That’s why this short email from Re/Max international made my day.  (I worked for them at their Colorado headquarters recently.)  It is absolutely current, and made me feel like a million bucks.  Aw Shucks Re/Max!

Brad, One of our executives came up to me yesterday afternoon and said – “Ya know, I judge speakers by the amount of times I look at my iPhone while they’re talking.  I did not look once – thanks for bringing Brad in, he was a great speaker and the timing was perfect – really enjoyed it”.

We’ve had lots of positive comments and in my HR meeting today with other HR Executives I will gladly tout you and your message.   Thank you so much!!

P.L

Senior Vice President, Human Resources

RE/MAX International, Inc.

Denver, Colorado

Aw Shucks, Re/Max   It was my absolute total pleasure.  Thanks for taking the time to make me feel great.

Looking for a funny motivational speaker to do your keynote speech? Looking for something different? Real Estate your biz or not, I’dI bet you want to create lasting change.  Want to make them laugh while they learn?  If you’re in Colorado or across the globe,  Contact me here.

Brad Montgomery
Real Estate Speaker, iPhone User, Fan of Re-Max

Technorati Tags: real estate speaker, colorado motivational speaker, testimonials, re/max Del.icio.us Tags: real estate speaker, colorado motivational speaker, testimonials, re/max

A How-To video series about how to be a motivational speaker.   In this very informal video in which Brad Montgomery — a funny motivational speaker — Brad asks fellow motivational speaker and Colorado speaker Elaine Dumler for a killer tip for folks on their way to being a paid professional speaker.    She offers up some excellent advice about being yourself on the platform — something that is very hard to do, but is crucial for your success as a speaker.

Check out the video:

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

On YouTube
Part 1. Find a Speaker Mentor
Part 2. Choose a Correct Motivational Topic (on YouTube)
How to be a Motivational Speaker (3) on YouTube
Adding Humor (1) The Act Out (On YouTube)
Adding Humor (2): Give the Audience a Voice (on YouTube)
Adding Humor (3) What to Do When Your Humor Bombs (YouTube)
Part 7: How To be a Speaker — Find a Niche
Part 8: How to be a Motivational Speaker — Be Authentic on the Platform

More interested in reading than going to YouTube?   We’ve got your back!  Check out this transcription….

How to be a Motivational Speaker – Part 8 (Elaine Dumler on Authenticity)

Brad Montgomery:         Hi, this is Brad Montgomery from bradmontgomery.com with the continuing series on how to be a motivational speaker.  As I said before, I don’t know – I don’t have all the expertise, but I know people who do and we’re looking at ****my pal, Elaine Dumler.  Elaine Dumler is a college speaker who speaks nationally to everybody, but specializes in military audiences and today she’s going to tell us at least one tip about how to be a motivational speaker.  Go Elaine!

Elaine Dumler:         I think the best thing that you have to always remember to do when you’re speaking, especially if you’re working to motivate other people, is you’ve got to be real.  I think a lot of times we see speakers on the platform who are not the same person as they are maybe off having a beer, a cup of coffee or something.  You have to be who you are.  You want that type of connection and rapport that comes from just being your true self on the platform and letting you come out in everything that you do.  I think that’s what makes you someone that someone wants to listen to.  And if you’re going to add humor, and kind of make it funny, or you know, work kind of natural humor into it, it has to come from who you are.  And if it doesn’t come from your heart, then I don’t know where it’s coming from.

Brad Montgomery:         I think – thank you, Elaine – being you is important.  That’s why when I’m a motivational speaker, I always strive to be Elaine Dumler.  All right.  More tips on how to be a motivational speaker.  Stay tuned.  Thanks, Elaine.

Technorati Tags: Elaine Dumler, Military speaker, How to be a motivational speaker, colorado speaker, colorado speakers, presentation tips Del.icio.us Tags: Elaine Dumler, Military speaker, How to be a motivational speaker, colorado speaker, colorado speakers, presentation tips

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

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

Here’s an ethical bribe:   leave a comment (scroll down and leave it below) and tell us what YOU are doing or thinking differently based on our time together and I’ll send you a gift.  No silly….not a crystal bowl.  But it’s fun.  It’s free.  And it’s my treat.

Here’s a very casual (which translates to “I made it with my phone!”)  video I created in the St. Louis airport just for you.  Thanks again… and don’t forget to comment.  Cheers and thanks.

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

Thanks Boeing.  It was my distinct pleasure!

Have a great day….. and don’t forget the bribe:   leave a comment below about what you learned and are doing differently and I’ll send you a treat!

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

For those of you who prefer to read, here is a transcription:
Hi friends it’s Brad Montgomery from Bradmontgomery.com.  I put together a special video just for you because I wanted to thank you for all of your time and attention today.  But also to remind you of what we covered today because I know since then you’ve had some difficult times, you’ve had like what, 10,000 emails, all kinds of emergencies, let’s see if we can’t remind you how to connect happiness to your bottom line.  Because remember the concept was that if we enjoy our time at the link we are going to be better and more productive and more efficient, more effective at Boeing.  So how do we do that? You know how.  Remember all that fun we had this morning?  The laughing and the joking and the carrying on, that feeling is to go, you’re job is to bring it back home and especially bring it back to Boeing because it will make it you better and because you know how.

Here’s the 3 points we covered this morning.  First, I want you to find happiness. Find things that remind you that life is good. I mean how cool is it to work for Boeing?  You’re involved with the space shuttle. You know, you see planes landing every single day that you guys have a piece of supporting. How cool is that?  How cool is it that you just finished up a really cool administrative admin week, how cool is that?  How cool is it that you’re getting a reminder video from a guy, Brad Montgomery that you’ve already forgotten about?  How cool is that?  I’m at the airport in St. Louis getting ready to take off to go home and it’s going to be a Boeing plane. Woo Hoo! How cool is that!? So the first step is a gratitude piece, find things that remind you that life is good.

The second step is a choice. I want you to choose happy, think happy.  Remember that if you want to enjoy your life at home and especially your life at work, part of the equation is deciding that you want to enjoy your time at Boeing. So either that has to be a conscious decision, do you want to have a good time or not? I’m thinking you do. I want to make sure you make that conscious decision.

Now finally, there’s an active piece. You’ve got to be physically active in doing something that creates levity, light-heartedness, joy, humor, fun at work. So I don’t know what this means for you. Maybe it means you really do put a magnet in your coffee cup and drive around St. Louis or maybe it just means you make a point to bring some humor to work. You play at work, you put a clown nose on, I don’t care, do something. Whatever it is, do something.

Finally, I just wanted to remind you how much I appreciated being part of it. It was very cool to be in the Boeing building with you guys in St. Louis.  It was very fun to be your motivational speaker, but the coolest part was watching your faces start from kind of serious and busy and over-worked and end where you ended just feelings to go.  You people deserve it, you’ve been working hard.  Life has not been easy lately and I know you guys work hard at Boeing, you deserve to really enjoy it. So find happy, choose happy, act happy.

There’s more stuff at Bradmontgomery.com including a bribe.  All right, so here’s the bribe, if you leave a comment, there’s a button, I don’t know where the buttons are.  Look down, there’s a button and leave a comment and tell me what specific thing are you doing or thinking differently based on our time together.  If you tell me what you’re doing or thinking differently, what I’ll do is I’ll send you a gift.  No, it’s not a Ford Explorer. No, it’s not a space shuttle.  But it’s cool and it’s my treat and all you have to do is leave a comment and tell me what you’re doing differently based on our time together.

All right, thank you so much, if you have any questions or comments let me know. You can contact me through the website right here Bradmontgomery.com and really thank you so much, just an absolute pleasure to be part of it.  Have a great day Boeing.  Thanks Admins.

A How-To video series about how to be a motivational speaker.   In this very informal video in which Brad Montgomery — a funny motivational speaker — Brad asks his pal and fellow motivational speaker and Colorado speaker Fred Berns for a killer tip for folks on their way to being a paid professional speaker.    He has some great advice about getting deep with one industry.

Check out the video:

Thanks Fred baby!

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

More interested in reading the transcription than seeing the video.  No problem baby!  We have your back.  Here it is:

How to be a motivational Speaker.  Fred Berns on Niches

Brad Montgomery:         Hi, this is Brad Montgomery from bradmontgomery.com with the continuing series about how to be a motivational speaker.  So, I know you want to be a motivational speaker.  You don’t know how.  You want tips.  Well, I don’t have them all, but I’ve got friends who have them all.  We’re here with Fred Berns, one of the top speakers in Colorado.  He speaks on a million things, including sales.  Fred, can you give the listeners what’s it going to take to be a motivational speaker?

Fred Berns:         Well, I think to be a successful motivational speaker, it’s very important to have a specific niche.  I think a niche can make you rich.  And if you can zero in on a certain type of group, a different kind – a certain type of industry, I think you become viewed as an instant expert a lot more quickly.  You can sell books and products a lot more successfully.  You can be booked more often with, for larger amounts of money if you become the number one name in a specific industry.  So, I think the key here, Brad, is to niche because it can make you rich.

Brad Montgomery:                  Rock on!

On YouTube
Part 1. Find a Speaker Mentor
Part 2. Choose a Correct Motivational Topic (on YouTube)
How to be a Motivational Speaker (3) on YouTube
Adding Humor (1) The Act Out (On YouTube)
Adding Humor (2): Give the Audience a Voice (on YouTube)
Adding Humor (3) What to Do When Your Humor Bombs (YouTube)
Part 7: How To be a Speaker — Find a Niche
Part 8: How to be a Motivational Speaker — Be Authentic on the Platform

Here’s what he said.

I’m Ken McCardle and I’m the Vice President Information Technology for Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance.  And we’re right here in beautiful Savannah Georgia at the Hyatt.  And we just got done hearing Brad Montgomery speak.  And Brad, you are a great investment for our people here.  The economy on the downturn and the way it is, it helped uplift the spirits of our people with a tailored presentation.  It picked us a little bit and some of the challenges we have in the workplace.  But it helped us take these challenges and we’ve taken back with people who better uplifted spirits now.  And can meet the challenges of the workplace with a better attitude.  That reflects in productivity.

Well, one of the missions of this particular conference is for our people to have a chance to socialize with each other, to get to know their peers from the other states that they don’t get a chance to see everyday but they talk with them.  And so it was a great opportunity for them to laugh with their peers to build that rapport.

We’re an insurance company too, much like AIG.  And with the issues of AIG you know we’re looking for productivity.  And productivity is a lot better when you have people who are smiling, has a ‘can do’ attitude.

Yes, you might be shopping multiple people but we had a referencing from our sales organization to use Brad Montgomery.  And of course sales people are very outgoing people.  So when we look at people like IT, accounting, human resources, and lawyers, you really need someone who can pick up the spirits of these people.

Aw Shucks Kenneth.  It was my total pleasure.

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

Brad Montgomery
Insurance Speaker, Georgia Speaker, Fan of Farm Bureau!

1.   There
2.   Is
3.   Really
4.   No
5.   Test
6.   Today
7.   April
8.   Fools
9.   Ha
10. Ha
11.  Ha
12.  Ha

She  had the kids giggling at #5.   What a great teacher!

What I love is that this awesome teacher definitely had as much fun as her kids did.   She took the lead in CREATING fun and joy in her work day.   She had fun… and because her kids had fun she is a better teacher.

My point:  having fun at work makes you better at work.  Just ask my kid’s teacher.

Do you need a funny speaker for your meeting (and want to skip the spelling test?)   Contact me here!

Brad Montgomery
Humor at Work Expert, Meeting Energizer, Fan of Funny Teachers

PS.   She also gave them a Word Search in which none of words to be found were actually in the letter grid.  Brilliant!

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!

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

This video covers the sticky topic of what to do when your humor fails.

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

For those of you who prefer to read (as opposed to see the tips on the video,) here ya go:

What To Do When Your Humor Bombs

All right.  I want you to watch these series of jokes that bombed for me at the Mayo Clinic.  But then watch what I do about it.  So, check it out.

It’s just cool to be at the world-famous Mayo Clinic and its sister organization, the Mustard Infirmary.  I’m staying at the Relish Inn.  So, I have a condiment theme here in Rochester.  I bank at the First Bank of Ketchup.  Okay, condiment humor, not big in Rochester.  We can see that.  Did you see what the building next door, right next to the main Mayo building, the little deli?  They’re going to call it Mayo on the Side.  Free condiment jokes.  Yeah!  I mean, how cool is it you guys work for the Mayo Clinic?  It was so much fun for me when, you know, where you going this time, Brad?  I’m going to the Mayo Clinic.  Oh, I’m sorry.  No, I’m healthy!  I’m healthy!  We’re going to laugh.  A little mayo on the side.  Four condiment jokes.

I didn’t totally bomb those jokes, but clearly they didn’t go as well as I had hoped and I used a couple of techniques that you can use as well.  First, whether you’re telling stories or relating an anecdote or telling jokes, when things aren’t going as well as you hoped or horrible, let the audience know that you’ve noticed.  Acknowledge it.  There’s nothing weirder than watching a speaker that acts like everything’s going great when it’s clear to the audience that things aren’t going great.  So, don’t do that.  It’s too weird.  But the second part is equally important which is that it’s your responsibility to take care of the audience.  It’s your responsibility to let them know that you’re fine.  So, when things don’t go well, they start to worry about us and they start to fret for us and get stressed and you got to let them know that you’re fine.  So, you notice, I did just that.  First, I acknowledged the condiment jokes failed, or at least weren’t doing that great.  I even started counting the goofy, failed condiment jokes.  But, more important than that, with my body language and with my words, I let them know, hey, don’t worry about me, I’m having a good time still.  You’re going to have a good time still.  We’ve got lots of program left and things are great.  So, the audience will admire you and love you for trying humor, even if it doesn’t go as well as you had hoped.

Just remember the two rules.  One, acknowledge it, let them know.  And second, take responsibility to bring them with you and let them know that you’re totally fine.

On YouTube
Part 1. Find a Speaker Mentor
Part 2. Choose a Correct Motivational Topic (on YouTube)
How to be a Motivational Speaker (3) on YouTube
Adding Humor (1) The Act Out (On YouTube)
Adding Humor (2): Give the Audience a Voice (on YouTube)
Adding Humor (3) What to Do When Your Humor Bombs (YouTube)

(Besides, there was powder.  Lots of powder. : )

Check out my video message from ski slopes at Copper Mountain, Colorado:

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

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

For those of you who prefer to read, here is the transcription:

Hey, this is Brad Montgomery from bradmontgomery.com.

I got a message for you related to skiing. So, I’m in Colorado. I’m at Copper
Mountain. We’re at 12,000 feet. I just skied down that cliff. Check that out.
Okay, I didn’t ski down it well, but I did ski down the cliff and I had a good time.

Here’s my point. I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to come today at all. If it
was my choice after being on the road in Florida and Pennsylvania, as a
motivational speaker, I was pooped and I really would have preferred to stay home
and watch the Olympics, drink hot chocolate, and, you know, read a cheap novel or
something. But because of my wife and because of my kids, we came up skiing
and Iím so glad I did.

So, here comes the message. I tell my audiences all the time this. What are you
going to do to create joy and happiness in your life starting today? What are you
going to do? And my choice was to do nothing and that was a mistake. I got here
and I had a good time and it’s awesome.

So, what are you going to do? Are you sitting around reading a book? Are you
watching the Olympics right now? Are you doing something that could be more
productive, that could be more fun? I’m pretty sure the answer’s probably yes. If
youíre like me, get going.

So, have fun. Make life fun. That means you got to actually do something to get
involved. If you like skiing, go for it. If you donít like skiing, find what you want
to do, have fun.

Looking for a motivational speaker?I’d  love to be your guy. Right now, I’m
going down there. Take care.

Technorati Tags: Colorado Speaker, Colorado Motivational Speaker, Copper Mountain, Funny, skiing, skis, ski resort Del.icio.us Tags: Colorado Speaker, Colorado Motivational Speaker, Copper Mountain, Funny, skiing, skis, ski resort

A How-To video series about how to be a motivational speaker. In this very informal video in which Brad Montgomery — a funny motivational speaker — Brad explains the simple technique of Giving the Audience a Voice. It’s a guaranteed humor technique that’s easy to implement.

For those of you checking out hot comedians, Jim Gaffigan is awesome. Check out this funny guy. One of the many techniques he uses is to give the audience a voice. In fact, he opens his album BEYOND THE PALE with a high voice with which he simply gives the audience a voice. He talks about what they must think of his skin, his clothes, etc. Funny opening, and all he does is to say what (he imagines) the audience is thinking. What a crack up. Check him out. Not sure what I’m talking about…..Check out the tips how-to video:

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

For Those of you more interested in reading that looking at the speaker video, here is the transcription about how to be a motivational speaker:

Give the Audience a Voice

One of the techniques that you can use in humor is to take advantage of this rule. If you say what the audience is thinking, they will laugh. So, watch how we set up this joke about parking and then see how I follow up by giving the audience a voice. Now, the one thing you need to know to understand these jokes is just that parking at the Mayo Clinic comes at a premium and pretty much, you got to have a lot of seniority to get a parking place. All right. So, watch what we do after the joke.

I love the parking. So, how many of you had to park like 80 miles away today? Raise your hand if you have parking privileges. Okay, now everyone else, if you had your hand up, notice how everyone else is glaring at you. I hate them. I hate them. Man, if you think you can get a job here today, you got to park in Iowa. Some of you are going, I live in Iowa. Shut up. Shut up. Stop with the Iowa thing.

Did you see how he did that? Did you see how I gave a voice to the audience? If you can voice what the audience is thinking, you will get the laugh. So, how did I do that? The first time I did that was we imagined what the people who don’t have parking spaces think about the people who do have parking spaces. And I just said it. You know, I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. And I even did a little act-out where I had that glowering thing. All right. So, that was just giving them a voice and I got credit for knowing what they were thinking. Then I did it again later on when I talked about the people who drive in from Iowa. I just, you know, I said the joke and then I voiced what they were thinking, which is, shut up, I’m from Iowa, shut up.

You can use this technique, too. Imagine or find out what your audience is thinking and then give them a voice, either literally by making up a funny voice and saying it as though you were them, just like I did, or a little safer way to do it would be to back up a little bit and just say, you know, I can imagine what you’re thinking. What you’re probably thinking is. You know what? There’s a video with two Brads, with two pictures of Brad. What, is that crazy? See what I did? I just gave you a voice. Give the audience a voice. Let them understand that you know what they’re thinking and you will get the laugh.

On YouTube
Part 1. Find a Speaker Mentor
Part 2. Choose a Correct Motivational Topic (on YouTube)
How to be a Motivational Speaker (3) on YouTube
Adding Humor (1) The Act Out (On YouTube)
Adding Humor (2): Give the Audience a Voice (on YouTube)
Adding Humor (3) What to Do When Your Humor Bombs (YouTube)

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!

How to be funny on the platform:   a specific technique

Here is Part 6 of the continuing series about how to be a motivational speaker. In this video, Brad Montgomery discusses adding humor to your presentation. (And if you want to be a paid professional speaker, you’ll need to be funny — if you want to get hired.)

No, you don’t HAVE to be funny or to use humor if you want to be a motivational speaker.  But boring speakers never get hired back.   You MUST have some sort of humor, lightheartedness, or levity in your program.  You don’t have to be a stand-up comedian, but you definitely want to invest some time and energy in learning how to work the crowd their happy place.

But adding humor isn’t easy.   Yet there ARE some specific ideas that are easy to learn and easy to implement.

This video covers the specific topic of the Act Out.   Check out the video:

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

For Those Of You Who Prefer to Read, here is the transcription:

What To Do When Your Humor Bombs

All right.  I want you to watch these series of jokes that bombed for me at the Mayo Clinic.  But then watch what I do about it.  So, check it out.

It’s just cool to be at the world-famous Mayo Clinic and its sister organization, the Mustard Infirmary.  I’m staying at the Relish Inn.  So, I have a condiment theme here in Rochester.  I bank at the First Bank of Ketchup.  Okay, condiment humor, not big in Rochester.  We can see that.  Did you see what the building next door, right next to the main Mayo building, the little deli?  They’re going to call it Mayo on the Side.  Free condiment jokes.  Yeah!  I mean, how cool is it you guys work for the Mayo Clinic?  It was so much fun for me when, you know, where you going this time, Brad?  I’m going to the Mayo Clinic.  Oh, I’m sorry.  No, I’m healthy!  I’m healthy!  We’re going to laugh.  A little mayo on the side.  Four condiment jokes.

I didn’t totally bomb those jokes, but clearly they didn’t go as well as I had hoped and I used a couple of techniques that you can use as well.  First, whether you’re telling stories or relating an anecdote or telling jokes, when things aren’t going as well as you hoped or horrible, let the audience know that you’ve noticed.  Acknowledge it.  There’s nothing weirder than watching a speaker that acts like everything’s going great when it’s clear to the audience that things aren’t going great.  So, don’t do that.  It’s too weird.  But the second part is equally important which is that it’s your responsibility to take care of the audience.  It’s your responsibility to let them know that you’re fine.  So, when things don’t go well, they start to worry about us and they start to fret for us and get stressed and you got to let them know that you’re fine.  So, you notice, I did just that.  First, I acknowledged the condiment jokes failed, or at least weren’t doing that great.  I even started counting the goofy, failed condiment jokes.  But, more important than that, with my body language and with my words, I let them know, hey, don’t worry about me, I’m having a good time still.  You’re going to have a good time still.  We’ve got lots of program left and things are great.  So, the audience will admire you and love you for trying humor, even if it doesn’t go as well as you had hoped.

Just remember the two rules.  One, acknowledge it, let them know.  And second, take responsibility to bring them with you and let them know that you’re totally fine.

Technorati Tags: How to be a professional speaker, how to be a motivational speaker, be a motivational speaker, speaker tips, how to be funny, how to be a comedian Del.icio.us Tags: How to be a professional speaker, how to be a motivational speaker, be a motivational speaker, speaker tips, how to be funny, how to be a comedian

On YouTube
Part 1. Find a Speaker Mentor
Part 2. Choose a Correct Motivational Topic (on YouTube)
How to be a Motivational Speaker (3) on YouTube
Adding Humor (1) The Act Out (On YouTube)
Adding Humor (2): Give the Audience a Voice (on YouTube)
Adding Humor (3) What to Do When Your Humor Bombs (YouTube)

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.

A How-To video series about how to be a motivational speaker.   In this very informal video in which Brad Montgomery — a funny motivational speaker — Brad explains the simple format (or template) for creating a motivational keynote speech.      Interested in exactly how you can create your own speech?  No sweat…here are the details.

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

On YouTube
Part 1. Find a Speaker Mentor
Part 2. Choose a Correct Motivational Topic (on YouTube)
How to be a Motivational Speaker (3) on YouTube
Adding Humor (1)   The Act Out (On YouTube)
Adding Humor (2):   Give the Audience a Voice (on YouTube)
Adding Humor (3) What to Do When Your Humor Bombs (YouTube)

For those of you who prefer to read the text of the video, here it is:

Template for keynote motivational speech.

How to Be a Speaker:  FORMAT OF A KEYNOTE
This is Brad Montgomery from Brad Montgomery.com with a continuing series in how to be a motivational speaker and how to be a paid professional speaker.  All right so one of the things we never talked about is exactly what is a motivational speech?  I know, you got some ideas about what you’re going to do and what you’re going to talk about and I know you have some ideas about your message for when you become a motivational speaker but you’re still struggling with how does it work, what’s the form, what’s the format, how do you put together a motivational speech.  Well good news – I’m about to tell you.

All right so it’s really not as hard as you think because there’s a formula.  Now you’ll notice that almost every good motivational speaker follows the formula and deviates from it but at least let me give you the formula because you’ll be shocked how easy it is.  First, you’ve got to have an opening so the opening’s going to be: My name is.  Here’s what we’re going to talk about.  Here’s my background is and here’s what you are going to get out today’s program.  So you’re just going to tell them what to expect.  So I’m a funny motivational speaker and I talk to businesses about lightening up so I start, as you might guess, with some jokes and I tell them today we’re going to talk about lightening it up and how that’s going to be related to your business.  Get it?  That’s the intro – that’s it.  That’s all the intro is.  Now the intro can be very short or you know like even a minute or two or it can be as long as you know five or ten sometimes fifteen minutes.  Because I’m funny I use a lot of humor but I think if you’re a high content motivational speaker you’re going to cut right to it.  So for example you might say, I’ve had an incredible car accident and I learned a lot from it and in today’s program we’re going to go through my story and how the lessons I learned relate to you.  All right so there’s the introduction.

Then you’re basically going to have three points – three points and each point is going to be supported by at least one story.  So let’s say for example your motivational speech is to be in you know you want to inspire people somehow.  All right so then I’m assuming that you have three techniques to inspire people.  So let’s say your techniques are to you know have good relationships and lead others in inspiration and to always nurture yourself – take care of yourself.  All right so those are the three points.  Write them down; bam, bam, bam.

So the first one is, my first point of the day is blah, blah, blah, blah.  Get it?  You tell them what your point is but they don’t care what your point is unless you have a story.  So if your first point is nurturing relationships that’s where you’re going to want to launch into one of your stories about how you nurture relationships or how you learned from this or how something happened to you that is relevant to them.  The main part of the story is to hold their interest, to teach the lesson and then really to let them learn from it.  How can we learn from your experience without having to go through the pain and trouble that you’ve done.  So for example let’s say you’ve climbed Mt. Everest and you want to talk about you know all the fabulous thing you learned about Mt. Everest.  What I really want out of that as an audience member is how can I learn all the things you know without having to climb Mt. Everest.  So you’re telling us the story of Mt. Everest and then you’re giving us the first point.  Got it?  So, now we’ve got the introduction, first point and the story to support that point.  Then you lead right into the second point and the transition can be as simple as that brings us to our second point.  The second point is you need to nurture relationships – I can’t remember what the three points are – but you know the second point is you’ve got to eat a lot of pineapple.  You see it doesn’t really matter what the point is and then you’ve got to support that.  So, how are you going to support that?  With another story so that’s when you need to launch in to another personal story, something that really happened to you and then relate what you learned out of that story and how we can apply those lessons to our lives.  Do you get the running theme?  Because if you’re a motivational speaker it really isn’t about you and how fabulous you are and how fabulous your stories are or how funny you are; what really is important is how you can get some information and inspiration into us as the audience.

All right and then the third point repeat as needed.  That leads us to our third point or our third point is to be a leader of inspiration and you know being a leader of inspiration is important because blah, blah, blah, blah and here comes the story to support that point.  Got it?  So now you’ve just told the introduction, you’ve had three points each one supported by at least one story – by the way if you know you want to do two short stories, go for it; three really short stories, go for it; whatever it doesn’t matter – and then finally is the conclusion and the conclusion really needs to be a summary of what you’ve just done but then most importantly you really need to make sure the audience understands that it’s about them.  So even though all the stories are about you and your own life experience the message is about them.  So in the conclusion you need to really make sure that they walk out of there knowing that I want to be like that speaker I just heard or at least I want to apply the lessons that that speaker taught because it makes sense to me because after hearing those stories and hearing all the reasons behind it and hearing the original thought there’s no way in the world I can’t you know, I can’t leave as a better person after hearing that speaker.  Got it?

So the main format is introduction, point supported by a story, second point supported by a story, third point supported by a story, and then a conclusion which all along you’re going to be talking about your audience but especially at the conclusion you’re going to make sure that the speech is not about you it’s about them.

All right so becoming a motivational speaker is a blast of it’s fun and it’s not as hard as you think.  My name’s Brad Montgomery from Brad Montgomery.com; really happy to be part of it.  If you like this video click over here or okay – I’m not really sure where the links are but there’s a couple of links.  I’ve got a couple programs out about how to be a motivational speaker and another program about how to be a funny speaker and trust me being a motivational speaker is cool but being a funny motivational speaker means you get hired.  So adding humor is really crucial no matter what your topic is.  Thanks for your time.  Look for more videos from me soon.  Glad to be aboard.  Cheers.

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Are you eager for a better workplace vibe, (oooh!   what a fancy business buzzword!) more freedom to have fun, and an escape from a lousy toxic work environment?  Are you waiting for “THEM” to enable you to to make that happen?   Can’t wait until they finally fix it so that you can start working as hard as you should be?   Can’t wait for them to change that one thing so that work can be fun — and productive — again?

Well then, lucky you, because this video is just for you.

Think I’m wrong?  I dare ya….leave a comment below! (Heck, leave one even if you agree.)

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

See the video on YouTube

Hey, this is Brad Montgomery from BradMontgomery.com with the message of the day.  Here it comes.  You are they.

Let me explain.  All right, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone into organizations and I hear from the top line leaders, to all the support staff, everybody says we can’t do that until they make it possible.  So, it’s either we can’t be more productive, we can’t have more fun, we can’t fix this toxic work culture.  I can’t have any fun in life until they fix it.  Well, this is a problem, isn’t it?  I swear, I’ve met people that are so upset; they’re willing to be miserable.  They’re willing to say, I’m going to be miserable until retirement, because they’re not going to allow me to do what I want to do.  Well, can you hear how ridiculous that is, how stupid you sound?

Listen, if you want to make a difference, here’s what you need to remember.  You are the they.  So, yes, yes, there are sometimes at work and in life, there are some impediments to letting us get as much joy, and as much fun as we deserve.  Yes, I understand that.  Sometimes your manager stinks, sometimes your boss stinks, sometimes your staff stinks, sometimes whatever, it’s there.

On the other hand, what are you going to do about it?  Are you going to sit around and say, well, it stinks; it’s not going to get fixed until they fix it.  Or, are you going to be the person who says, lets lead the way.  Are you going to be the leader?  Somebody in every single positive work culture is the leader in levity, lightheartedness, joy and even humor.  Somebody’s always that person who has more energy than everyone else.  Why shouldn’t that be you?  Why not?  Are you really going to wait and be miserable until retirement, or are you going to start being the guy who says, I’m going to lead the way.

So, if you want to have a little bit more fun at work, and you should, if you want to have a little bit more fun with your family, and you should, well then it’s going to start with you; you are the they.  Now the cool thing about this is we know this.  We know that in this toxic environment, if there ever was a time that we deserved to lighten up and enjoy ourselves, it’s now.

But the cool thing is that, also, this concept of bringing levity and lightheartedness and joy to work makes us better at work; it makes us more productive.  It increases the quality of our work product, and if there ever was an economic environment when we need it, not just good, not just great, but outstanding, it is now.  And I’m here to tell you, levity and humor and joy will help you get to outstanding.  All right, how’s it going to happen?  It’s going to happen with not they, it’s going to happen with you.

My name is Brad Montgomery.  If you want some specifics about how to do it, there’s, shoot, click the buttons, see the buttons.  I don’t know where the buttons are, but there’s buttons all over the site.  Give us a call.  We’d love to help you and your organization.  Make it a great day, and I mean you make it a great day because it’s going to help you get what you want at home and at work.

Here’s the video on YouTube

What do YOU want to learn? Questions?   Topics you want to make sure we cover?   Leave a comment below and we’ll make sure to answer your questions at the program.

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.

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

I love being on the radio… it’s harder than it looks.  But it went well and I had a blast.  If you’re interested, you can hear what I did here.

Thanks SBA Radio!

Brad Montgomery
Small Business Radio Guest, Funny Motivational Speaker, Talk Show Groupie

PS. In something totally unrelated, I updated my main page about my magician & comedian offerings. Check it!  Or, interested in my corporate game show?  Got it updated too!

Here’s another one of my tips on how to be a motivational speaker. Today I talk about how to choose your topic. Questions? Leave them in a comment below and I’ll answer them in a video.

How To Be a Motivational Speaker

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

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Prefer to read the text?

Hey, this is Brad Montgomery from BradMontgomery.com.  Alright, so here’s the continuing saga, “How to Be a Motivational Speaker.”  I promised you some tips, here comes another one.

One of the big questions I get all the time is what am I going to talk about, what could I possibly talk about?  Well, when you are picking the topic for your keynote, there’s a couple of things I want you to consider.

First, if you’re going to be a professional speaker, not only do you have to be good, but you have to be passionate about something.  So what is it that you are passionate about?  You’re going to be talking and researching and marketing and everything, make sure it’s a topic that you actually love, which is my way of saying, if you think you want to speak on leadership or change or some whatever, I’m saying that’s fine, unless you don’t have passion for it.  So, if you don’t, skip it, right now.

The other thing too is make sure it’s something you’re an expert in.  So, as you’re choosing your topic, what are you good at, what are you already an expert in right now?  So for example, if you work in a hospital and you’re a genius about what’s going on with healthcare, maybe that’s your niche.  Or if you know everything there is about energy or whatever or in my case, if you happen to know everything there is about humor at work, bingo, I’m your guy.  See, I have passion about that; I’m an expert in it, that’s why it’s good for me. What are you going to find that’s good for you?

So, to sum it up, when you’re becoming a motivational speaker, if you’re asking yourself how to be a motivational speaker and you’re wondering about your topic, first, find something you have passion in, second, find somewhere where you have some expertise.

Alright, Brad Montgomery, BradMontgomery.com.   More tips on how to be a motivational speaker soon.  Thanks.

A while back I saw my old friend and fellow Colorado speaker Steve Spangler tear up a group of 100 teachers.  And by tear up I mean he was terrific… the audience loved him.

Steve and I have been friends since high school — which is fun partly because I’ve seen him grow from just a talented guy to a famous talented guy.

I stopped by to see one of his projects in person:  he invites teachers to come to his Science in the Rockies program where he teaches them science tips and tricks, all backed by curriculum they’ll incorporate in the classroom.  Sounds good to me.

But seeing the smiles on these teachers faces AS they learned was a good reminder of the importance of engaging an audience.  They weren’t sitting taking notes:  they were actively participating, laughing, talking to each other and to Steve.

It was a great reminder that people — even audiences — can multi-task.  You might incorrectly connect a silent audience staring at the presenter with an audience that gives a darn.  They might be deeply engaged…. or they might be quietly going over their shopping list in their heads.

Steve calls it “hands-on science.”  His audiences learn AND have fun.  (And you can bet your bottom dollar that because they are having fun, they retain more.)  But professional speakers of all types — motivational, funny, whatever! — can learn from this Colorado speaker.

Our audiences can and should be engaged.  They should be laughing.  They should be saying to their neighbor, “Hey!  That’s cool!”  And at least some of the time they should be actively playing with some cool toy or thing.  [Provided there is a concrete connection between the activity and the desired outcomes of the meeting planner.]

Why is engagement so important for speakers  — and meeting planners looking to hire a speaker?   Because, my friends, it’s 2009.  Audiences just won’t sit still like they used to.  In these days were distractions are plentiful (iPhones, Blackberries, wireless in convention hotels) and ROI needs to be extremely high, nobody can afford to plop a mediocre speaker in front of an audience who just barely cares enough to sit there.

Meeting planners demand results;  results demand engagement.

My point? If you need a speaker ask this question:  What specific activities will you do to physically engage my audience, and how to you plan to connect that engagement to what I’m trying to accomplish at the meeting.

Steve makes it work at his teacher boot camps;   good speakers make it work in the corporate and association world.

Now… my daughter. I brought my 12 year old along to see my friend in front of an audience.  Steve brought her up on stage to demonstrate to the teachers how they might teach a kid.  (Lucky Steve, I basically brought along a prop.)   The teachers had fun.  But my daughter had a BLAST!     (And best of all, Steve sent her home with an armload of goodies.)

She may not be the best scientist in Colorado… but by my eyes she’s the cutest.   (Even when Steve startled her with some electric current.)

Need an engaging funny motivational speaker?  Go to the contact page now.

Thanks Steve.  It was a great day.  [Note to readers:   don't go to Steve's store.  You'll end up spending way too much time looking at all the cool stuff and you'll end up buying stuff.   Seriously.  Don't do it.]

Brad Montgomery
Father of a Scientist, Colorado Speaker, Fan of Steve Spangler

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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

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I just had a breakfast with fellow Colorado motivational speaker John Sileo. I thought it would be fun to ask him for a tip about how to be a motivational speaker. Check out the video tip (recorded with my phone.)

Check out the second video in this series  where I talk about choosing the right topic for your motivational speech.

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

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Mobile Post: Posted on-the-go by Brad Montgomery from my phone.

For those of you who prefer to read, or cannot see the video….here ya go!

Brad Montgomery: This is Brad Montgomery from BradMontgomery.com.  One of the questions that I get all the time is how to be a motivational speaker.  Well lucky for you we’ve got one of Colorado’s premiere motivational speakers with me.  He is holding the camera right now.  It is security expert and motivational speaker, John Sileo.  We are going to ask him how to be a motivational speaker and give us a top tip.  So we are going to switch this, watch this.  Quick move.  And say, “Hello, my name is John Sileo.”

John Sileo: Hello, my name is John Sileo.  What else do you want me to say?

Brad Montgomery: How do you get to be a motivational speaker?

John Sileo: You get to know Brad Montgomery.  That’s the honest truth.  If I had one thing to give to people it would be its all about the people you learn from.  It is not necessarily the people you network with it’s not that they’re getting you jobs.  It’s that they’re the ones that let you know you are doing a good job when you are doing a bad job.  Brad for me was the person who finally said, “You know what?  This part of how you’re speaking is crap.  And you need to be more yourself.”  Very honest feedback.  And that one on one coaching that you get, not that you pay for that you get from another speaker, from a close friend, a mentor.  That to me has made all the difference in the world and that is what has made my speaking career so much fun and decent.

Brad Montgomery: Rock on.  You want to learn how to be a motivational speaker?  We’ll see you at BradMontgomery.com.

(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

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In the meantime you can check out the awesome speaking skills of my son presenting his science fair project.

- Posted by Brad Montgomery from my iPhone

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

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“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

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

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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

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I’m proud of this bad boy.  It’s gonna be huge.  Already we’re getting great reviews, decent sales, and nice comments.  Thanks people… I can really use your help with this.

If you have an iPhone or iTouch…. buy this thing, rate it 5 stars and let’s celebrate the laughter!

Brad Montgomery

Motivational speaker, and iPhone App Developer!

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.

(Here’s the fan page link:  Motivational Speaker Brad Montgomery | Laughter, Motivation, Happiness on Facebook )

I’m still at the first grader at Facebook, and feel like a moron. Who can shed some light for me?

Thanks kids!

Brad

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.

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(I love travel!)  

After seeing hundreds of keynote speeches and gazillions (is that a number?) of motivational speakers, I can save you the time and tell you three reasons why NOT to hire one.

1. Your company president is probably just as funny, has really great stories that make relevant points, and knows how to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. Really. I’m sure he’s great.

2. Why bother?! You could just Google some great motivational quotes or something and have Duane from accounting read them. He has a loud voice and won’t even need a microphone. And you can spend the money you save on bigger cookies. (And besides, you’ll make Duane feel great!)

3. Motivation Schmotivation. People will do what they want at the pace they want. And that’s that. You can’t change yourself, and you can’t change others. So why not save the headache and watch a Bay Watch re-run?

Ok people. In case you haven’t noticed by now I’m joking. There’s a famous comparison between motivation and showers: just because you’re clean once doesn’t mean you’ll never need another shower.

We all need regular doses of motivation: and outside paid professional speakers are able to deliver tried and true messages in a way your internal folks will never be able too.  They can deliver crucial info — stuff your organization already knows — in a fresh way that makes them want to get up and go.   Let’s face it:  your people already have the skills and knowledge to succeed and excel.  But they aren’t succeeding or excelling.  Why?  Lack of motivation.

I’m as tired of crappy motivational speakers as you are. But when  your group is ready for a pick me up, give the president a pass and hire a pro.

Hey, I’ve got an idea. Hire me! Go to the contact page.

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Comedian, Genuine Funny Humorous Speaker

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NYC – Teaching Nurses the Value of Big, Red Noses – NYTimes.com.

Perhaps students were wondering, “How can you be light-hearted in a serious profession like this?” Mr. Christensen said. In fact, he said, “you can carry your sense of joy and light into the workplace.” Nurses need their spirits to be high. For sure, patients do.

If you are interested in the use of humor with health care, as I am, you should check out this article.

The science is becoming clearer every day: happy people are healthier, are more engaged, more creative and more productive. Whether you’re in a traditional high stress job like nursing and health care, or even a supposed lower stress job (Is there one? Tell me…we all want it!) invest the time in learning to take yourself less seriously.

Need a professional funny motivational speaker to help you find the levity through a funny keynote speech? Go to the contact page now.

Cheers,

Brad Montgomery
Heath Care Speaker, Humor in the Workplace Expert, Fan of Levity!

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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

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Besides, would you rather have someone with more hair? After all, hair is so overrated!

Game shows are a terrific way to reach corporate and business audiences. Got some info you just GOTTA get across? Need to remind your team of the basics but know if you “lecture” them you’ll lose them faster than you can say, “This meeting sucks!” Then ask us about creating a game show just for you.

We’ll customize a program that is interactive, very funny, and tailored to you, your information and your organization. They’ll love it… which helps with retention.

My suggestion is for your next corporate event, to select someone (like me— okay, so I’m biased. If that upsets you get your own blog!) who has lots and lots of experience, proven principles and applications, no hair (again, that would be me) and has the ability to leave your organization with can-do changes. Sound good? Good.

What game shows would you say fit your workgroup? We’ve worked spoofs (that’s a wonderful word my lawyer taught me) of popular games shows from Let’s Make a Deal to Who Want’s to Be a Millionaire to Family Feud. Your organization. Your info. Your success.

Leave your comments, names withheld, of those game shows that you think fit your work group.

Ready to create some lasting change and think a game show is your ticket? Go to the contact page now.

Brad Montgomery

Corporate Game Show Host, Comedian, Serious About Having Fun At Work

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To my not-so-sure-they-can-be-funny speaking colleagues:

Hire Brad. He’s a little nuts, and that’s what some of us “straights” need to loosen up. It absolutely amazes me that he can watch my damn-good-already keynote once, and just throw out a half dozen goofy ideas that will make it a solid 15% better the next time I deliver it.

And then, I can build in his input and send it to him for a peek, thinking he might put me on his calendar for a thorough brush-up in a week or so. But, an hour later he shoots it back. He’s added wacky ideas that are totally fun and I can see myself doing. Plus, he gives me great staging tips.

It doesn’t take him long, and he doesn’t say much. Because he has this uncanny ability to know just the right word to be funny. When he shot back further suggestions to improve my talk, he even suggested “one single word” that will get a great laugh. “Braces.” That’s all, just adding that one word to one of the already very funny bits he had already inspired me to put in. I can’t wait to use it.

I think that’s a big part of what Brad does. He makes you, the speaker, feel like it’s going to be such fun to say “braces” at just the right moment. And since you feel good, the audience gets that and they want to feel good with you.

Remember that story about the guy who charges a hundred bucks to fix someone’s car and he just taps it once and the customer can’t understand how it could cost so much for just a tap? The mechanic says the tap costs a buck but the “knowing where to tap” costs 99 bucks. Brad knows where to tap.

My advice is to try to wangle a deal where you can pay him by the word. Because he’s not going to give you paragraphs of funny stories; he’s going to give you just a word here and there on top of a funny idea, and you’ll have the audience thinking you’re brilliant.

I was inducted into the CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame way back in 1989, and I ain’t found a funnier resource than Brad ever since. Or before.

Call me if you want to know more about the brilliance you’ll be hiring by asking Brad for his help.

George Walther (never wore braces)

Thanks George. Ok, now I’ll buy that beer I promised.

If you’re looking for a funny motivational speaker for your organization, I’d LOVE to be your guy. Go to the contact page

And if you’re a pro speaker looking for coaching on how to be funnier (or a business speaker preparing for a big presentation) I’d love to help you too! Go to the contact page

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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

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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

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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

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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
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[See video from the hotel job here.]

My speakers fees were greater than the budget for this particular military event. What to do? My client got creative, thought outside of the Budget Box and teamed up with his host hotel. He had hundreds of Airmen staying at the Renaissance Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. Between the meeting rooms, the hotel rooms, and all of the related expenses (room service, restaurant and coffee shop purchases, etc) he was a BIG client for the hotel.

He suggested to his hotel client that they partner with him, and have me speak to the hotel staff on the same day that I spoke to his military group.  I was speaking to the Air Force after lunch. My meeting planner knew that I’d fly into Missouri the night before… and would be free in the morning.

So he suggested that I speak to the hotel staff in the morning, and then work for him after lunch.

Bottom line: it worked perfectly. The hotel had an All-Manager meeting. They brought in all of the top folks from all of their departments from the Starbucks kiosk in the lobby to housekeeping to front desk to maintenance to the kitchens.

I worked ahead of time with some of their people so that, (as I do with all my clients,) I could come in prepared to speak to THIS particular audience.

[It was a special event; the hotel industry has been hammered, and this hotel, like so many others, recently went though some deep layoffs. The staff was in shock, scared, and nervous. The CEO gave them a sort of "State of the Business" speech which was both totally cool, and a bit scary. The news wasn't great. And then I was tasked with putting that bad news back into perspective and help them figure a way to work their morale (and fun quotient) back up to healthy and productive levels.]

The hotel was thrilled because they got access to a speaker they might not otherwise be able to afford. And they felt that helping such a huge client was good for them as well. And the Air Force was thrilled because they were able to get the speaker —that’s me! — they wanted and meet still meet their budget.

And I was thrilled because I got to work with two awesome groups, enjoy St. Louis, and work with with a fun and creative meeting planner who had an awesome idea.

What’s my point? Are you short of money? Looking to hire a Top Shelf speaker but are suffering with a reduced budget? Consider partnering with your hotel. If the Air Force was smart enough to figure it out, the rest of us ought to be smart enough to “borrow” their concept.

(Hey Bruce… I know you’re reading this. Thanks for the killer idea, and for making it happen.)

Are you looking for a motivational speaker? Go to the contact page now! (And we can talk about partnering with your hotel if you like.)

Yours,
Brad Montgomery
Missouri Motivational Speaker, Military Speaker, Hotel Speaker (All in One!)

Related:
See the St. Louis Speaker video on YouTube
Speakers Rates & Fees Explained
Does Brad Charge By the Hour? (More on Fees)

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Here’s a ready-to-implement practical joke you can pull on your office mates. Right now. No prep time.. Nothing sticky. Nothing to buy or clean up. Just haul your office mate and tell them you have just got a computer bug.

“Hey!  Oh no!  I have a computer bug!!!   EEEEEEEEEaaaaaaghkkkkk!”   (You can leave off that last word if you have trouble pronouncing it.   I personally think the “k”s are silent.)

Better yet, call in your IT support team and show them this bug. [Here's your chance to try out your acting chops. Get excited. Show them your anxiety. Be the nervousness. A bit of the old method acting will improve this prank. Besides, let's face it: you haven't acted since high school and you miss it.]

Yeah, I know. It’s not brilliant. But it’s kinda cool. Admit it. It’s kinda cool.

Craving some humor in your workplace and need more than an animated computer bug? Hire a funny motivational speaker. (My keynote speech is WAY funnier than this moving graphic, I swear!) Go to the contact page now.

Do me a favor: let me know how it turns out. Were they fooled? Did the mood in the office change? Was it fun? Or did they just think you were a nut? (For the record, my wife was in the second category.)

Cheers,

Brad Montgomery
Humor in the Workplace Speaker, Funny Keynote Speaker, Lover of Silly Practical Jokes

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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

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