ABOUT US

You are looking for experience you can count on.

Whether you’re searching for public speaking lessons, organizing a workshop, or booking a speaker, you are looking for someone you can trust.

With nearly 90 years of combined experience, our team has inspired crowds, lead companies, instructed at universities, performed for the masses, authored books, chaired boards, coached leaders, and consulted for businesses.

Our mission is to turn potential into actual, by advancing people in communication, leadership, and confidence.

We accomplish our mission through:

Virtual Public Speaking Programs
Speaking Engagements
Communication Workshops
Personal Coaching
Practical Books

Our team looks forward to working with you to advance your goals.

MIKE ACKER – EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATION COACH & CEO OF ADVANCE

Growing up in Mexico helped Mike learn confidence in a multicultural setting, as he overcame many challenges to learn leadership, intercultural communication, and fluency in Spanish.

He moved to the United States for university and achieved high ranks in Debate Nationals against opponents from Stanford and Harvard, among other colleges. After graduation, he embarked on a journey of professional speaking, organizational management, and executive leadership. His experience became central as he founded ADVANCE, authored bestselling books, and provides executive communication coaching.

Outside of being a CEO-coach-practitioner, he also enjoys rock climbing, skiing, building Legos with his son, and taking his wife out on dates. Mike strongly believes in the power of prayer, exercise, journaling, and the real community to balance out the stresses of life.

AIMÉE BRUNEAU – LEAD COACH & SCHOOL CONCIERGE

University Professor, audiobook narrator, children’s book author, theatre director, yoga teacher, and world travel addict combine to paint a picture of Aimée. She earned her MFA in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater. Aimée enjoys helping people to shape their stories – real and imagined – and to present themselves authentically.

Aimée leads our online communication programs: Speak to Overcome, Speak to Advance, and upcoming program, Speak Online.

MATT BARNETT – COMMUNICATION & CONTENT COACH

Entrepreneur, director, and speaker, Matt has lived a varied life with many successful endeavors: turning a school into a purposeful and profitable venture, launching his own companies, and raising up successors in his previous career path. Matt is a lot of fun to be around, and yet very serious about content and how to organize material for speeches. As the CEO of his own new venture, he joins mentor, Mike Acker, and works with ADVANCE to stay active in coaching and speaking.

JADA SWANSON – COMMUNICATION & VOCAL COACH

Jada Swanson is a Southerner who now calls the Pacific Northwest home. For over 25 years, she has been performing, speaking, teaching, and coaching. Her career began as a singer and actress, but later migrated into public speaking and non-profit leadership. One of her greatest joys is discovering and developing other’s gifts and talents, so they might reach their full potential.

CODY SMITH – COMMUNICATION & PLATFORM COACH

Author of several books, Cody excels in bringing out the best in people. He exudes optimism and a positive outlook. As a member of the Air Force, Cody understands discipline, time management, and motivation. Besides writing and coaching, Cody works at a university training ROTC students. Cody brings three key focuses to ADVANCE: platform building, solo speech coaching, and university presentation preparation.

JOEY YOUNG – SPEAKER STRATEGIST & SINGLE SPEECH SESSIONS

Joey’s enthusiasm for adventure is only matched by his passion to help people win in life. After graduating from leadership college in Sydney, Australia he moved back home to Upstate New York. Along the way he worked with Mike Acker as a client, transferring to a role on his team six months later. Joey loves assisting others to tangibly move their life forward and help them crush their goals. On his off days you’ll find him building businesses, watching the latest Disney films and spending time with his fiancé Rebecca.

Joey welcomes new clients to ADVANCE and works with people who need one to two sessions to get ready for an upcoming speech.

WE APPRECIATE CLIENTS

“I started working with Mike to get ready to deliver a college keynote. He has been so helpful and professional. He’s helped me adjust my body language, pace, and cadence to speak as effectively as possible. The most valuable part of working with him has been his suggestions on developing, improving, and tweaking my speech content. I’ve come a long way and am so grateful for his expertise. Thank you Mike!”

– Rachel Richards

Author of “Money Honey: A Simple 7-Step Guide for Getting Your Financial $hit Together”

“Since I began working with Mike Acker as my coach, my productivity has increased significantly. The clarity I now have in approaching and successfully completing projects and presentations in public forums has made all the difference in my ability to accomplish my goals.

The strategies Mike shared with me have been simple to understand, easy to engage, yet profound in their impact. I’m immensely grateful for the growth he has helped me realize as a producer, writer, and director.”
– Prentice Dupins
Executive Producer, Writer
www.1410mediagroup.com

“Mike’s personable attitude makes coaching sessions with him enjoyable and impactful. He has a kind way of explaining how you can improve and where you can improve.

He provided a ‘template’ / strategy which I was able to utilize time and time again for speaking in public as well as tips for video conference calls which is incredibly useful in this digital age.
As my business continues to grow, I look forward to working with him in the future.”
– Alissa Constable
FOUNDER, CEO – Emerge/NEXT LEADERS
www.emergenextleaders.com

“Working with Mike over the past year has been eye-opening. I never anticipated how much the work we’ve done together would change my perspective on my professional and personal life.

Mike excels in figuring out the areas you need to work on and helping you figure out how to act. I’ve matured and learned from my mistakes in months with Mike that would have taken years on my own. I look forward to continuing to work with Mike to progress as a leader.”
– Mark Vather
Growth Marketing

“Mike is very knowledgeable about people management, team building, getting everyone on the same page, and moving in the same direction. He has a great ability to see problems from a different perspective, and is always very articulate in making the correct solution easily understood so it can be implemented.

He has become an integral part of my businesses’ growth, and I look forward to continue working with him.”
– Steve Bode
Serial Entrepreneur & Life Time Learner
www.thenudgeclub.com,
www.carpaintchiprepair.com

Initially looking for a public speaking coach, I was fortunate enough to have found Mike who has not only given me guidance and provided live feedback on public speaking but also in career advancement. He’s recommended some great literature to read on Communication and Leadership that I feel has made our sessions even more fruitful.

Angelina w.
Public Speaking Lessons

It was a pleasure to work with Mike. He helped me tremendously on improving my very first speech in front of a large audience. He was very responsive and not only he helped me with the speech materials, but also with improving my body language and gesture for this event. I highly recommend him if you are in needs with improving your public speaking skills.

Faranak R.
Public Speaking Lessons

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Mike so far. He introduced me to various ideas and books that have been very helpful towards my success. I particularly appreciated that he took notes during our sessions, and you will not go wrong with choosing Mike as your coach.

Darren J.