John K. Coyle

John was highly recommended to me by the founders of IDEO design firm and, magically, within 24 hours after the introduction he was at my doorstep in southern Baja (Mexico) because he had a trip planned there and this is where we were starting our Modern Elder Academy. One year later, John did a phenomenal job co-leading (with me) our very first workshop cohort focused on The Art of Really Living. John offers an unusually wide array of skills as a speaking and design thinking: part-personal story, part-research geek, part-experiential. Our midlife students were duly impressed and we're looking forward to bringing John back again. On a personal side, John was a joy to co-lead with. He's very organized, friendly, open to suggestions, and a lot of fun. I can't say enough good things about John. Lastly, he's an exceptionally dynamic speaker the kind who rivets an audience in such a way that they lose track of time....as he gives a speech about losing track of time. :)

In a sea of sameness with a seemingly infinite number of coaches, sages, and sherpas professing their points of view, John is truly unique. Few people can make sense of the profound interdependence of time, creative confidence, design thinking, and team interaction and connection. John does exactly that in a delightful, insightful, human, and memorable way. Ironically, for a guy who realized the very pinnacle of speed in the Olympics, John helps people slow down, truly seize the day, week, year, and opportunity we all have to make a profound difference in the world. If you have a chance to bring him in as a speaker, just do it.

John is an exceptional thought leader and elevates every single event he is a part of. His presentations are thoughtful, inspiring and effective. Our audiences love John's keynotes and always leave glowing reviews. He last spoke for us in December 2023 and in the past week I've heard from two people who are still raving about his presentation.

John was a speaker and I was a facilitator at a leadership conference in Oman. It has taken me 6 weeks to write this recommendation because even as a facilitator and not a participant, John's sessions challenged me to think in a different way. Frankly, it is very rare at this point in my career to hear a speaker at leadership conference that sticks with me the way John's sessions have, and isn't that the point of any session at a leadership conference? Shouldn't the sessions stick with you? Shouldn't the sessions challenge you? Shouldn't the sessions cause a shift in how you think and act? I have started and stopped writing this multiple times over the past six weeks. I have written and deleted all kinds of platitudes and words that really don't mean much, like life-changing, awesome, amazing.... In the end, John challenged me and made me really evaluate my thinking and how I treat time and six weeks later his sessions are still causing me to stop and think. Instead of a leadership session being a point in time, shouldn't it be something that transcends that point in time and stays with you? It's a rhetorical question. The answer is a resounding yes.

Having attended John Coyle's sessions on Design Thinking and Time Expansion recently, I must say I found him to be an excellent speaker/presenter. He has a flair for presenting complex concepts wrapped in anecdotes and effective story telling. This resulted in two main objectives: 1) his rapt audience was engaged and related extensively to what he was saying & 2) I, for one, along with others in the audience did come away having made a concrete decision to apply select ideas/principles to my life. He has a crisp, to the point and relatable style of connecting with a diverse audience. I enjoyed it and look forward to possibly attending more.

John is a great speaker and always brings an extraordinary content to auditorium. I have been listening John in different environments and countries the last four years and always enjoyed his flexibility and engaging manner of delivering deep things in an easy way. Also I hosted him in Armenia for Regional HR Conference as a keynote speaker and would definitely state- he brought success to our event. Would strongly recommend John to any event where you want to have mindfulness, great insights and positive emotions in the air.

John is engaging, professional, and smart, and he gives a great performance on stage. I really enjoyed his talk and left with plenty of thoughts on personal and professional development. I highly recommend considering John for your next corporate and/or event speaker!

I had three outstanding sessions with John Coyle and I can tell that John is an impressive speaker and storyteller. His last session at my participation at MELA 13 was about his life defining moment. I can tell that I will remember each and every piece of it , till the end of my life. Beyond being a perfect storyteller. John introduced to me and to other participants the concept of design thinking, which added to our knowledge, as well. For me, it was an interesting experience to meet an Olympic champion who has this unique experience and outstanding business leadership skills, as well. I would recommend John to any institution looking for a perfect speaker on leadership, innovation and personal enrichment topics.

I met John at a conference where he was the keynote speaker. I was so moved by what he shared. I attend conferences or events with some regularity and invariably there's a speaker talking about something that's supposed to be encouraging or intended to prompt the audience to think... or whatever. Often times the speaker is disingenuous or worse, unrelatable. That's not John. I left with something valuable and memorable. He was also funny :) I'd recommend John for other speaking engagements.

I had the pleasure of hearing from keynote speaker, John K. Coyle who shares real-life stories from his experiences of finding his own strengths and resilience as an Olympian, entrepreneur, and father. John captures the audience with his energy and interesting stories. John empowers his audience to explore their strengths, to take action in being the creator of their own stories and to create more time (in your days) with meaningful experiences. You'll walk away feeling inspired to make memories with the time you have!

"Simply put, John is a compelling, engaging speaker. Time and time again, I've witnessed him captivate audiences with his dynamic storytelling. The way in which he blends his diverse and impressive experiences and insights pulls in even the most challenging of audiences. His message is clear and powerful, leaving participants inspired and connected. John's unique and highly effective formula makes him a surefire hit."

"You know when you meet John that something big is going to happen. He is able to story tell his way through any topic with entertaining examples that keep you thinking about them the next day and, well, the next week. I witnessed John deliver an innovation presentation at a large industry conference and he captivated the audience with each and every point and had them asking for more and requesting his presence as next year's keynote. If you are looking to bring innovation to your organization or catapult your team's strengths to the next level, John is the man you want to talk to."

John is a natural-born public speaker, and not in the way that he's just good with memorizing a line to share with an audience. He's passionate, emotional, charismatic, and fantastic at what he does. John speaks in a way that feels intimate - as though you were simply chatting with him in a living room over a glass of beer. He's the first TEDxNaperville speaker to give two talks, each unique and radical and delivered with such gusto and impact that he's become one of our most viewed speakers.

I have had the pleasure of attending several events where John has been the key speaker - both in front of 100 people and crowds of thousands. He is truly riveting - his talent is weaving facts, examples and intellectual principles into engaging stories which bring his topics to life for his audiences. Even on the few occasions I've been part of his preparation and know his topics, I still walk away from the main event with pages of notes and invaluable nuggets I can use in my own professional and even personal life.

John Coyle was extraordinary. He was universally embraced by our City team and provided extremely valuable training to all those in attendance. The response from staff was overwhelming. He did a fantastic job. Incredible professional with an equally amazing story. We can't wait to have him back!

I've had the pleasure of seeing John Coyle speak many times over the past several years, and his Tedx talk certainly lived up to my high expectations. John's delivery and message was genuine; he conveyed a real sense of sincerity in wishing well for others and wanting each person to achieve his or her own personal happiness. His presentation was compelling in that he delivered a clear call to action in terms of instructing people how to take a realistic yet non-judgmental view of themselves and to play to their strengths - John made a definite point and provided clear takeaways for the audience. John has a gift for creating content that is both understandable and easy to relate to. Even though the experience he described was extraordinary, he described it with humility in a way that made him seem like a regular guy - just like the rest of us, but with no "aww, shucks, I'm nothing special" pretense. The visuals John had to accompany his presentation were clean and simple; they supported his delivery very well. I'm very much looking forward to his next speaking engagement!

John's ability to grip an audience, to craft a business story on very human terms, to tie it back to the success of his team's efforts is one the best I have ever seen. Even after John moved on from US Cellular, his story of their loyalty transformation was so compelling and well delivered that we continued to ask him to speak to audiences around the world

To say that John is intellectually creative, personally engaging, and a gifted communicator would only understate the case. He's an unusually high bandwidth individual, who's thought processes extend well beyond any boundaries presented, who's written communication skills are unusually high, and who's speaking and presentation capabilities are atypically charismatic. While at US Cellular, he wasn't only well-liked, he was also broadly admired -- and served as both catalyst and leader for US Cellular's most ambitious foray into the development of an innovative -- and unique within the industry -- service offering.