A while back (ok, a LONG while back…Hey! I’ve been busy!) I had a caption contest. It was simple, just write the funniest caption to this photo and win a copy of my audio subscription series Hooked on Humor.

Write a caption: Win a prize.

We had a TON of submissions. The runners up were:

“OK, girly girl. I can take a hint. We’re so over!” — Tom Simms

“Why not? The line is shorter than the one for wedding cake.” — John Kinde

And the winner is:

“Come on you guys…I’ve got the engine running!” — Tom Purcell

Congrats Tom!

Read the rest of the entries here at my Caption Contest 2.  (And add more captions!  Who knows?!)

Yours,

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Caption Contest Designer, Friend of the Queen

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

Win a free subscription to my Hooked on Humor audio series simply by posting a caption to the photo below:

Caption Contest — Win a Prize!

Win a copy of Hooked on Humor simply by posting a funny caption.
Winning is easy peasy:
1. Post a caption (and read the others) here on my blog. (Scroll Down!)
2. We’ll have two winners. The author of the funniest caption, and another winner chosen radomly from all entrants. (So if your idea isn’t that funny, post one anyway. Who knows?!)
3. There’s no third one. See? It’s easy.

Write a caption: Win a prize.

So what are you waiting for. Scroll down and leave a funny caption to the photo as a comment below.
Looking for a motivational speaker for your event? Contact me here.

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Humorist, Wedding Crasher

This is the nicest note I’ve got in a long time:

Based on your seminar when I start thinking what’s next,  I now say “How cool is that?”.    Something new is cool.

Knowing in 2 months I will no longer have a job was stressful but now I am trying to think of it as another way to Pick Happy and Act Happy instead of sad. Someone actually said to me I seem happy instead of stressed out like I was. It’s the Brad effect!!!!!

Your seminar was the best thing at the worst time. You wanted us to tell you one thing we did differently based on the time we were together, I think this is a good one.
— Grace (name witheld.)  Manager Medical Management   Unicare Insurance

It’s weird.  My wife and I have had such a tough time with foster kids (hang with me — I know it seems unrelated.)  We had two very cute, very troubled girls for a month.  It was a ton of work, a ton of pain, and some VERY occasional joy.   And then they were suddenly snatched back  into The System.  Back to their family;   to a place that makes us worry about them.  It stunned us.  We felt like we had so much more love to give and so much more to teach.  But they were gone.   How could we effect any change in just a month?

And then, that very same day, I got this letter from Grace.  It absolutely made my day.

Thanks for restoring just a tiny bit of faith, Grace.   I’m thrilled you’re on the right track.  As for me?  You absolutely made my day.   I’m calling it the Grace Effect.

Thanks Peeps!

— Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Health Care Speaker, Fan of Grace!

I took this photo while going through Denver International Airport.  Got this shot off before a TSA guy “asked” me to knock that off.  (I wanted to get one from a different angle, but couldn’t get the guy to let me.  (I did make the TSA guy laugh…but I couldn’t get him to “look the other way.”   Goodie…. chalk one up for safety!)

Leave caption below and I’ll send the funniest caption author  a copy of my book, Humor Us:  America’s Funniest Humorists on the Power of Laughter.

Enter your caption below in the comments field.  The winner get’s a copy of a book.  (No, it’s not as good as a Toyota, but it’s way easier to send.)   good luck peeps!

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

There is a guy named Chuck Mettler who knows how to follow his passion. He’s one of those fascinating guys who is always into something new.  If you say, “What have you been doing lately?” to most people, they’ll come up with something lame.

“Same old, same old, ya know?”

Chuck doesn’t know.  He is ALWAYS doing something new. Something cool.   Because this guy follows his passion.  And his passion is art.

Check out the latest pieces from chuck.  He makes these super cool art chairs and sells them to fans across the country. They are sturdy, functional, and creative.  But most of all, they look awesome.

What’s my point? I don’t care what you do, but find something — anything! — that helps you have and express your passion.  Bowling? Great.  Keeping a fish tank?  Wonderful.  Music?  You bet.  Remote control cars?  Why not?   I’m just saying that you should do something.   It’ll make you better.

Learn more about Chuck’s furniture art.

Cheers,
Brad Montgomery
Fan of Chuck Metter, Man of Passion, Lover of Cool Stuff

Here’s a photo of something I saw that proves I own a time machine.

(I love travel!)  

Note:  Dear Readers:  Please comment below and tell me what you are reading now!

My pal and fellow Colorado Speaker Jay Arthur and I are in the same mastermind group.   After a discussion about reading in one of our meetings, he wrote the following letter, and I thought it was absolutely right on.  Check it out:

Years ago, I listened to a tape by motivational speaker Brian Tracy.
He said that if you read an hour a day, that in five years you’ll be a worldwide expert in your field.
I listened and adopted his advice.

In 1976, my friend Dave told me that “Everything you need to know is written in a book somewhere; all you need to do is find an author who speaks to you.” At that time, I was three years out of college and hadn’t read a book since.
I listened and adopted his advice.

And, I rarely buy a book anymore. I check them out of the library.
I found that too many books are “all feathers and no meat.”
Every once in awhile I find a book that’s really meaty and I buy a copy to highlight and review.

I’m going to suggest, that if we aren’t reading in our chosen field and other fields that might have stimulating ideas, that we are becoming obsolete and irrelevant.

Jay

Then I responded:

I’d like to chime in.   I second Jay’s advice.  I read all the time.  I love novels, but lately have read books about everything from Base Ball Strategy,  gourmet cooking, New York chefs (—I was on a roll!), West Point, D-Day, and John Adams.  I like them and feel that I’m learning about the world.  I think this type of reading is important.

But at the National Speakers Association CSP/ CPAE summit (I have at least one of those) my main take away might seem relevant.  And I’ll save you the $1500 it cost me to get it:   become a thought leader.   This means reading in my field and related fields and then be able to think and write uniquely in my field.

Seriously, that was what I got out of the seminar.  ALL of the people making big money are big thinkers.  Period. Product, speeches, consulting etc follow….they don’t lead.

So I immediately bought six books.  Four of them blow, but I’m going VERY slowly and carefully through the remaining two, which are awesome.    (I need to start working the library like Jay).   I’m on a roll and already have several other books cued up.

There are two immediate results from my reading:

1.    I’m learning stuff that is applicable to my writing (blogs/books) and to my keynote.  I’m taking organized concrete steps toward increasing my expertise and ability to be a thought leader.

2.  I feel damn good about myself because I know this is a good idea.  And I’m taking the time to read, take notes, highlight, try to think of it thru’ my eyes as a ‘happiness/humor-at-work guy.”    Seriously, I feel great about doing this. I’m an idiot for not adopting it sooner.

I’m still reading about cool stuff that I love.  And I still love novels. But now, as part of my work week I’m reading.

My main goals in my work day include only 4 things:
1.  website improvement and maintenance.
2.  Work towards being a thought leader.   (Read now, write soon)
3.  Work all incoming calls/email leads to death.
4.  Build a herd.

Everything else is either secondary or a subset of one of the top 4.

Thanks Jay for starting the conversation.

Brad

So my question to you is:  what are YOU reading, and why?   Can you learn, as I have, from Jay and others like him?  Read now and you’ll be an expert before you know it.

Need an expert on how humor and happiness effect our productivity at work?  Go to the contact page now.

Note:  Dear Readers:  Please comment below and tell me what you are reading now!

Yours,

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Reader, and…. Thought Leader!

PS.  Sign up for Jay’s ezines at Sign up for Jay’s ezines at www.qimacros.com/freestuff.html and www.qimacros.com/freeknow.html

Technorati Tags: mastermind, mastermind group, Jay Arthur, Colorado Speaker Del.icio.us Tags: mastermind, mastermind group, Jay Arthur, Colorado Speaker

This amazing story about good humor (and good grace) from one of my motivational speaker friends, Barbara Glanz.

In short, the story is about how civilian travelers voluntarily gave up their first class seats to the soldiers flying on board a commercial airliner. It’s hard not to feel good about it.

Check out this excerpt:

…Another young lady was seated in that row, and he was able to hear a bit of their conversation. The young man told her that he had just finished a tour in Iraq, was coming home on leave, and then would go back in several weeks.

As they were talking, a woman who had been seated in First Class, came back to the young man’s row, introduced herself, and asked him for his Boarding Pass. A bit puzzled, he handed it to her, at which point she, in turn, handed hers to him. She said, “I would like to trade seats with you.”

The young man immediately responded, “Oh, no, Ma’am, I couldn’t do that.”

She smiled a huge smile and said, “Oh, yes, you can, Soldier. It’s an order!”

So, as everyone around wiped teary eyes, the young man reached up for his backpack and went up to sit in First Class.

Read the entire story here.

What’s my point? We all have it in us to create happiness. And the amazing thing about creating happiness for others is that we end up happier ourselves. Sure, those soldiers felt great to be upgraded and recognized. But the individuals who traded seats with them — I imagine — felt as good or better. They knew they had been kind, and then knew they made a difference.

When you go out of your way to create joy or humor, and when you consciously make the people around you happier, the unavoidable result is more happiness for yourself.

In other words, it doesn’t matter how selfless you are, you end up getting as much as you give. Magic. And it’s very, very cool.

Next time you’re having a crappy day, GIVE some happiness. Buy the stranger behind you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Anonymously send a drink to a young couple in a restaurant. Or make a point to give somebody who never expected it a compliment. “I like your shoes,” goes farther than you probably think. (With some people, it goes REALLY far.)

Want to be happier? Then make somebody else happy. I guarantee it will work.

Need a speaker to talk about happiness as it relates to life and work? Want military motivational speaker? (And I don’t even need first class!) Contact me here.

Brad Montgomery
Funny Keynote Speaker, Happiness Expert, Lover of First Class

Technorati Tags: military speakers, first class, story Del.icio.us Tags: military speakers, first class, story

The Ability to Make Others Feel Good Will Help You in Business.

Bill Clinton was famous for – among other reasons – the ability to make people feel great when he was with them one on one.  (No Monica jokes, please.  I’m making a point.)  Hundreds of people wrote about how the President made them FEEL during their interaction.

Whether or not you like him, it’s hard to argue that a two-term President wasn’t successful in some ways.  One of the reasons for his success was this undisputed ability to make others feel good about him.

Clinton reminds us that personal charm is a piece of the success puzzle.   Good news, sports fans:  I’ve got another piece for you and it will make you laugh.  If you’re lucky, that is.

JoAnne Bachorowski, a psychologist at Vanderbilt University, studies the acoustics of laughter.   Her research tells us that the acoustics of laughter (the actual frequencies and sounds of somebody laughing) makes us feel good.

It seems subtle, so maybe in case you missed it, here it is again:   science proves that the sound of laughter creates a pleasant response in others.  Wow.  You laugh;  your ‘audience’ has a enjoyable experience.

In other words, people who hear us laugh respond with a positive physical response. And making others feel good enables us to shape their behavior towards us.   It pre-disposes them to feel good towards us.

If you can make others feel good they are more likely to feel positive about us.  It’s true.  It’s science.  Just ask Professor Bachorowski.

Wow.

Why Should You Care?   We ALL want to shape other’s behavior towards us.    Whether it is as leaders, as sales people, managers, as employees, as friends, as parents, as customers…. You name it!    And one of the easiest (and coolest) techniques we can use to get what we want is to laugh more.

You’ve heard Fake It Until You Make It?   Yup, it works with laughter.  (Unless you laugh like Santa or a hyena, that is.) But if you have a reasonably good ability to FAKE laughing, that laughter will still serve you.  And if it is real, it will serve you even better.

If you WANT to be a person of influence – and we all do – then you’ll be more effective if you laugh.

Science proves it:  laughter works.

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Book Brad For Your Meeting Or Event. Go to the contact page now.
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Yours,

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Keynote Speaker, Lover of Laughter, Humor Expert

Technorati Tags: laughter, laugh, science of laughter

I’ve been on a kick lately of having fun   -  with a purpose.

I tell my audiences  that happiness is an attitude.   It’s a choice.   But an often neglected portion of the happiness equation goes beyond attitude, mind-set and emotion.   To do it right— to be your happiest— you also have to get physically involved with creating some joy for yourself.

In other words, to be happy you’ve got to DO something.  Maybe it’s goof with skate shoes and your kids.  Or play a harmless joke on your work mates.  Or take piano lessons.  Or maybe it’s to take responsibility for making somebody feel like a million bucks and act on it.

I’m lucky because I have a ton of hobbies that bring me passion and joy.  One of my latest is Heelys.   I’m tellin’ ya, put some wheels on your shoes and go shopping and … BAM!  You’re in a great mood.

Proof? I’ve got it baby!  Check out this short video of my kids and I breaking every rule in the how-to-behave-in-a-store book.

I challenge you:  find something today that gets YOU involved in creating your own joy.  Build something. Plant something. Play with something.  And then…. Do it.  Notice your mood change?  Guaranteed or your money back.

Leave a comment and let me know if you agree.

Do you agree with me that happiness at work is related to excellence at work?  Do you need a speaker to help your organization to get there too?  I’d love to work with you.  It will be fun.   Promise.  Heelys optional.  Go to the contact page now.

Cheers.

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Keynote Speaker, Passionate Player, Adult Fan of Heelys

Technorati Tags: heelys for adults, motivational speakers, happiness Del.icio.us Tags: heelys for adults, motivational speakers, happiness

Comedian Lewis CK explains to Conan how spoiled the current genertion is.   I talk about this stuff in my keynote…. think Conan will call me?    (He’s a great comedian… I love him.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this “clean.”  — except for his last sentence… can’t imagine using that at one of my corporate clients.  Leave comment…. what do you think?

Need a motivational speaker…. Hope you’ll consider me.  Lewis CK is great… but he’d never pass the HR department.   Go to the contact page.  

Cheers,

Brad Montgomery
Comedian, Motivational Speaker, Fan of Lewis CK

Here’s a cool video to welcome my new followers and introduce myself.  (Not even 1 min. long!)

No idea what I’m talking about?  Follow me at the micro-blog site Twitter.

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Keynote Speaker, Comedian Speaker, Twitter Lover

Ok, not totally.  But wait until you read this true story:

I was recently at a huge event in Florida — 450 professionals brought in from around the country – to be their closing motivational keynote speaker.  Nice.  They asked me to include all expenses in my contract to make it easier for them.  Fine.  No sweat.    (Can you tell that I’m leaving even the industry off to make sure I don’t step on any client toes?

My spot as the closing speaker was immediately following a boxed lunch.  After the morning session, the attendees grabbed a box lunch, went to their seats, ate… and waited for – well – me.

I got my gear set, was all-systems-go with the audio visual team, and had chatted with the big boss (who by the way had hired me two times in the past.)  So far, everything is easy and fun.

But here is where it gets hinky.  I was about to grab a box lunch… I was starving and was needed calories before I spoke for an hour and a half  … when I casually asked  the meeting planner if I could have a sandwich.  I asked her knowing it was a formality.  Of course she would feed her speaker.   I nearly didn’t ask.   

I was wrong.  She said, “Oh no, those are for the participants.”  I thought she was joking.  “You’re kidding, right?”    I honestly thought she was joking about not feeding me.

“No, we have accounted for all of the lunches, and they are for the registered attendees only.”  I was dumbfounded.  I wanted to say, “Well then I’d like to register.”  But all I could come up with was a clumsy, “But I’m your closing speaker.”  

“Sorry,” she said.  I was amazed.  With 450 people there, there just HAD to be ONE extra turkey sandwich.  And did she realize what it meant to me and her meeting to turn me down?

So I just said, “Ok, I’ll need to go get some food.” I left her and 4 tables piled high with ready-made lunches and left in search of a quick sandwich.  There were two restarurants in the hotel, but after talking to their hostesses it was clear that I wouldn’t have time to order there.  I eventually ended up at sandwich place next to the hotel and bought myself a — you guessed it —  turkey sandwich.  (Ironic, no?)

By the time I found this place, ordered, waited, wolfed down the sandwich, and made my way back to the convention area the meeting planner was in a panic. “Where were you?”  Again, I was dumbstruck.  I didn’t have anything graceful to say, so I just came out with a, “I had to go find some food.”

She looked surprised.  Apparently her other speakers never need fuel before they speak.  We walked back towards the meeting room and passed what was now a single table piled high with turkey sandwich box lunches.  She saw me look at them:  “I guess there were some left after all.”

I was silent.   But inside I was somewhere between laughing and crying. 

What’s the point?  I can tell you it isn’t the $8.67 I spent on my sandwich.  My point is that this woman was responsible for an event that cost a gazillion dollars and she threw her keynote speaker off-balance because of a turkey sandwich.  I didn’t care about the money, I cared that because she was counting her pennies I was inconvenienced, and because of that I wasn’t fully in the game.  Instead of eating with the attendees, getting the latest scoop on the convention, and having a chance to go over my program notes I was rushing around trying to find calories that were within reach the whole time.  Maddening. 

Normally I eat with my audience because that’s where I get the last-minute scuttlebutt.  That’s where I hear about the most recent stresses, the talk of the meeting or convention, and that’s where I often write some of my best jokes.  Not this time. 

Instead of getting myself psyched up for doing a good job for her, I was trying to make it back to the hotel on time.

More irony:  The meeting planner was off balance, nervous and upset because her speaker had vanished.   Both of us — and the entire audience — would have been better served if I was given a sandwich.

[Hey, don't worry.  The keynote was fun and well-received — if I do say so myself.  It was a great audience and I've done this keynote thing a bunch.  It went great.  But why in the world did this planner make it so hard?]

Message to meeting planners:  if you are hiring a speaker, do your best to set them at ease.  You don’t have to pamper us, (though we love that more than you’ll guess) but it is a good investment to remove as many headaches for us as you can.  You want us to be 100% when we hit your platform.  So make it easy for us to rock.  Oh, and by the way, buy us that sandwich.

Are you looking to HIRE  a keynote speaker?  Contact me here. (I’ll even bring my own sandwich…just give me warning.

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Keynote Speaker, Lover of Meeting Planners, Fan of Turkey Sandwiches

PS.  I asked my client  — not the meeting planner but the client — if I could tell this story from the stage.  I gave him a brief summary, told him why I thought it was funny and how I thought that there was a lesson in this story for his specific group.  He declined and admitted that it made sense but the meeting planner was “highly strung” and he didn’t think she could take it.  Oh… telling that story from the stage would have been funny!

PPS.  Ever had a similar experience?   Would you be so kind as to leave it in a comment?

Technorati Tags: meeting planner, keynote speaker, tips, conventions, professional speakers Del.icio.us Tags: meeting planner, keynote speaker, tips, conventions, professional speakers

Ok.  So it has nothing to do with the rest of my work.  But I couldn’t stop laughing.

Duck out of water? Holy Rapper, Batman. Sometimes we just have to stick with our strengths. But if this group would have followed that advice we wouldn’t have this totally great example of accidental humor. I wonder if thing was funny to them? Are they able to laugh at it too?

“Stop! Hammer Time!” Oh….. my ribs hurt!

“Take off your robes!?” Oye. I can’t breathe!!!

I got this spam email which made me laugh out loud.

I was looking at websites under the keyword Women doctor montgomery and came across your site bradlaughs.com. I see that you’re ranked #5 on page 17 in google.

I won’t honor the idiots with a link, but darn!  That’s funny!  Golly, if they can’t find me by Googling “women doctor Montgomery” I am surely a failure at the internet thing.  

In related news, I’m ranked #77 on page 6576 in Google if you search “elves montgomery beard shoes”

Looking for a motivational speaker and don’t care that my site ranks poorly for “woman doctor?”  I’d love to be your guy.  Let’s make your event rock.  Contact me here.

Cheers,

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Lover of Funny Spam Email, Woman Doctor*

*Not really a woman doctor.    (I’m not a doctor.**)

**  Ok, you got me.  I’m not a woman either.

Check out this funny video where I break every rule in the book.  

Wearing skate shoes is a naughty nasty thing to do in a grocery store. And no, my kids and I didn’t play with them at any Denver, Colorado area Safeway’s or King Soopers. No. We didn’t.

I’ve wanted to try Heelys for some time, but was chicken. I was afraid that I’d be lousy at them. I was afraid I’d never use them and they would sit in my closet mocking me. I was afraid that even if I did wear them in public, I’d feel like too much of an idiot to actually “skate.”

But like so many things in my life recently, my kids influenced me. They looked like they were having fun… and I love playing with my kids… and … and … and…. hello Heelys!

I have used them. I learned them fairly quickly. I wear them a bunch. I notice that adults to gawk and gape when I skate, but (perhaps I’m a fool but) I think they admire me for having fun. I think they think, “That looks fun but I don’t know if I could ever do that in public.” I imagine that a few people must think, “Look at that rolling idiot!.” But I also imagine that more people think, “Cool… there’s another adult on those cool skate shoes.. I wish I had the guts to try that!”

And the cool bonus is that the skate shoes work right into my philosophy I share as a motivational speaker. Much of what I teach is mental / attitude. But I also talk about the importance of DOING things that help us ramp up the fun at work. I hate to mention the “P” word (play) but let’s face it, it makes sense. Of course the definition of “play” for a business audience is tricky, but the concept is solid.

There is NOTHING more playful than skating through a Wal-Mart. It is impossible to be bummed about the sale that didn’t happen, your over-full inbox crammed with emails, and the super-long To-Do list your fretting over. When you play, our stress goes down, our creativity goes up, and we are better able to tackle whatever comes at us.

My point? If you want to make your life — and your job — more fun, and if you believe that if you enjoy your work more you’ll be more productive, than you need to ACTIVELY search out activites that physically engage you in life. You need to find ways that appeal to you.

I’ve found one that works for me: Heelys. I don’t care if you buy these cool shoes or not, but if you don’t, I ask you this: What are you going to do today to actively ramp up the joy and fun in your life? Come on…. do something!

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Parent, Heely Wearer, Rule Breaker

PS.  Seriously, do not wear these shoes in public.  It is against the rules.  Seriously.  Don’t do it.  Really.  I’m not kidding.

Ok.  So the timing is off.  But this video is great.  

This is funny.   I don’t care if you voted Republican or Democrat, you have to admire the clever folks who put this humorous video together.

Click this link for the video.

Notice that I’m famous.  

In many ways, this video is like a great keynote speech:

• Interactive
• Unexpected
• Relevant
• Funny

Next time you present in front of a business audience, do you think you can use any of this principles? 

The folks at MoveOn.org made me laugh.  And that says quite a lot.

Anybody need a motivational speaker?  I’d love to be your guy.  Contact me here.  (Good Timing Not Required.)

Cheers,

Brad Montgomery
Independent Voter, Motivational Keynote Speaker, Humorist, Fan of Clever Videos

Check out my Linkedin Profile

Ok, so I’m guessing that most folks with a small office often use Starbucks as a second office.  I do.  But in this video podcast check out the reason why I HAD to go to this other office.

It turns out that as I was returning calls and answering emails for motivational speaker job here in Colorado, I was totally silenced.  There was some warranty work that had to be done to correct an error on our house.  We were surprised one morning when two huge guys with jackhammers just showed up and created the symphony of chaos.  (Hurry!  Somebody trademark that…. what a great name for a band.)

Anyhow, it cracked me up.  Hope you enjoyed the video.

If you’re looking to HIRE a motivational speaker (with or without the jack hammer) I hope you’ll contact me here.

Brad Montgomery
Colorado Motivational Speaker, Home Officer, Love of Jackhammers.

If you are looking for a fun way to procrastinate at the office, I have a really fun game for ya! I have to admit that the game is silly and goofy and stupid….and I lost about 15 minutes of my life to it. It made me laugh.  It made me cry.  It made me gobble.

Link to game

Or… if you really want to get your staff fired up, motivated, and ready to work — if you want to build their spirit, their teamwork and their communication skills  — if you want to make work more fun in order to boost produtivity, — and if you want your staff to stop playing these silly games —  contact me to speak to your group now!
 

Brad Montgomery
Humor At Work Expert, Speaker, Turkey Shooter

PS. For those of you I was supposed to call today   …   blame the turkey!

I just sent this postcard out to some of my top clients.  I think it is funny…. after all, if these guys don’t need a motivational speaker, who does?  Sheesh, I’ve had some fun watching the campaign, and tons of fun mocking it.  But now I’m ready for it to be over.
 

Quiz:  Can you tell by these photos who I really support?  Obama?  McCain? Let me know (by commenting below) who I support and how you can tell) and the winner will FREE receive a subscription to Hooked On Humor.

Thanks Kids. Either way, we’re nearly done. The polls will tell us who will win the election. Now….who’s gonna win the quiz? Take a chance and comment below.

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Keynote Speaker, Quiz Giver, Political Hack

LaffyTaffy is a crappy, horrible, nasty candy. And I love it.

Let me explain:

I was goofing with my kids lately, and they were eating LaffyTaffy. (In case you don’t know it, this is a chewy candy that adults generally hate and kids generally love.)

The interesting thing about LaffyTaffy is that it makes my kids laugh. Really. They believe that when you eat it, you laugh. Seriously; they eat some, and they laugh.

So, what’s this got to do for the rest of us? My point is that sometimes laughter is a decision. Sometimes laughter is a choice. Sometimes being in a giggly, laughing mood is as simple as DECIDING that you’re gonna be in a good mood.

I know that it isn’t always that easy.  Simple yes.  Easy, no. I know that with the genuine and frequent stressors we face as adults it isn’t always EASY to just drop things and giggle. But kids and LaffyTaffy prove that laughter is a state of mind.

My point? Next time you’re in a lousy mood see if you can talk yourself out of it intoand into a good mood. It’s possible, and kids prove it. And if that fails, and as a last resort, have some of that LaffyTaffy.

Hate LaffyTaffy and prefer to bring in a funny motivational comedian speaker to cheer up your troops? Click here for more info.

Cheers,

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Humorist, and Lover of LaffyTaffy

I don’t care what side of the political divide you’re on, Sarah Palin makes for some tasty jokes.

One thing is for certain:  she is funnier and easier to tease than Senator Biden.  As a humoristspeaker and comedian, the most fun would  be had with Obama and Palin winning office together.  Too bad they can’t be on the same ticket—  we comedians would go nuts with joy.   (McCain and Biden are just…. well… boring.  They might be awesome at their jobs, but they just ain’t funny.)  Check out this link to a funny site:

http://www.palinaspresident.us/   Who has time to make this stuff?

Note:  Just keep clicking!  Click on the door over and over and over again.  Made me laugh out loud.  (Ok, so I’m a 14 year old boy on the inside.  It’s still flippin’ funny!)

Tim Conway has to be one of the best sketch comedians ever. I grew up watching him, Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman make each other laugh.

What impresses me about this clip is that it holds up. It is still funny today. (And how many shows from the 70s can we say that about? Happy Days? No way, Fonzy!

As a professional speaker and comedian, I love watching how he cracks the other actors up, and how their laughter makes the sketch even funnier.  He’s funny on his own, but with the his team members busting up he is hilarious.  The other folks laughter turns the sketch from good to great.

This fact is relevant to us in our search for a fun business culture.  Laughter begets laughter. 

 If you want to ramp up the fun in your office and the humor in your workplace, you can start by laughing more yourself.  And if you are a leader or manager, make sure that you make certain others feel safe laughing around you.  Employees are often nervous about letting loose in front of their boss:  don’t let your people fall into this trap around you.  If you are laughing the hardest, your employees will follow.  Trust me on this.

Back to Conway:   The fact that Conway was so “in the moment” and authentic makes me think he’d be a

 killer professional speaker.  Can you imagine having him as your motivational keynote speaker?  Heck yeah!  Imagine him (and his team of comedians) do one of these killer sketches and then connect the learning points to corporate America.  I know he would have the convention or meeting on the edge of their seats because he is so funny.  But I bet when he connects his communication skills, timing, teamwork and ability to deal with constant change to the business and corporate culture, he’d hit it out of the park.   I know I would pay to see it. 

The bad news is that Conway isn’t a pro speaker.  The good news is that I know a motivational speaker that would love to fill in for him. : )  (“Hey mom!  Pick me!”)

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What can I say? I think this video is is hilarious.   Spend two minutes and see if you agree

The front fell off!? I wish I would have thought of this sketch.

There. Now you’ve wasted 2 minutes. But hey, if you laughed, perhaps it was a killer investment.

What do you think?   Was this video worth two minutes away from your work?   (Comment and let me know what you think.)

Don’t have one? Don’t even know what it is?

Humor Quotient is the amount of humor that you have in your business, personal life and all other areas that is directly related to your ability to find humor in most all things. In other words, it is a factor of how much “funny” there is in your day and how that funny helps you work, live and cope effectively. Like I said, Humor Quotient.

To assess your Humor Quotient, you must first decide what make you laugh. For instance, the lame joke from the internet or your boss’s toupee?  Also, the cafeteria’s “Mystery Meat” may make you chuckle inside but the office jokester makes you want to poke a pencil in your thigh.

Everyone is different and different things make people laugh. A lot of times, when I do seminars, there will be maybe one or two people who at first don’t “get it” and those are the ones that make me try extra hard to get their lips to curl. I realize that their HQ may be high or need adjusting, but usually I’m able to find it and make knee-slappers out of them. Yeah buddy, I aim to please.

GUIDO

If you are a person or you work with a person who is hard to get to smile or laugh, learn them first. In office settings, we’re told to be serious, somber and focused on the task at hand. Yes, those things are important, but it’s also important to have a work environment where you can enjoy and have fun, if only a little. It helps productivity immensely and does wonders for the work environment. And usually, the person who is hard to crack ends up actually enjoying themselves.

And in extreme cases, they may just need a little extra adjusting. In that case, I usually have my assistant, Guido, take them out back and give them a *little* adjustment just so they don’t interfere too much with my presentation. Like I said, I aim to please. You WILL be happy when I’m done, got it?

Are you easy or difficult to loosen up? What would you say your Humor Quotient is? High? Low? In Between?

Scared of Guido, are you? Don’t worry. He won’t bother you unless you give him a reason…

Cheers!

Brad Montgomery

Many of my pals have reported that just hanging out downtown and near the Pepsi Center has lead to a ton of cool and funny stuff to see and laugh at.  My dad did just that and wrote me this funny email.  

This week, I’m glad I live in Colorado. My Dad’s letter follows:

For those of you who decided to leave town for the DNC, you missed a fine time in Downtown Denver yesterday (Sunday). Nancy and I rode our bikes to the Art Museum for a look-see, then had a salad on the museum patio, watching ex-Governor Romer, the Mayors of Newark, Denver, and lord-knows-where-else talk about education. Big crowd, reporters and big men in black suits. I asked one of the suits if he was “security”. No, sir, he said. I wondered why so many in black suits, to which he replied, “There are mayors here from all over the country.” Oh, I said, and you are here to keep them safe?” “Yes,” he said.

Then we walked our bikes through Civic Center Park, jammed with vendors, people, including Am. Indians doing a dance, and a couple of kids holding a sign that said they were “Pro-Protests.” I said, “me too,” and they laughed.

The atmosphere was festive, and though we saw no parade, it felt like a parade and who doesn’t like those?

We wondered how we’d cross 15th street, heading for the 16th street mall, but as luck would have it there were several hundred people, some with bull horns, protesting the war right in the middle of the street, blocking both lanes. Horns honking, but no one really angry, and we managed to walk across the usually busy street with no problem, just in time to see a phalanx of battle rigged police heading for the crowd. They had no shields, but all manner of weapons, some of which I’d never seen before. All were holstered, and I saw only one tommy gun. The crowd quickly and quietly dispersed, and we continued to 16th street–just in time to avoid about 15 mounted police trotting down the way.

The police who dispersed the crowd, then walked back towards us and got into vans (red, white, black) with dark glass windows and drove off. There were also a couple of other vans(?) which had running boards on the sides and in the rear, on which about 10 policemen were hanging, ready, I suppose, to charge any big-disturbance. I’ve never see so many police in one spot before. My guess is that they were all pumped with adrenaline, but everything was peaceful.

On the 16th street mall, we saw several men on bikes wearing shirts saying, “Medic”. One told us they were ready to treat most anything from diabetes to heat stroke.

Nancy’s neighbor works downtown and will try to keep his law firm going during the convention. The firm was visited by Secret Service (or somesuchfolk) and told that there would be strict requirements for going in and out of the building, that snipers would be on the roof, and to report to them anything and anyone which looked like it (or they) didn’t belong there.

By the way, we heard a black suit at the art museum tell his guards that if anyone even looked like they had a big purse or backpack to send up a flare.

Although we intended to see the museum, have lunch, and take only a quick look, we stayed all afternoon. Great fun. Bikes were the way to do it.

Hope it stays calm.

Dad

… no…. under the bed.

Often we don’t have to look very far to find humor in action. (At least not at my house.)

My wife Kim and I were putting our little kids to sleep. They are afraid of the monsters that might be around, and as I watched from the doorway asked Kim to close the doors to the closet and the bathroom. (Apparently monsters are unable to operate doornobs.)

“Do you want me to look under the bed?” she asked them?

Of course they did. So she bends down to look under the bed and says, “Ok Frank and Larry: they know you are here and they are scared so just stay where you are or you’re gonna freak them out. Ok? Ok.”

My kids eyes got really big REALLY fast. But I cracked up. I mean cracked up.

The kids … probably prompted by me … cracked up too. It was a great end of the day for them.

I loved it and have told the story several times since… including here.

Wanna know the funniest part? Kim doesn’t think she was particularly funny night… and she thinks the fact that I DO think it was hilarious is (further) evidence that I’m a wacko. Which of course, just made it funnier for me. So be it.

My point? You don’t have to hunt far for humor. Just pay attention and you’ll find very funny people who may (or may not) be trying to be hilarious. Without much of a fuss you should be find plenty of humor anywhere you look for it. (Especially if you look under the bed.)