Damien Gauthier on stage at TEDxLausanne 2026

The Mathematician Who Became a Stage Coach.

"I didn't plan to build a communication method.
I built it because I couldn't find one."

Damien Gauthier — founder of Impactful Speaking
25+ Years of practice
PhD in Mathematics Innovation Consultant Theater & Improv TEDx Coach

The tale of two paths

I spent a decade as an engineer and UX consultant, working at the intersection of complex systems and the humans who had to understand them. In parallel, I was performing in theatre, first as a hobby, then professionally for 10 years, and later curating and coaching TEDx speakers.

Two worlds that seemed completely separate. Until I realized they were solving the same problem from opposite ends: the corporate world had structure but no presence; the stage world had presence but no structure. Neither had a method that worked in both.

Impactful Speaking is what happened when I stopped keeping the two paths apart. It is a framework that borrows rigour from mathematics, delivery from 25 years of stage work, and the structured user-centred approach from a decade of design thinking and innovation. Because communication is, ultimately, a design problem.

Mathematics PhD · EPFL Actor & Director TEDx Coaching IT Consulting UX Design Cognitive Science
Explore the method →

30 years across two disciplines, converging in one method.

The Expert Path Structure & Rigour
Maths studies & Teaching

Mathematics & PhD

Studied mathematics at EPFL: Master, PhD, then Lecturer. Discovered that rigour produces clarity, but only if you communicate it.

Corporate world – IT & Design

The communication gap

Presented and see others present complex ideas to non-expert audiences. Witnessed the gap between knowing and communicating.

Leadership & Management

Experts who couldn't land

Worked with technical experts to pitch to clients. Began developing structured communication frameworks that doubled success rate.

Leadership & Management

Application to corporate presenting

Founded Impactful Speaking. Built the end-to-end IS method for expert minds in professional settings.

The Stage Path Presence & Craft
Theater training

Presence as technique

Trained in improv and acting. Discovered that presence is not talent, but a technique.

Actor & Director

Communication as design

Directed productions. Learned that communication is a design problem: structure + intention + audience.

TEDx coaching

Stage craft meets expertise

Became a TEDx coach. Applied stage craft to high-stakes expert presentations.

Synthesis

The IS Method emerges

Merged both paths into the IS Method, the first framework that treats communication as both a technical and embodied skill.

Impactful Speaking is the quintessence of these two paths: borrowing rigor and clarity from mathematics; stage presence and delivery techniques from theatre; and frameworks and the structured approach from design.
It is the first framework to treat communication as both a technical and an embodied skill.

Three things I know about communication.

  1. It is learnable.

    Being a good communicator is not a gift, not a personality type, and not just for extraverts. It is a skill with learnable components. Everyone I have worked with who committed to the method improved. Without exception.

  2. Most training focus on the wrong things.

    Most trainings focus on tips: speak slower, open your palms, make eye contact... rather than structure: what to say and why. Tips without a proper foundation are what make you come across as robotic or false.

  3. The expert problem is specific.

    Experts face a different challenge than general speakers: they know too much. The method of selecting what to say and what to leave out is the hardest part. That is why I developed a method to select the right arguments and the right level of detail.

Our work in figures.

700+ Professionals trained
4.7 Avg. satisfaction
(288 responses)
25+ Years of practice
92% Client rehire
EN&FR Languages
BOBST TotalEnergies FIBA PMI Project Management Institute IIBA PwC SQLI ATscale TEDxLausanne EPFL UNIGE Nespresso Vaudoise HEI-VD Geneva School of Diplomacy DatAfterwork SMP Ma thèse en 180 secondes TEDxMartigny

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