I was recently on a coaching call helping a fellow motivational speaker, William Reed beefing up the amount of humor he uses in his keynote speeches. What made it fun is that we did it via video conference.But what made it REALLY fun was that for a moment, the technology glitched and the video [...]

If you want to know how to be a funny professional speaker or how to be a comedian, then you’ll want to read on!
We’re nearly ready to launch The Humor College.
It’s going to be AWESOME, but I need your help and
am willing to pay for it.
[This is a new series that will teach humor [...]

How to find your own “voice.”
Those of you who read my American Idol post know read about the crucial importance of finding your own voice. Thanks to a wonderful email from a budding magician and his questions, I have a follow up to that post. His question, in a nut shell, was: [...]

An Open Letter to Crappy Magicians
I recently was hired to coach a speaker who also happened to do a bit of magic in her programs. It seems to me that the things that I told him are the same things I tell a bunch of people. Usually I’m nicer than what follows… [...]

I am just back from Seattle, Washington where I had the good luck to speak to a group of Microsoft folks.

It went well. Really well. But for me one of the coolest things was watching the audience change from the beginning to the end of my program. They ended off great, smiling, [...]

A recent article in the National Speakers Association newsletter Speak Up quoted a few of my pals; fellow humorists and motivational speakers as they discussed humor and being funny.
One of the coolest parts of this good article as a list of Funny Action Items. I’ll reprint them in this blog.
If you are interested [...]

There is an interesting article today in Colorado’s daily paper about humor for presidential candidates. It stresses the importance of humor, as well as the danger of humor. Humor has both won and lost elections for folks.
“Humor is vital. It shows likability and deflects criticism and makes people feel comfortable,” said Liz Carpenter, [...]

Here’s a killer idea to improve the humor in your workplace courtesy of one of my clients, the Florida Department of Revenue.
They have “Anniversary Day.” It’s a killer idea in a good news / bad news format, … and you should steal it.
Somebody made up a tacky sign that says, “It’s my anniversary” [...]

Mark Sharenbroich (based in Minnesota) is one of my favorite professional speakers and motivational humorists. He’s a rock star in the youth and school market, and is making some impressive tracks in the corporate world as well. No wonder… he’s terrific.
Mark is a teacher and friend, and recently we had the chance [...]

 

 Impostor Syndrome and Funny Professional Speakers [3:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

What American Idol has to Teach Professional Speakers:
(Or: Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Taylor, Carie, and Fantasia)
Okay, I admit it. I watched it. I ogled each week. I confess: I enjoyed American Idol. There, I said it. It’s not like I have a Clay [...]