​ Texas Archives - Funny Motivational Keynote Speaker Brad Montgomery

Tag Archive for: Texas

You are here: / Texas

Posts

As a motivational speaker I speak before hundreds or thousands Employee Engagement Statistics-resized-600of people every month. I love my job and feel very lucky to be part of that much laughter.

One of the best side effects of my job is that it is nearly impossible to tell other people to lighten up, be happy, and use levity and humor as a tool, and not have some of that spin back to me. For example, can you imagine telling thousands of people to lighten up and take themselves less seriously, and then yelling at the flight attendant? Neither can I, so I never do, and that’s part of what I love about my job.  I’m a professional Nice Guy!

Every now and then, I get a very special gift. I receive a letter from somebody in my audience. I suspect it is like the elementary school teacher who wonders if he or she makes any difference at all, and then some lanky 16 year old kid comes back to say thanks for inspiring him to read or to investigate fossils, or some other important nugget.

The elementary school teacher probably just melts in her shoes.  What a gift!  A simple thank you.

Such was the case when I got this amazing letter from someone who was part of a company I worked for in Texas.  This company was so unusual, sofunny motivational speakers purposeful in their pursuit of ways to make work fun and interesting.  Generally my job is to help companies or organizations see the importance of happiness and fun at work, and how that happiness can directly relate to better bottom line results.  But in this case I was preaching to the choir.  This was a company filled with people who already knew how to have fun at work.  They had it down!  It might sound trite or cliché but I learned as much from them as they learned from me. It was an honor.

Here’s the letter. It made me feel good and very happy to receive.

Hi Brad,

Im sure you get this all the time but from what I could tell of your personality Im sure it never gets old for you so….

I just wanted to say Thank You for coming to talk to us and let you know how much not only I, but our entire company, enjoyed your presentation.  I can walk down the hallway and still hear people talking about it and laughing.  You have given us a sense of rejuvenation by showing us how to accept happiness in our work and it has already started to translate into a healthier environment.  You have been given a gift, and I wish the very best for you in your business and life endeavors, because I know now how much joy you can bring to peoples’ lives.  Take care and I hope we meet again sometime down the road.  If nothing else, at least you have over a hundred new friends that can help you if you ever need an AC Drive–HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!  :)

Johnnie S.
Last name and company withheld.
Dallas, Texas

Johnnie, you absolutely made my day. Thanks for taking time out of your life to lift other people up – in this case me.

And that’s my point:  Johnnie is a good role model. Who can you compliment or thank today that will make them feel as good as Johnnie made me feel?  Thankfulness is a powerful tool and an awesome motivator.  It works on both the giver and the receiver.

So share some thankfulness and motivation today.  Start what I call a Joy Loop, and get back as much good feelings as you give.  It worked for me!

If you or your organization needs a boost and a reminder about the power of happiness at work, or is looking for a funny motivational speaker who can both motivate and entertain. I hope you’ll give us a call.

Here’s a short video clip of the flash mob we did with Johnnie and his organization there in Texas. Can you believe we did a flash mob for a corporate outing? Look at their faces and tell me you don’t want that for your group. :-)

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

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Texas Speaker, Totally Flattered Dude!

/0 Comments/in , /by

Texas Motivational Speaker Goes Batty?

I was recently speaking in Texas and got a chance to see the famous bats in Austin.  Check out this short video I put together for you:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9iHKTyyLvw

My client was the University of Texas Health Care System.   Happy day… I am going back next month to work for them again.  Think I’ll get to see the bats?

Looking for a motivational speaker — with or without bats — for your event? Contact me here.

Brad Montgomery
Texas Speaker, Health Care Speaker, Fan of Bats

Related Links:

Texas Speaker info on Brad’s other work in Texas.
Texas Speaker See this video on YouTube
Health Care Speaker More info on Brad’s work in Health Care

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

All right, so it’s Brad Montgomery.  How is this for a day in the life of a motivational speaker?  I’m in Austin, Texas, its 8:30; right there in that bridge, 1.5 million bats.  Bats.  How cool is that, bats are about to fly out.  I don’t know, any second.

But, here’s the day I had.  So I started out, I left my house at 1:00 p.m., (its 8:30).  I just got here, gave the bellman a dollar.  I’m here working for the University of Texas Healthcare Medical System, and I’m late.  I was supposed to be at their big bash, cocktail party tonight, but I missed that because of Frontier Airlines. Pretty typical though, because I think so many people think motivational speakers speak.  What I think we do is travel a lot, and then we speak.

So I’m here now.  Good news, I get to see the bats.  Bad news, I’m here late, but, I get to see bats.  More later.

The bats?   yeah, there’s no bats.  Okay, I’m in the Hyatt now which is pretty groovy.  Let me tell you what happened with the bats, nothing, zilch, 1.5 million bats, I saw four.  I saw four.  Total bust.  So, I was out there for an hour and a half, supposed to be a million and a half bats, a mile long trail of mammals with wings.  What I saw was a million and a half mosquitoes, my legs.  I’m just telling you, I’m going to be scratching tonight.

But, all right, being a motivational speaker is cool.  Being in Austin, Texas is cool.  The bats were a total bust, I’m so bummed.  But, good news, keynote speech in the morning.  So, get a good night’s rest.  It’s kind of hot.  I just came up in the elevator right over there, with a whole bunch of conventioneers.  These are the HR folks from the University of Texas, and they’ve got these little blinky things on, and I think maybe they might have had an adult beverage and they didn’t see the bats.  Oh, I think they were drinking something.  But it’s kind of funny because I was asking about stuff and then they said, well who are you?  And I told them I was their speaker.  They said, “good, don’t remember us.”

I’ll see you tomorrow.

 

/1 Comment/in , /by

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

/0 Comments/in /by

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

/1 Comment/in , , /by

HoustonNSAI’m psyched to be visiting the fine folks of the National Speakers Association Houston Chapter on Nov. 8th and wanted to invite you all.  This event is open to the public, so if you have a hankering to learn more about the world of professional speakers, here’s your chance.

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.

/1 Comment/in , /by

I was recently working as an Emcee for a huge technology conference in Texas. They wanted me to be both a motivational speaker and a master of ceremonies. It was a fun date, it was (happily) well received.

(By the way, check out my current avatar on the right. Yes, it’s a lumpy guy w/ fireman pants.  My pals in Second Life think I’m a total dork… which is fine by me as long as they laugh.   This screen shot is a shot of me looking in at my books in the virtual bookstore of my pals over Synapse3di.)

Check out this 40 second video so you can get a feel for what I did:

One of my favorite parts was when I was tasked introduce some of the new ways this organization’s resources available via Second Life. I’m deeply involved in the business use of Second Life, and have spent a bunch of time figuring a way to deliver my motivational speeches via Second Life. So…. well… I knew a bunch about the concept. (Translation: I knew how to make it fun.)

It was a total hoot. Thanks ISTE for inviting me.

Are you looking for a motivational speaker, humorist or humor in the workplace expert to speak for your organization, and you want to hold your event in Second Life? I’d love to be your guy. Contact me here.

Technorati Tags: Del.icio.us Tags:

 

Brad Montgomery
Second Life Speaker, Motivational Speaker, Lumpy Guy with FireMan Pants

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Pages

Texas Speaker Brad Montgomery has worked in all 50 states and on four continents, but has spent a GREAT deal of time in the Nation of Texas.

He went to college at Trinity University in San Antonio, and for whatever lucky reason ends up working in Texas many times per year.

Brad is a funny motivational speaker for all audiences.  But he has a couple of niches.  He’s a health care speaker, an insurance speaker, and is even a very funny magician.

Give us a call and we’ll talk about ramping up your event to where you want it to be.  This is going to be a blast!