About Me

Who am I?

My name is Nathan Gold, Chief Coach of The Demo Coach. I hail from the San Francisco Bay Area and travel around the world speaking about and coaching people on how to prepare for high-stakes speaking opportunities and how to harness speaking anxiety. I do this through keynotes, experiential interactive workshops, live streaming, and 1:1 sessions, both in-person and online.

My Origin Story

You know, it all started back in the early 2000s. There I was, sitting in the audience at yet another product demo. Honestly, it was so dull that even the coffee seemed ready for a nap. And I remember thinking, "There has to be a better way." Presentations shouldn’t feel like a chore—they should be unforgettable, like a movie trailer that excites you about what’s coming next.

That’s when the lightbulb went off. What if every demo, every pitch, every talk could be a performance—a story that grabs people’s attention and doesn’t let go? I knew right then that I wanted to help make that change. And that’s what set me on the path to becoming The Demo Coach.

But it wasn’t just about making demos more exciting and persuasive. I realized that most people struggle with anxiety when they speak or present. So, I decided also to help people like you turn that anxiety into a superpower. I threw myself into learning everything I could about captivating audiences, from storytelling to body language, and I showed people how to channel their nerves into energy that could fuel a more memorable performance.

Fast forward to today, and people know me as the guy who can turn a nervous presenter into a rockstar on stage. It’s not about memorizing scripts or creating fancy slides—it’s about making every moment in front of an audience count. And when you speak like it matters, people listen like it does.

That’s where I come in.

Helping others raise millions, land dream opportunities, and, most importantly, get their messages across in ways that are truly memorable, authentic, and compelling.

More background on me:

I have personally delivered thousands of presentations along with thousands of hours of professional coaching while working with companies including, Glue Networks, Bill.com, Netflix, Education.com, GetAround.com, Innovation Norway, SanDisk, Kaiser Permanente, and IBM — on designing, scripting and delivering more compelling and memorable presentations and product demos, especially in situations where you cannot afford to miss.

I was born in the late 1950s. Growing up, my favorite show was Star Trek where I was mesmerized by the spaceships, phasers, tricorders, universal translators, and especially, the communicators. That program started my love for technology.

In high school, I excelled at computers. I finished a 14-week programming course in the first three weeks of class. The teachers were impressed and sent me upstairs to work with the school’s IBM mainframes. That is where I began teaching computer programming in the high school adult education program at the age of 16. I worked with students three times my age and I loved the interaction with adults and especially holding the chalk.

I went on to SUNY Stony Brook, where I majored in Computer Science. There, the Computer Science Department made me a teaching assistant, and I helped students with all sorts of computer issues.

Right out of college, I designed and delivered mainframe computer programming classes at National Westminster Bank. However, I had a dream to live by the beach in California and travel the world while working for a high-tech company. That dream was not coming true on Long Island.

On Labor Day 1980, I packed everything I owned into my beat-up Oldsmobile and headed for California, even though I had never been there before. Five days later, I had four job interviews in Los Angeles and three in San Diego. I ended up choosing a small software company in San Diego named ISSCO Graphics, where I spent seven years traveling around the world training their customers how to use mainframe computer graphics software. As a result, I was the one go-to guy for all high-level executive sales briefings, trade shows, press issues, and analysts’ product demo needs because I was able to take complex topics and make them enjoyable for any audience.

In early 1990, I fell in love with pen computers and mobile computing. I spent over 10 years working with people all over the world, evangelizing technology such as the PenPoint operating system and the Palm Pilot. During this time, I started helping other people with their product demos. And I did it as a favor because I really enjoy helping people.

After my time at Extensity demonstrating the first enterprise-class Java application Sun had ever seen delivered, I went back to college to finish the degree I started in 1975 because I left school early to start earning money. After roughly one year attending University as the oldest person in every class, I received my BA Multidisciplinary Degree from SUNY Stony Brook in 2002 with emphasis in Computer Science, Mathematics, and Theatre.

In April 2008, I started The Demo Coach business because I believed I could help other people learn to give more compelling and memorable presentations and product demos. Since then, I have coached thousands of people all around the world for high stakes opportunities in sales meetings, trade shows, keynotes and, especially angel and venture funding.

I am a two-time winner of the distinguished DEMOgod Award, given to me at DEMOmobile 2000 for being “A one-man walking communications store with the ability to deliver an incredibly well-timed demonstration.” And again, at DEMOfall 2005, for my demo of U3. Also, I have a success rate with DEMO where 76% of the people I coach for their on-stage performance have won their own DEMOgod Award. I am the author of Harness Your Speaking Anxiety and the co-author of Giving Memorable Product Demos, available on Amazon.com and BarnsAndNoble.com.