ABOUT US
You Speak. We Tune. They Listen.
We help founders and executives craft and deliver high-stakes presentations. Our specialty is drawing your story out of you in a way you likely couldn’t on your own. Then helping craft it to completion, with custom scripting and gorgeous visuals. So that when you’re ready to present, you have a talk that's truly yours, one you can deliver with confidence.
When clients come to us, they often feel overwhelmed with the volume of past decks and marketing material – not to mention the ideas in their head that aren’t yet captured. How to distill all the things you want to say into a tight, powerful presentation that keeps folks from pulling out their phones?
Whether you’re sharing your big idea on a TED stage, delivering a conference keynote, or pitching your business, there are storytelling secrets to nailing any presentation. Get them right and your next talk becomes a catalyst. A talk that matches the caliber of your thinking and the innovation behind your work. One that leaves your audience not just impressed, but ready to act, align, and invest.
It’s more than just a talk. It’s a turning point.
We believe a great presentation is a vehicle for transformation. For the person listening (and it always comes down to one person): A great talk shifts their ideas about what’s true, what matters, and what’s possible. It wakes them up and motivates them to take action.
It’s also a vehicle for personal growth. Identifying what you really think. Moving through fear about being seen and judged. Who do you need to become to headline that conference, win investors, or pitch your boss with confidence? As one client put it: “You made me a better me.”
Your Moment, Our Method
We’ll extract your unique genius, find the storyline that will hold an audience, then bring it to life with custom scripting and arresting visuals.
Discover
Step into a process that begins with you: Your expertise, your ideas, your goals. We immerse ourselves in your world. Brainstorming your audience and outcome. We help identify your unique POV — what will get your audience to lean forward and listen.
We get you telling stories that are not in your marketing materials. As you talk it through, you begin to hear your own voice more clearly.
Synthesize
Every presentation has its own DNA. Its own rhythm, flow, and pulse. It’s our job to help you find it.
We synthesize your input and spot patterns. Big ideas come into focus. Through-lines click into place. Voice, tone, and design begin to align into a cohesive language. One that feels clear, powerful, and authentic to you.
Create
Now it’s time to bring it all to life. We’ll flesh out talking points and visuals, collaborating with you at every step. Knitting together each element into something cohesive and elevated.
We apply our years of experience as writers and designers to your story. Creating something that expertly communicates your vision, in a way your audience can hear, see, and feel.
Present
Together, we’ll refine, practice, and polish until your voice and visuals are fully aligned. You’re starting to get it into your bones and make it yours.
So that when the moment comes, you feel confident, even excited! You know it says what you want it to say, and it looks, feels, and sounds like you. You’re ready to guide your audience toward what you want them to know, feel, and believe.
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“I now have a gorgeous, flexible, completely unique talk that both explains and inspires. It’s given me guardrails for my message without compromising my authenticity on stage. The feedback has been amazing and the speaking opportunities keep arriving, from a prestigious keynote talk to an invitation to join a speaker bureau. So if you want to play BIG with your own message, collaborate with these two creative geniuses. They will love you up and make the magic unfold. Go.”
– Anese Cavanaugh, CEO, Active Choices | Keynote Speaker | Author | Strategic Advisor
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“This is a testimonial for my favorite two copywriters in all the world, Alison and Matt. They’ve been writing copy for us for years now and have nailed the complex essence of our brand, prAna. They have a knack for pulling out the nuggets when we get rambling during interviews. Our conversations are always stimulating and they don’t miss a thing. They turn these random thoughts into our consumer facing voice that connects to our values and deeply resonates with our audience. They ‘get it’ and are a lot of fun to work with. We hope to be able to count on them for many more seasons of compelling brand storytelling.”
– Beaver Theodosakis, Founder, prAna
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“As an executive presentation coach, I’ve seen more than my fair share of executive leader presentations that sound the right notes and still miss the moment. So I was immediately struck by the work of Alison and Matt, because their writing was alive, specific and personal. It pushed the audience to do more than sit passively and receive a message; it pushed them to act. I’ve never seen better. Your audience – and executive leaders – will be knocked over by the ease of the process and the results of the final product.”
– Jane Beard, Executive Coach | Founder Invisible light
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“Usually it takes a new communications group a few tries until they clearly hear your story, your voice, and your approach. Alimat's first draft needed only minor editing and refinement. They never lost my voice—in fact, they strengthened it. And they made it real. There was no empty marketing speech or strategy for the sake of strategy. They put things in clear, pragmatic terms that people deal with every day and can actually visualize. The onscreen creative was fantastic: custom, curated, and meaningful, as concise and impactful as the language. The talk generated lots of interest about Marriott and what we’re doing. It made people stand up and take notice.”
– Brian King, Global Brand Officer, Marriott International
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“They were diligent at getting to the heart of what we’re about and what we wanted to express. That attention and time spent on understanding what we wanted to say really came out when they created the presentation. The mechanics are one thing, but flushing out what we wanted to say was outstanding. Not everyone can pull your story out of you, help you organize it, and help you express it. The pitch they created will be relevant for quite a while.”
– Michael Dreyfus, Founding Owner, Golden Gate Sotheby's
Pleased to Meet You.
We’ve been a lot of things over time: Book editor, agency designer, stage performer, media executive. One throughline always holds: We love to uncover genius, tell stories, and help others shine. We’ve invested decades in our craft as writers and designers and we pour it all into your ideas.
Alison Macondray
Alison is a writer/editor, content strategist, and genius extractor. She’s known for her ability to draw out the heart of a story. She listens deeply, distills complex ideas into clear and compelling narratives, and helps leaders find their authentic voice.
Her current path began when she walked away from her last staff job, as GM of pioneering technology site WIRED News. She loved her staff and what WIRED represented. They were winning awards, writing the first version of history as the Internet revolution unfolded. But when the parent company got sold, and sold again, it was time to start something new. Striking out on her own meant less certainty but more freedom – to choose her tribe, and dial direct to thinkers and creators she admires. Today, she gets to enter the worlds of a ridiculously diverse array of experts, helping brilliant people bring their big ideas to life.
Alison got her start in literary book publishing, at SF-based Mercury House and then Pantheon Books (a division of Random House), screening manuscripts and shepherding authors through the publishing process. Her innate understanding of stage presence is informed by decades of training as a dancer and musical theater performer, including six months performing Broadway show tunes on a cruise ship.
In her free time, Alison enjoys strength training, yoga, reading reading reading, hiking the California coast, and discovering new foodie spots in her native Oakland.
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Matt Clark
Matt began his career in art, design, and storytelling with his first set of crayons, but more formally with a BFA from The Cooper Union School of Art in NYC. After several years of agency work in New York and Switzerland he migrated West, landing at frog design and Astro Studios before striking out on his own. His extensive experience designing for diverse clientele keeps him abreast of the mediums and methods that make a story stick.
While Design Director at frog, Matt helped integrate brand identity and graphic design into the company’s expanding client services strategy. Following a frog alumni, he joined the newly minted Astro Studios as Creative Director.
Following his studio/agency years, Matt set out as a consultant to broaden his experience with creative expression and storytelling. Over the years he has worked in diverse capacities as a creative director, art director, designer, copywriter, editor, and illustrator.
Matt practices Zen meditation and Yama, a mash-up of yoga and martial arts. He also writes and illustrates children’s books and makes photographs that could be described as Ansel Adams meets Alex Grey.
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OUR APPROACH
We Listen.
Let’s be honest: Most people don’t listen. They’re mostly concerned with sounding smart. Even on tight deadlines, listening is the first thing we do. When you’re inside your own jar, it’s hard to see the label. That’s where a team like us is catalytic. We listen deeply to your ideas. We press for what’s true. We ask follow-up questions. We push your thinking past catch-phrases to what matters. We spot gaps and challenge assumptions. We tease out commonalities and help find the thread in your thoughts. We listen for where you come alive. And we capture it all.
We Think in Words and Pictures.
Often, a speaker will hire a designer who’s not a copywriter, or a scriptwriter who’s not a designer. This can lead to missed opportunities. What an audience sees and hears must be equally powerful, and must hold together! Our creative approach is fully integrated. We’re designing slides while we write, and adjusting scripting based on visual ideas. During our intake & discovery, we’re already starting to synthesize these elements. Each presentation is customized you and your message, whether it’s a TED talk with zero slides or a highly visual slide deck with talking-point guidelines.
We Take Our Time. So You Can Reclaim Yours.
As a high-level leader, your time is precious. You also want your staff focused on the company’s highest-impact initiatives. It’s a huge time sink to have them spin their wheels and still not get the results you want! Our system is designed to optimize your input, so you can keep your focus where it belongs: running your business and driving strategy.
