Motivational Speaker Blog

Some people say, "I'll play when I feel better." One Funny Motivational Speaker, Clay Osborne says, "You'll feel better when you play!" Kansas Women's Leadership Conference Fox News

Play is valuable because it brings about whole brain thinking. Using the logical left brain and creative right brain together enables you to see the big picture. In the book IN SEARCH OF EXCELLENCE the speaker states, "Success is a function of one's ability to innovate, which in turn is a function not of one's capacity for focused, analytical logic - but freewheeling flights of fancy." This is the kind of thinking people indulge in when they think humorously.

Creativity leadership expert Roger Von Oech, author of the book A WHACK ON THE SIDE OF THE HEAD has this view: "If necessity is the mother of invention, play is the father. It's when you're not taking yourself seriously that your defenses are down, your mental locks are loosened, and there is little concern with the rules, or being wrong."

Another perspective on the value of play comes from Dr. George Sheehan: "We need play to leaven what we do. Without play, work is labor; it is doing something for money. But if we have work that's play then we have beaten the system."

Healthy people tend to be the most productive and laughter contributes to good health - mental and physical. Laughter improves circulation, fills the lungs with oxygen-rich air, stabilizes blood pressure and causes beneficial changes in the chemistry of the body. Leadership Laughter Pioneer, Dr. William F. Fry has been studying laughter for more than 40 years. He says that 20 seconds of intense laughter, even if faked, can double the heart rate for three to five minutes, an accomplishment that would take three minutes of strenuous rowing exercise. Motivational speaker, patch adams had a movie built around his hospital designed to help children heal with humor.

Why we need to have more fun at work:

• Studies on show staff want to work in a fun, lighthearted environment
• Humor and Fun increase energy and inspiration for the job
• Laughing ignites whole brain thinking that enhances creativity and productivity
• Hearty laughter speeds up the heart rate, improves blocked circulation, accelerates breathing and increases oxygen consumption
• Laughing instantly decreases stress, increases wellness
• Happy employees create happy customers. It enhances interpersonal skills
• Fun broadens your perspective and enhances leadership skills.
• A sense of humor is one of the essential leadership qualities. Leadership looks like they know what they are doing when they smile. It inspires confidence.
• People with a good sense of humor are easier to get along with
• Humor builds self confidence when you are able to laugh at yourself it makes you less afraid to communicate mistakes
• Well placed humor softens criticism
• Humor and Laughter defuse tension

Also, watching Dr. Fry give one of his inspirational speeches he says laughter stimulates the production of catecholamines, the alertness hormones.

The How To’s:

Including fun and play in job descriptions will be more common in the future as employers realize how cost effective it can be. How about a late afternoon break for employees to play a video or computer game? How about a joke telling break?

Humor should always feel good ( happy, relaxed, effective)

Humor should poke fun at stressful situations not people

Humor has very little to do with jokes (less than 12% of what we laugh at is joke like) and more to do with laughing at common stresses

Humor should not be used to insult or sarcastically get away with inappropriate comments

Consider starting your meetings with humor. As humor becomes more a part of your business, the more it will be perceived as acceptable. With humor in every meeting there would be a portion that everyone would look forward to. Humor, as a natural part of communication, also helps.

When you send out your next memo, write it in a light-hearted fashion.

Adopt a fun and playful attitude

Hire a Funny Motivational Speaker. Fun in the workplace speakers can inspire the funny bone in people  show you how to keep it alive.

The best way to use humor is to have the self confidence to laugh at yourself. Make sure people understand why you are encouraging humor, most people have only one way to deal with stressful situations and it is a negative response you are training them to see things in a positive way.

Studies show that we spend 75% of our time in work related activities! So, if we spend 75% of our time somehow involved in work, shouldn’t it be fun?

Jody Urquhart is a funny motivational speaker who for the last fifteen years has motivated and inspired professionals to use humor to change there lives. Please contact us to see how we can recognize and inspire professionals at your next event.

Don’t Just Do Something- Sit There!
How mindfulness can transform your work

For most leadership the most difficult five minutes of your day would be to sit still and nothing. Don’t think about work stress, your priorities or other people.

Sit Still. Many professionals feel very uncomfortable doing nothing and suggest they thrive on stress. Nobody thrives on stress. What we thrive on is being mindfully caught up in our work and focused on making a difference. You are mistaking an intense life for a meaningful one. Inspiration builds when purpose shines in everyday activity.

Even as a leader,In your work you tend to chase after problems and focus on the stress of what goes wrong, leading to negative cyclical thought patterns. This mental thought pattern, pinpointing problems can destroy relationships at home and create conflict. Mistakes and fault finding can easily become wrapped up in your character.

Constant hurry translates to hurrying others thoughts and speech finishing their sentences.

When we worry, stress and fear our jobs we are in a very distracted stressful mindset. This creates a rigid black and white thinking pattern. Fiercely pursuing goals and agendas and always trying to go somewhere and never really getting there… welcome to the rat race. You need a motivational speaker who lives in a van down by the river.

Cut back on mindless thinking and worrying, control your attention and place it where it matters most.
Psychologists define mindfulness as flexible, slow, nonjudgmental, reflective, thinking that is open to novelty.

This slow mindful thinking slows down your nervous system and be sensitive to people and situations. Instead of being focused on yourself and your stress you will start to be aware of others and your environment and the impact your decisions make.

Slow down and apply mental alertness and engagement to even the most monotonous and routine activities. Think about what you’re doing while you’re doing it and its greater impact. Say to yourself I love doing this – even if you don’t.

The positive mental energy you put to the task will start to naturally change how you feel and think about your work.

Leadership today realize that Faster is not better.

Wellness Motivational Speaker Resources here

Your Passion Plan at Work..

Leadership and Diversity Expert, Jody Urquhart,

Passion is the single most powerful competitive advantage and inspiration an organization can claim in building its success

Many organizations possess the same technology, resources, equipment, and expertise, but it is the organization that runs on diversity and passion that thrives. The passion-driven organization inspires its diverse employees, invigorates its customers, and reaps the benefits of their shared enthusiasm in its success. Authentic morale boosters boast passion.

Need Inspiration? Passion Matters

Both employees and customers have feelings that compel them to act the way they do. Employee’s performance can be directly linked to their feelings toward their work. Customers do not buy just anything. They make their decisions based on emotional responses to products and the organizations that provide them. We all operate on emotion, we make decisions on emotion.

Passion is something deeper than policies and practices that give an organization meaning, life and inspiration. A passion for what you do makes every day invigorating and rewarding.

A recent study highlighted in the Wall Street Journal Leadership Edition revealed that customers gravitate toward companies that appeal to them on an emotional level (Alsop, 1999).

To attract customers and employees, compete solely on price the relationship has no loyalty the relationship ends when a better financial reward is found. To have people committed during the ups and downs of business you need to build loyalty with passion. Passion builds advocates for your business.

Passion is uncommon. Not many people jump out of bed fueled by their passion to go to work. More often in organizations people are disengaged, cynical and cranky.

Many leadership methods alleviate the symptoms that afflict the modern company; few treat the disease that causes them, lack of passion.

Benefits of Passion

Provides direction and focus

Creates energy

Inspires creativity

Heightens performance

Builds loyalty

Attracts employees and customers

Unites the organization

Provides a critical edge

Brings the organization to a higher plane

Inspires action

The benefits of passion are obvious, so why don’t more organizations harness it? At some level there is passion present in most organizations, but it does not form the framework. Leadership may feel it, but not understand how to communicate it. Employees may sense it, but be uncertain or confused as to how to act on it. Customers may detect it in products and services, but may not feel it is consistent or compelling.

Somewhere along our journey we lose sight of what inspires us. We compromise our passion to get the job done. Unbridled growth, increasing technology, multitasking, fierce competition, labor shortages all have forced business to do more with less and what suffers is passion.

Define passion and have a way to sustain it. What is the core thing that people can be proud and passionate about? Link this to your overall business operations. Communicate it often.

(IDEA- Have regular team leadership workshop“huddles” where employees communicate what they are most proud of)

Brainstorm- What specific acts communicate passion? (i.e. - going out of your way for a customer, recognizing other team members, celebrating success, smiling, skipping down the hallway….( as one CEO does)

Keep overall enthusiasm and energy high. Strive to increase overall energy in your work environment. You need this energy to fuel passion. Smile, laugh, and engage in fun activities to keep energy levels high.

Fake it until you make it. The trick is to act passionately even if you aren’t, eventually it becomes a habit and in the meantime your energy will lift everyone up. Fun at work will follow, like it or not.

Everyday our body language comes through loud and clear. Is yours the inspiration that fuels confidence and energy in others or is it tired or just uptight?

Be innovative. Try new and different approaches to your work to fuel passion

Sharpen your skills.

What are you insanely great at in your Work? Recognize people for their contribution to your organizations purpose.

Stay Tuned for More ideas on keeping passion alive in further articles.

Downsize or Invest in People?

If an organization is trying to cut budgets investing in people is usually not their first course of action. Often it is the opposite; let people go, leaving more work spread among fewer people. Those left behind have to work harder, become burnt out and cynical resulting in even more turnover.

 We Need Each Other

Organizations need people (for their energy, effort, and talent); and people need organizations (for the many intrinsic and extrinsic rewards they offer), but these needs are not always well aligned. When the fit between people and organizations is poor, one or both suffer: individuals may feel neglected or oppressed, and organizations sputter because individuals withdraw their efforts or even work against organizational purposes. Conversely, a good fit benefits both: individuals find meaningful and satisfying work, and organizations get the talent and energy they need to succeed.

 Remember work like all relationships are give and take, both sides need to feel satisfied or one side pulls out.

Regular Columns

1) Oh Lighten Up! Your quick, easy lighten up idea for the month

Use laughter and humor in the workplace throughout the day. Laughing with others is a great way to promote peace and fun in the workplace. It takes 16 muscles to frown and only 3 muscles to smile. Which would you prefer?

2) Game Spot - a fun quick activity you can use this month at work

Ask participants to stand in a circle and introduce themselves by first name and one adjective that begins with the same letter as their name—for example, “I’m brilliant Brad.” He than adds a simple movement or gesture, such as a bow, a two-handed wave, or a dance step. Go around the circle and keep adding on until people can’t remember.

3) Inspiration Station. A way to recognize, celebrate and appreciate people

Try creating an award for people who aren't usually in the limelight. This award can be any form of recognition that you choose, but it needs to have a specific name and be given to people whose work is usually out of sight or low profile. Call it something like the Backroom Award, make a big deal about it, and present it on a regular basis (once a month or quarter).

The company newsletter is the ideal place to recognize employees. Submit employees’ names, inspirational quotes and photographs to the newsletter with a story about what they have done really well. Be as specific as possible, tell the story about what they did, what qualities they have 

4) Art of the Unexpected- Some funny simple tasteful pranks and other unexpected things you can try if you dare to throw people off guard and keep it fun

• Verbally Abuse your office furniture
• Walk franticly down the hallway
• Cut out photos and paste them on Popsicle sticks and have a puppet show
• Give Inspirational Speeches
• Fake an accent
• Laugh out loud for no reason