Stephan Dyer earned his Rotman Commerce degree in 2010 as a member of New College and rose quickly in finance, becoming one of the youngest senior managers in his bank's history. A U of T Toastmasters class changed his direction, revealing comedic and public speaking talents he hadn't planned on.
He left banking to pursue comedy and speaking full time, performing on Just For Laughs / Juste pour rire, Comedy Central and at The Second City, and co-founding reTHINK Group, which has trained employees at companies including Coca-Cola and LinkedIn.
He now teaches public speaking at the U of T School of Continuing Studies, where he won the 2024 Excellence in Teaching Award, and has more than half a million social media followers. His advice: engage the audience every three to five minutes, and rehearse — he ran five-minute Toastmasters speeches 40 to 60 times, and recommends rehearsing a 30-minute talk at least 20 times. "Don’t just give a speech – deliver an experience," he says.
Reported from Comedian and U of T alum Stephan Dyer: Keeping your audience’s attention in 2026, by David Goldberg (U of T Alumni News, May 1, 2026).
More from the original reporting: alumni.utoronto.ca/news/comedian-and-alum-stephan-dyer-keeping-your-audiences-attention-2026