Just now back from Lowell, Massachusetts where I worked for Enterprise Bank. They have a yearly wellness day where they get their staff together, them the latest news about the bank and then they bring in a motivational speaker. Yippee! That’s me.

It was fun an funny. It was great to see the group laugh as we poked fun at everything from their founder to their recent (and impressive) awards to the way the stage was decorated.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDeRefC5cgo

But most of all we delivered a motivational message of appreciation and the joy to be found in delivering an outstanding customer experience.

Financial banking speaker? You betcha!

Looking for a motivational speaker for your event? Contact me here.

Yours,
Brad Montgomery
Financial & Banking Speaker, Motivational Speaker, Fan of Enterprise Bank

Now, for those of you who prefer to read about motivational speakers as opposed to see the video, here is the transcript:

Speaker: It turned out to be great. Employees loved it. I suggest you look him up and take him up on speaking at your next event. Thank you.

Brad: What? What? Did I miss something? What did I miss? So here’s the deal. We’re going to talk today about connecting fun and **** with excellence and what I love about them is you already get that. Enterprise, you guys are experts at this. You know, fun place to work, whatever.

Jamie: Hi, I’m Jamie Gabriel. I work for Enterprise Bank. I’m the Senior Human Resources Manager and I just had the pleasure of working with Brad Montgomery on a all-employee meeting session. Brad was lively and engaging and of course, as you would have expected, humorous. His presentation was filled with excellent stories that people could take back and apply within their own life and he also brought in some of our own business challenges that we wanted to consider and he had some humor to those as well.

Next speaker: Well, we have two sessions that Brad’s speaking at. The morning session’s already happened, got a lot of great feedback. People loved it, lots of laughs and we are looking forward to his afternoon performance.

Next speaker: Yes, actually, I would say Brad’s experience as a certified speaking professional, you can tell that he’s taken the time to get to know the company and you don’t always get that with other speakers. So I think this is probably one of the best ones we’ve had so far.

In Wyoming recently, motivational speaker Brad Montgomery had a group of Construction Engineers lined up at the door waiting to hear him speak.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0MjjFsGLDc

Here’s a transcript of Brad’s video of his conversation with Jim and Russ at the Wyoming Dept of Transportation Construction Meeting.

Jim:     Doing this he is going to leave the best impression I’ve ever had out of all eight years; he is top notch.

Brad:    Hey this is Brad Montgomery from Brad Montgomery.com.  I’m on the way home, just having worked for the Wyoming Department of Transportation.  They asked me to be a motivational speaker; do some breakout sessions.  It was a blast.  It went really well and let’s see what they have to say.  Glad you’re here.

Jim:     Hi, my name is Jim Messing. I’m with the Wyoming Department of Transportation.  We are finishing up our 2011 Engineers Construction meeting and we’ve had Brad Montgomery as our main speaker and out of eight years of doing this he is going to leave the best impression I’ve ever had out of all eight years.  He is top notch.  If you ever have a chance to watch him, do it.

Brad:     Awesome, can you tell them a little bit about what we did yesterday and today?

Jim:     He did a two hour presentation, opened it up, kind of loosen everybody up, then he did a couple of one hour sessions with us and how to take laughter into your workplace, your family life and everything like that.  And everyone came out laughing.  We had people lined up at the doors waiting to get in to his session.

Brad:     Thanks.

Jim:     You’re welcome.

Russ:     I’m Russ Howe with the Wyoming DOT Construction Staff.  I’m a staff technician.  Just had the opportunity to see Brad Montgomery do three presentations or performances, whichever you prefer, for our 2011 Engineers Conference and boy if you need a good guy I’d definitely get him.  Very, very enjoyable.  Very pertinent things to say; made us laugh.  Made us feel good.

Brad:     How did it go compared to other years?

Russ:     I’ve only actually been to one other one and we had another guy similar to Brad and he was good but I have to say I really enjoyed Brad more.

If you want to get your staff lined up out the door to hear a keynote speaker at your next event, contact me here.

I love being a motivational speaker, but one thing that I don’t love is that it is often a singular lonely job. Yes, we get to know our audiences. And yes, we often become close with the meeting planners.

But we rarely get to work with other speakers — people who KNOW what it’s like to be on stage regularly. People who know the joys and pains of earning a living “performing.”

I recently was shared the platform — just for a few minutes — with fellow Colorado speaker Steve Spangler. He was doing his boot camp for teachers and invited me to come on stage to do a bit of comedy with squeakers. I taught how to use a tiny squeaker hidden in your hand to get some laughs at work and generally boost your fun-o-meter.****

I was only on the platform for a short time, but it was really fun because Steve and I got to vamp off each other. I teased him. He teased me. Together we worked through the squeakers. The audience was very kind, and that was nice. But having a chance to be on stage with somebody I like and trust — and somebody who is very funny as well was a treat.

My point? I’m not sure I have one. But darn! It’s fun working with other funny speakers. Thanks Steve!

Looking for a motivational speaker for your event? Contact me here.

Brad Montgomery

Colorado Speaker, Fan of Steve and Earl (read on), Secretly Eager to Be in a Comedy Team.

**** Both Steve and I learned about the squeakers from the master, Dr. Earl Reum who I’m pretty sure is the first one to figure out that these squeakers can be VERY funny. Earl is a hero to all Colorado speakers and magicians, all of the in-the-know Colorado speakers and to student council, educational and corporate groups across the country. Thanks Earl for sharing your secrets!

Technorati Tags: Colorado speaker, Colorado speakers, Steve Spangler Del.icio.us Tags: Colorado speaker, Colorado speakers, Steve Spangler

How to hold your squeaker

I was recently a motivational speaker in Oklahoma laughing and playing with some good folks for American Olean. (They make tile…lot’s of it. Trust me, you’ve seen their work.) (They had a very cool event for some of their top folks and wanted to end the day with a very funny motivational speaker. Aw shucks!) I spoke at the end of a long day of learning…. my job was to pick up the energy in the room, send them out with more energy than they came in with, and to give them some nuggets to keep tile fun. (Yes, that’s the first time I’ve ever typed that.)

Here’s a surprise follow up video, complete with instructions about how to use a hand squeaker. (American Olean sent all these good people squeakers…now let’s get you up to speed on how to use it right!)

Looking for a motivational speaker for your event? Contact me here.

More instructions about how to use your hand squeaker here.

Shop for hand squeakers.

Check out my motivational speaker home.

I just got back from Texas where I was the motivational speaker for a group of social workers for the Child Protection Services.  These are the good people who look out for kids who need it most:  kids in physical danger.  They oversee way too many cases of abused and neglected kids, and do their best to get them into safe situations.

This group was especially fun for me because right now I’m a foster parent.  I’m one of the families these people — ok, actually their peers in Colorado — work with on a day to day basis.

Check out this video I made about them:

My familiarity — in such an intimate way — with foster care made this event special for two reasons.  First, the audience knew I wasn’t bluffing when I said, “I understand.”   Audiences crave authenticity in their motivational speakers, and because I have two foster kids myself, it was easy for me to be direct and honest.   Second, because of my familiarity with “The System” it made for some REALLY funny jokes.  I could joke in VERY specific ways about their jobs, their stresses, and their joys.

Thanks Texas Foster Care System (Children and Family Services!)  It was my absolute pleasure.

Mobile Post: Posted on-the-go by Brad Montgomery from his iPhone.

==

For those who prefer to read, here is a transcript of the video:

This is Brad Montgomery from BradMontgomery.com.  What a really cool afternoon we had.  So I’m still in Texas, but today we worked for Child Protective Service of Texas.

This is a government agency entrusted with dealing with kids who need help, kiddos in foster care and protecting kids who are in danger. I love doing this for a million reasons, but one of the things I love most is, some of you might know, I’m a foster dad right now.  We’ve got two little foster girls and it’s a lot of work.

One of the things we’ve learned is the social workers involved, the peers of the people I just spoke with, are really, really hardworking people working in a system that doesn’t get enough support, is under-funded, is under-trained, and if it wasn’t for these people, these kids would be suffering.  So it was my delight, I was totally flattered to deliver not just a motivational speech, which we did, and not just an inspirational speech, which we did, but also a message of appreciation because these social workers work hard and rarely get a thank you.  So we made them laugh and we made them laugh hard and we did all the things we were supposed to do as a motivational speaker, but the best part for me was as a foster dad, is to be able to look them in the eye and say it and mean it; thanks for all you do for foster children as Child Protection Service social workers.

So we were in Wichita Falls, Texas for about 160 people, absolute total blast.  Folks, keep up the good work, you’re doing amazing things.  It’s a pleasure to be your motivational speaker, and keep your eyes out for those kiddos; they need your help and you’re making a difference.  Thanks!

Technorati Tags: social worker speaker, foster care, foster children, protective services, protective services speaker, Texas speaker, government speaker Del.icio.us Tags: social worker speaker, foster care, foster children, protective services, protective services speaker, Texas speaker, government speaker

If I were trying to pick one motivational speaker among many, I’d want to know:
1. Are they really funny? (Or do they just say they are?)

2. Will my group or organization feel like he “gets” us? Or is he just presenting the same old crap to my audience he delivered last month at the Rotary Club?

3. And finally, I would want to make sure he can provide a LONG list of recent and very happy clients. Seriously…they gotta be recent, they have to be real, and they need to rave.

And frankly, it’s kinda cool — though not a deal breaker — if your potential motivational speaker has spoken groups you’ve actually heard of.

Well…lucky me, because here is a video taken of the Boeing meeting planner in St. Louis Missouri where I recently presented a keynote. (It was 2 hours….so it was sort of a keynote speech on steroids.) It went well, the group was fabulous, and here’s VK with her words right after the speech.

Do you need a motivational speaker? Whether or not you create Space Shuttles, Space Stations or fighter jets, I’d love to help your team get to be where they need to be, and to energize your meeting. Contact me here.

Thanks!
Brad Montgomery
Missouri Motivational Speaker, Humor in the Workplace Expert, Fan of Boeing

For you readers, here’s a transcription of the video:
He far exceeded our expectations. It was funny and he was able to give us tips that we can use every day and we would definitely like to have him back.

He talked with me about our day to day job and what we do and he was able to use that and be relevant within his presentation and really talk about things that related with the audience and what they would need for their jobs and things they can relate to. And compared to other presenters, he did an awesome job at bringing humor in and really keeping it relevant. People enjoyed it but they did walk away with some really great information and tips that they can use.

Technorati Tags: missouri motivational speaker, missouri, st. louis speaker, boeing, funny

Ok. That’s not funny. Yes it is. Well… it depends.

Humor is relative. (No, I don’t mean your relative is funny. I mean that what is funny to some people in some circumstances isn’t funny to others, and that’s OK.)

I recently spoke in Colorado for the Kaiser Permanente Palliative Care department. We had nurses, doctors, administrators, chaplains, and hospice partners… the whole team gathered for a day of celebration and a much needed dose of perspective—through humor.

This is hard-working team of health care professional who are constantly dealing with a difficult heavy job. And, judging by the laughter and volume from this particular group they really needed a break.

So we laughed. We joked about everything from what was served for lunch, to the party going on upstairs, to the fact that they had an off-site on a Saturday. But we also joked about the difficult and serious parts of their jobs. We even joked about death, hospice, and used a bit of black humor. (Maybe not black, but certainly very dark brown.)

In my job as a comedian motivational speaker, I’ve found that the groups with the most grizzly occupations are the quickest ones to joke about stuff that makes most of us blanch. Cops, firemen, ER nurses, — and hospice and palliative care folks not only joke about stuff that many people would find “crosses the line” of good taste, they HAVE to joke about it. It helps keep them healthy.

Humor helps with stress. And folks super stressful jobs will often turn to gallows humor to help them stay sane.

So, after agreeing that the jokes would “stay in the room,” we went for it. And the laughter followed.

Often people complain about humor that is “in bad taste” without understanding that often that humor is “in good health.” I once worked for a bunch of intensive care nurses who finally put up a plaque outside of the ICU that said something like, ‘If you see us laughing please know that this is not evidence that we are taking the care of your loved ones less seriously. It’s our way of dealing with the stress that is inherent with this job. And in the end, our laughter helps us provide the care that your family deserves.” Brilliant. Beautiful.

Back to Kaiser: I was impressed with how quickly this group was to laugh. But as I lead them through some exercises to help them connect humor and levity to increasing their ability to provide care and to serve their folks — and how keeping themselves sane in the end serves their patients, I was amazed at how quickly they got to the point.

In other words, this audience didn’t just run through the humor in the workplace exercises and try to move on. They lingered. They enjoyed. And they went deep. I think I might have learned as much as they did. Scratch that…. I definitely learned from them.

Thanks Kaiser Palliative Care. It was my absolute pleasure.

Are you looking for a health care motivational speaker, or palliative care / hospice speaker? I’d love to be your speaker. Go to the contact page now.

Yours,
Brad Montgomery
Palliative Care Speaker, Hospice Speaker, and Fan if Kaiser Palliative Health

Related:
Hospice video on YouTube
Kaiser Health Care Speaker video on Youtube
Sex, Beer and Death : A blog being a speaker for another Hospice organization
Funny Health Care Speaker home on my main website.

Technorati Tags: Hospice speaker, palliative care speaker, palliative, funny, motivational speaker, Kaiser, Kaiser Permanente, Colorado Speaker Del.icio.us Tags: Hospice speaker, palliative care speaker, palliative, funny, motivational speaker, Kaiser, Kaiser Permanente, Colorado Speaker

Hey Re/Max! Thanks so much for inviting me to work with you last week.  We had a great time here in Denver. Here’s a quick
reminder video I created just for you.

Today can be a great day at work — for you and the people you’re leading.  But the only way to guarantee that it is great, is to make it so.   What are YOU going to do to make your leadership style, your management techniques, and your time at Re/Max fun, meaningful, and successful.

Are YOU looking for a motivational speaker who can fire up your group?  Whether or not you are from Colorado, we should talk? Contact me here.

Mobile Post: Posted on-the-go by Brad Montgomery from his iPhone.

Re/Max….what did YOU get out of our time together?  Leave a comment below and I’ll send you something for free.  (Nope…not an Escalade…but’s it’s cool.  And it’s free, so what do you have to lose?  : )

Yours,
Brad Montgomery
Colorado Motivational Speaker, Humor at Work Expert, Fan of Re/Max!

Get off Your CASE and Do Something!

I’m just back from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (Region VI) in St. Louis, Missouri.  We had a great time talking about how those people in the Advancement Professionals  — a job title that still cracks me up — can incorporate humor, levity and lightheartedness in work in order to achieve more at work.

Here’s my short summary and reminder video.

Hey CASE VI!   Leave a comment in the space below and I’ll send ya an Ethical Bribe.  Yup, I’ll send you something.  Nope, not a$100 bill or a Toyota Corolla, but it’s fun and you’ll like it.  Promise!

Looking for a motivational speaker for your event? Contact me here.

Brad Montgomery
Funny Motivational Speaker, Missouri Speaker, Fan of CASE VI

Mobile Post: Posted on-the-go by Brad Montgomery from his iPhone.

For those of you who prefer to read (and blow off the video) here ya go:

CASE VI

Hey CASE VI, it’s Brad Montgomery from Brad Montgomery.com.  Thank you so much.  It was so cool being the keynote speaker in St. Louis.  I promised you a quick follow up and I wanted to remind you of the three tools, the three ideas that we talked about that are going to remind you to bring levity and lightheartedness and humor and even joy back to work.  First, find happy starting right now.  Find things that remind you that life is good and my game was how cool is that.  You’re getting a follow up video from a speaker you saw just recently – how cool is that.

All right, the second thing is choice, right.  Pick happy; it’s a choice.  If you want to have a good day at work today and tomorrow; if you want your teams to have a good day at work; if you want work to be fun for you then part of it is making that conscious choice.  Remember we talked about this when we were in St. Louis.  Well, I’m telling you if it’s important to you are you willing to make that choice.  Can you lead the way.

And then finally, the third one was act happy.  What are you physically going to do today to create joy and humor for yourself, for your family, for your team, for your organization and I’m suggesting you’re going to have to do something so maybe that means something crazy like wear a clown nose at work or maybe it just means listen to funny stuff, read positive stuff, linger over the funny pages or tell a knock-knock joke to your cat.

Brad Montgomery, Brad Montgomery.com.  If you leave a comment below on this blog I promise I’ll send you something fun but let me know what you’re going to do differently based on our time together.  Thanks CASE VI, it was a blast.

Diabetes Speaker

I was flattered to speak at a diabetes forum in Canon City, Colorado recently.  I love my job as a speaker.  And I love being a Colorado Speaker because I live here.  (Yay, no airplanes today!)

But this one was personal:  my daughter has Type 1 Diabetes.  This is a big deal, requires constant vigilance, and is a huge part of our family’s life.  I don’t have diabetes myself, but because of my daughter our family has become experts in the management and lifestyle that is diabetes.

So speaking to a bunch of diabetics was very cool — and very personal.  I spend some time researching every audience.  But when it is as part of my life as diabetes, it’s easy to share my passion.

But what was fun for me was that I have almost no wisdom when it comes to staying upbeat in spite of the disease.  Or, more accurately, all of the wisdom I do have comes from my 12 year old diabetic.  I’m fabulously proud of her and her ability to adapt to this disease.  She is a rock star.  Sure, she is well aware that she has a health issue that makes her unique from her friends.  But here ability to shrug it off and just deal with it — without complaining….. much — is astounding to her mom and I.

When I asked her what I should tell this group of people dealing with diabetes, and what she would recommend they do to stay upbeat in spite of it all she blew me away.  She said, “Tell them that you pretty much have diabetes whether or not you like it.  And the only thing you CAN do about it is to take care of yourself.”   Such simplicity.  Such wisdom.  It ticked me off that she could be so articulate at 1/4 my age.

I was to speak to a bunch of folks are facing major life style changes.  They are going to have to give up (or severely limit) some of their favorite foods and find a way to like foods they’ve never met.  They are going to have to change the way they live — and I was tasked with helping them to make this transition with humor and grace.

So I took my daughter’s message… along with my own funny stories and humor … to this forum sponsored by St. Thomas Moore Hospital. And it went well.   The message was right on.  I only wish I could take credit for it.

Thanks Canon City!  And thanks Claire.  It was a blast.

Are you looking for a health care speaker for your organization?   Whether or not you need a diabetes speaker, I’d love to be your guy.  Go to the Contact Page now.

Brad Montgomery
Proud Father of a Diabetic, Diabetes Speaker, New Fan of St. Thomas Moore

Related:

Info about how this Health Care Speaker can help your group
See a video of Brad as a health care speaker here (from YouTube)
An article about being a diabetes speaker with my daughter
Another diabetes  article

Technorati Tags: Diabetes, diabetes speaker, health care speaker, colorado speaker Del.icio.us Tags: Diabetes, diabetes speaker, health care speaker, colorado speaker

I just got back form Richmond, Indiana (near Indianapolis, Indiana) where I spoke to the entire staff of First Bank Richmond.  They have been going through some tough times lately— and not just the general strife all of the banking industry is enduring.  They just updated some huge systems, and the process has been good but painful.  This group needed to come together as a team, celebrate their successes, and celebrate their conversion to this new complex software system.

(Check out the bribe below!)

It was a a hoot….check out a 1 minute sample:

Here’s my bribe: Hey First Bank Richmond folks!!!   What are you going to DO differently at work (and/or at home) based on our time together on Veterans Day?

I’d love to hear how you plan to “create stories” for your customers.  Sure, you probably can’t create an awesome customer service story for EVERY person who walks into your bank, but certainly you could create one awesome experience per day?

Personally, I think creating one story per day is a bit lame.   Can you do two?  Three?  Five?

And most importantly, how are you going to make the creation of these customer service stories fun for YOU?  (Remember, if it’s fun you’ll do it.  If it isn’t, you probably won’t.)  What systems or processes or rewards can you put in place so that these stories become part of your First Bank Richmond culture?

Use the comment form below to share your ideas and I’ll send you a gift.  No, not a pony, but still fun.

Thanks kids!

Do you need an outside speaker to help get your bank — or other organization — to where it needs to be? Go to the contact page now.

Brad Montgomery
Banking Speaker, Motivational Speaker, Fan of First Bank Richmond

Technorati Tags: banking speaker, financial speaker, customer service speaker, First Bank Richmond, Del.icio.us Tags: banking speaker, financial speaker, customer service speaker, First Bank Richmond,

Years ago I did school assembly program called the Magic of Books.  It’s a motivational literacy program —

I use magic and comedy to demonstrate the cool things you can learn through reading.

I did at least 800 shows, and over 200 schools — nearly all of them in my home state of Colorado.  Recently, I donated the program to my kid’s school.  It was a hoot to have 2 of my kids in the audience, one of whom got up and did a magic trick on her own.  (My other kid was a “star” in a trick I did.)   To be honest, I thought this was the end of the story.

Check out this video we did at one of the schools here in Colorado:

But then in a fluke, a school from a nearby district called and asked me to do it.  “Yes!” I said before thinking.  (The assemblies are fun, but to be brutally honest, my corporate groups pay better.  Hey!  Kids need new shoes!)  Then I noticed that I had a spring in my step the whole day;  I was THRILLED to have booked the show because I love doing it.  Love it.

Guess what?  I’m back!  No, I’m not a school assembly guy.  But I am a motivational speaker who occationally likes doing school assemblies.  Because I love them.

I guess I could do it as an add-on to one of my corporate road trips.  But I’m assuming I’ll mostly do them here in Colorado in between speaking jobs.

Ok clients…don’t sweat it.  I’m not a kids performer.  But yeah, I love doing it and I’m gonna do maybe one school assembly per month.

Hey Colorado Schools?  Are you looking for a fun school assembly?   Offered by a guy who does it because of his passion?  Contact me here.

Yours,
Brad Montgomery
Occasional School Assembly Guy, Lover of School Assemblies, Believer in the Magic of Books

Related:
See the School Assembly program on Youtube.
More info on this School Assembly

Technorati Tags: school assemblies, colorado, school assembly, literacy, Magic of Books Del.icio.us Tags: school assemblies, colorado, school assembly, literacy, Magic of Books

I dare you. Turn each guest’s visit to your hotel into a story.

This hotel is "fine."

Ok, for the rest of you, allow me to explain. I just spoke to a fine group of hoteliers in Las Vegas. LodgingHost Corporation had me come to Las Vegas to speak to their managers and administrators.

By now, you’d have to live on the far side of the moon to not know by now the hospitality industry is suffering. This economy is making it very hard, and this upcoming winter looks to be another horrible season. (Though there is much hope for Spring.)

We stayed at the Excalibur Casino. It was fine. The rooms were nice. The service was fine. Everything was fine. But as I said to the folks of LodgingHost, in this economy, “fine” is a failure. As Kevin, the president of LodgingHost told us all, “Customer service is everything.” I couldn’t agree more.

I’ve stayed in approximately 800 hotels. And I remember only a handful. And without exception, the ones I remember are the hotels where a somebody of the hotels where somebody created a story for me.

It’s that simple: when there was a story, I remembered it. Otherwise, the hotel was either lousy, or possibly even “fine.” “Fine” equals “forgettable.”

Check out the video, and pay attention to the bribe I offered the folks at LodgingHost.

First, the concept: As I told them in Las Vegas, it would be terrific, (but probably impossible) to create a memorable story for EVERY guest. But it IS possible to create a story for some of your guests.

Perhaps you could create one story for one guest every day? (Though my sense is that goal is WAY to lame. If you cannot “make the day” of several of your guests every day you just aren’t trying.)

I challenge you: come up with a technique to create stories for your guests. Maybe it’s hand delivering them a bottle of water. Or going out of your way to…. I don’t know what. But my guess is that you do. In fact, I KNOW that you have ideas how to create these superhero customer service stories.

excalibur hallway

My Bribe: Be one of the first 12 people to leave a comment below about what you will (or are!) doing for your guests to create amazing customer service stories and I’ll send you a gift. Nothing huge, but I’ll make sure it’s cool.

Thanks LodgingHost. It was a total pleasure. I can’t wait to hear your stories.

Do you need a funny motivational speaker to speak to your organization about customer service? I’m your guy. Let’s talk about making your convention or meeting special. Go to the contact page.

Yours,
Brad Montgomery
Funny Customer Service Speaker, Las Vegas Speaker, And Fan of Creating Stories

Technorati Tags: Lodging Host, Hotel, Customer Service Speakers, Las Vegas, Funny Del.icio.us Tags: Lodging Host, Hotel, Customer Service Speakers, Las Vegas, Funny

I recently had the good luck to speak the the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s national conference in Denver, Colorado.  They convention had a couple of thousand people, but my audience had about 800 caregivers.

I always enjoy my job, but this keynote speech was a treat.  Because it was personal.  As you’ll see in this video clip, I got to do what I always do…. write and deliver customized humor and motivation for my client.   But in this case I got to take the customization one step further.

Check Out the video:

My mom and grandmother both died this year.  And both went through hospice care.  And both were cared for by Denver Hospice, which just happened to have a few representatives in the audience.  They had no idea who I was. And I had no idea if they would be there.  But, as luck would have it, early in the keynote I called on a random woman, asked her who she represented, and she said, “Denver Hospice.”   Two thousand people at the convention, eight hundred in my audience, and the SINGLE woman I call upon is from the organization that helped my family… twice! … in the past year.  I just smiled, and said, “I’ll come back to you.”

I had planned to thank Denver Hospice for the amazing grace and skill they demonstrated while helping us, my mom and my grandmother.  But who knew it’d be this easy!  (And hard…. you saw the video.)

Hospice folks…you do amazing work.  I’m flattered to be part of your team in Colorado — even if just for the day.   And I’m more thankful than you might guess.

Hey hospice and health care organizations!  Do YOU need a funny health care speaker who can motivate, entertain and inspire?  And who can do it from the heart?  (Oh, and did I mention that laughter goes a LONG way at health care conferences.)  I’m your guy.  Go to the contact page now.

Yours,
Brad Montgomery
Hospice Speaker, Health Care Speaker, Fan of Denver Hospice

Related:
Health Care Speaker
Hospice Speaker on YouTube
Health Care Speaker on YouTube
Hospice Speaker testimonial on Youtube from a hospice organization in Florida

Technorati Tags: hospice speaker, health care speaker, Denver Hospice, Colorado Speaker Del.icio.us Tags: hospice speaker, health care speaker, Denver Hospice, Colorado Speaker

Dear readers:  no, I’m not on probation.  No I haven’t ever been caught up in the justice system.  But I did recently get hired to be a funny motivational speaker for a bunch of fine probation pros based in the Chicago, Illinois area.  (Though oddly we went to Wisconsin to have the event.)

It was a total hoot.

Ethical Bribe:   
Hey you probation peeps!  Leave a comment on my blogbelow and tell me one thing that you did differently based on our time together today.  And tell me what the effect was.  (Did it make your day more fun?  What happened at the meeting when you did it?  What did your kids do?) And then I’ll send you something fun.   (No, not a Ford Explorer or a $500 shopping spree, but it’s fun and cool.  And it’s my treat.)   The first 15 people who reply with how you were spurred into action will get a free gift.

You will type in your email but that remains private and is never published.   It just is for me to send you the gift.

Thanks again.  It was a total pleasure to be your probation speaker.

Are you an organization — probation or otherwise — and need a speaker to motivate in a laugh out loud funny way, I hope you’ll pick me. Contact me here.

Technorati Tags: probation speaker, probation officers, motivational speaker, illinois motivational speaker Del.icio.us Tags: probation speaker, probation officers,motivationalspeaker, illinois motivational speaker

I recently worked in San Diego, California for a group of teachers from the Department of Defense called STARBASE.  It was a cool group of educators tasked with getting “at risk” kids fired up about math and science.   It’s not a military group, but these “schools” are mainly on military bases, so there are plenty of retired military folks there as well as civilian teachers.

My awesome meeting planner, Cindy, just wrote the kindest note.  Check it out:

I wanted to thank the National Speakers Bureau for suggesting Brad Montgomery for the 2009 STARBASE Professional Development Conference and let you know what a fantastic performance he gave.

Brad arrived mid-morning for his afternoon performance and spent some time visiting with myself and the attendees during lunch and breaks.  We had no idea that he would be able to incorporate the information he gathered so quickly into his afternoon performance.  Nor did I anticipate just how “on target” he would be with his comedy and message.

His ideals on attitude were in complete alignment with the conference goals which included increasing the teachers’ awareness of attitude and relationships toward the good of the STARBASE program.  The information and skills he shared during the conference provided the participants with the skills to make real changes in both their professional and personal lives.

Again, I express our thanks.  Brad’s presentation was greatly appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed by all.  It was a great way to end the conference with a positive attitude. He truly knocked this one out of the park!

Sincerely,
Cyndy M.
Alexandria, Virginia

Aw Shucks.   That’s so cool.  Thanks Cindy.

Are you looking for an education speaker to fire up your educators and teachers?  Go to the contact page now.

Cheers!

Brad

Technorati Tags: Speaker for Educators, Education, Teachers, Speaker, California Speaker, San Diego Del.icio.us Tags: Speaker for Educators, Education, Teachers, Speaker, California Speaker, San Diego

I was a fish out of water … and into the cow pie. It was Green Acres meets Tony Robbins. It was City-Slickers-meets-Deepak-Chopra.

Okay, it was none of the above. But it was fun.

I recently returned from Kansas where I was tasked with being a motivational speaker for a bunch of farmers — all members of Offerle Coop. I’m pretty sure that I wasn’t what they expected — fast talking jokester with a message about enjoying life. But I can tell you this: by the end of the night everybody — including me — was pumped. It was a good time.

They were celebrating their 100 year anniversary as a Grain Coop and invited me to address the Kansas group after a big dinner.

I loved it for a million reasons. Ok, maybe not a million; how ’bout five:

• I enjoyed my drive in. It’s a beautiful part of the country, and because I’m a city kid, I really enjoyed looking at the feed lots JAMMED with cattle. (Check out the video.)

Why else did I love being a motivational speaker at this Kansas event? Here are the remaining four:

• This audience wasn’t jaded. They didn’t come in with that Los Angeles or NYC attitude that they’ve seen it all. They weren’t a push-over audience; but they were open to giving the speaker a shot. That’s refreshing.

• It was a fun event, and I was proud to be part of it. Members of the Coop drove in from the entire region to celebrate, to get a steak, to meet with neighbors… and to hear little ol’ me. I think I’m not letting the cat out of the bag to say that not a Offerle Kansas doesn’t have a ton of entertainment options. So just the fact that they were having some dude from Colorado was news in itself. And we were in Dodge City… a fun trip for anybody in in SW Kansas!

• We got to poke fun at the farmers. There I was, this chatty, fast-talking speaker from Colorado clearly out of my element. So I made fun of me and how they barely let me in the door because I’ve never seen a true soybean. And I made fun of some of the men — good, hard working guys who are way more of the strong and silent type than I am. (There’s a shock, huh?) They answered my good-natured questions with one word answers which I accidentally (??) misunderstood. The women howled. The men thought it was hilarious. And I had one of the best nights of the year.

• It was a return trip for me. I had worked with Duane from the Coop a couple times in the past… years ago. It’s flattering to work for anybody. But being invited back (three times!) is five times cooler. (I know, I know. It’s weird speaker math.)

Thanks Offerle! I had a blast. And yup, the steak was delicious.

Brad Montgomery
Kansas Motivational Speaker, Fan of Coops, Fan of Offerle

Technorati Tags: Kansas Motivational Speaker, Offerle, Kansas, Motivational Speakers, Feed Lot Del.icio.us Tags: Kansas Motivational Speaker, Offerle, Kansas, Motivational Speakers, Feed Lot

I recently blogged about how one of my clients (The Air Force) was able to make up some missing budget by partnering with their convention hotel. Read that article here.

The Renaissance Hotel in St. Louis was as happy with the arrangement as the Air Force was.   I was thrilled.

Check out this video here:

Thanks Renaissance. I’m flattered. We had fun, didn’t we?

Does YOUR organization need a motivational keynote speaker? Go to the contact page.

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Keynote Speaker, Loves help With Speakers Fees!

Related:

See the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDipR4RjtSo
Technorati Tags: speaker’s rates, speaker’s fees, st. Louis, Missouri speaker, motivational speaker Del.icio.us Tags: speaker’s rates, speaker’s fees, st. Louis, Missouri speaker, motivational speaker

What’s cooler than being a motivational speaker? Being a customer of the very same people that you motivated.

I had the excellent fortune of speaking to the Colorado Dude and Guest Ranch Association a few months ago. It was a fun gig: we were in the Ritz Carlton in the Colorado Rockies. A great group of people shared motivational laughter and fun.

One thing I love about my job is I get to learn bits and pieces of many industries. In prepping for the Association keynote, I was coached on how ranches work, what the loves and stresses are, and where the industry is headed.

Normally this would be the end of a good story: I love my job and love speaking. But the story is just getting started…

My family and I recently returned from a stay with one of the member dude ranches of the Colorado association. We went to North Folk Ranch, in Shawnee, Colorado. It’s known for fishing and horse riding. And for full-on gourmet food. It was a TOTAL blast being able to see and experience the very same industry I spoke to. I think I would have enjoyed any ranch. But the North Fork in particular was total first-class, top-shelf joy.

Let me qualify the following story by saying that I had an outstanding time. The staff, the food, the views, the facilities, and Karen and Dean May (the owners) absolutely rocked. I recommend that all of you pick up your phone now and make a reservation at the North Fork Ranch.

I’d only offer one piece of advice for you, dear readers. Don’t get on a horse. Seriously. Don’t do it. They hurt.

They put me on a horse that was apparently large. (From my perspective, they are all flippin’ huge. I’m a city boy and I’m afraid of big dogs.) I had to get on some ladder thingy to mount my horse. (This is only slightly embarrassing…. none of the real horse people seem to need a boost.)

An hour and a half of bouncy excruciating horsing later, I was convinced that the fine folks at Guantanamo have it wrong: they don’t need water boarding. Just put terrorists on a horse for 90 minutes and bounce them though the Rockies and they will give up their best friend. Seriously, it’s a slow torture.

I couldn’t move. My legs were frozen. My butt hurt more than you can say, “Oh my gosh this saddle is huge.”

The wranglers practically needed a crane to get me off. (Getting off on my own was out of the question: The Abe Lincoln at the Wax Museum could move better than I could at that moment. After I got off I stood very, VERY still. I waited. Some blood came back. In 40 or 50 minutes I was able to walk again. (Ok, maybe not that long. But in Horse Time, it had to be forever.)

The wranglers were kind; they didn’t laugh even a little. (Until I left.) They told me the horse was too big for me. I’m certain they lied to make me feel less like an idiot. (Nobody else seemed to be in agony. Every other guest seemed to jump right off, pat their horse and head in for lemonade. But try as I might, my legs wouldn’t budge.) My kids thought that the fact that I was stiffer than an I-Beam was hilarious.

Still, I had a total ball. Nobody made me go on another ride — though they did take me on a couple of shorter rides on a smaller horse. Yes, it did hurt less. The smaller horse was no longer like being drawn and quartered. It was more like being pulled like a wishbone.

We retreated to fabulous views, gourmet luxury, a wildly unique “Mountain Man,” wonderful company, and even a late night, after-hours-under-the-stars visit to the hot tub.

My wife loved it. My kids loved it. And I loved it. But please, don’t make me go on that big horse again— I’ll say anything. I’ll admit to any crime. I’ll give up any secrets you want. Just don’t make me ride.

Hey North Fork! You guys rock. You made our week. Thanks so much. Keep up the great work. It’s easy to see why you are so successful. Thanks for sharing the love!

Do YOU need a motivational speaker (and promise not to make me ride a horse afterwards?) Contact me now.

Yours,
Brad Montgomery
Colorado Motivational Speaker, Urban Cowboy, Flexibility-Challenged Dude

Technorati Tags: Colorado, Speaker, Dude Ranch, Colorado Motivational Speaker, North Fork Ranch, Guest Ranch Association Del.icio.us Tags: Colorado, Speaker, Dude Ranch, Colorado Motivational Speaker, North Fork Ranch, Guest Ranch Association

I’m back from the Cincinnati, Ohio area where I was a motivational speaker for Perfetti van Melle. (This is the HUGE candy company that is famous in the USA for AirHeads and Mentos.)

I had a great time working with their team: we talked about ramping up the fun in the candy business, and connected that to increasing their bottom line. [Have more fun = Sell more candy.] It was a killer group of good people.

My favorite part of the program was watching this very weary, corporate group start early in the morning quite and polite. When I started, they barely laughed. Heck, they barely smiled. (This is predictable…they didn’t know there would be a funny speaker…and in fact have never had a paid professional speaker at these meetings.)

But sixty minutes later they were raucous, fun, participatory, loud, and very, VERY fun. It’s a fun process to watch; it’s a fun process to be part of.

The ONLY thing wrong with the whole event was that they sent me home with a briefcase full of their products. Mentos, Mentos Gum, (yum!), some Airheads (which my kids love) and my personal favorite, AirHeads Xtremes Sweetly Sour Belts.

Put away the crack. The heroin. The cigarettes. They mean nothing to me and never have. But HELLO MOM these things are good. Really good. I had planned on sharing with the folks on the plane, and of course with my kids. All I can say is that the kids got to try them, but the people on United Airlines had to fend for themselves.

Here’s the video:

Thanks Perfetti van Melle! I had a total blast.

Do YOU need a motivational speaker for your organization? With or without candy, contact us now. Go to the contact page.

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Fan of Mentos, LOVER of Airheads Xtremes

Technorati Tags: href=”http://www.technorati.com/tag/Perfetti” target=”_top” rel=”tag” title=”Technorati tag: Perfetti”>Perfetti van Melle, Cincinatti, Kentucky, Motivational speaker, mentos, airheads Del.icio.us Tags: Perfetti van Melle, Cincinatti, Kentucky, Motivational speaker, mentos, airheads

I love nurses. Not in the way you’re thinking. : ) I mean I love speaking to audiences of nurses.

I recently was in Kansas working for a group of oncology nurses (or is it a pride of nurses? A gaggle?) and had an absolute blast.

What set’s nurses apart from other audiences? Even health care audiences? Besides the scrubs, quite a bit. They are over worked and underpaid. (Ok, so that doesn’t make them unique.) And their hard work with sick and critically ill patients makes them quick to laugh and ready for a dose of levity.

They are in desperate need of a break from their lives, and are eager and ready to learn any tips and tricks you have to share about how to deal with the constant stresses and change associated with healthcare. So being a speaker is always fun. But being a healthcare speaker for nurses is double cool.

One of my favorite parts of this particular speech was that I followed a doctor who had a fairly serious program about the business of healthcare. Then, just as I started he left. So…. we…. er… I…. talked about him. I gently poked fun at doctors in general (which all nurses love!) and him in particular. I didn’t cross the line. But I may have visited it.

The audience went wild. As a motivational health care speaker, I find it fun to incorporate the audiences specifics into my program. But this doctor presenting just before my program was a gift from the Comedy Gods. It was a hoot.

Check out this video filmed RIGHT after the program:

Looking for a healthcare speaker? Feel like your healthcare audiences deserves both motivation and a deep belly laugh? Go to the contact page now!

Brad Montgomery
Funny Healthcare Speaker, Fan of Kansas, Fan of Nurses!

Technorati Tags: Health care speaker, healthcare speaker, kansas speaker, motivational speaker, oncology, nurses, wichita

I recently worked for the DAU — Defense Acquisition University — in Huntsville, Alabama. This is a hardworking group of military and civilians who need to understand the very complex acquisition process. It’s a tough and tedious job. And it’s important. (Just ask the men and women who need parts and supplies overseas.)

Happily, it went well. Really well. It was a terrific group.

The best part of the motivational speech for me was watching these men and women change during our time together. Predictably, they started out pretty wary. “What?! A funny motivational speaker at a military conference?” But after the first few minutes they began to relax and get into it — and to laugh.

It was clear to me — even as an outsider — that this group NEEDED to laugh.

Does your group (military or civilian) need a speaker who can help them with perspective, morale and attitude? Wouldn’t it be cool if this motivational speaker was funny? I think so too. Let’s talk. Go to the contact page.

Learn more about this military speaker
Brad Montgomery
Military Speaker, Funny Motivational Speaker, Fan of the DAU

Technorati Tags: Military Speaker, Brad Montgomery, Alabama, Motivational Speakers, DAU, Defence Acquistion University, Huntsville Del.icio.us Tags: Military Speaker, Brad Montgomery, Alabama, Motivational Speakers, DAU, Defence Acquistion University, Huntsville

More related links:

My most popular magician speaker topic, Ordinary Magic
Comedy Magic: My Funny Magic Show Freshly Brewed
Sample chapter from my book, Humor Me
Mile High Magicians Society
A blog post about a Colorado Magician
My work as a magician speaker for IBM
Video testimonials on YouTube about my work as a magician speaker
Video of Freshly Brewed, A sample of my magician speaker work.
Video of some of my work on YouTube as a magician.

Recently I worked for the Denver Broncos.   They brought in everybody in the football organization except for the coaches and players… a surprisingly huge group.

One of the most delightful sentences I heard from them when we talked about my fee was, “Would you be interested in bartering for a portion of your fee?”   Heck yeah, I love that question!

In the end, I did a really fun program for some great, fun-loving hard working people who are under a surprising amount of stress.  (When the team doesn’t win, the entire staff feels it, from the janitors to the receptionists to the grounds keepers.)

And happily, it went really well.   (Check out this video testimonial.)

But the fun didn’t end there. They hooked us up with 5 tickets for a couple of games, and dressed my wife and kids and I in a ton of Bronco’s swag. Jerseys, sweatshirts, hats… the whole thing. It was a blast.

What’s my point? If you’re booking motivational speakers and have something to trade, ask! Perhaps you’re a hotel property, or you make fancy furniture, or…. you’re a professional sports franchise. You might not be able to barter away the entire fee. But, like the Broncos, they got an easy discount and I was thrilled to trade.

Fees for speakers are all over the place. And my fees in particular flex wildly because what I offer my clients flexes wildly depending on what outcomes they are after and how serious they are about lasting change.

But one thing is certain: barter is cool. It’s fun. And if often makes sense for both of us.  Not sure if it is for you?  Just ask. 

Are you looking for motivational keynote speakers? Care to barter? Or not? I’d love to be your guy. Go to the contact page.

Cheers,
Brad Montgomery
Colorado Speaker, Bronco Fan, Lover of Bartering

Related:

Learn more about this Colorado Speaker
Learn More about Professional Speakers Fees & Rates

Technorati Tags: Denver Broncos, Colorado speakers, Barter, Fee Del.icio.us Tags: Denver Broncos, Colorado speakers, Barter, Fee

Ok. Not exactly.

Farmington Schools recently hired me to motivate their administrators. We brought them together for one huge team-building, morale-building, humor in the workplace fiesta. Ok, seminar is the proper term, but hey, “fiesta” sounds like better marketing.

We did Laugh-O-Nomics: my session for folks who really wan to create lasting change in their work culture.

It went great: check out the reviews in this very short video:

Are you looking for a motivational speaker for your school district?  Want to inspire and motivate your staff, your classified staff or your administrators?  I’d love to be your guy.

The main take away for me:  I was struck with how important it is to these educators to make their job fun.  They were craving both tools and techniques for bringing levity and lightheartedness to the workplace AND permission to use them.   In other words, one of the biggest things I provided by being there was encouragement and permission to bring the concept “enjoying ourselves at school will help us with our mission as educators” to each of these fine educators.

Many of them new HOW to lighten up;   they just had forgotten how important it was both to them AND to the superintendent.

It was a great day in Colorado.  (Which was weird, because the school district was over the border in New Mexico!)

Learn more about this educators speaker here.

Yours,
Brad Montgomery
Education Speaker, New Mexico Speaker, Fan of Farmington!

Technorati Tags: educators, farmington, education speaker, New Mexico Del.icio.us Tags: educators, farmington, education speaker, New Mexico

I just did my motivational speaker thing for a bunch of social workers in Pueblo, Colorado.   The best part of of the morning for me was watching this group of very tired (we started at 7:30 AM), very quiet group go from silent to rowdy in 90 minutes.   They started thinking, “Oh no, a motivational speaker.  Just kill me know.”   And ended up buzzing.

Here’s a very cool letter from my meeting planner

Brad,

You had come highly recommended to us by a member of our Management Team who had seen you at a previous conference.  I am thrilled to report that we were not disappointed with the recommendation.  Everyone was so impressed with your energy, humor and talent.  The most common comments made were that your presentation was the best one yet (How cool is that?) and others were asking when we could bring you back.  You kept us laughing and we believe you missed your calling as a stand-up comedian.  Thanks for the message of making laughter a part of the workplace and more importantly our personal lives.  You helped to make our event a huge success!!

You are a wonderful, caring, funny person and our agency will long remember you!!

Cheryl Fabjancic
Administrative Asst. to the Director
Pueblo County Department of Social Services

Aw Shucks!   I was thrilled and flattered to be part of it. And very happy indeed that it was well received.  

Thanks Pueblo Social Services!

Does YOUR organization need a huge dose of morale, energy, positive attitude and motivation?  Call me. : )  Go to the contact page. 

Brad Montgomery
Colorado Speaker, Motivational Keynote Humorist, Social Services Fan

Howdy USDA Farm Service Folks.  I loved being your speaker in South Dakota a short while back. I wanted to check in with you, and made a special video JUST for you.  (Ain’t that special!)

I seem a bit squished in the video… must pushed the wrong button on the video camera.  But hey, it’s easier than going on a diet.

Use the comment form below to tell me what you “took away” from our time together.  Did you have an “Ah Ha” moment?  What was it?  Let me know in the comments below.

Now, pop that corn and check out your video…

Are you interested in booking a really funny motivational speaker? Whether or not you work in South Dakota I’d love to be your guy. Call me. : ) Go to the Contact Form.

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Keynote Speaker, South Dakota Speaker, Fan of the USDA

I was recently working as an Emcee for a huge technology conference in Texas. They wanted me to be both a motivational speaker and a master of ceremonies. It was a fun date, it was (happily) well received.

(By the way, check out my current avatar on the right. Yes, it’s a lumpy guy w/ fireman pants.  My pals in Second Life think I’m a total dork… which is fine by me as long as they laugh.   This screen shot is a shot of me looking in at my books in the virtual bookstore of my pals over Synapse3di.)

Check out this 40 second video so you can get a feel for what I did:

includes/js/tinymce/plugins/media/img/trans.gif” alt=”" width=”437″ height=”370″ />

One of my favorite parts was when I was tasked introduce some of the new ways this organization’s resources available via Second Life. I’m deeply involved in the business use of Second Life, and have spent a bunch of time figuring a way to deliver my motivational speeches via Second Life. So…. well… I knew a bunch about the concept. (Translation: I knew how to make it fun.)

It was a total hoot. Thanks ISTE for inviting me.

Are you looking for a motivational speaker, humorist or humor in the workplace expert to speak for your organization, and you want to hold your event in Second Life? I’d love to be your guy. Contact me here.

Technorati Tags: Second Life speaker, Texas Speaker, Motivational Speaker Del.icio.us Tags: Second Life speaker, Texas Speaker, Motivational Speaker

Brad Montgomery
Second Life Speaker, Motivational Speaker, Lumpy Guy with FireMan Pants

Killed in a good way.  In a “Holy Cow That Speaker Rocked” way.  As in “I have never loved my job more than when I was there with that group from the Department of Defense” way. 

Specifically, I was working with the DCMA – Defense Contractors Management Agency.  I was hired by a Mr. Charlie Williams, their director and a nice man who hired me twice for contracting events for the Air Force.  (Mr. Williams recently changed jobs.)

I always love speaking, but speaking for the military is especially exciting and meaningful.  Especially because we’re at war, and because their job could not be more serious.  Sure, I enjoy working for corporate groups and associations, and those folks are good people.  But their mission is never quite as life-and-death as my military audiences. 

My corporate audiences are stressed out about meeting sales quotas, selling widgets, and their newsoftware.   Military audiences are stressed out because they were just deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan, (or about to be) and are supporting their peers who are there right now.  I don’t mean to dismiss anybody’s career or problems, but let’s face it, our friends in the military are in an especially unique work situation.

By looking at the front of USA Today we can easily forget about Iraq and Afghanistan.  But when you walk into a room full of DOD / DCMA folks, you don’t need a reminder.  These are good folks with a serious job.  

So, what was it like? What did we do?  The first thing I did was to (politely) poke fun at nearly everything they did.  I poked fun at how the top “brass” was in the front row, about how they had just sat through HOURS of PowerPoint (which they complicated by calling “Briefing Slides.”)  I teased them about their unending acronyms, the crazy soap stocked in our hotel rooms, and even about their long (and somehow undescriptive) job titles.  (What does an Industrial Specialist do anyhow?)

In my experience as a humorist and business speaker, the groups that are the quickest to laugh are the groups that need it most.  This group really needed a break;  they were extremely fast to catch on to thehumor. 

It is always gratifying to take a group from stressed to “ready to work.”  It is always fun to fun to give them tools to use have and use their senses of humor.  And of course it’s a total blast to make any group laugh until they cry.  But to do this for a group of hardworking cilvilian and military folks who need it most just makes you feel like you’re the luckiest guy with the coolest job ever. 

I’ve heard the words, “I’m honored to be part of your team.”  Heck, I’ve even said them.  But in this case, I couldn’t mean it more.

Hey Mr. Williams:  thanks so much for bringing me in.  It was great to work for you once.  It’s MORE than three times cooler to work for you three times.    And to the good folks at DCMA … you rock!  Keep your chin up, keep the fun-meter on high, and keep up the good work. Your mission is too important to not treat yourself right.

Brad Montgomery
Military Speaker, Fan of the DCMA, Honored to be Part Your Event

A while back I spoke at a huge Las Vegas conference for McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants.

I had a ball…. and let me tell you why.They took the time to coach me about their corporate culture… which helps me a great deal. And then, even better, I had a chance to visit with their executive chefs and General Managers before my keynote speech.

Better yet, I ate in one of their restaurants 3 days before my keynote speech.  I met the executive chef and the general manager.  They let me tour the kitchen and take photos.   (And they treated me and my pals great…yum!)

[ Actually, there is a cool story there too.  I was there with a few pals who happen to be professional speakers themselves...so some of the funniest ideas came from my humorist pals.  Colorado speaker and humor pal Steve Spangler took the photos.  It was a fun night.) ] 

But best of all, I got to hear THE founders ( Mr. McCormicK and Mr. Schmick — yeah, I know, who knew they even existed!) address the audience for about an hour before I went on.

It was like a gift. A perfect storm of great info from the right people.  Now, I have to admit it; sometimes the info I get from my clients doesn’t lead anywhere. Sometimes it isn’t funny. And occasionally it is hard for me to really tailor what I do for their group. But in this case it was the total opposite. It was as though everything I said made it’s way into the presentation.Even the little details.

For example, when I was in the restaurant I ordered salmon that was cooked on a plank of Cedar wood. It was delicious. (The fish, not the plank.)  But when I retold the story, and showed (via PowerPoint) a photo of me trying to eat that silly plank, we got the audience rolling. Then I followed with jokes about the creativity about adding secret ingredients to their dishes…. like wood. Again… more humor.

I showed photos of me stealing their stuff…and of me doing their dishes (from my visit to the restaurant that week.)   Trust me… it was funny.  Best of all…it was humor all for and about them.  

What’s my point? I have two.

First: if you are looking for motivational speakers, have some long and hard conversations about tailoring and customizing. Your group — especially in this day of instant everything ‚ will be turned off if the speaker doesn’t “Get” them. Make sure your speaker does.  Professional speakers who tailor or customize the message for your audience will make that crucial “connection” in a meaningful and solid way.

Second: From my perspective as a humorist and speaker, 

the tailoring is one of the absolute joys of my job. If I HAD to give the same cookie-cutter presentation every time I might shoot myself. The real fun is in making sure it is “just for them.”  Thanks McCormick & Schmick’s! I loved it.  Learn more about my keynote speaking here.
 

Do  you have an event where you need to motivate and fire up your troops?  

Think a funny motivational speaker who can translate humor into business wisdom makes sense?  Me too.   Contact me here for info about bringing me to your event.

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Keynote Speaker, Humorist, Fan of Las Vegas, and Lover of Fish! 

PS. Here is a bootleg video of me as speaking for them in Las Vegas, Nevada. Check out the customized jokes…they might not make sense to you, but to THEM they were fun. (And I had a blast.)

Technorati Tags: McCormick & Schmick’s, Motivational Speakers, Las Vegas, California, Customized Speeches, Humor

As I blogged earlier this week, I was recently invited to do my motivational humorist speaker thing in Washington for Microsoft.  

After they booked me, I called the meeting planner and explained that, “I have some PowerPoint slides, but they are on a Mac.”   “No sweat, our creative people often use Macs…you’ll be fine.”  

A different meeting planner instructed me NOT to bring my Mac when they hired me to speak in Dallas.

But this planner is mellow and fun, so I was good to go.   I joked about the Mac a couple of times, and the audience loved hassling me about it.  I also use music in my keynotes, and I use what is basically a tricked-out iPod for the music.  I had a small goof with that and just grumbled, “Freaking Apple.”    

I was speaking about using humor at work, and I knew they “got it” partly because they decorated my Mac by sticking a hand-written “DELL COMPUTER” sign over the obvious Apple logo.

They laughed.  I howled.  The only thing wrong with this killer idea is that I didn’t think of it first.   

I’ve said it before:  my favorite clients are the ones that teach me something.  I learned plenty from the folks at Microsoft Finance North America.   Thanks Kids!

Brad Montgomery
Washington Motivational Speaker, Humorist, Microsoft Fan

PS.  Hey Microsoft!  I’m typing this blog post on my new Dell with Vista!  Really.  No promise!  Really!

PPS.  Big shout out to Alan for the Dell sign, the Sparky joke, and the laughs!

If you think levity and lightheartedness are important to corporate America, join the crowd.  In particular, join the folks at Microsoft Finance North America. 

I worked with this group recently in Seattle, Washington and, like most of my favorite clients, I learned at least as much from them as they learned from me.

(Read the related blog entry about my trip to Microsoft)

I was totally impressed with this organization. (If you read my blog you know that I rarely say that.)

Why?

•  I was impressed with the transparency of the organization.  I was impressed how everything was “on the table” …. I heard candid discussions on the recent (and odd) TV commercials, the aborted attempt to buy Yahoo, the fact that Vista’s popularity is lower than they’d like.   Contrast this openness with many of my other (unnamed!) clients who spend more time instructing me about what I cannot talk about than what their folks need to hear.   [For example, I once worked for a client who had JUST gone through a huge set of layoffs.  They forbade me to discuss the layoffs ... as though their folks might forget that 50% of their friends were no longer there and they themselves were worried about their job security.  Oye!]

• I was impressed by the people.  They are good people who love their families, work exceptionally hard, and are very loyal to each other and their company.

• This group was fun loving.   They like each other, and it showed.  They were easy to make laugh.  Ready with fun anecdotes and conversation.  They were a far cry from what any of us might expect from folks who work in the high tech industry for a finance department.   Many times I’ve worked at corporate meetings where people are forced to socialize with each other. It’s clear that they don’t want to be socializing… but they have to be there so they are.  Not so at Microsoft.  Their obvious enjoyment in each other was fun to watch.

• They were eager to ramp up the fun.  They were ready to share best humor practices with each other and with me. I often have to work hard to break the ice with a new corporate group.  Not this one:  MFNA was ready to laugh from minute one.

• During my program, I joked about clown noses, and taught a few funny ways to use them at work to handle stress.  We arranged to make sure everybody had a nose to take with them.  As you can see from these photos, they didn’t go to waste. 

Near the end of our time together we split into groups and brainstormed ideas about safeways to create more levity and humor at Microsoft.  [We spend so much of our time at work, it makes sense to create fun. How can we do it?]  We heard a bunch of great ideas…but check out one group’s very specific ideas about how to increase the levity at the office. 

1.       Friday Jokes

2.       Laugh at every meeting

3.       Happy Button

4.       Monday stories of weekend adventures

5.       Share embarrassing stories

6.       Dance in the focus rooms

7.       Dance every time you hear or see a “GO DO”

8.       Baby picture ID badges

9.       Word Bingo _  Drowning the puppies - (who ever imagined  we would here these words together!)

10.   Hawaiian shirt day

11.   Match the story to the person

12.   e-flowers/emoticons

But what was my favorite part?  It came 10 days after I left Seattle when I heard that CFO John Rex bought a Nerf Gun to attack his team.  (And, as a follow up, his awesome assistant, Amelia, bought guns for the rest of the team so they could create a defensive strategy.)    ”Hey everybody!  Let’s buy Nerf Guns!”

Humor, levity and lightheartedness help us with morale, creativity, energy, communication, and — in the end — productivity.  It was unbelievably cool to share this message with Microsoft Finance.  But it was even cooler to see that they “got it.”

Thanks So Much, MFNA!

Brad Montgomery
Microsoft Fan, Washington Motivational Speaker, Nerf Enthusiast

PS.  Microsoft gets so much bad press.  I suppose it is impossible not to have some detractors if you’re that big, and that omni-present.  [After all, how many companies have actually changed the entire world besides Microsoft?]  It’s impressive.   When you’re there in person, working with the individuals who make up a part of this massive organization, it’s hard not to leave impressed.  

Del.icio.us Tags:
Washington Speakers, Seattle Speakers, Microsoft, Humor in the Workplace, Seminars,
Technorati Tags:
Washington Speakers, Seattle Speakers, Microsoft, Humor in the Workplace, Seminars,
Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl |

Ok, not exactly. While doing a motivational seminar on humor in the workplace at a school in the Farmington Unified School District, (New Mexico) I met a ton of principals and other administrators who really liked the idea of “play” at work. We looked at ways humor and levity can make any environment a little lighter — resulting in better productivity, morale, and retention. As leaders, it was there job to lead the way to humor for their staffs (and eventually their students).

Fun is NOT just for the kids. Really.

I posted one of their cool ideas here.  

Here’s another great idea that came out of the break out session:  

A principal made “fake announcements” over the PA system. He announced the winners of the “Catch a Raccoon” Contest (naming students who don’t exist winning a contest that didn’t exist), talked about the lunch menu for the next day (Which of course he made up with gross foods), ….you get the idea.

The results? First, the kids and teachers actually listened to the announcements. Can you say the same thing about your lousy announcements? But even better, this principal enjoyed his job, had fun at his job, and helped pass that passion to his team and his students by having fun in a public way.

Give it a go: maybe your staff will listen closely to the announcement before they sing happy birthday FOR THE THIRD TIME IN A WEEK to one of the teachers! (Yes, that DOES happen all the time.

What’s my point?  Have fun at work. Not because you’ll get others to laugh or smile. Not because you want them to listen closer — though both of these reasons are good enough for me.

Have fun at work because it will make you better at your job. These educators were better administrators because they actively made their work more fun for them.  Simple, yet genius.

How you YOU actively have fun at work today?

Hey Teachers, Administrators and Educators! What stunts have YOU done in your schools? COMMENT!

…and he learned how to be funny.

If you think humor is just for kids, shame on you.

Where most corporate types go wrong is in assuming that humor = jokes.  Or clown noses.  Or punchlines.  Fun can come in many different shapes, forms and places.

I recently returned from a motivational seminar on humor in the workplace for the Farmington Unified School District in New Mexico. (Actually, we met in Colorado…. just a few miles from their district across the border.)  I met principals and administrators who really liked the idea of “play” at work. I was able to help them find ways to transform their corporate humor culture and their funny bones in the process. However, as usual, the best humor at work ideas came from the audience.   

During the seminar, we looked at ways humor and levity could make any environment a little lighter — resulting in better productivity, morale, and retention. And, in a academic environment where things have to be very precise and “above the line”, it means that the administrators and leaders have to be more clever and more creative in finding the balance to make work and humor mesh.

Let’s face it, “starchy” leaders lead us to a lousy work environment. It is a leader’s job to set the “humor-meter” for their staffs and for the office. In the case of this New Mexico school district, they had NO trouble finding things to make them all smile.

* One of the principals did crossing guard duty (boring, right?) and decided to make up a game to goof off with his students. As you know, it doesn’t take much to get kids started anyway. So when a kid asked to cross the street, the crossing-guard-principal-man asked for their favorite color. The student replied, “Pink.” He tells them, “Ok, you can cross when the next pink car goes by.” Well, this creates much laughter and giggling because that’s only going to happen when the Mary Kay caravan comes through. Finally though, a pink car does come by and the kids do all they can to contain their squeals and giggles.

The next day, the same kid was asked the same question. What was their favorite color. Well the kids are smarter and have caught on AND they’re not willing to endure another flamingo parade, so he says his favorite color is…white. What does the principal do? He tells the kid “You can cross when 7 white cars go by.” The kids…crack…up.

The result? The kids had fun and bonded with their principal, plus it’s cool to see your principal dressed up in a orange safety vest, directing traffic.

But more importantly, the principal created levity that he enjoyed.  He turned the crossing guard duty to something he enjoyed:  it was a way for him to feel connected with his kids / end users / clients, it helped remind him why he chose education as an industry in the first place, and the smiles he earned in that safety vest helped him survive some of the icky parts of his job. 

My point?  Have fun at work. Not because you’ll get others to laugh or smile, or because you want them to listen closer – though these reasons ought to be good enough for anybody.    Have fun at work because it makes you better at your job.  These educators were better administrators because they actively made their work more lighthearted. That makes them better leaders, better managers and better educators. And in the end… isn’t that better for their students?

If you are educator, a school administrator or even a student, how do YOU make your fun at work? What was the most creative thing that you’ve ever done for a laugh. Care to share?

P.S. Thanks Farmington! I had a blast working with you in New Mexico!

My most recent client was Craneware. Craneware is a:

…leading supplier of business intelligence and revenue cycle software that provides clients with chargemaster management software and products designed to optimize legitimate reimbursements and assist in managing the revenue cycle through better information, workflow, pricing strategy, capture of lost revenue and best practice modeling.

I barely know what this means, and this is after 3 conference calls, some study and spending a day with them. (Ok, so I’m teasing….they sell software solutions to hospitals and medical providers.)

Imagine this for a tough audience:    A group that as been HAMMERED with content and powerpoint for two days.  They know they will be working into the night — if you count the teamwork exercise and the company dinner.      Then imagine that they know there is a speaker at 2 pm  (nap time!) but they haven’t been told that the speaker will be fun, professional, or (gasp!) funny.   All they know is that they have to show up.  

Tough crowd.  But seeing them start at a DEAD stop and then move forward until — at the end of the keynote — that room was buzzing with energy and laughter was worth the trip to Arizona. (Ok, the check was nice too.) But we had a great time in Phoenix, Arizona.

Thanks Craneware.  If you’re looking for a motivational business speaker to pick up your troops at any time of the day…. even nap time…. I’d love to be your guy.

Brad

The military Uncle Sam that is!

I’m not gonna get into whether or not the current war is a great idea or not. But, one thing is certain: our men and women in the military are worthy of the utmost respect. They sacrifice a lot for their families — and us — and place themselves (often) in harm’s way for our country’s freedom. In a time of economic disparity and political uncertainties for our military, I cannot think of an audience who needs a bit of a “humor reminder” more than military audiences.

Here’s a photo of me working on stage in front of an Air Force audience doing an audience participation bit with an officer. We all really had a lot of fun doing this interactive session and I hope to be able to join them another time to help lighten things up again.

I’ve spoken to several military audiences— and I love them. I’ve been able to share humor with them, understand their lives a little better and become educated as well. These folks work hard at a job that couldn’t be more serious. You might think that military audiences are harder for humorists like me. Not so. They are actually one of my most favorite audiences to speak to. They are appreciative and responsive. And best of all, they need what I have to offer. (And don’t we all feel good when what we do is not only appreciated but needed?)

Have you ever had to address a difficult audience? How did you do it? Or, have you ever been the difficult audience? What did you think of the speaker?

Can you guess what my least favorite audience is? Comment away!

Ok, I admit it. I enjoy some of my motivational speaker jobs more than others. Working with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota was one of the dates that I loved.

Why? There were several reasons. I really enjoyed that I got a tour of the Mayo campus from two of the top financial guys. They really helped me to understand the culture that makes their workplace unique. In addition, I got to share a couple of meals with Mayo meeting planners. Again, this time with them really helped me to connect with them and with the Clinic.

And they are great people. They taught me all about the importance of high school hockey, about the freezing winters and best of all, gave me some terrific tips for making Hot Dish. (Ahh…. the Minnesota favorite! Yum.)

It was a fun job: I was working for one of the most famous health care organizations in the world, but they didn’t want me for my experience as a health care speaker. They wanted me for my experience as a finance speaker; I was hired to speak for 1300 folks from their finance department.
The room where I spoke was beautiful. And I mean beautiful. It was open and spacious while at the same time cozy. And the huge cool banners of the Mayo founders was a fun touch. I know, it’s small, but speaking in a nice venue helps make my job easy.

What else? The audio visual stuff was perfect. This may sound like a small thing, but it isn’t. Having excellent lights and sound help make the speech a success in ways the audience will never understand. It’s crucial…and in Rochester it was perfect.

In addition, my brother was with me. He was working in Minnesota and managed to swing his business trip around my road trip. He was there at the speeches with me which was very cool. Hanging with the big brother? How Cool Is That?!

Mostly though, I’d have to end where I started. The people I worked with were first class, and I was proud as punch to be part of the Mayo team, even if only for the day.

Thanks Ted, Leslie, Mort and the rest of the Mayo Finance gang!

Cheers.

Brad

PS. Yup, I agree that it’s the can of soup that makes that Hot Dish sizzle. Making some tonight!

Technorati Tags: Minnesota speakers, Mayo Clinic, keynotes, comedian speakers Del.icio.us Tags: Minnesota speakers, Mayo Clinic, keynotes, comedian speakers

Wouldn’t that be funny? But of course it isn’t the truth.

The real story was that a while back I worked for a bunch of Microsoft managers in Dallas recently. You can check out the details of this presentation here.

What’s better than being a motivational speaker? Being a speaker who gets good reviews. This bootleg -video made my heart sing. Ok, kinda corny, but still, it felt great.

Thanks Microsoft!

Technorati Tags: Texas Speakers, facilitation, testimonials, Motivational Speakers

Yesterday, I did my motivational humorist thing for the good folks at Stewart Title of Colorado Springs. It was a great group, and a fun group and a wonderful day.

One of the main reasons this group invited me to speak to them is that they needed (and I mean needed) to laugh. Over the past two years, they’ve had more changes in their management and leadership than they would have liked.

Add to that the recent woes that all title folks have experienced recently with the increase of interest rates resulting in layoffs and a general downturn in business, and what you get is a bunch of people doing good in difficult situations.

My mission? Come in and show them the “other side of the coin.” Show them that in spite of their genuine difficulties they’ve experienced, life —and their work — is still good. That a fun and humorous workplace is still available to them; and essential for them.

How did we do it? What did I talk about? In addition to all of the same tips and ideas I share with most groups about learning to take ourselves lightly while taking what we do seriously, we went straight at the pain. We joked about the turnover in presidents. We joked that the current President, David Dickard was probably temporary too. (David gave me his blessing to joke about him.) We joked about the multiple sales managers, the loss of business due to the interest rates, and we even joked about what we ate at the lunch 42 minutes ago. We joked about how the new software was more of a pain that they would like. We even… check this out… mentioned the layoffs. (You’d be amazed at how many clients with recent layoffs instruct me not to mention the layoffs… as though their staff might forget them?)
I had two choices: either avoid talking about the problems they have had and go for the “life is good” bit, or go straight at the recent problems and difficulties, shine a light on them, and try to live with ‘em. We went for that second choice and I’m glad we did. Yup, things have been hard. Yup, the rates are up and that makes business harder. Yup, there have been layoffs. Yup, the leadership has shuffled more then they’d like. Yup, the new software package isn’t what they had hoped. “Now, what are we gonna do to 1) make sure that doesn’t happen again and 2) how are we going to try to stay sane (and happy!) in spite of the problems?”

One of my favorite parts of yesterday’s program was watching the difference in the group’s mood between where they were at the beginning of the keynote, to where they ended up. At the beginning, they were smiling, but still weary and guarded. At the end, at least from my perspective, they were just relaxed, “in the moment,” and in a much better (and louder) mood. Seeing the change in their body language, their faces, and even their volume was absolutely wonderful.

Hey Stewart Title of Colorado Springs! Favor? What was your “ah ha” from yesterday’s keynote speech? What did YOU take away with you? Can you comment below?

Brad Montgomery
Humorist, Motivational Keynote Speaker, Huge Fan of Stewart Title!

Technorati Tags: humor, humor in the workplace, title, mortgage, motivational keynote speakers
Del.icio.us Tags: humor, humor in the workplace, title, mortgage, motivational keynote speakers
Furl Tags: humor, humor in the workplace, title, mortgage, motivational keynote speakers

Laugh. And laugh some more.

I recently spent some time with a very old friend, Lindsey Pahs, in Las Vegas. (Nope, he isn’t a speaker… he is an educator.) What was really cool is that we laughed. And then we laughed some more. I cannot remember laughing MORE on any given day then they day we went golfing — neither of us golf — and then hit the casino bars in search of live entertainment.

It seemed like everything was funny. Humor was everywhere. But now with the benefit of hindsight, I’m convinced that the humor really came from friendship. We like and trust each other, and pretty much just decided to have a blast. And we did.

Here is a photo we made just for kicks. And, in case you are thinking it… our wives thought the photo was funny too.

Humor and Friendship

I am just back from a job in Omaha, Nebraska where I spoke to the staff of the
Bankruptcy Court. Everybody to support staff to deputies to clerks. The whole crew.

Yup… the justice system needs humorous motivational speakers too!
These folks are over worked, under-appreciated… and a ton of fun. We had a great time talking about the power of humor, laughter and play. And we came up with some strategies for humor in the court.

I was flattered when one of there computer support folks sent me an email
which actually beat me back to the office. This guy, Frank, really knows how to have fun. I reprint his email with his permission.

“Hey Brad,
I had a really good time at our seminar Tuesday and wanted to tell you a few things I do to break the monotony. If my wife forces or tricks me into going to Wal-mart, I’ll walk along side her down an isle and then yell ‘Look out honey, FALLING PRICES!!!’ and then push her out of the way. She hates it and calls me retarded, but I think it’s hilarious. Another thing I like to do is if we are at the mall, which I also hate going to, I’ll casually walk through a store with her and the kids and kick the back of one of my heels with the other foot and throw myself forward to simulate tripping. The kids and I laugh every time, she just rolls her eyes. While working at my first job (burger joint) I took home an empty bottle of industrial floor cleaner, cleaned it out well, and then filled it with water and food coloring to match the color of cleaner. Then, before my next shift I took the bottle back and placed in the storage area (the bottle was marked). That night, I made sure to have a “bad night” and after a huge rush, looked at the girl I was setting up for the joke, told her I couldn’t take this job or life anymore, and went to the storage area to grab the bottle. I went back into the kitchen and leaned over the huge sink. I opened the bottle, tipped it up and started to chug my “cleaner” and shake. She starting screaming, called the owner, who was also in on the joke, to which he replied, ‘better bring down that help wanted sign then’. I eventually calmed her down. It was probably a mean joke, but she now jokes about it.
Again, thanks for the great session!”

F.B.

Awwww shucks!

What a great guy. What a great note! I love my job!