Tim Gard Keynote Speaker

• Leadership: The Tao of Humor

Almost everyone will agree that humor can have a positive impact at work. As a strategic skill, it can act as a positive factor in communication, morale, and stress reduction. However, if misused, it can have an equally negative effect. During this keynote we’ll explore how to steer clear of the negative or controversial humor that may become a source of problems and complaints by concentrating on humor that enhances (and never diminishes) workplace culture to improve morale and customer service. In this laughter-filled leadership program, you’ll discover how humor can help you powerfully deal with the challenges of an ever-changing workplace. By applying a few simple precautions, you will see how making the farce be with you improves the environment for everyone. Today’s leaders are forced to do more with less; supervisors and managers are constantly tasked to inspire their troops to do more work with a fraction of the staffing and resources needed. This program focuses on developing your own humor plan while defining what is permissible, and what is not, in your workplace. As a participant, you will take away:

• knowledge of how to be a positive humor leader
• key differences between leadership and authority
• reasons why funny does not always equal appropriate
• ways to encourage good humor and discourage bad humor
• benefits and potential pitfalls of using laughter and humor in business
• ways to steer clear of the negative humor that can cause problems and complaints

Ideal for both government and private business, this program’s easy and practical guidelines prevent negative humor in the workplace while allowing positive humor to strengthen communication and boost morale.

• Laughter becomes you

Is employee motivation important to you? The “Laughter Becomes You” keynote is as funny as it is inspiring and content rich. Tim teaches audience members to develop and apply their own Comic Vision® to be more resourceful and resilient—both at work and in their personal lives. His rejuvenating and immediately applicable message teaches audiences how to increase morale while enhancing productivity and everyday enthusiasm in three short and easy-to-adopt steps. The unique yet practical ideas also help people diffuse routine or extreme stress by insulating themselves against negativity. They’re able to “refresh and renew” themselves by using and sharing his Comic Vision® techniques. More than that, his funny, morale-building stories and extraordinary visual props make this keynote speech a hilarious way to start or close your meeting. Ideal for both government and private business, this program can also be tailored for short breakouts (45 mins) or half-day working sessions.

• Change the Game!

When your organization needs training on how to reduce stress and dysfunction, it’s time to Change the Game! Life is a game; business is a game; travel is a game. Well, literally everything is a game that usually involves winners, losers, and spectators. This “Change the Game” keynote helps you discover how to change any game to your advantage when encountering situational stressors, toxic people, and various challenges inherent to life. The pressure to accomplish more with less, meet tight deliverable expectations, and respond with professional promptness can create stress, cause team dysfunction, and even decrease morale. The attitude that “everything seems so serious, heavy, and intense” is more than unproductive; it’s a truly unhealthy way to work and live! Participants learn how one person can “change the game” for all players by applying easy-to-understand and hard-to-forget concepts—ones that champions have been using for centuries in sports, business, and life in general. Providing a shift in perspective and approach can influence the playing experience for everyone in a multitude of tangible and valuable ways. Learn how to reduce stress in this hilarious keynote! Using the game of marbles as a metaphor, Tim proves that overly complicated tasks can become surprisingly uncomplicated—FAST! Tim personally consults with event coordinators both before and after each event. He wants to ensure that every participant receives a bag of marbles to aid in implementing “Change the Game” tools, tactics, and strategies. This keepsake ingrains the newly developed philosophy for overcoming what initially seemed to be impossible or unrealistic challenges.