WholeSpeak. Express your whole self.
Empowering Performers ~ Performing Empowerment
About WholeSpeak
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WholeSpeak founder Jonathan Bender, MS, MFA has been active in theater and public speaking for over twenty years. Educationally, he began with a BA in Dramatic Art and Anthropology from UC Berkeley, later followed by a Master’s Degree in Performance Studies and Speech Communication from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, where he specialized in the study of everyday life as performance. Next, his MFA program in Theater: Contemporary Performance at Naropa University specialized in physical, ensemble-developed theater and the creation of new work. There, he trained with such luminaries as Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project (renowned for The Laramie Project and I Am My Own Wife), Meredith Monk and The House, and the SITI Company.
Mr. Bender has been a performer since the mid-1980's and a theater director since 1989, and his writing has been produced in various theaters since the 1990's. He has worked as a speech coach and acting teacher since 1995. In the Belly of the Whale, his solo show on Jewish identity, tours nationwide, and he is the artistic director of The Illuminated Theater / Public Service Announcement.
To fulfill this missive, he created WholeSpeak to offer highly effective coaching, workshops and seminars to provide individuals and corporations with immediate and discernable results. In addition, Mr. Bender trains both performers and public speakers. He has taught at Naropa University, community colleges, private acting studios, and at several schools in California and Colorado. He resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, and frequently travels to coach, teach, direct and perform.