Guinness World Record Holder  ·  Former NBC, ABC & FOX Producer  ·  20+ Years Training Presenters Speak with Jess
About Jess Todtfeld

The presentation trainer sales leaders call when the deal is decided in the Q&A.

Everyone rehearses the presentation. Almost nobody rehearses the Q&A. That is backwards, because the presentation is the part your team controls and the Q&A is the part that decides the deal. Jess Todtfeld spent 13 years as a television producer at NBC, ABC, and FOX, the person asking the questions and deciding who held up under them. He now trains salespeople and executives to present, and to answer, in the rooms where somebody is deciding whether to sign.

Guinness World Record Holder CSP: Top 1% of Speakers Globally Author of Media Secrets The High Stakes Presenter, 11/2026 Former NBC · ABC · FOX Producer
See the sales program
Jess Todtfeld, presentation trainer
🏆
112
Guinness World Record
Most Media Interviews in 24 Hours · 96 officially certified
June 2009 · full story
20+
Years training salespeople and executives to present
112
Guinness World Record story (96 certified)
13
Years producing NBC, ABC & FOX Television
500+
Customized programs for teams and their leaders
Client results

What sales leaders and their teams say about working with Jess

The audience was laser focused. It was unbelievable... we closed a million dollar [deal] assignment.
Les RichmondDirector of Communications, Global Advertising and Brand Management, Hay Group / Build America Mutual
I now feel like I have the tools to be able to create more action from the people I speak to. I am grateful for the on-camera practice. I was immediately able to make changes to my presentations and improve them on the spot.
Ryan SorleyGartner
Jess' training was excellent! I saw DRAMATIC improvements in everyone's presentation skills in just 2 short days. This will certainly improve my career and was a great investment.
Michael BuzekGrange Insurance
Jess came to our National Sales Meeting and he was such a fun, interesting and valuable addition to our meeting! His tips were very helpful and he has motivated me to add more personality into my business presentations because that is how you connect to the audience and it makes you memorable just like him!
Caycee JohnsonNational Sales Meeting attendee
I've worked with Jess several times through the years and have always been impressed with his ability to convert a group of skeptical subject-matter experts into better speakers and presenters. Jess is always prepared and professional and helps his clients get it. I'd highly recommend him to anyone in need of improving their ability to deliver smart and engaging presentations or talk to the media or other groups.
Jeff MeyersCommunications Leader, Hay Group Chicago
The background

Why sales leaders trust Jess (and not another presentation coach)

Most presentation coaches have only ever been in the audience. Jess was the one asking. For 13 years he worked as a television producer and booker at NBC, ABC, and FOX Television, deciding which guests made air, which answers landed, and which people fell apart the moment the question went sideways.

That is the same skill a rep needs in the last ten minutes of a pitch. Jess does not teach delivery theory. He teaches what a producer watches for, then puts your team on camera and shows them the recording, because a rep who sees the habit will fix it faster than a rep who is told about it.

"The deck is the part you control. The Q&A is the part they remember. Rehearse the one you cannot script."

The gap he keeps finding inside sales teams is not effort. It is where the effort goes. The deck gets six drafts and a dry run with two colleagues playing the buyer. Then the CFO leans forward, asks the thing nobody scripted, and the rep improvises. When that answer is weak the deal quietly dies, and the CRM records "price" or "timing" because nobody writes down "we lost the room in the Q&A."

What holds up is not predicting the questions. It is a repeatable answer system, so a hard question stops being a threat and becomes the best place in the meeting to put your strongest material. Jess has published a short reading list on exactly that gap, built for sales leaders: start with the questions nobody scripted.

In June 2009, Jess helped set a Guinness World Record for most media interviews given in 24 hours: 112 radio interviews, 96 officially certified in a single day. It was a demonstration of the same discipline he trains, which is holding a clear message together under question after question, without losing composure or drifting off the point. Read the full story behind the record.

Jess holds the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation, held by fewer than one percent of speakers worldwide. He is the author of the international bestseller Media Secrets: A Media Training Crash Course, and his next book, The High Stakes Presenter, releases 11/2026. The book and the sales training share a name because they are the same method.

Credentials

What sets Jess apart

  • Guinness World Record holder for 112 media interviews in 24 hours, 96 officially certified
  • 13 years as TV producer and national media booker at NBC, ABC, FOX Television
  • CSP (Certified Speaking Professional), held by fewer than one percent of speakers worldwide
  • Author of Media Secrets, with The High Stakes Presenter releasing 11/2026
  • Has trained leaders at Google, JPMorgan, American Express and the United Nations
  • Programs run on site, virtually, and at the New York training studio
  • Want a read on your team first? Take the High Stakes Presenter Scorecard
The High Stakes Presenter method

How Jess trains a sales team, and why it holds up in the room

Every program is built on one belief: presenting under pressure is a skill, not a personality trait. It can be taught, practiced, and made consistent across a team, which is the part a sales leader actually needs. Pitch quality that varies by rep is a training problem, not a hiring problem.

The work is practical from minute one. No lengthy theory. No generic framework that could belong to any industry. Every tool is tested against the meetings your reps are walking into next month. The sales version of the program is called The High Stakes Presenter.

  • 01

    Start with the real meeting

    Who is in the room, who stays quiet, what the competitor already told them, and which question keeps ending deals. Nothing generic gets built until that is on the table.

  • 02

    Build the answer system

    Jess's Sound Bite System gives every rep a repeatable way to structure an answer, so a question they have never heard still lands on the strongest material they have.

  • 03

    Practice under the pressure that decides deals

    On camera, with hostile questions, pricing pushback, and the quiet stakeholder who speaks last. Reps see the recording back, which is where the habit actually changes.

  • 04

    Leave with something usable Monday

    Personalized talking points, a shared standard the whole team can be coached against, and language your leaders can reinforce in pipeline reviews.

Sales presentation training: what do sales leaders ask most?

What does sales presentation training for a team actually cover?

It covers the whole meeting, not just the deck. Message and story structure, opening a pitch so the room leans in, making numbers land with a committee, and above all a repeatable system for answering hard questions on pricing, security, timing, and the competitor the buyer already met. Every rep gets on-camera practice and sees the recording back, because that is the fastest way to change a habit.

Why rehearse the Q&A instead of the presentation?

Because the presentation is the part your team already controls. The deck gets six drafts and a dry run. The Q&A is improvised, in front of the buying committee, with the number on the table, and that is the part the buyer remembers. Training the presentation alone polishes the half of the meeting that was never the problem.

Can Jess train our whole sales team at once?

Yes. Team sessions are the usual format, and they are what create consistency: the same answer structure, the same discipline under a hard question, whichever rep is in the room. Cohorts of roughly 4 to 12 work best over one or two days, and every participant still gets individual on-camera practice rather than watching someone else get coached.

Our reps already have sales methodology training. How is this different?

Methodology tells a rep which questions to ask and how to qualify. This is about delivery: what happens in the rep's face, voice, and answer structure when a buyer pushes back. The two do not compete. Teams often find that the methodology was fine and the deals were still being lost in the last ten minutes of the meeting.

Can this help me present to my own leadership, not just to buyers?

Yes, and it is often the reason a sales leader calls in the first place. A forecast review, a QBR, and a board update are all high-stakes presentations with a hostile-question segment at the end. The same answer system that holds up in front of a buying committee holds up in front of your own CRO.

How much does sales presentation training cost?

It typically ranges from $1,000 to $15,000 per engagement, depending on how many people are being trained and how much customization the program needs. A focused single-session intensive for a small team sits at the lower end. A multi-team rollout with follow-up coaching before major pitches sits at the higher end. One-on-one intensives, single teams, and full sales-organization programs are all custom-quoted.

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