A consultant in the entertainment industry for over 35 years, David Kagen has worked with actors at the top of the profession including Alec Baldwin and Ted Danson (David Kagen's School of Film Acting), as well as top studio and television producers, political campaign consultants, quality control engineers, attorneys, mid-level managers, and CEO’s.

He originally taught his classes and workshops solely for actors in New York, but as his reputation grew he led workshops in London, Paris, Aix-en-Provence, Tel Aviv, Toronto, Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. One of his entertainment clients was nominated for a Tony award and a number of others are series regulars. He’s been a successful professional actor himself since he was seventeen, performing on and off Broadway, and in television and films.

Several years after he started teaching, he found himself being approached by business people who had heard about his acting classes. They wanted to sign up, not to become actors, but because they understood that success in their business lives - especially in how they communicated - demanded the same key skills that go into the best acting: honesty with oneself and one's audience, a sense of personal commitment to what one is saying, and the ability to express that commitment so that the audience feels it, identifies with it, and embraces it.

He decided to experiment, and he let these people join his classes.  And indeed, they came away from the experience delighted and raving to him that they got exactly what they wanted, and more.

They urged him to add business people to his target audience. He took their advice, and since then he has privately coached a diverse group of people in business, politics, and entertainment.

Watching their skills and self-confidence grow has felt as fulfilling as watching actors evolve in the same ways.

That's how Authentic Communication got started!