26 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Entrepreneurs should invest more per year on being better storytellers than they do on technology.

I believe this in my bones.

18.05.2025 00:24 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

It was the best of times, it was the birthday party goodie bag contains a kazoo of times.

17.05.2025 12:30 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Not me. I still want to show people what’s possible. We all have our little areas of striving to go way above and beyond I suppose. This one is mine 😊

16.05.2025 21:21 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I'm not naturally competitive in most things, but there is 1 place where my competitive spirit flares up in a big way:

Public speaking.

Like if I'm at an event, especially a single-track event where everyone sees every speaker?

I want to win. I want to leap over the bar set by any other speaker.

16.05.2025 18:27 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
How to Create Stronger Openers: The 3 Choices You're Making Every Time β€œIt’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.” Ever hear that phrase? I love it so much. It’s full of hope. It lets us know we should remain resilient despite any initial moments of friction or failu...

How to Create Stronger Openers: The 3 Choices You're Making Every Time

jayacunzo.com/blog/stronge...

16.05.2025 10:51 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

One of the trickiest things to navigate as a public voice is how much to remind folks, "I have a business and sell this kinda thing" vs. "I'm helpful, inspiring, and worth following."

In my experience, there's a BIG gap b/w "they like my content" and "they know how to pay me, and why they would"

15.05.2025 19:08 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Most people who know me consider me perhaps to be a B2B marketer.

But really? Marketing has always been the excuse for me to tell stories both written and spoken.

14.05.2025 13:48 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

My wife and I raised a 1-yr-old into a 3-yr-old AND welcomed a baby during a global pandemic.

All while my wife landed the most competitive job opening in her field in our area, and I kept my own business going.

So nah, bro, your cold plunge-selfie IG reel-"hustle and grind" isn't impressive to me

14.05.2025 02:22 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

I referred to a β€œboss” in a public post elsewhere and multiple people confidently responded by saying β€œhe” in reference to this (female) boss.

Sigh. We’ve a ways to go, people.

13.05.2025 23:31 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

My reaction is similar to yours emotionally and also tactically: creating warm campfires for good people to gather around.

See you at SparkTogether!

13.05.2025 18:46 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

AI is proof most people will believe almost anything if delivered confidently, no matter how wrong.

Well, AI and this presidency.

13.05.2025 15:27 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0