Presentation: Conversational Agility: Presence, When You Can’t Plan for It

Michael Chad Hoeppner is the President of GK Training, a firm dedicated to giving individuals, companies, and organizations the communications skills to reach their highest goals in work and life. Michael has worked with some of the world’s most influential companies and their leaders. His clients include Swiss Re, Xerox, Computer Associates, Pfizer, NYU Stern School of Business, Macy’s, the NFL and law firms around the world. He also teaches communications at Columbia University Business School, in the MBA and PhD programs.

As an individual coach, Michael assists clients in every aspect of their communication — from business development to personal presence to interpersonal dynamic to conversational agility. He has provided coaching for U.S. presidential candidates; he consults with celebrities on their messaging and thought leadership; and he regularly works with managing partners of law and finance firms, founders of companies, and c-suite executives. He is a Trusted Advisor for the Professional Development Consortium.

His background in communications, training, and teaching is diverse and rich. He studied linguistics, theatre, speech, rhetoric, philosophy, and communications at the graduate and undergraduate level. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree from the prestigious NYU Graduate Acting Program, where he trained with some of the pre-eminent voice, movement, and speech teachers in the US. He worked as an actor in film and television, on Broadway stages, and international theatre for eight years. He also volunteers his time and skills, teaching and mentoring elementary school students in New York City at the 52nd Street Project, and doing pro bono communications consulting for non-profit organizations. Michael attended Dartmouth College and Colorado College.