Founding Cohort · Starts November 3
Turn what you already know into a keynote companies pay for.
Six weeks with speaker coach Jerry Won. Make 2027 the year you take your content and knowledge to the stage!
Limited seats. Special founding cohort pricing.
You built your audience online. In 2027, take the stage.
Corporate and conference calendars for the first half of 2027 get set between now and January. The people who get those stages had a finished talk, a one-sheet, and a number when someone asked. You'll have all three before the year ends.
I booked my first $100,000 in speaking fees without a website or a demo reel. What I had was a talk, a one-sheet, and a fee I could say out loud. That's what this program builds.
Before the first paid gig
Everyone in this industry works with you after you're already booked. Speaker bureaus want a finished talk, a one-sheet, and a fee before they'll list you. Managers want a track record before they'll take a percentage. The high-end programs want ten paid keynotes a year before they'll take your call. This program starts earlier than any of them. I've been booked through WSB, BigSpeak, AAE, and Gravity, and every one of them needed the same three things first. That's the package you build here, and you'll meet a bureau on a live call in session five.
How the keynote gets built
Sessions one to three write it: pick the talk, build the structure with my 5-5-5 framework, draft it from material you already have, and get my notes on the draft. Session four packages it. Session five sells it. Session six, you deliver the opening live.
Six live sessions
Pick the one talk.
Which piece of what you know is a keynote, and the one-sentence promise an organizer buys.
Structure.
The 5-5-5 build from material you already have.
Draft and stories.
Your first full draft, with my notes.
Bio, one-sheet, rate card.
Your Bold Bio in three versions, the one-sheet built on my template, and a number you can say without flinching.
The pitch system.
Target list, the email that gets replies, the follow-up cadence. Live guest call with a speaker bureau.
Your opening, live.
Ten minutes in front of the group, with notes.
November 3 to December 15. Thanksgiving week off.
You leave with
- ✓A finished 45-minute keynote
- ✓A speaker one-sheet and bio
- ✓A rate card, and how to say the number out loud
- ✓A pitch system: who to email, what to say, when to follow up
This is for you if
You're a creator, author, expert, or founder who wants to add paid speaking to the business you already have. Someone has asked if you speak and you didn't know what to send or charge. You want a revenue line that pays $5,000 to $25,000 per appearance.
Includes the Speaker Starter Set
The cohort builds the talk. The Speaker Starter Set is the templates and documents you keep using after it: the one-sheet, the three-version bio, my engagement proposal, speaking agreement, and invoice, the pre-event checklists, the fee and travel buyout guidance, and the guide to 60-plus speaker bureaus.
Also included
- ✓The rate card worksheet
- ✓25 pitch email templates
- ✓Live guest call with a speaker bureau
- ✓Session recordings, yours to download and keep
- ✓A Founding Member listing on CreatorSpeakers.com when the roster launches in 2027
Booked through WSB, BigSpeak, AAE, and Gravity
100+ keynotes delivered
JPMorgan, Google, Meta, Harvard Business School
Featured in Forbes, Business Insider, and CNBC
Who's teaching
Jerry Won is a former management consultant turned keynote speaker. He has delivered more than 100 keynotes for companies including JPMorgan, Google, Meta, and Harvard Business School, and has been booked through WSB, BigSpeak, AAE, and Gravity Speakers. He hosted a conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House, hosted SHRM's Tomorrowist podcast, is writing GET LOUD for Wiley, and has been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, and CNBC. He built the 5-5-5 storytelling framework that runs through every session. Michigan Ross MBA, USC Marshall BS.
"When I was working on my book and speaking, Jerry was always the one I turned to for help. Unlike coaches who focus on theoretical ideas, Jerry’s no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point advice is grounded in his own experience as a speaker with a ton of real-world knowledge (like… over 100 stages). If you’re an author, creator, or speaker who wants to get on bigger stages and get loud."
"Jerry brought deep insight and thoughtful perspective to every step of the SXSW application process. He kept me focused and moving forward while also being an exceptional brainstorming partner, helping me sharpen my ideas and present them in the most compelling and authentic way possible."
A note from Jerry
"I wasn't feeling great. Didn't take my flight from NYC last night. See you tomorrow."
That text came in at 8:20am Eastern on December 10, 2018. I was sitting in a Detroit office after a red-eye from LA. It was my son's second birthday. I'd asked my senior manager the week before if I could work from home that day, and she'd told me she needed me earlier than usual. So I got on the plane, and she didn't.
I spent that day deciding that nobody inside a corporate structure would ever again get to write that part of my story. It took me eight more months to leave. In August 2019 I bet on my own voice, and I've built a speaking career from it that's taken me to Google, JPMorgan, and the White House, and let me be the kind of dad I choose to be. I haven't missed a birthday since.
I had none of what's in this program when I started. I built the talk, the one-sheet, the fee, and the pitch by trial and error, and I left thousands of dollars on the table before I learned what my value was and how to say it. Six weeks with me is the shorter learning curve I wish someone had handed me.
Let's get loud.
Jerry
Founding Cohort Price
$3,000 paid in full
or two payments of $1,750
Special founding cohort pricing. Limited seats.
Price goes to $5,000 in 2027.
The full six-week program, my notes on your draft, the live opening run, the Speaker Starter Set, everything listed above, and a Founding Member listing on the roster.
ApplyStart with a number that scares you and add a bit more. One booked keynote pays this back.
Decide by session three
Attend the first three sessions and submit your draft. If it's not what you expected, say so by November 20 for a full refund.
Finish it. Do the work and if you don't leave with a finished keynote, one-sheet, and rate card, I keep working with you until you do.
Important terms
No booking guarantee in the Founding Cohort. You leave ready; you earn the bookings. The Intensive is the stated exception.
No exclusivity. Your talk, your one-sheet, and your relationships are yours.
By application. I read every one, and I say no when the fit isn't there.
Want to take the extra step?
The Intensive
Three seats, by application only. For the most serious. Everything in the Founding Cohort, plus a VIP Day with me in LA or Scottsdale: a full day on your talk and your business, professional content capture, new headshots, feedback on every draft, direct access between sessions, and a booked 2027 engagement of $10,000 or more, or your money back.
Guarantee terms: complete all six sessions, submit your draft on schedule, complete your VIP Day, and send at least 30 pitches from your system by March 31, 2027. Window runs through December 31, 2027.
What this is not
In the Founding Cohort, I don't book you. Nobody who promises bookings to a full cohort can deliver, and I won't pretend otherwise. What I can promise is that you'll finish with a talk, a one-sheet, and a rate card good enough that when the ask comes, you're ready. Getting the ask is the part we build your pitch system for. The Intensive is different because there are three of you, and I'll be in your corner personally.
FAQ
Do I need to be a creator?+
No. Authors, executives, coaches, founders, and practitioners are welcome. You need expertise people learn from and a willingness to write.
Do I need to have spoken before?+
No.
Do I need a demo reel or a website?+
No. I booked my first $100,000 without either. If you want one later, the Starter Set covers how.
What counts as a finished keynote?+
A complete structure, every story written in beats, your opening and close scripted, and one timed 45-minute run-through. That's what a bureau or an organizer calls ready.
What counts as the draft?+
Your talk's one-sentence promise, the full structure with each story named, and your opening written in full. Due November 20.
When do the sessions run?+
Tuesdays at 10am Pacific, November 3 to December 15, with Thanksgiving week off.
What if I miss a session?+
Replays go out the same day, and my notes on your draft don't depend on attendance. The refund window requires the first three sessions live.
How do we work between sessions?+
You write, I read. Your draft lives in a shared Google Doc and you get my written notes. Questions come to my email and I answer within a day.
Do you help me get booked?+
Not in the cohort. See "What this is not." The Intensive includes a booking guarantee for three people.
What's a speaker bureau and why should I care?+
A bureau is an agency that places speakers with companies and conferences. They fill hundreds of stages a year and take 20 to 30 percent of the fee. Most won't list you without a finished talk, a one-sheet, and a fee, which is what you build here.
What's the roster?+
A page on CreatorSpeakers.com, launching in 2027, listing speakers I've coached, the page I'll point bureaus and organizers to. Everyone who completes a cohort before it launches is listed as a Founding Member.
I already bought the Speaker Starter Set.+
Then you're ahead. Note it on the application and I'll credit it toward your seat.
When's the next cohort?+
Early 2027, at $5,000. No date yet.
How much time outside the sessions?+
Two to three hours a week of writing between sessions one and four, less after that.
Apply
Applications take about five minutes. I read every one within 24 hours, and acceptance comes with your payment link. The first ten accepted get a 20-minute private kickoff call before session one.
Apply nowNot ready to apply? Come to a free hour on Wednesday, October 21, 10am Pacific: what organizers need from you, what to charge, and how to pitch.
Can't make it? Apply anyway — we'll send you the recording.