Brad Montgomery, Motivational Speaker

You’ve reviewed all the promotional materials, you’ve watched all the videos, and you’re confident that you’ve picked the perfect speaker for your upcoming meeting. But you’re not quite ready to sit back and relax. There are still a few things you need to do to ensure that your speaker provides the kind of event that attendees will rave about for a long time to come!

8 Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Speaker

Once you’ve selected that perfect speaker, follow up with these eight tips for getting the most out of your investment:

1. Send your speaker lots of information about your meeting

Send your speaker lots of information about your organization and upcoming meeting.

Most professional speakers today provide pre-program questionnaires for you to complete. And while completing a lengthy questionnaire might seem like one more hassle in your day, it will pay off in a highly relevant presentation, tailored to your program’s needs. The more information you provide, the better. Your prospective speaker can always “edit down,” but he or she can’t ever “edit up”!

2. Partner with your speaker for the best results

The best professional speakers work closely with meeting planners to (Continue Reading…)

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Turn your Trade Show into a FUNvention

by Ronald P. Culberson, MSW, CSP
Director of Everything!, FUNsulting, etc.

I showed up the night before my presentation to the Florida Division of the American Cancer Society and made my way to the ballroom for dinner. In the lobby, I encountered a man in a leopard outfit. As I turned the corner on the second floor, I saw a woman dressed up as a lion. I immediately checked my contact sheet to make sure I was in the right location.

It turns out that the theme for the evening was “Welcome to the Jungle”, and the meeting planners had organized team skits, a Tarzan yelling competition and a “Jane” costume contest for men only! The evening was a rousing success with lots of humor and a wonderful sense of camaraderie.

Researchers have referred to humor as a social lubricant because of the way it brings people together and helps to reduce tension. Since trade shows and conventions are for bringing people together, any activity that generates laughter is a great addition to the typical conference agenda. Here are examples to turn the mundane into fundane:

Make routine activities funny

Fairfax County, Virginia's Public Library has a funny nametag contest (Continue Reading…)

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5 Tips For Making Humor A Hit At Your Next Event

By Karyn Buxman, MSN, CSP, CPAE

“We need something to liven up our conference. Like a humorist. Whom would you suggest?” It’s wonderful when the phone rings with a potential client who is looking for some humor. But before making your final decision, do a little humor homework. Here are five tips to make your next choice a home run.

What’s the audience’s humor style? Some prefer intellectual humor. Others like visual humor or even slapstick. One of the ways to ascertain this is to ask about whom they’ve used in the past. There are speakers in the industry with the good-clean-humorous, storytelling style like Bill Cosby. There are others with the off-the-wall, zany style of Robin Williams. Some have the clown like abilities of Lucille Ball. Others have an understated style like Bob Newhart or Steven Wright.

What are the group demographics? Ask any humorist and they will probably tell you that the easiest audience is a room full of middle-aged women. Their laughter is uninhibited and they are eager to be entertained. Start adding men to the group and the dynamics change. An all female audience will laugh much more readily (Continue Reading…)

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Why hire a professional Emcee or Master of Ceremonies??

Why you should hire a professional Master of Ceremonies (MC, Emcee)

By: Brad Montgomery, professional (and funny!) Master of Ceremonies

Do you want your convention or business meeting to rock? Really want a professional and

smooth program? Want to make sure that even the most important (and sometimes very dry) information has everybody’s full attention? Then hire a professional Emcee!

An often overlooked aspect of any convention is the potential role of a professional master of ceremonies. In addition the obvious benefits of time management and organization, an emcee can liven up any series of presentations with enlightening introductions and witty, on the spot humor. Whether you’re entertaining thousands or presenting tedious and technical reports at a business gathering, an MC is an asset you definitely want to embrace.

Time Management

All too often business meetings and corporate conventions run late due to longwinded speakers. A talented emcee can change all that. Any corporate emcee will ensure that your speakers limit their presentations to the time alloted by personally discussing the performances with each and every person you’ve brought to present. Furthermore, your day will proceed seamlessly as your (Continue Reading…)

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Funny is better!

Why choose humorous motivational speakers over corporate motivational speakers?

By Brad Montgomery CSP

Your group already knows it: humorous motivational speakers are more fun and more effective than business or corporate motivational speakers. And people learn best when whey are having fun; when they are laughing. If you want your group to thank you… book a humorist motivational speaker!

I am a (hopefully) funny motivator. And I don't mind admitting that I don't teach any new business philosophies. I don't speak on any new corporate secrets or techniques. I'm not gonna tell anybody who moved MY cheese… and I'm not gonna tell ya how to swim with any sharks. But I will get your group feeling good again. Good about themselves, about your meeting, about your business. And most importantly, I'll get them feeling good about their future.

In my opinion business or corporate motivational speakers are wonderful. And often they are the right choice. But my clients tell me over and over again that business motivational speakers speak in the typical manner employees hear daily. In fact, employees hear it so often, they begin to tune it out and future messages are lost. To really get a point across, companies need (Continue Reading…)

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I need WHAT kind of comedian? What is a corporate comedian and why you need one!

By Brad Montgomery CSP

Let's face it. Life today is complicated at best. It's often difficult. And it is sometimes… well… yucky. All we need to do to confirm our stresses is to look over the front page of the newspaper and we know that what we really need is a good laugh.

Companies and associations turn to corporate comedians to provide their employees with a break from the difficulties of the times. Whether they need to give their folks a break from a day of learning important – but often dry – information from industry speakers, or they want to make them feel appreciated and valued, or if they want to kick off or close a convention with a bang, a corporate comedian can be the answer.

Brad Montgomery is a very funny corporate comedian and speaker. He knows how to take a group of well-educated, sophisticated, been-there-and-done-that people and shake them right out of their chairs.

What's the difference between a comedian and a “corporate” comedian?

That's an easy one. A corporate comedian is a comedian who is clean, safe and (Continue Reading…)

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Selecting a Professional Speaker

by Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE

Oh no — you’ve been put in charge of the program for your company’s next out-of-office meeting! Your mind flashes back to the meetings you’ve attended that were a disaster. You remember all too well that monotone speaker who bored everyone to tears, that other speaker who obviously didn’t know the first thing about what your company does, and, worst of all, the speaker who thought the audience would learn a valuable management lesson by standing on their chairs and crowing like roosters!

You know that your boss is counting on you to pull together an interesting and valuable program based on a dynamic speaker. And even though the meeting is still months away, you’re already losing sleep over it. To help ease your anxieties about finding the best speaker possible, consider the following four guidelines. These guidelines are the result of my 11 years as a professional speaker and more than 1,300 paid speeches and seminars. Further, I’ve spent lots of time talking to other speakers about how to work most effectively with meeting planners like you — to ensure that your meeting fulfills attendees’ expectations and gives them the most for their (Continue Reading…)

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How to Bring in Big-Name Speakers on a Low-Dollar Budget

By Laura Stack, MBA, CSP

“The Productivity Pro”
Chair, National Speakers Association (NSA) Meetings Industry Council (MIC)

Money is tight and times are tough. Meeting registration is down, and the budget isn't available for that big-name professional speaker you want to bring to your meeting. If you find a speaker you'd love to invite but can't quite swing the fee, you may want to try negotiation.

From the perspective of the professional speaker or bureau, the speaking fee represents both a paycheck and the value the speaker brings to your group. When approaching speakers for low or no fee arrangements, be sure to recognize them as valued partners critical to the success of your meeting, not a replaceable commodity. Be prepared with your negotiation ideas before calling the speaker, to show that you value their expertise and contribution.

Speakers must be fair to the clients who pay their full fees. So if you want a speaker to accept a lower fee, think about what you can do in return that goes beyond what clients paying full fees would do. “As a meeting planner, make it as easy as possible for the speaker to say yes without (Continue Reading…)

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Choosing a Comic Speaker

by Brad Montgomery

Synopsis: If you're looking for an entertaining speaker to perform at your event, your first thoughts might be to look for professional comedians or humorous speakers. In this article Brad Montgomery, a corporate humorist and motivational speaker, explains why it's a good idea to pick a corporate comedian to make sure the presentation stays clean.

Comedy is a great way to entertain and motivate the attendees at your conference or event. There's a lot of variety out there, though, and I know it's really possible to hire a comedian and expect one thing only to find another. One big difference exists, and that's the gap between the world of stand-up comedians and that of corporate speakers.

Corporate comedians and stand-up comics have very different practices when it comes to language and the cleanliness of their humor. Comedy Clubs, the kinds of locations that are frequented by stand-up comics, have a much different atmosphere than a corporate gathering; you'll find comics cursing, using vulgar words, and just being generally free to have whatever wild antics they want to use to entertain their crowd. In a corporate setting, you probably want the same level (Continue Reading…)

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Motivational Speakers: Tailor verses Customize?

Why Does Brad Tailor a Speaking Presentation?

Audiences get more out of a program where they are involved and engaged than from a program that bores them to tears. Duh. We all know this to be true…. If people are into it…they’ll learn and leave with value.

There are several ways to engage an audience. I use two huge techniques: Humor and Audience Participation. I know through experience from thousands of presentations that when groups are laughing, and laughing hard… they will sit and listen. And when they – and their friends and workmates – are directly involved in the presentation, they are on the edge of their seats.

But the last technique I use – as do most pro speakers – is to tailor my presentation to your group. By learning about the specifics of your group’s needs, successes, failures, stresses, job titles and functions, acronyms, problems, etc…. I can drop in specific references to your group.

Why? There are two reasons why tailoring a program is important to you. First, because it makes it more relevant and meaningful. Instead of, for example, talking (Continue Reading…)

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