Today we’d like to introduce you to Joel Zeff
Hi Joel, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I create energy. As a keynote speaker, work culture expert, improvisational humorist, and author, I invite members of the audience to participate in hilarious improvisational exercises that illustrate my central message: That organizations and individuals should CELEBRATE their successes to increase collaboration, productivity, passion, and innovation.
Since 1997, I have inspired audiences from Wells Fargo to Samsung to KPMG and even the IRS. Yes, the IRS. My spontaneous humor and vital messages have thrilled audiences for more than 25 years, and I have shared my insight at more than 2,500 events.
My career is a search for fun and passion. I realized the importance of both at my first jobs delivering the hometown newspaper and cleaning up trash at a suburban movie theater.
I started my professional career as a newspaper journalist and public relations executive. In 1994, I went out on my own as a corporate communications specialist. I helped clients with their internal communications, media relations, strategy, and customer marketing. Throughout the consulting process, I realized my clients — many of them high level technology and telecommunications firms — needed more than marketing and public relations strategy. My clients’ employees were starving for fun, passion, and a new perspective on finding success.
At the time, I was having fun on the weekends as a comedian. Through friends, I discovered improvisational comedy. One of my clients (a large technology company) knew I was performing comedy on the weekends. The client invited me to entertain and speak to a group of executives before dinner. A corporate speaking career was born.
I connect to my audience with humor that has them laughing so uncontrollably that their mascara runs, their cheeks hurts, and their bellies ache. And I do not do it alone. Volunteers from the audience join me on stage and play an integral role in an improvisation game in front of hundreds or thousands of people — something the audience members have never done. I expect nothing less than success. I expect the volunteers to focus and work together as a team; communicate effectively; positively support each other; and take responsibility.
I make my audience laugh so hard that they forget about the corporate nonsense of conference calls, “strategic deliverables,” PowerPoint presentations with upside triangles, or “paradigm shifts in a cross-functional organization.” I will make you laugh, and I will make you think. My keynotes deliver a combination of inspiration, essential business knowledge, and significant ideas to help audience members reconnect with their own passion and success.
As discussed in my new book, “Make the Right Choice”, I believe that we all encounter choices in our careers. We always can have the opportunity to make the right choice to live a more creative, passionate, and productive life. How do you “make the right choice?” You can choose to provide opportunity. You can choose to provide positive support. And along the way, you can choose to have fun.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I would like to answer this question with an excerpt from my new book, “Make the Right Choice: Lead with Passion, Elevate Your Team, and Unleash the Fun at Work (available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and where you purchase books):
I lost my job in 1991. Most of us will receive the “come clean out your desk and here is your severance check” phone call at some point in our careers. I received that call on a Sunday at the end of 1991. I had no idea that in a few hours a magic harmonica would save me.
Nobody wants to receive that phone call. Sitting on my couch in a one-bedroom apartment with little other furniture, I could not believe I had just lost my job. Six months before the phone call, I had moved to Texas to work as a reporter for the Dallas Times Herald. And now the newspaper was closing and would print the last issue the following day. Every employee of the paper was now joining the unemployed.
The call ended. Something strange happened. I experienced relief and not anger (insert screeching sound). Yep, I was elated. Weight lifted from my shoulders. To be honest, the job was overflowing with challenges. It did not take long after I joined the paper to realize I had jumped on board the Titanic right as it was leaving the dock. I can still hear the horn and someone yelling, “All aboard!” The Titanic passengers had no idea they were on a ship that would hit an iceberg. I, however, was fully aware I was on the newspaper Titanic. Six months after I moved to Dallas, the newspaper had hit the iceberg.
After the call, I took a breath. I thought about losing my job. Like many, I was not happy at my job. Still, it was a job. Now what? I thought about what I was going to do. Would I have to move to another city? How do I pay rent? How will this affect my career? Should I stop for lunch before going to clean out my desk or is that rude? What are the protocols for cleaning out your desk on a Sunday?
Walking out my door to head to the newsroom to clean out my desk, I grabbed my harmonica. At that moment, I did not think it was a magical instrument. I still have no idea why I put the harmonica in my pocket. This was not a normal activity. Full disclosure: I am tone deaf. I have no musical ability. I cannot really play the harmonica. I can make some semblance of sound that does not make a cat or baby wail.
I had purchased the harmonica in college. I attended a lecture and walked out with a new harmonica. I am guessing the guest speaker played the harmonica. I have no memory of the speaker. Someone was selling harmonicas, and I had some extra cash in my pocket. It made sense at the time. Who knew that this harmonica was magical or would change my life?
I always say that the day I lost my job as a newspaper reporter was one of the best days of my life. Walking into the newsroom, I noticed everyone experiencing a range of emotions: sadness, anger, confusion, defeat. To me, I just felt relief. I saw this day as opportunity and a new beginning.
As everyone cleaned out their desk and grabbed everything that was not bolted to the wall, I found myself on the back loading dock where the media covering the paper’s demise had assembled. The closing of a daily newspaper was a big deal in 1991. Television and news radio reporters gathered to cover the end. I surveyed the scene. I never thought, “Hey, I should go see who is hanging out on the back loading dock and play the harmonica for them.” It just happened. I took out my magic harmonica and poorly played a blues note. “Da-dana-dun-dun.” The lyrics went something like this: “I lost my job. I got no money … I just moved to Dallas. The newspaper closed. I have no money. I got the newspaper blues.” This went on for a few minutes.
The next part is just like a movie. Someone grabbed my elbow and told me to stop. I have no idea who said those words. I have lost that memory. I do remember them saying, “You will never work in this town again.” True story. I cannot believe someone said that to me—and meant it! It was just like a film noir movie.
I ended up on two local television newscasts, had my photo in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, and the story of me playing the harmonica after losing my job was picked up nationally. Remember, this is before social media. People from around the country would call me and ask, “Did I see you play the harmonica on the news?” Yep.
That evening, colleagues gathered to mourn the newspaper’s ending. We watched the local news broadcast. And there I am playing the harmonica. I could not believe it. A 112-year-old paper closed, and there is a 23-year-old idiot playing the harmonica. It was silly. And for a moment, I forgot the negativity and doubt about losing my job.
The magic harmonica forced me to choose my attitude. I chose how I reacted to change and disruption. It is always a tough day when you lose your job. The magic harmonica taught me there is always something else out there. I had a desire that I was ignoring. A path I was not taking.
That magic harmonica (which I still have) taught me to embrace change and disruption. It taught me that fun and whimsy are part of my life. It taught me to stay in the game and create opportunity. Soon after the Herald closed, I started doing stand up and improvisational comedy. I auditioned and was asked to join an improvisational comedy troupe. Years later, I would use those skills as the foundation for my keynote speaking and emcee business. And that led me to writing this book. All because of a magic harmonica.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
By using humor to disarm and connect, I create an environment where effective communication and teamwork flourishes and participants learn how to find success during change and disruption. I teach the importance of openness and flexibility. I also help teams embrace adaptability in an ever-evolving business landscape by embracing change.
My interactive approach fosters successful collaboration by creating a magical chemistry of opportunity and positive support. I want the audience to ask the important question: “How do I help the people around me be successful?”
My observations on leadership inspire managers to lead with authenticity and passion, while my team-building exercises demonstrate the power of working together toward common goals. I use an assortment of hilarious exercises that engage and energize the audience. Through the fun and play, the participants are more open to the messages, more importantly, they retain the lessons on effective communication; being more present and in the moment; creating opportunities; and staying in the game.
The humor-infused methods ensure that these crucial business concepts don’t just resonate with participants – they stick, driving lasting positive change within organizations.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
During my keynotes, I invite audience volunteers to play improvisation games with me on stage. Thousands of audience members have rocked the stage with me, creating energy and laughter. I use the games as a visual story board to illustrate the right choices about teamwork, leadership, communication, innovation, change, and passion.
Watching and performing with thousands of audience members at more than 2,500 events is an incredible education. I learn something new at every performance. I apply these lessons to my own work life and have chronicled them in my book, Make the Right Choice.
Some of my favorite lessons:
1. Be in the moment. You are at your best when you are present. Being in the moment forces you to focus on the objective.
2. Stay in the game. Improvisation is an art that allows you to make choices. The only choice the game doesn’t allow is to quit. Staying in the game means you might need to learn something new, work harder, get out of your comfort zone, or find a new path. If you quit, you fail. If you stay in the game, success is still possible.
3. Create opportunity and positive support for those around you. It is magical when you give someone positive support and the opportunity to be creative; to take ownership; to work together as a team; to be accountable; and to be a leader.
4. Ask the question, “How do I help the people around me be successful?” Answer the question. And then act on it
In the new freshly updated edition of Make the Right Choice: Lead with Passion, Elevate Your Team, and Unleash the Fun at Work, I discuss each of these lessons (and many more).
The book delivers a unique, interactive, humorous, and highly entertaining blueprint to create a new approach to work that is inspiring, fun, and infinitely more effective. Filled with self-contained chapters that will make you laugh and nod your head in agreement, this book has everything readers need to increase engagement, communicate more effectively, and create a positive and successful work environment.
You’ll find hilarious and insightful observations on everything from “The Six Sprinkles on the Leadership Cupcake” to seven underappreciated―and effective―ways to create a culture of fun and enthusiasm at work.
This book is inspired by my extensive experience playing improvisational games with thousands of employees, managers, and corporate leaders at companies like Walmart, KPMG, and PepsiCo. In this book, readers will learn how to:
Make the choice to be fun, passionate, and happy and stay in the game when the going gets tough.
Create magic chemistry to success through positivity and opportunity and communicate in the moment.
Start utilizing the creative mind more effectively and establish a foundation for seamless teamwork.
This is the polar opposite of a boring business book. The book is a fun, energetic, and engaging journey of what improvisation has taught me. The book is also a love letter to all the audience volunteers who have shared the stage with me during more than 25 years of speaking. Their choices defined the lessons learned.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.joelzeff.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thejoelzeff/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JoelZeffCreative
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/Make-Right-Choice-Passion-Elevate/dp/1394278950?ref_=ast_author_mpb
