Shad Kunkle is a facilitator, executive coach, and event host who has spent more than 20 years helping people communicate more effectively, connect with one another, and become more confident in the room.

His approach grew out of an unusual combination of business, education, and improvisational comedy. After earning a degree in Business and Communications from Simpson College, Shad moved to Chicago and spent more than two decades studying, performing, teaching, and coaching improvisation. He toured nationally with The Second City and later spent 15 years as a member of the creative ensemble at Second City Works, where he helped bring the principles of improvisation into workplace training and live events.

While working with Second City Works, Shad facilitated hundreds of programs each year for clients including Microsoft, Google, Motorola, Kraft, and Hertz, as well as universities and professional sports organizations and has facilitated over 2,000 workshops in his career.

That chapter of his career helped shape the work he does independently today. What Shad took from improv was not simply how to be funny, it was how to listen, adapt, collaborate, read a room, and remain comfortable when you do not know exactly what comes next.

Rather than relying on lectures and endless slide decks, Shad creates experiential sessions in which people learn by doing. Participants get the chance to experiment, discover what works, and discuss their experiences together. His role is to guide those conversations toward useful insights without making the outcome feel forced.

Whether he is facilitating a team workshop, coaching someone ahead of an important presentation, or keeping a conference moving from the stage, Shad brings curiosity, humor, adaptability, and an others-focused approach to the room.

His goal is simple: help people get out of their own way, better understand the people around them, and find more effective ways to communicate, collaborate, and connect.