Jeff Ponders II

The top 7 Reasons to Work with Jeff
Hiring a keynote speaker is a major decision. The right speaker will not only entertain, inspire, and transform your audience, they will make your life easier as the event organizer. That’s why hiring Jeff Ponders II to deliver a compelling keynote on creativity, innovation, and performance may be the key to achieving the ROI and peace of mind you desire.

Working with Jeff as a keynote speaker, you can expect:

CREDIBILITY | Jeff is a proven business leader and artist with 20+ years of real-world experience across multiple verticals.
NO STRESS | Our first job is to make your job easier. Jeff is professional, easy going, and collaborative. You’ll never hear any ridiculous demands or requests.
A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE | An African American Ivy-league grad with experience as a corporate executive, tech entrepreneur, and professional jazz musician, Jeff is able to connect with diverse audiences and brings a fresh and provocative perspective.
ENERGY | Jeff is a spark plug of infectious energy and enthusiasm with decades of performance experience. Your audience will be charged up and ready to perform with passion.
EXCITING VISUALS & PERFORMANCES | Bullet points? Boring tables and long lists? Not here! Jeff's presentations are visually stunning with high-resolution images, professional videos, and even live performance from Jeff.
CUSTOMIZATION | Jeff's keynotes are built around your unique needs. He takes time to understand your organization, audience, and objectives to build a custom presentation that’s sure to resonate with harmony.
REAL-WORLD VALUE | Jeff offers practical takeaways that can immediately to drive business results.

For Jeff Ponders II, embracing distinct passions and skills are the key to unleashing great performance. As such, he’s spent his career helping others unlock their best performances with creativity, innovation, and infectious energy.

For nearly 15 years, Jeff has developed strategic initiatives and consumer experiences for some of the world’s most recognizable brands. As an executive with agencies like Leo Burnett and Digitas, he launched new capabilities and introduced game-changing strategies for clients such as General Motors, Walmart, Samsung, and Colgate. Today, Jeff helps ambitious brands understand their customers, find their place in the market, and develop business models and creative products as a founding partner of The Better Company.

In addition to consulting large brands, Jeff is intimately engaged with the start-up community. He leverages his experience as a tech start-up founder to guide entrepreneurs and growth-stage businesses as an advisor, investor, and board member. Most recently, Jeff joined Invest Detroit Ventures, Michigan's most active early-stage venture capital investor.

Despite a demanding corporate schedule, Jeff remains true to his creative core. A professional saxophonist for 20+ years, he continues to perform and record with some of the most notable names in jazz, urban, and gospel music. His 2018 jazz album, Spark, is available on all major music platforms. Jeff frequently references his jazz training as the secret to his success in corporate and entrepreneurial endeavors.

A vibrant keynote speaker, Jeff pulls from his unique experiences from the boardroom to the bandstand to help organizations achieve peak performance. Using a mix of live performance, real-world stories, and practical techniques, Jeff helps audiences infuse jazz into their businesses to develop their talents, boldly tackle challenges, and collaborate to discover big ideas and achieve breakthrough results.

Jeff graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and proudly resides in his hometown Detroit with his wife and children.

Keynote Speaker Requirements:

Computer, Projector, and Screen: Jeff uses a 13" MacBook Air with a Thunderbolt/Mini Display Port for video output. Jeff will bring his own HDMI adapter. Jeff's entire presentation is presented from his computer using a 16:9 aspect ratio. Jeff will provide a wireless clicker to use with his MacBook. The larger the screen and the higher the quality of the projector, the better.

Microphone and Audio - Jeff prefers a wireless lavaliere or headset microphone. Speakers/audio should be high quality for the audience to hear audio/video clips played directly from Jeff's laptop. If Jeff is providing a live jazz performance during his keynote, please provide a wireless wind instrument microphone for Jeff's saxophone.

Confidence Monitor: Jeff prefers a confidence monitor.

A/V System Testing: Jeff prefers the ability to do an audio/visual test no fewer than 30 minutes before taking the stage.

Internet Access: Not required. Jeff presents using his own laptop with embedded videos. The entire presentation is self-contained and does not require internet access.

Jazz Performance Requirements:
Jeff's musical performances range from solo saxophone performance to an 8-piece jazz ensemble. Please consult with Jeff and his team regarding technical needs based on the size of the venue and performance expectations.