Yup. And I have proof. Check out these two photos taken about 2 minutes apart at a recent event at Lockheed in Washington DC.

Brad talking about leadership

And then later….

Brad Makes Them Laugh

Looking for a funny business speaker for your event? Contact me here.

Yours,
Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Business Speaker, Humorist

We’re pretty proud of this latest video. If you’re looking for a motivational speaker how in the heck do you know if they are any good? It’s not brain surgery… and it probably starts with the video.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UjkzBPFVIs

1) Check out their video. Watch it closely. Is there enough there for you to REALLY get the feel of that speaker?
2) Check out the references. See videos of them. Contact them. Any speaker can find a handful of happy clients; you want to make sure your speaker has a LONG list of raving fans.
3) Talk to your speaker; make sure you feel like you can work with them and that the “get” what you are trying to accomplish.

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

Like the video? Please click through to see it on Youtube and “like” it there and subscribe to the channel!

Yours,
Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Keynote Speaker, Owner of a Brand New Preview Video

Like you, I’m always looking for ways to make me happy. Some of us find happiness in service, in the bottom of a bourbon bottle, exercising, etc. But we all know you cannot buy happiness…right? Wrong. Check out this video where I was able to buy a GREAT mood for $2.50:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqP5gowAeX0

As a motivational speaker I often speak on contacting happiness to bottom line success.

Turns out that all we really need is a light heart and a trip to 7-11.

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

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Happiness Speaker, Buying Happiness one Cup At A Time

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

Brad Montgomery from BradMontgomery.com with a message for you about what are you going to do today to make your day better. So, I did something really cool that I sort of did by accident. I used to do it pretty frequently and I kind of forgot about it, but the bottom line is I bought two people a cup of coffee, which doesn’t sound that fun, but it was. So, I’m on my way to a job and I stopped by 711 for a cup of coffee, because I have high standards, and I’m pouring my coffee and there’s these two Mexicans come in and they’re getting coffee. And I talked to them in English, but they’re speaking Spanish to each other and if you don’t know this, I lived in Mexico last year, so I have this really deep bond with just all things Mexican, because when we were in Mexico, I’m telling you countless Mexicans went way out of their way to be generous to me and to my kids, my wife, and to my family. So, I’m thinking of that and I’m kind of too shy to speak Spanish to them and whatever.

So then I get up there and I greet them, you know, in English, and I get up there to pay for my coffee and I just figured, oh I want to pay for those guys. There’s two guys over there getting coffee, when they get up here make it free and don’t tell them who did it, just tell them that somebody bought their coffee and to have a good day. And I’m wondering if they speak English, because they clearly, you know they were speaking Spanish to each other. Anyway, so I taught her how to say have a good day” in case they didn’t know and I felt great about it and the cashier got a big grin on her face, because I think she felt like oh, cool I’m going to be part of something fun. And I walk out of the door yelling to myself that was fun, and when I turn back the cahier still had a big grin on her face.

So, sometime after I left those guys walked up and got a free cup of coffee and guess what, it made me feel good. Hopefully, it made their day good, but mostly it made me feel great and it was kind of a great way to pay it forward, and it only cost me like $2.50 or something ridiculous.

So, what am I saying? I’m saying take responsibility for making your day good. Find stuff to physically do to make you day good and I was reminded today that one good idea is to buy some stranger a cup of coffee. Alright, Brad Montgomery, BradMontgomery.com, if you’re looking for a speaker, a motivational speaker, or a presenter to speech a key note or seminar for you or your organization about levity and lightheartedness and how to bring that into the workplace, I’d love to be your guy, and I’ll even buy you a cup of coffee. Have a great day.

I’ve got myself all dressed up purdy for Halloween. But I’ve also got a pretty cool point about using levity and humor for a tool. Check out the video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUGA--V3NR0

What’s my point?   What are you gonna DO today to create levity, lightheartedness and joy?  For yourself? For your family?  For your organization?  Your team?   All of the attitude adjustments in the world are great, but without action you have nothing.

So get out there…and act happy.   Your people need you.  And it will help you to get what you want.

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

Yours,
Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Keynote Speaker, Halloween Fan

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

Hey, it’s Brad Montgomery from BradMontgomery.com. Happy Halloween! All right, so I love Halloween for a lot of reasons, but one of them is I get to dress up like a complete idiot and it’s okay. Check out the cool shoes!

All right, so what is my point and what does this have to do with you? The reason I like Halloween, besides the Snickers, is you get to dress up you get to have fun. You’re not only allowed to have fun, you’re encouraged to be a little bit goofy, and when I am speaking to my audiences, one of the messages that we give them, whether we’re talking to managers or to leaders or to entire organizations, we’re saying, ìIf you want to have a better workplace culture, if you want to bring levity and lightheartedness and humor to work, part of it yeah, is mindset, part of it is sort of a mental game, but in the end, it comes down to action. What are you going to do? What are you going to do to create joy and levity and fun in your life?î

So Halloween is perfect. You can act crazy and get away with it. Now, if you don’t feel like acting like a complete dork on Halloween, I don’t really care, but the point remains, and Halloween, I think, emphasizes that we’re allowed to do something, we’re encouraged to do something and if you really want to succeed to make your work culture fun, your family fun, any organization you’re part of fun, it’s going to require action on your part.

All right, Happy Halloween. Trick or treat. My name is Brad Montgomery. There’s more on BradMontgomery.com. Woo-hoo!

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

www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0MjjFsGLDc

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brad:     Thanks.

Jim:     You’re welcome.

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

Brad:     How did it go compared to other years?

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

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

Meeting Planners Have a Lot at Risk and Speakers Need to Understand It

I recently was a motivational speaker for a audience of 500 Foster Case Workers in Austin, Texas and my client came up to me afterwards and told me that one of his many jobs was to manage risk and now that the program was over he was able to be honest with me.  I started to get a little lump in my throat, but happily, this is when my client put on a huge smile and told me “Brad, it went great!”, so I was happy and I was relived but this is where the lesson started.

My client told me what I already know but is an excellent reminder for me and anybody who is either booking a motivational speaker or plans to be a motivational speaker.  He told me how important this event was to him.  He told me that he was bringing in 500 people away from their jobs for a 2 ½ hour event plus their travel time, so for many of them, this was going to be most of their day and that the opportunity cost was outrageously expensive.  He also told me that he was already thinking ahead towards next year’s event and that he worked hard to fill that room with 500 people who were very busy already and if this event was a turkey, he would have a next to impossible time getting equal numbers, much less greater numbers, next year.

So, what’s the point?  The point is that as meeting planners and as speakers and as general members of the meeting and convention industry, we need to understand that when we’re negotiating motivational speaker’s fees, it’s more than the money.

Pick a speaker that will guarantee a return on your investment

My client invested quite a bit of money in me.  He’s brought me in for one event and we’re duplicating the event next week in a different city in Texas.  So, his investment is pretty great, but he is looking at the big picture.  He sees that his investment in the speaker really is just a tiny piece in the puzzle and that when you add it up to all of the other things he needs to accomplish, he’s putting way more on the line.  He is risking way more on the line than just the investment in his professional speaking.  By the way, his attitude reflected this.  Some of my clients are freaking out about expenses and this and that and technology this or whatever, not this man.  He understood those tiny investments were absolute drops in the bucket.

So, next time you are looking to hire a motivational speaker and are interested about how to save money on speaker’s fees, I want you to remember all of the other things you’re investing into your meeting or conference.  It’s a huge opportunity cost for all of your people, huge meal cost for all of your people (in this case, my client bought a fancy lunch at the Austin Texas Omni Hotel, lunch for 500 people, I have no idea what the bill is but it was huge) but also the opportunity cost and the investment of momentum.

Next time you’re thinking about booking a speaker I want you to think about how much it will cost you to get the next level down speaker and how much you would save and then compare that savings to the cost of not having an absolute perfect conference.  Speaker’s fees generally reflect the level of guarantee you can expect.

So, can you save my money by booking a cheaper speaker?  Yes.  Can sometimes entry level speakers do a great job?  Yes.  Have you invested enough in your particular convention or meeting that you cannot afford anything but the very best?  If that’s the case, give us a call.  If you’re interested in booking a motivational speaker who has a high level of guarantee of success…my programs are fully guaranteed…I hope you’ll contact me here.

~Brad Montgomery~
Motivational Speaker, Texas Speaker, Guaranteed Professional Speaker

I was recently in Detroit at 5 AM and had a remarkable interaction with a woman at Starbucks. She should be the motivational speaker…not me. Check out this video I recorded with my phone — which is code for, “calm down, I know the quality isn’t that great!”

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

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Inspirational Speaker, Fan of Detroit!

For people who prefer to read, here is the transcript:

Howdy. I’m Brad Montgomery. BradMontgomery.com. I’m still in the Detroit airport. I wanted to put up one more video for you because I was struck yesterday with another person that really has figured out humor in the workplace. She works at Starbucks. She works in the airport. She works at Dallas-Ft. Worth. Alright, so you know how it is, you go to, we’ve all been to somewhere and boughten a drink. It’s no big deal. It is a big deal with this woman because she just made, she just owned this whole concourse. She owned the concourse. She was like the queen of Dallas-Ft. Worth airport. She was like holding forth at Starbucks and she was calling everybody up, “Hey how are you doing? Get up here! How are you? What are you doing? Where are you going?” Just a super unbelievably friendly woman. So as is my habit, I asked her, “What’s the deal? You know, how do you do this? How do you stay happy when it seems like people around you are not so happy with their job?” And she said, “Oh it’s up to me, baby. But really what makes me happy is making you happy.” It’s so simple, but it’s so cool. So social psychologists are going to call this flow, motivational speakers are going to call this motivation, customer service experts are going to call this, you know like “she’s in the zone, she’s doing her thing.” But I think what really struck me is that she knows what keeps her happy and she knows that when she invests in other people, the payback is twofold. Not only are her customers happy, I was thrilled. She called me baby. I loved it. “Okay, here’s your coffee, baby”. I loved it. Not only did she make her customers happy, but I’m in the airport, can you hear me talking? Not only did she keep her customers happy, but she keeps herself happy. By delivering service, she feels served. It’s just so, it’s such a basic truth, but it’s so easy to forget. So here is my challenge to you. What are you doing today to help others? And if you’re thinking you are having a crappy day, maybe the way out of your crappy day is to deliver excellent service to your teammate, to your managers, to the people who you’re managing, to your customers, to the people you are trying to sell. How can you make it better for them? And I think that what this woman at Starbucks is going to teach us is that by doing that, it will make it better for you. Happiness at work equals excellence at work. It’s so cool. Serve others, you become happy. Love it! Alright, Brad Montgomery. BradMontgomery.com. Thanks for being here.

In less than one minute I will show you what you’ve never seen from another pro speaker.

I can’ think of another speaker would expose themselves like this video exposes me.   Would you show the world your mistakes?

What do you think?  Leave a comment below.

Looking for a motivational speaker — who can actually complete a sentence? —  for your event? Contact me here.

Cheers,

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Comedian, Flubber-Upper

Looking for a magician speaker or a magician motivational speaker? Pick me baby!

Seriously, we’ve got some news. We have started editing several preview videos of my latest stuff… everything from team building to networking to… of course my work as a motivational speaker.

This first video focuses on one of my niches, as a Magician Speaker.

Related Links:

Brad’s Magician Speaker Keynote: Ordinary Magic

Related Links:
Magician Speaker on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1MAak5Vh4w
Ordinary Magic: One of Brad’s popular magician speaker keynotes. http://www.bradmontgomery.com/motivational-speaking-topics/ordinary-magic/
Article about why use a magician speaker.  http://www.bradmontgomery.com/magician-2/magician-speaker
Presto Chango: Brad’s magician speaker keynote where he talks about a magician’s guide to laughing at change. http://www.bradmontgomery.com/motivational-speaking-topics/change-management/
An audio CD of Brad’s Magician Speaker program http://www.bradmontgomery.com/ordinary-magic/
Related Links:
Magician Speaker on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1MAak5Vh4w
Ordinary Magic: One of Brad’s popular magician speaker keynotes. http://www.bradmontgomery.com/motivational-speaking-topics/ordinary-magic/
Article about why use a magician speaker.  http://www.bradmontgomery.com/general/magician-speaker/
Presto Chango: Brad’s magician speaker keynote where he talks about a magician’s guide to laughing at change. http://www.bradmontgomery.com/motivational-speaking-topics/change-management/
An audio CD of Brad’s Magician Speaker program http://www.bradmontgomery.com/ordinary-magic/

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

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

Check out this video I made about them:

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

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

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

==

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks Kaiser Palliative Care. It was my absolute pleasure.

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

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

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

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

My new friend George Walther recently spoke in my home town of Denver, Colorado for the Colorado region of the National Speakers Association. He arranged for me to be there and to coach him on his presentation. He flattered me with a very kind note. What do you think? Do I need to buy him a beer?

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

Technorati Tags: Motivational speaker, George Walther, humor, funny Del.icio.us Tags: Motivational speaker, George Walther, humor, funny .

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here’s the video:

Thanks Perfetti van Melle! I had a total blast.

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

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

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

Ok, I admit it.  I spent too much time on this very cute web page.   And my kids loved it.

If you’re looking for a funny and clever way to pass the time, click here.

If you’re looking for a motivational speaker to make sure your employees don’t spend too much time on web pages like that one, I hope you’ll consider hiring me. Contact Me.

Cheers, Happy, Ho!
Brad Montgomery, Speaker, Occasional Procrastinator, Fan of Reindeer

I just did my motivational humorist speaker thing for a wonderful group of retailers in Virginia.  I had a blast.  They just sent me the coolest letter.  

Our membership could not have been more delighted with Brad Montgomery. He was, in a word, wonderful. His message of being upbeat and making the most of difficult times was so appropriate for our audience…they are still raving about his performance, personality and how he managed to set the stage for our working weekend.

To be perfectly honest, I was a little anxious when he started…retailers get a little unnerved when people start talking about the challenges of a down economy. However, Brad (the consummate professional) worked right through it and had the audience eating out of his hands by the end of the evening.

As I told Brad, there were folks in the audience dealing with stores closing, personal health issues, family challenges and the like. He managed — in about 45 minutes — to get everyone in an upbeat mood and receptive to solving the opportunities we face.

As a matter of fact, his mantra for the evening (“How cool is that?”) was cited in several thank you notes and has been repeated often amongst those in attendance.

I would highly recommend Brad Montgomery to any group interested in a delightful performance that allows participants to forget their troubles and open their minds to possibilities.

Susan L. Milhoan
President and CEO
Retail Alliance
Norfolk, Virginia 

I’m blushing!  Susan and the gang…thanks so much for the kind words.  If you’re group has 1/2 as much fun as I did we’ll be fine.

Besides, we did this event in a beautiful resort near Norfolk. “Having” to work in such nice digs is a totally great benefit from this crazy job.

Brad Montgomery
Virginia Motivational Speaker, Retail Speaker, Fan of Resorts!

Del.icio.us Tags: Virginia Speaker, Retail Speaker, motivational speaker, testimonials

The military Uncle Sam that is!

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

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

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

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

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

Don Cooper is a fantastic speaker and wonderfully funny man. He recently was quoted in the National Speakers Association newsletter.

Check out this exerpt about the value of humorists:

“What’s a laugh worth?

Selling a topic like sales, marketing or customer service is relatively easy. Those subjects translate straight to the bottom line, so both corporate and association meeting planners instinctively recognize their value. Likewise topics such as leadership, team-building and time-management are readily valued.

But humor? All too often, it’s an afterthought for most meeting planners. “Why waste time on mindless entertainment when we can give our audience information they can really use?” is the unspoken question in the back of their minds.

Everyone knows that a meeting without humor is like a Twinkie without the cream filling. But meeting planners often don’t understand this. So you have to help them see the value of humor to their event. In other words, what a laugh is really worth. There are three keys to accomplishing this.

First, you need to fully understand and be able to articulate the benefits of a humorous presentation. It’s not merely a matter of entertainment. Humor can:

Lighten the mood of an event
Put people in a receptive state of mind
Reduce stress and tension
Increase attendees’ energy, alertness and enthusiasm
Create camaraderie
Lower the audience’s defenses
Generate goodwill toward the organization
Communicate or reinforce an organization’s message
Bridge gaps between management and employees
Leave the audience with lasting positive memories”

Don… you rock! Thanks for the great info.

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

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

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

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

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

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

It’s a Ten ….. Food folks fun freely.

It is one thing to speak to a group for 45 minutes (or an hour, or 90 minutes, or even a half day) and to teach them about the power of laughter, motivational humor, and just generally how to lighten up.

But it is another (sometimes much harder) thing to actually get people to do it. For them to actually change their behavior, their outlooks and their attitudes based on what I tell them.

I give my audiences a bunch of ideas about how they can take laughter with them (and how they can use it to help make their lives better.) But to be honest, I’m always unsure of how much they actually take with them. I wonder sometimes if they get it.

So, imagine how cool it was to get an email from a group of folks at the Quality Assurance Association (a bunch of food folks) with a great photo taken of a bunch of their members at dinner.

Apparently they did get it! What a blast.

Check out the letter and the photo:

Brad,

You really made a hit with our members. They kept quoting you all week,especially with “Incredible” and “ride the pony”. Some even wore their red noses to dinner. I have pictures of our group at dinner holding up 10 on napkins for our waitress who was asked to give us 16 individual checks!
I also have a sign we found at the lab we visited that everyone thought you could use in your program. I’ll fax to you if you send me your fax. I really enjoyed watching Joe Kelly , sitting opposite me in the meeting , go from no expression to actually laughing a few times. He looked like a stick in the mud most of the time.

Your motivation and humor helped a ton.. You are great and I had so many people ask how I found you.

Take care,

Ann Thompson”

(PS. They are holding up signs that say “10.” This is a very cool idea created by my mentor, Dr. Earl Reum (http://www.earlreum.com ) where you hold up a sign Olympic-Judge style after a co-worker does something cool, a new-hire finishes a first product, your spouse makes a great dinner, etc. You get the idea. It’s awewsome. Thanks Earl!)

Being a motivational humorist speaker rocks! I love my job!