Jonathan Bender, PrincipalWholeSpeak 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.
Jonathan Bender's coaching combines his love for live performance with a lifelong quest for fostering personal growth and societal transformation. After observing that his acting and public speaking workshops were transforming his students not just as performers but also in their everyday lives, he sought to make these techniques available to the general public.
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 San Francisco, and frequently travels to coach, teach, direct and perform.
Lisa
Wentz, Associate 
Lisa Wentz, MA holds a Master of Arts degree in Voice and Speech Studies from the world
renowned Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London. She is also
an AmSat Certified Alexander Technique Teacher. Lisa has worked as a film,
television and stage actress for the past 12 years, and uses aspects of her extensive
theatrical training and experience when teaching.
Ms. Wentz
has worked as an Alexander Technique teacher at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco and as a voice
and speech teacher in several conservatories in London including East 15
Acting School, Rose Bruford College, and the Performers College. Beyond an
extensive background in teaching voice, dialects and accents for drama, Ms.
Wentz specializes in vocal delivery and rhetoric skills for lawyers and
politicians. Her recent work includes coaching barristers for the Queen’s
Council in London, England.