Our story
Janine Kurnoff has always had a passion for helping people tell their stories through a medium they use all the time – presentations. In fact, when Janine was pursuing her MBA, she quickly noticed that her classmates struggled to communicate their ideas using PowerPoint. Her classmates and professors noticed her presentations as well, as they were clear, visually engaging, and always told a story. Everyone wanted in – and soon she was asked to develop a class to share her approach. It happened again when Janine joined Yahoo! Inc. in global sales training. Her impromptu “Lunch and Learn” sessions were an instant success among the sales and marketing teams, and word was spreading fast. She founded The Presentation Company (TPC) in 2001.
Janine’s sister, Lee Lazarus, joined her at TPC in 2002 after being convinced that together they could change the way business presentations are created. Lee had spent years developing the branding, marketing communication, and PR strategy for two of the fastest-growing Internet and telecommunications market-research firms in Silicon Valley. As head of media relations, she understood the importance of translating mounds of data and information into clear and concise messages.
The world takes notice
With Janine in charge of global training and Lee overseeing sales and marketing, TPC, along with its top-notch team, has partnered with some of the world’s top brands , including Nestlé, T-Mobile, Marriott, Meta, Accenture, McDonald’s, and Boston Scientific.
Our mission is to make storytelling relevant and practical to everyone in business. We do this by teaching teams – regardless of their roles – how to create, simplify, and adapt a visual narrative for any audience – every day. TPC’s 3-part storytelling learning journey addresses today’s business challenges, provides teams with a common language and framework, and anchors everyone in a new mindset: Story first, visuals second.
Grounded in theory and smothered in practicality, our training arms teams with practical tools, skills, and embedded coaching to bring clarity and meaning to their ideas and move business forward.
A unique culture
As self-avowed “sister-preneurs,” Lee and Janine have invested over 20 years in developing a company culture that cherishes personal life as seriously as it values business life. In this vein, they have recruited the best talent who, like them, choose to live, not just preach, their core values. Through these values, they have become the trusted advisors whom their clients rely on today.
Our core values
Pioneering Spirit
As a team, we lean into the unknown and open ourselves to possibilities. This results in new paths, relevant solutions, and deep relationships.
Clarity
Clarity helps us work on what is essential. We make time to gather our perspectives and focus our energy on the right goals, not just the easy ones.
Inclusivity
We help people find their voices and share their ideas; this creates connection and better solutions.
Accountability
We keep our promises. This results in trusting relationships and transformative learning experiences.
Empathy
We show compassion and genuine interest in each other’s lives. This results in people feeling valued and therefore they can show up as their best selves.
Our Partners
We partner with NovoEd to build and deliver memorable, meaningful on-demand learning experiences at scale that combine relevant content and engaging learning activities.
NovoEd’s collaborative learning platform empowers organizations to design and deliver experiential learning that accelerates business performance on a global scale. Since the company’s founding at Stanford’s social algorithm laboratory in 2012, global corporations, executive education providers, and training firms have relied on NovoEd to develop high-value capabilities through purposeful practice and application, coaching and mentorship, and group collaboration. NovoEd’s proven approach to learning connects diverse groups of learners, mentors, and leaders in a high-impact online environment, unlocking your organization’s collective knowledge and driving measurable outcomes.
We understand that people learn best by doing, and our partnership with NovoEd provides clients with highly experiential online learning experiences where learners can access content 24/7 and connect with others, while providing opportunities for practical application and coaching.
Software Productivity Strategists, Inc. (SPS), works with us to provide a complete design, delivery and production service for your virtual event.
SPS brings over 10 years of virtual production and facilitation to the partnership. Their team of experts supports virtual instructors using HP Virtual Rooms, Microsoft Lync, Cisco WebEx and Adobe Connect Pro. SPS also provides recording and editing services and is a Microsoft Live Meeting and HP Virtual Rooms reseller.
Our partnership with SPS provides everything needed for a seamless virtual event!
We have worked extensively with Mandel Communications over the past 15 years, focusing on meeting the needs of clients when it comes to developing presentations and training. Mandel has extensive experience in helping clients understand how to build great content and messaging that is listener-centric, clear and compelling. They also coach communicators on how to be confident, credible and interactive.
Recognizing the great influence visuals have in any successful presentation (after all, over half of what we remember is visual), we work together to help clients learn how to bring their Mandel Blueprint™ content to life visually in PowerPoint as well as in virtual meeting environments such as WebEx, Live Meeting, Adobe Connect, HP Virtual Rooms, etc.
Our partnership ensures clients receive a well-rounded presentation or training experience that covers all aspects of a great presentation—from planning to design to delivery.
Client Testimonials
Thanks to your workshop, I was able to process and develop better looking slides for our strategic planning meeting, and my management team loved the concepts so much that they are now required from other business groups. I would call that success!
Director, Product Management, Medical Products
Baxter