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motivational speaker

Our Vice President made a joke about inter-marriage among families. His family.

When It Comes To Humor, Our VP is An Idiot

 

Selected Posts from Brad’s Past

We found a few posts, videos and stories from Brad’s past, and thought it would be fun to re-publish them here.  So pour yourself a cup of coffee, put on some classic rock, and check out this classic blog post from a decade (ish) ago.  

 

“So, I had Cheneys on both sides of the family — and we don’t even live in West Virginia,” Cheney cracked. After pausing for laughter from the crowd, Cheney added, “You can say those things when you’re not running for re-election.”

Well, surprise, surprise! He ticked off more than a few people in West Virginia.

Oye.

What’s My Point? I don’t even know where to start. But it amazes me that people whose job puts them in front of audiences repeatedly can make this sort of rookie, idiotic mistake. Cheney must speak publicly at least several times a week. And he still doesn’t know how to keep himself out of the (negative) news

    Cheney, take a note:

1. Don’t tell jokes. You aren’t any good at it anyway.
2. Don’t pick on anybody. Because you are speaking to a national audience, don’t pick on any subsets of that audience. And again…while you’re at it, don’t pick on anybody.
3. Thrink it through baby! This one was so easy to avoid.

motivational speaker

 

Sure you can.

 

Selected Posts from Brad’s Past

We found a few posts, videos and stories from Brad’s past, and thought it would be fun to re-publish them here.  So pour yourself a cup of coffee, put on some classic rock, and check out this classic blog post from a decade (ish) ago.  

 

What we mean is that you might consider your budget. Your people will remember the killer awesome funny motivational speaker long after they have forgotten the slightly better chicken dish, the upgraded center pieces, and the fact that they got a brownie instead of a cookie.
Seriously, I’ve been amazed at how many conventions can’t afford a top speaker but instead allocate their money towards stuff their attendees will never remember. Do you want this year’s meeting to rock? Reconsider how you allocate your budget.

Second, Brad works closely with corporate sponsors and has many ideas how to both provide value for sponsors — and in turn get those sponsors to open their wallets and help you to afford the top speaker instead of second tier speaker. Want to learn more about sponsorship and how we can help you with that process? Contact us. We’d be happy to chat and share some great success stories and resources.

Most folks would agree that there is a fine line between humor and offense. As that gray line is relative, and could be anybody’s guess. What one person may think is hilarious, another group may think is totally off-color and offensive. How can you tell the difference?

Before humor is introduced to any audience, regardless of its size, demographics and culture, you must first research and learn about the people you’re working around. The worst thing that you can do in an office setting is tell a joke or a funny story that ends up alienating more folks than you made laugh. Humor is delicate, very delicate and must be handled as such. Here are some tips and strategies that I have used in my 20 years experience of helping offices to “lighten up”:

Me Strong!

Know who the Type A, Alpha Male/Female in the group is. Identify that strong personality and cater to them like nobody’s business! Since this is the person who generally makes final decisions, be sure to stay on their “list” to keep him/her happy. Find out what they like/dislike and their brand of humor style. Trust me – they have one. You’ve just got to find where it is. This one naturally leads to…

Take Your Queues from the Head Honchos

Basically, if the boss doesn’t laugh, neither should you. Sounds stifling? Probably is, but you want a job next week, don’t you? Yes, I know bosses can sometimes be drier than day old toast, but what are you going to do? As hard as it may be, until you find that “happy place” that has your boss hostage, you simply must go with the flow my friends. After a while, it will become easier as you learn his/her humor style, behavior and funny threshold. Just hang in there.

Don’t…Say…That

Never, ever, ever, ever under any circumstances tell off-color jokes in a large office gathering. There are times and places for certain jokes and stories, and the office setting may not be appropriate for them all. You can offend, alienate and downright make some folks mad. Save those jokes for the weekend bar-be-que when the boss is not around, k?

There are a ton of other applied methods that I’ve laid out in my workshops and in my books about workplace humor. As a humorist, I show corporate environments how to lighten things up in the workplace short of locking the boss up in the closet. OK, I’m kidding. Kind of. But what is so unique and fun is finding those strategies that work wonders for YOUR office since everyone is so different.

What workplace challenges does your office face in relation to humor? Do you have one of those “quirky” bosses who finds nothing funny or humorous? How do you work around it?

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Keynote Speaker, Humor in the Workplace Consultant, Humorist