About Cesar

Jokes are how I connected with my dad.

I was a ham growing up. Always looking to make people laugh because it was my primary tool for connection.

I remember I was in theater class in high school and no matter what the scene was we were rehearsing, I'd always try and figure out a way to make it funny. I got a C+ in that class. Not bad!

It was a natural transition when I heard that there was a stand-up comedy open mic in my hometown.

That was the first time I'd been on stage with the intention of just making people laugh.

I thought it went great…

Looking back on it though, I was doing all the cliché things.

I was doing what I thought the audience wanted…

Rather than being true to my own voice.

Because I had no idea what that was yet.

Regardless, I fell in love with stand-up, I pursued it as a career and I got to perform all over the world, I was on Comedy Central and I shared the stage with greats like, George Lopez.

I even got to be in a few movies.

About 10 years into my comedy career, I started feeling disconnected…

I struggled to go deeper with my audience.

I couldn’t shake the feeling of being stifled creatively.

So, I started teaching comedy classes in the theater department at the local college.

I taught people from all walks of life how to create an original 5 minutes of stand-up based on their life experience.

Our shows sold out for 3 years straight...

And in the process, I found that nothing fulfills me more than helping others find their voice, their message and their stage.

I decided to shift from entertainment to transformation.

Because of an idea inspired by teaching this class I developed a keynote speech that resonated with audiences very quickly.

I accidently became a full-time speaker because of one speech, traveling the country, teaching about humor and connection.

I loved TED talks, so I started studying them…

I would watch and re-watch all of my favorites:

Talks from Simon Sinek, Brian Stevenson, Brené Brown, Mel Robbins...

I made a bunch of mistakes as a new speaker, like not preparing enough, too many slides, tech disasters, and the list goes on. 

But one thing I’m proud of, even though there were a bunch of things I would have done differently, I still shared my work, I sought support, and did my best to always put my audience first.

Years later, I was invited to be a speaker coach for multiple TEDx events.

From there I started getting requests to help others with speechwriting and delivering TEDx talks and keynote speeches. 

This is how Top Talks and my TEDx Mentorship program were born. 

IN 2021, I LAUNCHED MY TEDx MENTORSHIP PROGRAM.

It went better than I thought it would…

Since then, we’ve helped over 200 clients land and deliver transformational TEDx Talks.

We’ve developed the only program that will keep working with you until you land and deliver your talk.

That’s how much we believe in our process.

In 2022, we took our speechwriting to the next level.

After all the success of our client's TEDx Talks we launched our keynote speechwriting services and have had the opportunity to craft powerful speeches for our clients that move their message, grow their reach and transform their audiences.

Our speeches have been heard at major conferences, boardrooms, auditoriums, weddings, graduations, and have garnered more than 20 million views to date.

As a result, the team has grown.

So has my family...

So, I’ve had lots of great dad joke opportunities.

Happy speaking,

Cesar

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