NSB Logo Jean François Ménard Jean François Ménard

Jean François Ménard

Speaker Featured

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Mental Performance Coach | Elite Performance Strategist | Bestselling Author

Jean François Ménard is a highly sought-after expert in mental performance and leadership coaching. His clients are proven winners—Olympic gold medalists, Cirque du Soleil artists, Super Bowl and X Games champions, NHL stars, surgeons, pop stars, and corporate executives. A captivating speaker, Ménard combines passion, authenticity, and practical tools to deliver powerful, customized presentations that inspire lasting change.

Keynote Speeches

TRAIN YOUR BRAIN LIKE AN OLYMPIAN

Use the same methods as the best in the world to achieve what you set out to do:

  • Maintain focus in a distracted workplace
  • Make confident decisions under pressure
  • Have mental agility to manage change
  • Be resilient in stressful conditions
  • Bounce back strong from setbacks
  • Create a winning mindset
  • Dream big to deliver big

Olympic athletes deal with tons of distraction. They’re great at managing stress and have loads of self-confidence. It’s all essential to reach the podium. In today’s workplace, the demands are the same. The pressure to be on the mark is constant and mental toughness is no longer just an asset. It’s an absolute necessity. The good news? You now have access to the same mental-toughness tools as the best performers in the world.

BUILD TEAM CHEMISTRY

Tap into the power of a positive culture, especially when stakes are high:

  • Establish strong team values
  • Collaborate with purpose
  • Develop a unique team brand
  • Make safety and inclusion matter
  • Provide appropriate feedback
  • Manage critical situations
  • Form robust cohesion

There is an adage which states: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Winning teams get this. They play well as a ‘together’. But creating a successful ‘team’ is more than picking the best players. A winning culture comes from thought-out strategies which foster efficient group dynamics and help individuals ‘gel’ as a group. What do you get in return? High-performing habits and behaviors. This kind of competitive edge is essential for any winning business too. Now’s the time to take advantage.

ADD MORE S.E.N.S.E. IN YOUR LIFE

Be at your best when you need to be:

  • Sleep properly, so you can surge
  • Maximize rest and recovery for all-day energy
  • Let good nutrition fuel your tank
  • Handle stress with an Olympian calm
  • Exercise regularly for a healthier mind
  • Control your busy agendas
  • Create a mental-health-friendly environment

It’s no secret; those who work at blazing speeds risk developing mental health issues. It takes more than just talent and hard work to be at your best. That’s why the superstars I work with tap into their full potential by adopting what I call the SENSE formula. (Sleep, Energy management, Nutrition, Stress management, Exercise). Taking care of the fundamentals is key for them to handle heavy workloads and excel when they need to. And if top performers can do it, you can too.

Customized Presentations

Jean Francois also offers customized presentations on change management, optimizing energy levels, along with workshops on mental toughness, stress management and more. View a full list of his presentations here.

Platform Plus Presentations

Unique formats and ways to connect with audiences.
Workshop | Train Your Brain
Where once these skills were reserved for Olympic and professional athletes, increasingly, workplace professionals who want to reach their own podium are enhancing these skills. Let’s face it, workplace environments have changed dramatically in recent years – higher demands and heavier workloads. Mental toughness is no longer simply an asset to perform at your best, it’s an absolute necessity. This experiential speech teaches the right mental skills to leave you energized, thinking clearly and making the right decisions – key components for getting a competitive advantage and ensuring team success!

Key Takeaways:
- Tools for building a robust self-belief.
- How to bounce back positively from setbacks.
- Calming strategies to use in the presence of pressure, stress and fear.

Audience reviews:

  • There was a lot of feedback about JF’s keynote. In fact, he probably got the most comments of all sessions. I haven’t found any negative ones, only positive. Just a few ones I saw: “Jean-François Ménard was so inspiring and definitely spoke to a mindset that everyone can apply in their own lives, both personal and professional - a very much appreciated session”; “I had not interacted in-person with many of my colleagues over the past 2.5 years. It was so satisfying to see them in person! The bookend speakers i.e. Shawn and Jean-François were PHENOMENAL!”; “La session l'Olympien au bureau a été excellent. Le conférencier a su capter l'attention durant toute la session et les exemples etaient très adaptés." and some more like that :). - Program Manager, Marketing, Financial Management Institute Of Canada (fmi*igf)
  • Jean-François was the hit of our conference!!! We did a short survey on our two half days of meetings and Jean-François has the highest score and the most remarks amongst the various activities and speakers. He was able to adapt his presentation perfectly to the audience of advisors and have a good blend and mix of athlete coaching vs business coaching. His message and various examples resonated with the team. From changing language for I to We or taking it one week at a time. In a period of difficult business markets on the mortgage side and market volatility on the investment side, he was able to give tips to both teams as well as optimism on how to perform in the future. Again, a big bravo to Jean-François! - Regional Vice President, Financial Planning, Investment and Retirement Planning, Quebec | Royal Bank of Canada

Speaker Biography

Jean François Ménard is one of Canada’s most sought-after mental performance coaches, renowned for helping elite performers thrive under pressure and deliver consistent results when it matters most.

Early in his career, while completing a PhD in Sports Psychology at the University of Ottawa, Jean François took an unconventional leap—he joined the world-famous Cirque du Soleil. There, he coached acrobats, contortionists, jugglers, and clowns to master the mental skills needed to perform at their best as many as 450 times per year.

Following five years with Cirque du Soleil, he founded Kambio Performance, a boutique firm specializing in mental training and leadership coaching. His client list includes Olympic champions such as Scott Moir, Tessa Virtue, Mikael Kingsbury, Damian Warner, and Derek Drouin; Super Bowl champion Laurent Duvernay-Tardif; and X Games phenom Max Parrot. His athletes have won 18 medals over the past five Olympic Games.

Jean François’s expertise is also trusted by top-tier professionals outside of sport, such as surgeons, pop stars, law enforcement professionals, poker players, business leaders, and professional sports teams—most notably, the Montreal Canadiens. He is the bestselling author of Train Your Brain Like an Olympian and Team Chemistry, a regular media contributor, and an internationally respected keynote speaker.

His speaking clients include top-performing organizations such as NASA, the FBI, Red Bull, Cisco, PepsiCo, RBC, the Toronto Blue Jays, and Novartis.

Speaking Style & Topics

Jean François delivers customized, high-impact keynote presentations that blend science, storytelling, and practical strategies. His sessions are designed to be interactive, inspiring, and deeply educational, providing audiences with tools they can immediately apply in their personal and professional lives.

Each talk is tailored to the audience and typically includes:

  • Charismatic storytelling from behind the scenes of the Olympic Games and Cirque du Soleil

  • Engaging video content and hands-on mental training exercises

  • Actionable techniques to build mental resilience, focus, and leadership

  • A science-based framework to help teams and individuals sustain high performance

Whether you’re looking to train your brain to develop robust mental skills, motivate a team, build a high-performance culture, or improve leadership under pressure, Jean François Ménard delivers a powerful experience your audience won’t forget.

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