About SpeakHQ
Since 2009 Scott Berkun has been improving people's presenting skills for live and remote events, with a fun, fast and effective approach.
After a career at Microsoft as a Program Manager and team leader, Berkun went out on his own to become an author and speaker, publishing 8 books including the bestsellers The Myths of Innovation, Making Things Happen and The Year Without Pants (about the 100% remote work culture at WordPress.com) and giving 100s of presentations and keynote talks around the world.
He documented his insider and well-researched advice, gleaned from making every possible mistake in one way or another and learning from them, in the popular and entertaining book Confessions of a Public Speaker.
Since 2009 he's been coaching speakers and teaching workshops on public speaking, helping people confidently express themselves on stage, or in remote presentations. He’s also the MC and speaker coach for Ignite Seattle, one of the largest open submission public speaking event in the Pacific Northwest.
Berkun's ideas have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Guardian, Wired magazine, USA Today, Fast Company, National Public Radio, The Huffington Post and other media.
Born and raised in Queens, NYC, he studied philosophy, computer science and design at CMU, was a manager at Microsoft (’94-’03) and WordPress.com (’10-’12), taught creativity at the University of Washington, was a co-host of CNBC’s The Business of Innovation TV show, is named on 5 U.S. patents, was a contributor for Harvard Business and BusinessWeek, and has appeared as an expert on various subjects on CNN, CNBC, NPR and MSNBC. He was a a finalist in the Amtrak 2014 writer’s residency program and the director of the short film We Make Seattle.
