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,

I’m psyched to be visiting the fine folks of the National Speakers Association Houston Chapter on Nov. 8th and wanted to invite you all.  This event is open to the public, so if you have a hankering to learn more about the world of professional speakers, here’s your chance.

I’ll be covering two topics.

1)  How to Be Funny.   Every speaker needs to add humor.  That old joke is true:

One speaker asks another, “Do you need to be funny as a speaker?”

Answer:  “Only if you want to get hired.”

Do you have questions YOU want answered? Leave them as comments and he’ll cover your questions on Thursday.

Check out this video I prepared just for you!

First, at 4 pm, I’ll be teaching my program Got Mirth?  Milking Your Program for All The Humor it is Worth.  (Catchy, huh!) I’ll give some big-time strategies for becoming funnier.  I’ll also give you some tricks and jokes that you can incorporate TOMORROW to get laughs.  Yes, they are THAT easy.   (Not all of ‘em, but I’ll be giving away some cool, easy, funny stuff.)

Second, I’ll be doing a program about how to stay upbeat in this speaking business (at a time where that is harder than ever.)  We all know in our hearts that if we are able to use levity, lightheartedness, and even humor as motivational speakers, we’ll do better — both on the platform and in the business of speaking.     And lucky you, I’ll be teaching a few specific techniques that you can incorporate right away. Oh, and by the way, it’ll be funny. If you are looking for that speakers program that your spouse is interested in…this is the one.

I’m coming to Texas, baby!  On the 8th I’ll be teaching Texas speakers how to strut their stuff and get to that holy ground:  “The next level.” (Nope, I’m not exactly sure what that means, but it sounds good to me. Let’s go there together.)

See ya there!

Brad Montgomery
Texas Motivational Speaker (for a day!), Fan of NSA Houston, Teacher of Funny-ness

PS. Here is the handout. (Think of all the trees we saved by me not sending this to Kinkos!)

PPS. For those of you who asked about coaching, here are the details.

Questions? Leave them in a comment below. Or contact me here.

What was YOUR worst job ever?

I just posted a great story by guest author &  comedian Ron Tite about his worst gig ever. The pain of the situation just cracked me up, and made me want to give the guy a hug. I’ve been there. Comedians suffer like … well, if you’ve never been in front of 400 people who hate you, you just won’t understand.

Ron also makes a good point that, like music, there are many different types of comedy.

Even if a stand-up is the right choice, there are countless kinds of stand-ups just like there are countless styles of music. Choosing the wrong type of stand up is like selecting a Marilyn Manson tune for a wedding procession (although I’m sure there are Goth brides out there who would like nothing more than to walk down the aisle to “This is the Sh*t”).

I haven’t met Ron in person, and I’ve never seen his stand up comedy. But I can tell you that, after reading this article, I felt like we were brothers.

What do you think? What is your worst gig ever? Comment baby!

(Need a comedian for your event? Go to the contact page and let’s talk!)

Cheers,

Brad Montgomery
Comedian, Fan of Ron Tite, Lover of Good Comedian Stories

This cartoon cracked me up — and makes a legitimate point about comedians.

Sure, to be a great comedian or comedian speaker you have to have:

• Great Material
• Great Timing
• Appropriate Topis for Any Given Audience.

But most of all, you have to have confidence.  Audiences know right away when we are psyched-out and insecure.   It makes them feel uncomfortable, and really brings down our performance and ratings.

The hard part is that this confidence is nearly impossible to teach.  In my opinion, it just comes after years of experience and thousands — yes, thousands — of performances.

New to comedy? Just keep it up!   

Looking for a comedian speaker for your meeting or convention?  Consider me.*

Brad Montgomery
Comedian, Business Speaker, and Hyena-fobe  (“Hey mom, I made up a word again!”) 

* Unless your audience is comprised of hyenas.  In which case I’ll pass.

1300 finance people heard me tell this joke:

“Hey, great to be here at the Mayo Clinic, where you guys invented Cortizone!

Well…. not you guys.

And then you GAVE it to the world! How cool is that?!

By a show of hands, how many people would like to get that patent back for just a couple of months to pay for some new parking.”

Funny or not?

I was recently hired to be a motivational humorist speaker in Minnesota at the Mayo Clinic. I strongly believe that if I can get the audience laughing at the beginning of the speech, I’ll have their undivided attention when I get to the “wisdom” parts of the presentation. If they are laughing, they are listening. And if they are listening, they are ready to learn.

So… again… I spend a ton of effort on customized humor and comedy for every group… even the groups that want a strong business tie in.

Back to that joke. I told that joke pretty much as it is written when I was there in Minnesota. If you read it, you realize that it isn‘t funny. But I can tell you that the Mayo folks laughed hard. Nobody told THEM it wasn’t funny.

Why? Because that joke is all about them. They did invent Cortizone. They did “give” it away. And the lack of parking is a horrible pain in the sides for most of those folks. (Parking is so bad that most of the Clinic’s people are bussed in.)

So by combining two truths — horrible parking and Mayo inventing and gifting Cortizone — you get a joke. An inside joke. You get customized humor.

What’s my point? If you’re a speaker, you need to make sure you have some tightly targeted humor…. it creates a connection between you and your audience you wouldn’t believe.

If you’re looking to HIRE a motivational keynote speaker, make sure your speaker can speak your language, knows you’re inside information, and — perhaps most important of all — knows how to use your culture to create some very funny humor.

[Oh, and by the way, I'd love to be that guy. ]

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

How to be a Comedian on YouTube

Interested in learning how to use humor in your presentation? Check out Brad’s Got Mirth: Milking Your Presentation for all the Humor It’s Worth.

Learn more about how to be a motivational speaker with my how-to audio here.

Related:
Blog Posts:
How to Be a Motivational Speaker (Part 1) | Get a Mentor
How To Be A Motivational Speaker (2) Choose the Right Topic
How To Be Speaker (3) Format of a Keynote. A Template!
Adding Humor (1) The Act Out
Adding Humor (2): Give the Audience a Voice
Adding Humor (3) What to Do When Your Humor Bombs
Part 7: How to Be a Motivational Speaker — Find A Niche to Make you Rich
Part 8: Be a Professional Speaker — Be Authentic On the Platform

Technorati Tags: Comedy Technique, Humor Technique, Jokes, Motivational Speakers, Minnesota Speakers, Del.icio.us Tags: Comedy Technique, Humor Technique, Jokes, Motivational Speakers, Minnesota Speakers,
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I’m on the plane coming home from a date with the ID Potato Shipper Growers Association. (Yup, potato industry folks really needed a humorist motivational speaker… their industry is going through some HUGE changes.)

I loved the date… the folks were nice. The potato humor was fast and furious (no… I’m not kidding… potato humor) and if you go by the comments the audience (and my meeting planner) gave me after the talk, the message was well-received.

But by far the best part was making a difference for the victims of hurricane Katrina.

I often sell books, tapes and other products after my programs. But I had no plans to do so at this event. But, at the last minute I grabbed as many copies of my book, Humor Me: America’s Funniest Humorists on the Power of Laughter and shoved ‘em in my bag.

I told the audience this: ” The books list at $16.95. I usually sell them for $15. Tonight they are $20… and I’ll tell ya why. Tonight we are gonna sell out and give ALL of the money to the Red Cross for the hurricane.

My 19 books should have earned $380. (I’m tellin’ ya… that’s all I could fit in my bag!) But because these big-hearted people were so generous — and because they kept re-selling the last 2 books over and over and over again— we made $609 in 12 minutes. That can buy a bunch of potatoes for the folks who need them most.

I’m humbled and flattered. Last night we proved that humor can make a difference.

Not at my house. But recenlty I learned that the spoken word CAN be “Family Friendly!”

When I was younger (and not yet a motivational speaker– heck, I wasn’t even a fireman which was my first goal) I spent a great deal of time in a little house in Silver Plume, Colorado. There was no T.V. up there to distract me and my sister and brother. Instead, we found entertainment in four or five Bill Cosby comedy albums my mom and dad bought. We laughed tons and tons as we listened to the albums over and over again. We could have recited the entire albums– and probably did.

Years later, to my delight, my dad gave me the very albums that had been such an escape many years ago. After some trial and error, I finally figured out how to hook up the record player to my computer and copy these albums onto CD so they would last — with the same scratches and grooves for many, many years to come.

The best surprise I got out of doing this though was that my kids love these comedy albums just as much as I did as a kid. We can listen to it together and they love it! I love the comedy recordings now as much as ever for three reasons. 1. They are old friends and listening to them is like a hug from a friend you thought you lost. 2. They are hilarious! Cosby’s stuff really holds up. And 3. It’s a hoot to listen to them with my kids. It is really special to be able to share humor like this across the generations.

Even after all the years of being a comedian, I never thought it was truly possible to have family-appropriate humor that would really be enjoyed by everyone. Of course I had done many shows aimed toward the family that included magic, but Cosby serves as such a great example of how the spoken word alone can be very funny to audiences of all ages without being inappropriate. (Can you imagine encouraging your six year old kid to listen to Chris Rock?) Family Friendly comedy? How Cool is That?!

[Yup… I have a family friendly corporate comedian and magician show too! Learn more here.)

I was speaking to a potential client on the phone today and I was impressed with some of the questions she asked me. I was amazed at the quality of her questions. It was clear that this woman had a clear plan in mind when she started to choose and select her motivational speaker.

Most of her questions were centered around my experience; basically she wanted to make sure I had lots of it. Tons of experience. And I was impressed with her questions. And it struck me that she — perhaps without knowing it — should teach a short class in how to Make Sure Your Speaker Has a Proven Track Record. She wanted to make sure I:

•Am a motivation speaker with a long list of happy clients.
•Consider booking only speakers who have earned thier CSP (Certified Speaking Professional… this is a pretty big deal.)
•That I am a speaker who can provide RECENT references. And that ALL of my recent clients are happy clients.
•That I am a speaker who’s clients are not only numerous, but go back a LONG way. (She wanted to make sure that I had experience over time.)

What a great idea. It reminded me of how my wife and I engaged a construction firm to re-do our kitchen. We did check references, but we did not ask for the firm’s Six Most Recent clients. We should have done just that. That contractor was a nightmare.

He had references, but heck… anybody who has been in any business a few years can find happy clients. What I should have checked was this: are ALL of his clients happy? At least the ones in the last year?

So when this perspective client wanted more than clients… she wanted recent clients … I was impressed. And totally thrilled to give them to her.

Bottom line: book a speaker with a LONG and PROVEN track record. (Of course.. I’d love it if you book me. : )