Brad Montgomery is a very funny guy with a serious message…. about happiness. He has spent the last quarter of a century teaching organizations how to use happiness to improve their bottom line.
After getting his start as a corporate comedian and magician, Brad now speaks to corporations and associations who need a lift, bringing laughter & magic blended with a simple yet powerful message about creating more humor and happiness in our lives. Brad has earned his Certified Speaking Professional designation, which is the highest earned award from the National Speakers Association. (Fewer than 7% of speakers worldwide have earned the CSP.) Corporate clients include Microsoft, Kraft, Proctor & Gamble, Lockheed Martin, IBM, the DOD, and HP. Dozens of associations have also praised Brad’s work including the Alzheimer’s Association, the Utilities Service Alliance (a nuclear energy association), and the California Teachers Association.
Brad joined John Gray (of Mars/Venus fame) and Mark Victor Hansen (of Chicken Soup renown) to write Mission Possible. He has also co-authored, produced and published Humor Me: America’s Funniest Humorists on the Power of Laughter, as well as Humor Us: America’s Funniest Humorists on the Power of Laughter.
Brad lives in Centennial, Colorado with his wife and three kids. Although he is proud of his many awards and national credits, he’s convinced that his best feats so far are his kids.
HOW CAN YOU GET THE MOST OUT OF BRAD MONTGOMERY?
SEMINAR + TEAM BUILDING + FACILITATED CONVERSATION = AWESOMENESS
Ask him to do more than just the standard keynote. Ask him to make sure he doesn’t do all the talking — because people learn best when they are involved. Ask him to make sure your folks talk to each other — because they learn best when they are teaching. Ask him to create an experience where your people enjoy working with each other. Ask him to create something unforgettable. Ask him to do an expanded keynote.
WHAT IS AN EXPANDED KEYNOTE?
According to Websters, it’s…ok, you got us, it’s not in the dictionary. Yet. It is a word Brad made up to describe this very special and unique blend of a traditional keynote (where the speaker does the talking and the audience does listening), team building experiences, together with facilitated conversation about how all of these crazy things wrap up together and connect to our lives. And our jobs.
WHY IS THIS EXPANDED FORMAT SO SUCCESSFUL?
We know that adult learners cannot sit and learn at their best while listening to a speaker for 60 minutes straight. Yet this is the format we accept as normal.
Brad recognizes that people learn best when they move, think, interact, and are involved. So this session is interaction on steroids.
All three sections are important. It’s crucial that your people hear Brad talk so that they can understand what he believes, learn to trust him, and get a sense for where they are going.
In the second session it will look to any normal person as though we are doing team-building games. Granted, they are AWESOME, Brad-style exercises that they have never done before. But it will look to the average observer speaking in that we are building teams. You will see laughter, high-fives, applause, and tons of smiles. You will see people go from slightly out of their comfort zone to All-In-Awesome.
But the third section is where we get the payoff. In the section Brad basically asks them, “Why are we doing this? What’s the point?” And this is the part where Brad shuts up. He’s quiet. He lets them work through the value of working with the team and doing crazy things.
You’ll be surprised by what people come up with. They’ll talk about the importance of natural leadership, the value of aggressive listening, and the importance of taking ourselves less seriously while taking what we do extremely seriously. They will make deep and profound connections based on what superficially appears as fluffy exercises.
And because people trust their own data more than anybody else’s, because of the way Brad lays out this experience the learning is extreme. Yes, you could hand them an article and tell them what is important. Yes, Brad could teach them what he feels they should understand from his sessions.
But because they are discovering these truths for themselves the take away sticks. They believe it. They understand it. They have felt it.
THREE LEARNING FORMATS IN ONE SESSION
How Much Time Do We Need?
More is better. Brad’s preferred time for the expanded keynote is 2.5 to 3 hours. He has done it in less and he has done it in more. But 2.5 feels perfect.
You can bank on this hilarious motivator to dazzle your banking, financial, and credit union audiences “Great Program. We didn’t quit laughing. Cured all our ailments.”
“ It was fantastic…He disarmed our folks with his humor…He included everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY from the president to the guy that works in the mail room…Best of all he had an important message that applied to us all, both at work and at home…Brad’s message is perhaps more relevant than ever in these uncertain times …”
Funny motivator is distinguished as a hilarious education speaker “Best Evaluation Results of Any speaker ever! The group requested Brad’s return…never before hast that happened!”
“Thanks Brad. Just what we needed. We’ll have you back!”
“What a tremendously funny performer! A wonderful addition to any meeting — guaranteed to liven the mood with his humor and insights.”
