About Us

The
SagePresence Story

In 1999, SagePresence founders Dean Hyers and Pete Machalek co-created a screen acting workshop after bonding over their shared passion for film and filmmaking.
The workshop focused on building “improvisational performance” skills in these three areas: authenticity, story, and emotion. We built the skills inside our sessions, and sent people home to practice “in the wild.”

The SagePresence Story

In 1999, Dean Hyers and Pete Machalek created a screen acting workshop to build “improvisational performance” skills in Authenticity, Story, and Emotion. “We built the skills in our sessions and sent people home to practice.”

Soon participants told us that they were getting better at interacting with customers, bolder at talking to their boss and cultivating the ability to move meetings and conversations forward.

One participant’s architectural firm had to connect with a selection committee in an upcoming interview. So we brought the workshop to them. They won the project, and the owners told them, “You were the only ones we could connect with.”

We knew we had something profound here. This training wasn’t just for actors; it was for anyone who had something to sell.

We founded SagePresence in 2001 and focussed on helping professionals sell their services — with Authenticity, Story, and Emotion. With that focus and commitment, we have developed a deep understanding of professional services and are committed to a handful of core values.

The SagePresence Experience

As a leader driving business development for a professional service team, it’s your job to identify what’s not working and to maximize what works.

SagePresence brings a genuinely consultative approach to every job — ensuring we understand whom you are focused on, what problems they face, and what success looks like for them.

Drawing from this clarity and our proprietary training modules, we customize a solution that fits your needs.

Whether you’re looking to improve the presence of a single team member for a particular presentation or elevate the impact of your whole firm — we deliver tailored results.