High Performance Coaching for
Red Circles & Other Short Talks
with Jonathan Altfeld
Are you’re hungry to develop and deliver a short Recorded Talk? Do you have a world-class idea for the talk you’d like to deliver, but you’re not ready (or prepared) to develop your talk from the ground up? If you need a Speaker Coach with proven experience in developing a talk from soup to nuts, look no further.
Jonathan will remove all your unknowns from the process, help you design your talk, give you guidance on structuring, writing, editing, and refining your talk, and finally… design and prepare a fabulous presentation designed to go VIRAL. And ultimately, that is the name of the game.
Additionally, his NLP Background gives him the skills, knowledge and tools to help you design compelling and memorable jaw-dropping lines, include symbols or gestures that can become viral memes, time-distortion techniques and language patterns to make your narrative more compelling and persuasive… and state management coaching that will make you more confident and powerful on Red Circles or anywhere you need to speak and perform confidently!
Jonathan offers a standard package of coaching help to provide all of the guidance and feedback most people would ever need. For those who need a bit more than that, additional services are available (e.g. script-writing, etc)
We’ll be talking about some of Jonathan’s past speaker coaching clients who’ve gone on to deliver TEDx Talks, below.
Disclaimer: “TED” and “TEDx” are registered trademarks of TED Conferences, LLC. Jonathan Altfeld and Mastery InSight Institute provide independent speaker-coaching services and are not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by TED Conferences, LLC or any of its affiliates. Any references to TED or TEDx events, talks, or franchises are for descriptive purposes only.
LIST OF OFFERINGS
On the left column, you’ll see all of the services that are included in Jonathan’s Core Speaker Coaching package.
Core RED CIRCLE Speaker Plan
These services are fully included for a fee of $5,000.
- 15 hrs of 1-on-1 Zoom coaching and offline help ideally over 4-6 months time (offline = editing, etc).
- 24hr (max) response time on text/email/voicemails.
- Recommended schedule/outline
- Help designing your Core Idea
- Help with your title, bio, description (NOT the same as Core Idea).
- Help choosing most persuasive stories
- Review/edit your writing (extensive)
- Help designing stagework / gestures
- Help optimizing auditory delivery
- Help optimizing & integrating every aspect of performance (pace, gestures, footwork, pausing, expressions, and state-management)
- Review your practice performances
- Guidance with wardrobe, what to bring, self-care before the event
Add-on SERVICES
Some clients may need specialized assistance outside of our normal workflow or that would require additional time/fees.
- “Rush” – if you need all of the services listed over 3 months or less, this will incur a “priority” fee.
- If you need Jonathan to co-write your script for you from scratch, because you get writers block when you sit down to write, Jonathan is excellent at this, but this is beyond the scope of the core package, and will incur additional hourly fees.
- Would you want Jonathan to travel with you to be there at your performance? This would involve travel and time fees.
- Any help with adjacent services (once you go over 15 hours). Examples might include helping to bridge your red circle talk content into other platforms, like social media posts, chapters for books, podcasts, etc.
WHO THIS IS NOT FOR:
Unfortunately this coaching service is not available to absolutely everyone. Here are four examples of where Jonathan would refer you to others:
1. Those who want to “wing it” with their Talk, operating just from notes, or speaking off the cuff. Speakers’ content must meet stringent criteria for Talks that get accepted to the red circle platform. Franchisees regularly see ‘off the cuff’ or pseudo-science talks get rejected. (Don’t be that person; its not worth the waste of time or money). Record your own spontaneous talks on Youtube. If speakers are aiming for TED/TEDx, embrace their rules.
2. Those who don’t have a compelling idea or message to share that comes from discovery, experience, and data. Newly established life coaches trying to establish a coaching website platform are almost never accepted.
3. Those who ground themselves in what wider society would call “Pseudo-Science.” These genres (and even those that sound well-grounded initially but then slip into pseudo-science ‘under the radar’) are generally rejected.
4. Those who think they’ll be able to create a TEDx Talk that they can do anything they want with, once its recorded. Not correct. All TEDx videos are owned in full by TED Conferences LLC. You can keep your trademarks and copyrights to your content, your ideas, but the video recordings are completely owned by TED Conferences LLC.
Who –is– this for?
- A proactive leader looking to share your discoveries, or your unique expertise?
- A recognized expert looking to share a powerful message inside you?
- Are you emotionally ready to apply to speak in the Red Circle, but feel like you’re not prepared for what’s really involved? There is a LOT to do!
- Do you have 4-6 months of available time to prepare your talk?
- Able to invest in getting the best possible help to ensure massive success
- Someone highly coachable, willing to work hard and try lots of things out!
If these kinds of frames apply to you, Jonathan would love to work with you!
Jonathan’s [SHORT-FORM TALK] speaker Coaching Background
In 2018, Jonathan gave a TEDx Talk.
In 2019, Jonathan volunteered at TEDx/Youngstown to help speakers calm down and deal with last-minute nerves.
In 2020, Jonathan coached several TEDx/Youngstown Speakers from start to finish, and was the on-site speaker state-management coach.
In 2023, Jonathan coached several TEDx/Youngstown speakers from start to finish, and was the on-site speaker state-management coach, though two of these did not complete their development process and did not ultimately deliver talks. Jonathan was also the on-site speaker state-management coach.
In 2024, Jonathan coached 4 TEDx/Youngstown speakers from start to finish, and was the on-site speaker state-management coach. A couple of these speakers needed additional help writing every word of their scripts (with the speakers collaboratively co-writing). He also helped save several speakers’ scripts that were floundering as the event approached.
And in 2025, he coached 5 TEDx/Columbiana speakers from start to finish, and partially coached two others in advance of their talks in September 2025. Several needed coaching help with their scripts, and Jonathan was also the on-site speaker state-management coach.
* Jonathan is not licensed by TED Conferences LLC in any capacity; when he coaches for TEDx/Columbiana, he is one of several speaker coaches hired by franchisee Greg Smith.
When doing 1-on-1 speaker coaching, he operates entirely with his own coaching methodology to help you achieve your desired outcomes.
Jonathan’s WIDER Speaker Training Background
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Jonathan has been training 5-day Speaking courses to groups of 15 speakers maximum, since 1999. He’s developed deep expertise in being able to help -anyone- improve their presence and influence on any platform!
To learn more about Jonathan’s extensive work training speakers to speak in any setting, and if you’re more oriented towards developing ‘off the cuff’ speaking skills, consider his “SpeakerGenius” Course, here!
These courses have changed names over the years — Holographic Communication, Speaking Ingeniously, and now SpeakerGenius, but essentially all use the same winning format to level everyone up.
Combine the above expertise with his deep skills in NLP to help ‘stuck’ people stretch to new possibilities, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone capable of taking you further in the same timeframe.
5 Days… to mastering public speaking! Learn more here!
What our past Red Circle Speaker clients SAY:
Philippe Bouissou, Speaker, Author, Consultant
CEO of Blue Dots Partners
Here’s Philippe’s TEDx Talk,
at TEDx/Youngstown 2023!
“Aligning the Dots…
The Secret to Grow Any Business”
(1 million views & counting!)
Quinton Zondervan, Speaker, Policy Director at Run On Climate, former Cambridge MA City Councillor, and RadiQal Farms co-owner
Here’s Quinton’s TEDx Talk,
at TEDx/Youngstown 2024!
“Go Solar, and Save!“
Jason Flakes, Mindful Architect & Public Speaker, Inspiring mindful creativity through storytelling and design.
Kassi Kincaid, Speaker, Author, Innovator
Creator of “Book Days” literacy program
Kassi’s personal site: www.kassikincaid.com
More Red Circle Speaker client thoughts coming soon!
Approach the Red Circle with Confidence and Mastery.
If the service described on this page appeals to you, please click below, and complete our website’s contact form. Tell us about you, your message, your area of expertise. We promise to get back with you initially by email ASAP. If it feels like a potential fit, Jonathan will invite you for a FREE initial Zoom meet & greet, and share his fees and his approach with you. If that no-obligation initial call leads to alignment for all… then we’re off to the races!