Ep. 30 Secrets to Finding Your Funny with Tim Gard

Hey, Mark, you know that every presenter wants. Every presenter lusts for more laughs, more humor. My speech is done. I need to add humor. No, no, no, no, no. You gotta make a good speech first. But I am thrilled to have one of our favorite humorists, incredible talent, on stage. Mark Brown. Are you pumped to join Tim Guard in a conversation?

Oh, man, the fact that Tim Guard is here, he is a legend to us in the NSA as well. And just to spend is going to be a real blast. Darren, let's just do it, man.

Anyone can give a presentation. Few deliver unforgettable presentations. What's the difference? You're about to find out. Welcome to the unforgettable presentations podcast with your hosts, world champion speakers and coaches, Mark Brown.

Mark Brown, your life tells a story and there's someone out there who needs to hear it.

And Darren Lacroix. And Darren Lacroix.

Stage time, stage time, Stage time.

Ready for some powerful presentation, AHAs. Let's dive right in.

All right, Mark Brown, welcome Tim Guard, the legend himself.

Hey, Tim. How it goes, man?

Everybody. I'm good. I'm good. Snowy on a snowy Portland day today. Looking forward to. To a warm conversation with two good friends. Nice.

That's great. It's snowing in Portland and for the first time in Georgia. We hit 84 degrees for the first time this year. So that's gonna be really interesting. Tim, we're really glad to have you with us today. And anybody who can make an audience laugh in every way from Sunday, you could make them laugh. Being a starfish, you can make them laugh by taking your clothes off on stage. Man, you are something else. Tim, we're really thrilled to have you with us.

Well, thank you. Thank you. That was. You're referring back to the moment. I did a program at National Speakers association where I talked about how we changed during our programs, actually changed clothes on stage and had the chicken feet socks on with the black background. It actually looked like I had chicken legs, chicken feet. But that was really fun. It was really a fun time.

Thanks so much, Tim. I mean, you have come across. You've done the corporate route, you've done. Millions of viewers have seen you, they've heard you, they've seen you on stage, and you always find new ways to make us laugh. You strike me as the one guy in the NSA who will do anything within reason to get the laugh. I mean, we saw you put a starfish suit on and do a whole starfish routine with a foil and you play off each other. Well, you do stuff by Yourself, you can do stand up. You can do whole lectures. I mean, you have this really versatile, diverse approach to humor and comedy. What advice would you give to somebody who says, I want to make sure to include more humor, But I don't know where to begin. Is there one starting place for anyone who wants to add more humor or uncover more humor in their presentations?

Tim? Well, I think the very first thing is you need to be yourself and tell your own stories. Darren and I, when we did workshops together, talked about mining your own gold, that everyone has stories. And I think sometimes they are funny stories, but they don't work on them enough to make them hilarious. Sometimes we can take a giggle, a small laugh, and they let it go as that. But I try to take it then a step further, in fact, even a bigger step further, almost to where it's uncomfortably funny, and then kind of ramp down just a little bit to see if I can find the biggest laugh possible. But if I were to give a piece of advice, it would be, use your own stories. Spend some time talking to your siblings. Look at the bizarre stuff that you used to kid around with your brothers and sisters about teachers, your parents, and the more you dig, the more you're gonna find. And then actually work either with a coach, work with one of you, work with me, work on stories, work on them to make them hilarious. Don't just settle for a laugh.

Yeah, it's not like, is it funny or is it not? It's how do I make it funnier? How do we increase the laughter that we get and have more throughout the story along the way? Tim, you're just so good at this. Take us back to. How did you ever even become to be a speaker or a humor? Where did that start?

I used to be with the federal government. My career is in human services. I was actually an eligibility caseworker. I was the guy that people came in and applied for welfare benefits with and went on to become a fraud investigator. I did that for a series of years. And then I was with USDA Food Nutrition Service and had been there long enough where the agency used to send me out to call them, show the flags, where I'd go out and talk about the food stamp program. And I got to be known as the funny fed, which is. And people started calling me, asking me to speak at conferences, at their conferences, even though it didn't have anything to do with the food stamp program. Now, the SNAP program, it didn't have anything to do with that. And started spending time looking at why people found it funny? I mean, I think that's a real fascinating area, is you find something that's funny, but then look at it and find out, why is it funny? And started developing it there and did a couple programs back in 1984, a long, long time ago. But started went out on my own. I resigned in 1994, quit my job with USDA, started my own company, and I did 10 programs the first year, went up there to 20 programs, and I stayed consistently busy. This coronavirus has certainly slowed us down a little bit, and I think it too, will pass. Just like everything else that happens more than any time now, we need humor. We need funny. We need to consciously seek it and share it with other people.

Now, you said you were known as the funny Fed, so I'm picturing guys doing fraud investigations. How do you find humor in the midst of something so serious and almost punitive? How do you uncover the humor in those situations?

Tim well, CW Metcalf says that you need to laugh at yourself and laugh not with ridicule, but with objectivity and acceptance of self. I started looking at some of the funny things I did. For instance, I remember the file cabinets in our old offices were actually paper files that you had to take the file off the shelf. And I went to hop up one time to pull a file off the shelf, and this little wire on the front of the file cabinet got caught in the front of my zipper and just trapped me up against the file cabinet. And I threw my hips back, ripped the whole front of my pants out. And Carol Burnett said, comedy is tragedy plus time. As I'm trying to sneak out the office with the file in front of me, hiring to tear in my pants, my boss pulls the file and says, these are confidential and not allowed to leave the office.

You weren't confidential anymore.

Not anymore. But I started finding that things that started happening around me that if given a little bit of time, as they said, tragedy plus time, they were actually funny. And it's a lot of people take the things that happened to them and they tell the story as if they're doing just the facts. A documentary. And I tell people, don't treat it like a documentary, treat it like a feature film. You have editorial license enough to be able to take that story and make it really funny. And an example of this. So interestingly enough, what happened was I was in Melbourne, Australia. My wife and I was there speaking, and I saw that Yossi Ginsburg, a speaker friend of mine, was having a debut of the movie that he'd filmed Jungle. Daniel Radcliffe played him in the movie, of all things. And they had the world premiere there, and I just kind of texted that I was in Australia. Then I got invited to the world premiere. Yossi invited us to the world premiere, and we got to go see it for the first time. And then the next day, we had breakfast with him, and he was telling me the biggest challenge to the movie was the screenwriter. He said, telling the screenwriter, this is what really happened. Screenwriter kept changing it, and he finally said to Yossi, we're not doing a documentary about what happened to you. We're filming a feature film. That people can be entertained by the difference between a documentary or just the facts and a feature film with our stories is what I think really makes for unforgettable presentations that we do have a little bit of editorial license.

Yeah. We always say in our events, you have to tell the emotional truth, but not the literal truth, because we've got to make it Hollywoodize it, if you will, in order to. Our whole point is to get the point of the story across to our audience, not be factual. That's why it says based on the true story, not this is a true story.

And I think that's really important. What percentage of literal truth does there have to be in a story? Is it 85? Is it 80? What's the basis? What would be a baseline for people out there, do you think?

That's a good question. I hadn't really thought in terms of numbers, because sometimes in a situation where it's a parent telling a child, it could be a mom, it could be a dad, it could be an uncle, but it's an adult in the child's life giving instruction. That's 70% of the actual truth. But the essence remains true. That never changes. The child got instruction from the newborn.

I think you're right, though. I think that it has to be that nobody in the audience ever goes, that's not possible.

Okay. Yeah.

Gotta be that point where, well, that's not possible. If I were to say, I just came back from a rocket ship from Jupiter or something, that's not possible. It's not possible. So I think that it has to have plausibility. Josie's. The story that he tells is just if you do get a chance to. It's an incredible movie, incredible story, but there is editorial license for entertainment purposes.

Now, one thing we encounter is very often presenters who come to us for coaching and training. As Darren says, I've got my speech. I've got to add some humor now. And I Can you know, Darren, if he had hair, would pull his hair out when he hears that line. Because he says you can't just add humor like tossing in a one line. I'm sure you've seen people who want to add humor and they toss in a line or a one liner and you want to do the face palm. No, don't do that. How would you guide emerging speakers in terms of not adding humor, but mining and uncovering humor?

Well, I think a lot of speakers do that. They'll have one story that makes a whole bunch of points, and I think you've got to pick a lane and stick with it. Although we can have variety of stories at different lengths that can make the same point. So if someone has a content issue, we build the humor around the content. You'd first look at funny stories that would relate to that message and build those up. And from there, I think we can build some humor around it. I think the other thing is to get a transcript of the story you're telling. Watch it, and wherever they note where people are laughing, pay attention to that, think about why it is, and then expand on that. Try to find out if you can take it a step further. I tell a story. I talk about. I have chicken legs that stick out of my roll on my rollerboard. And I talk about one of the TSA guys that is actually searching the chicken. They're patting the chicken down. I do that long enough by experience, I can take the audience right about to the point they're uncomfortable and then take it a little bit beyond. It's a true. You know, it's a true story. It really did happen. Did he really search the chicken that long? Probably not. I might have exaggerated that just a little bit. But that's a story that makes one point in that I talk about how I use humor to solve a problem. Not necessarily that I wrote that to be funny. It was something that happened to solve a problem. And that's the story I use as an example.

One of the keys, you talk about having the story and the situation and building the humor out. And so many people think humor means adding a joke somewhere just for the sake of getting a laugh. And how would you guide someone to kind of shift their thinking from, no, you don't need to add a joke to be humorous. You gotta find humor that's there and really build that, because you've become a master of doing it. I said in your presentations, you do the verbal humor and the physical humor, which is not that easy for all of us to do so many people think, I've just got to add a couple of humorous lines here. I gotta pace myself. I need to get a laugh every 7.259-1836 minutes. And some people are that analytical. How would you advise them there, Tim?

Well, first of all, most jokes rely on somebody being the. But, if you will, of the joke. I've worked with different folks writing systems to write jokes, and I really decided I don't really tell just a joke. I write jokes to flex my humor muscles. I read in USA Today that if you have an unhappy thought, you should write them down and throw them away and you'll feel better. I feel better, but I miss my iPad. That's a joke I wrote. I wouldn't use it in my program, but I write them because we can learn a lot on structure from how jokes are put together. But I think most people, what it would be is that we develop. Concentrate on developing your stories to reinforce the message. Just like I talk about searching the chicken there, that we want to take those stories that reflect an actual application of what we're trying to teach them, make it into a funny story, and then make that story funnier.

And I know, Tim, one of your trademarks is your props. So you are one of the, one of the rare people who does it incredibly well. Some people, they use a prop because they don't have the content yet, but you actually use a prop. It's funny, it makes a point, it's memorable. And then people buy the props because they love them, because they can see the real life application of what you're teaching them.

Well, I appreciate that. I mean, just like with the chicken prop, again, I have a rubber chicken I put into my rollerboard and the chicken feet stick out and that's really where the story comes from. But I wouldn't hold up a rubber chicken and shake it and say we need more humor. That it's not a matter of just having props. I have a real strict philosophy on this. If it doesn't add to the program, it distracts from. So the prop or the visual, does it add to or does it distract from. I was coached years ago by a real famous coach that's no longer with us that originally told me I should dump the humor and dump the props. That a keynote speaker really doesn't need humor or props. This was his philosophy. He was a theater coach. Very, very bright man, very good coach. But he told me that in shakes, you know, with theater companies, they even do shows naked that they don't even need clothing on stage. And I remember telling him, ew. I said so in the play. And I think it's Hamlet when he's got the skull in his. Alas, poor Yorick. I knew him well. Horatio, do you think it works better with the skull or without the skull? The answer is it works better with the skull. Leave it in. If it doesn't add to it distracts from.

Brilliant. Brilliant. And I know, Tim, I have to bring this up because you're here and Mark's here, but we had you at one of our big events. It was called lady of the Champs back then, called stagetime Live. Now that you had this just say incident that happened in an elevator, that you not only experienced it, but then you came on stage and told the story of what just happened and then showed us a picture to prove it like that.

I got stuck in an elevator leaving the events. I was with a guy. There was like 10 of us in an elevator, and this guy was bouncing up and down to see if the elevator would get stuck in, and it did. We were stuck in there for hours.

Oh, no.

I didn't realize that they had a video of it, but this woman really was suffering from claustrophobia. And I was singing Soft Kitty to her to try to calm her down. And Kitty from the Big Bang Theory and didn't know that they had been watching this and laughing about it. When I came out at the. When we finally climbed out of the elevator, that was. That's the Soft Kitty guy. But it was an in the moment. And this is really important, I think, is that what happens to you in the moment, it just kind of comes and goes to some of us. And I try to pay attention to those here. In Portland, I had somebody complaining about how complicated the boarding system, United's boarding system was. And it's like there's five areas, dude. You know, it's not like you have the math boarding or you have to do physics or something and then develop that into. It's not the quadratic equation boarding or the Fibonacci number sequence boarding, that I took those things and exaggerated them out to make the story better. When funny things happen, take note of it, because life gets in the way. And we start forgetting about these hysterical things that can happen to us. I mean, who would believe I'd get stuck? I mean, I hadn't even thought about that, Darren, since you mentioned it, but I was stuck in an elevator with Mark LeBlanc for hours. It was an incredible experience.

And he tried to stop you from being funny. Right. Which made him funnier.

He was trying to get me to apply the mute button. And as my wife Sophia will tell you, that's not always successful. But it was at the moment, I was nervous. I was getting a little claustrophobic myself. And there was a wedding party actually in the elevator with us, a bride and her. I mean, it was. You can't make up this stuff. It's a great story.

Interesting. Tim, as Darren asked about props, I've seen you use like a credit card prop, rubber chicken prop, and you're known for this sweaty guy in the middle seat airplane scene. You create whole scenes. At what point in your career did you say, hmm, I could use this as a prop? And it works well because some people shy away from props and they tell you don't use them. They overtake the stage. It's too cumbersome. You can't carry them with you. When did you decide that this might be part of the Tim Guard image?

I had some car trouble. This is very early on in my career, and this is in the old days. But they had to cut a piece of the muffler off. And there was a guy under my car with oxygen and acetylene that was cutting off this piece of my muffler of this old car. And I thought, you know, for him to do his job, he needs oxygen and acetylene. That without them, he would just be holding a stick, kind of rotating it around metal. It wouldn't work. And so for me, it's the same way that I've carried an awful lot of props with me at different places. It doesn't bother me. It just is that if I find things that add to the programs, I'm going to bring them with me and I'm going to help the audience experience that theater of the mind and have fun with them. I ship some of the things ahead we talked about. Some of them I sell in advance. But if it adds to the program, why wouldn't I use it?

Do you do any testing with your ideas? Do you test them on friends or anything before you take them to the stage?

I do testing in a program. If I have a new story or new props, I'll do a full program and try to insert the new story or the new prop and see what the reaction is. I also see sometimes that they work early on and sometimes later on. So you can have something that didn't work really well at the beginning. But the only reason it didn't work may be because they didn't know me well enough. If I move that story of that prop further on to where they know me better. It may work then. So, I mean, it's not a matter of work, not work. Then it becomes. Out of five or six programs, what was the response I got, and does it continue or consistently add to the program?

What's awesome here is you are upholding for us a principle that says, one, look for humor all around around us. But not only that, we also ought to look for what can we bring to the table as a physical prop that will enhance and drive the message forward and reinforce the message. Because many people think I need to add just humor, but you're saying, no, incorporate humor. Find a humor, and find other tools that can help you to elevate the message or. But there's a risk, though, Tim. I've heard so many people say, I don't want to use a prop because a prop becomes too much. And what if people. All they focus on is a prop, and if I don't use the prop, I fall flat. How do you respond to somebody who has that concern about the props and the impact on their presentation?

I was asked early on if I'm a prop comic like Carrot Top or some of these, and I've told them I'm a professional speaker that uses humor and visual items to enhance my message. I'm not a comedian who tries to be a speaker to get more money. I am not a comedian. The only time I've ever done stand up was with Darren. Darren got me on stage in Las Vegas one time just to prove I could be clean and be just as funny as somebody who's not, which was a great experience. But the biggest thing is, again, it has to consistently work. It's like, I have a cubicle crab. It's a crab puppet, and it's based on the premise. I call it a cubicle crab. You go across the top of the cube with it, and you go, are we being a little crabby today? A cubicle in the US Is a cubicle in Germany, is a cubicle in Australia, is a cubicle in Bahrain. A cubicle is a cubicle is a cubicle. People understand that, and it consistently works. A prop can be anything from a newspaper. If you're quoting from a newspaper, you could hold up a newspaper and show it to the audience. It may not be the newspaper the quote was in, but your credibility increases when people can visually associate something with a thought that you're trying to get them to understand. The big sweaty guy in the middle seat is one of my signature Stories And Darren, it's just because we're good friends. I don't have it out there for everybody. But I will send you a link that you can include on your website if they want to watch it. It's an 11 minute story where I have worked on this story for years to get it to be as tight and concise as possible. But there's a key component. It's called pond scum. It's a little packet of pond scum, the size of pop Rocks, if you will. The story does not work without the pond scum because people would not believe it exists. But the minute they attack it, it's old.

Yeah, it's brilliant. And it's important that you know what's necessary to make the point. And just going back to the Jupiter thing, like if you brought up that you just flew back from Jupiter, we wouldn't buy it. So if you said there's this stuff out there called pond scum and you don't show the package, we get stuck back there. Is that real? Is he making that up? So it allows us to. Like you're doing and you do all the time so well, is it enhances your point.

The minute the audience breaks rapport wondering if an article is true or not, then you almost have to build rapport all over again. So you consistently have to have the truth in there and the visual verification. You know, there's all this evidence now about that, you know, there used to be visual learners and auditory learners and all these different things. And I'm not even arguing that point anymore. I'm telling you that there are people that are more visual humor oriented or auditory humor oriented. And some, you know, they're different things. Why not provide both to an audience to make sure that you enhance everybody's experience? Alan Wise said your primary responsibility is to those that hire you, second to your audience, third to yourself. So if it's about the audience, then we do what's best to help them get connected to the story or the point.

You're giving US information from 1990s, so many years, over 25 years of experience doing this. And you told us you came from a different background, much more serious, much more important, you know, important and corporate. At what point in your life did you say, you know what, not only will I present, but I'm going to be a humorous presenter. And was there someone who you had seen or heard who inspired you to take this path in your, in your career? Tim?

Well, you know, the person that originally inspired me was, was Scott Friedman. Scott Friedman, CSP from Denver, Colorado, was one of the first actual professional speakers I'd ever seen. And I was doing speaking part time in Denver and didn't realize it, but I was actually competing with Scott. And he got together with me and said, you know, Tim, did you know about this? Did you know about National Speakers Association? Do you know about Toastmasters? Do you know about all these really critical organizations that can help your career? And then I started going and watching different speakers. One of the first ones I saw really professionally was at a high school assembly that he probably doesn't remember, but he was the opening speaker. His name's Mark Schoenbrock, CSV.

Oh, yeah, Mark. Yeah.

Mark told stories and rolled in characters. And I remember I got up later just thinking, I don't know this business, you know, I don't know. That man is a master. And that was. That was. He was a master back then. Today he's master blaster. I mean, he's never nice.

Bite Mark.

Yeah, he's one of the best, in my opinion. He's one of the best in the world.

And besides Mark, or when Mark was speaking, was there any presentation that you saw recently or way back that to you as an audience member was unforgettable?

Well, I don't keep going back to Mark Schoenbrock, but Mark gave, spoke at National Speakers association closing speech eight years, seven years ago, was one of the best I've ever heard. Mike Rayburn is a speaker, incredible musician. Also did a program I saw, where he had a hologram that he played back and forth. He was both people, so he was actually doing a duet with himself. He pushed our craft ahead further along. Nobody, I think, in our industry had nobody done that before. It was just amazing. He was one of the closing speakers at National Speakers, which is people think it's a guaranteed great audience. They are a great audience, but you can die a horrible death as well as be a great success there. And he did incredible. You know, I think there are so many of them out there. But back in the day, when I first started, I had seen Mark at a high school assembly where I was there learning about the speaking business. And I was actually doing some training after him, and I was just fascinated by it. And, you know, today for both of you, I mean, I think Patricia Fripp is, to me, one of the most technically correct speakers in the industry. I think she has a brilliant mind, wonderful stories, brilliant material. But I've seen so many that I think that, like you, I study Sir Winston Churchill is one of the greatest orators of, you know, of the spoken word in recorded history. I think there are so many outstanding ones out there. Each one has something we can learn from. Tony Robbins, incredible speaker, millions zillions of dollars. I've always been fascinated. He seems to be able to tell us things that ring so true in our minds, but do it in a way that we finally understand it. Something we may have already known, but we can finally accept it. I call it the Tony Robbins nodding.

Along that line with any presenter.

What do you think are the key.

Elements that make something unforgettable?

Well, duration would be number one. A story is as long or as short as it should be. Same thing for a program. Program links change anything from. You've got the TEDx talks that are one idea worth sharing that are, what are they, 8 to 11 minutes long. The speeches that I've seen that are most successful, under an hour. And I know that may seem like a lifetime to some people today, but, you know, we want somebody during a program to take us on a roller coaster that always ends up not down or level, but always takes us up here. And I think that it's more important than ever that these people that are doing these programs allow us to step out of our moment in time into their moment in time, and that can help propel our careers. And I think that there's maybe, you know, 45 minutes an hour, something like that is not a bad investment of our time to be able to take us to another place and be able to help us advance our own lives, to be able to give us a shortcut, if you will, to success. I think it's a worthy investment in time.

And going back to one of the things you said, which is so brilliant. So I want to bring it back up so people get it, that a story is as long or as short as it needs to be, which means there's no one time. It's if you keep it going, if you keep us emotionally involved, and if you keep us in the story, you can go longer. But if it's just getting a short point across, well, you shouldn't be trying to lengthen it unless you're keeping it engaging, you're keeping it funny, and there's a good payoff at the end. Anything that.

I watched the speaker and I apologize, I don't remember his name, but he told one story through the whole program and he'd start that story and he'd stop and make a point and go off over here, and then he'd pick that story up and keep going. And he'd stop and make a point and he'd come right back to it, and he brought the circle back. It was incredible. I couldn't. I just don't have the mind for that. I'd be. I'd get about 3/4 out. Thanks for coming, you know. But you were hanging from the roof by your fingertips. Well, I lived. So I think that there are so many different ways to do it. But if your audience is looking at their phones or their watches, then your story's too long. If they're looking at each other or just any sort of. They're looking for diversions. It's too long. Used to be it was judged based on how the commercial break time, you know, for tv. I don't know what is the attention span right now? I don't know what a normal attention span is.

It's really scary because I don't know the numbers. But I tell you what, if you look at any television program from the 1960s and look how long the camera stays in one place compared to now, how quick the cuts are and how short dialogue is, we have changed. We really have changed. So let me ask you this, Tim. What would you say to the emerging presenter who asks you? So, Tim, I'm hearing you say, test things out and use your audience. How do you use the audience reaction to help you to decide what to do, what not to do, how long to stay, when to leave early, when to come in. How does that help you craft your present, your unforgettable humorous presentations?

Well, if I can get it on video, I'll then go to Rev.com or one of the many sources out there and get a transcript. Rewatch my own material. Darren actually taught me to do that. Rewatch my own material and then note where people are laughing or if they're not, you know, a lot of times what happens that we'll get told, you know, you have an hour program and then they'll cut it. They'll say, maybe you only have 45 minutes. Well, a lot of people will then shorten their stories to accommodate the new time frame. I always recommend that you have different stories of different lengths that you can kind of plug in. But we do that automatically as we butcher our stories. And then the next time you do it, you butcher it even worse until suddenly this incredible story you may have is just bare bones and you're wondering why it's not getting the reaction that it used to get.

And for experienced speakers, too, because there's a lot of great speakers out there who are good, who could be so much better if they got a little coaching, took a little advice, and get their ego out of their way. What would you suggest to them if they said, you know what? I'm a good speaker, but what could I do to make it funnier? What would you suggest?

Well, remember high school physics. Momentum only works if you're going downhill and there's no resistance. The time to market is when you're busy. The time to work on your materials. With all the things going on right now with people having programs reschedule or cancel, this is a great time to be working on your material. When we get some time to ourselves, it's not about then catching up on your binge watching. Getting a job is a 9 to 5 job. And marketing should be out there still where we're working on our material, making it better, taking that story we've never worked on, and working on that Lou Heckler, hall of Fame speaker. Lou Heckler is the one that coached me originally on the big Sweaty guy story. I think that we're so close to our stories, sometimes we need someone else who can help us make that story, something that we. We probably couldn't reach on our own. If I can give you one more example. I was coaching a guy one time. He had this great story about you need to learn to scuba dive. It had a big scuba diving sign. And rule number one on scuba diving was be certified. Rule number two is tell somebody where you're going. Rule number three was swim with the buddy. And rule number four was never ascend without exhaling or you'll die. And I had to tell him, any rule that ends with or you'll die probably be rule number one. And it becomes a great callback. So working with somebody, I think is a great investment. And I just don't think enough people do it once they start getting more successful.

Yeah. And I have to, just for total transparency, when I got offered in 2002 to do my ouch speech at National Speakers association. So NSA invited me to give the speech, and they were trying to build the bond between Toastmasters and nsa. I remember that's what I did. I won the world championship of public speaking. I got laughs. And I went to Tim Guard. Tim, take a look at this. How do we make it better? How do we make it funnier?

Well, I think it's incredibly important that someone like you, when you. You won the world, both of you won the. You're world champions. And your question is, how do I make it better? That's a state of mind that people can aspire to that it's not just about winning and then going, thanks, thanks a lot. You know.

Well, you know, Tim, in terms of winning and winning your audience, as a humorist, I'm sure you've had people come to you for advice and they say, tim, I'm not getting the big laughs. Is that perspective a little bit off center to think I need to get big laughs every time, all the time. How would you advise people who are calling for the big laugh every single time?

Well, I think they're not as valuable to the audience if they're doing it all the time, that we want to sprinkle it around again. This roller coaster is really important. Take them up, take them up, inspire them, motivate them. But I think that it's like if all I did was something hilarious, I would literally be a stand up comic. That is their sole goal is to make you laugh. I would tell you, I just think that people don't realize that they can make something that's funny, that they really can make it hilarious. But it does take work and it is something that is an investment in your own career. I don't think that it's required. But I've never had a meeting planner tell me, can you make it boring? Can you make it less funny? I've never had that happen. I also think now I had a pretty serious subject. I mean, welfare is not something we really kid around about. But I do think that the people that do that, if they don't find humor, they'll burn out. And I think that strategically placed in a program, Mark, I think that's the biggest question is where does it help the audience in the roller coaster keep moving? Not laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh.

Brilliant. Brilliant.

Because of what you just said, Tim, I'm going to ask an elementary question. Mr. Watson. Darren, hold onto your question. Don't forget the question.

I won't. I wrote it down.

Up against the wall and someone says, tim, define for us as a presenter the value and purpose of humor in your presentation. How would you respond to that question?

First of all, we all laugh in the same language. It unites us, it brings us together in ways that no one else could ever even begin to match. And with movies and television and all the things that it consistent that people can understand different concepts. I think it's really important. But you know, I know this sounds funny to even vocalize it, but people learn best when they're in a state of moderate arousal humor. I'm from Oregon Humor accomplishes this legally. When our audiences are mildly aroused, if you will, you will catch them leaning in and not leaning back. And the third thing I would say is it helps open our minds up. Humor is simply the combining of ideas that aren't normally associated with one another with a pleasurable outcome. It's the combining of ideas that aren't normally put together. This is at the height of creativity. And including that on your agenda at a conference helps people keep an open mind for perhaps the higher content. Speakers I get put on a lot to open conferences to get people to open their minds up to other ideas or somewhere along to help inspire them when things are getting a little heavy with some of the conceptual items that are going on. So those would be the three big ones.

Tim, you said this. These are just a different wording of what you said. But I want to reinforce this for everyone. Comedy cuts down, humor lifts up, and that's when somebody's the butt of the joke. That's a stand up comedy. There's a place for that. But in our world and the speaking world, it's more. You are so good at this, just finding the moments and then releasing the tension, lifting it up. Were you naturally funny growing up?

When I grew up, I grew up in a military household. My dad was in the Air Force and we moved every two years. So my older brother played music. I was president of everything. My younger brother was into theater, things like that. Of course, I was into theater too, but I think it helped me connect with people and make friends faster that I had to literally make new friends over and over and over. And it was just a way for us to be able to be able to connect with people. And, you know, once you get them laughing, you know that people gravitate towards that. And it's just a way for me, as I was growing up to help, I guess, become more popular, to connect more with my peers, I think. So. I always was the funny kid. I had a high school teacher. I spoke opening keynote for Million Dollar Roundtable, and high school teacher in the audience came up later and said, you know, Tim, when you were in school, remember when I used to leave the room? And I said, yeah, I always thought he was mad at me. And he said I had to leave because I was laughing.

Oh, man, that's awesome.

I think it was probably then when I discovered that it's not about me making them laugh, but how I can show audiences how they can also use humor, that my business really started taking off.

And Tim, one of the things that's different from you, that just from two decades of Mark and I doing this. You have this ability to not just be funny on stage, but you create experiences off stage in real life, bringing levity to a situation. And then you share one of those times, the best one, with us on stage. So we can see the application of how you do. So, like your coloring book in the airplane, the fact that you color your own coloring book, and then the expression that you make based on other people's reaction. You're just priceless.

Well, thank you. You know, I appreciate that. I think that it's not just enough for me to find it funny. It's when you and Mark and the audiences and other people find it funny, that's when it really, I think, is at its strongest. You know, I married late in life. I've only been married going on four years now. I think my wife was rather surprised when she found out that I'm exactly the same. We're horrified.

Too late.

She's still there, Tim. She's still there. Which is a good thing, right? Yeah.

Those of you that don't know, Darren introduced me to my wife. Darren's directly responsible for me getting married.

So we blame you, Darren. We're gonna blame you for that.

And they're so kind, Mark. They're so kind that they actually called me on their anniversary this year to tell me, which I just. I melted. My favorite was Tim, when I was up in Oregon. And you flew in for her birthday to surprise her. And we got her in the car. Mark, you would love this. We got her in the car. She's in the back seat. She's in the middle.

No, no, no.

You got to sit next to me, leaving one seat open. And then Tim just jumps in like, he flew into town, he didn't even live there. And we're going out to dinner, I think, for Sophia. And he just goes and sits in. He's like, hi. And. And, oh, my gosh, what an amazing moment. It was beautiful.

I remember that just like it was yesterday. Yeah, she was definitely one of the high points. We found each other late in life, but we have a family motto that's always together, forever young.

That's wonderful. And now I'm going to call Darren Yenter. And I'm not even close to being Jewish, as you can tell. But. No, seriously, I am just thrilled that we get to share these ideas. And what really moves me, Tim, seriously, is that you have, with all the levity and the humor and the fun, you point to two key things That I want everyone to really grasp. One is that you work at this. It doesn't just come organically and naturally. You work at this. You consult with Darren, Darren consult with you. We're helping each other to grow. And you also want us to understand the value is not about how funny we can be, but it must always elevate and bring value to our audience. You are there for a purpose and we are the ones we serve last. Thanks to Alan Weiss's advice. So that's really, really encouraging. I'm just so thankful that you reiterate that for us to all to hear because many of us want to get the last so we can look good. We want to get the last so to remember our name. We want to get the booking, we want to get the five figure gigs. But you're saying beyond all of that. No, no. It's what you do for the audience to lift them and then remember you and the impact you have that more organically will create for you other opportunities to bless and serve other audiences. So thank you so much for that advice.

Tim, welcome. I did a TEDx talk that you can look up, but in it I talk about the difference between a humorist and a comedian. I think that we are humorous, that we to have humor that comes from pain, but we don't cause pain, whereas the media may not be so inclined.

And if someone's going to look that up online, Tim, what would they put in? What was the title of your TEDx talk?

You could just put in Tim Guard TEDx and it'll pop right up.

Cool. And Tim, if somebody wants to hire you as a speaker to bring levity to a big keynote conference or learn more from you or buy your coloring book, where would they go?

Tim? It's just Tim Guard T I M g a r d.com and they can discover all of that and more there. I also have a new website, Sticky Safety. Just as it sounds dot com. I've got a new program on sticky safety that we're working on so love to share that one too.

Sweet. So Mark Brown, what do we have for keepers? And Tim, prepare in your mind one last final thought of advice to people. Our listeners are are corporate presenters, professional speakers and authors and also pastors. Mark Brown, I gotta get my specs.

On for listen because I have more than one page of notes for keepers today. I mean really Tim, you said you may already have a funny story. Our problem is we don't work on them enough. You're calling us to work? Use your own stories. Mine your own gold, but work on them. And one tip. Talk to your siblings, talk to your neighbors, talk to the people who you grew up with, and they'll reveal the funny stories that we may have forgotten. And once we get them, make them funny, find the funny. But more importantly, find out why it's funny and let that drive you. Key keeper here. Don't treat stories like a documentary. Treat them like a feature film. And pay attention to the audience's reaction. I'm going to rephrase this one for rhythm. You mentioned spontaneity, and what came to me was, spontaneity adds the spark. Spontaneity adds the spark. And Tim says, always seek to enhance the message and bring the audience on that roller coaster, but leave them on a high point. Last three, Use the power of visual verification. Use the power of visual verification. And remember, people learn best in a state of moderate arousal. And the last one is the key. The key that makes you more work is it's the combining ideas that are not usually put together in a way that gives the audience the aha and the revelation. Tim, I've had breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So much to receive from you today. All I can say, my friend, is thank you, thank you, and thank you again.

You're welcome. So good to see you.

So, Tim, any final bit of advice for people who want to be unforgettable by the tool of humor?

What I'd leave everybody with is humor refreshes us. It helps us recharge, it. It makes us stronger. And I think that when there are tough times, and there's definitely some tough times going on, the coronavirus, all the things that are happening in the world around us, this is a time when we need to use humor for ourselves first, to refresh and renew so that we can help other people. That if we are scared, then our audiences will be scared. If we are burned out, our audiences will see that. And I think that this more than any other time is when we need to be sharing humor with other people. So find the things that make you laugh, refresh and renew. Then go out and share it.

By the way, if you want to see Tim Guard's big Sweaty Guy story, just go to our website, unforgettable presentations podcast.com and look right below the Tim Guard episode. Check it out. Tim Guard, thank you so much for being a part. Thank you for the humanity through humor that you bring to the world. Thrilled to have you. Mark Brown, thank you for joining me yet again. And for those of you listening, please go check out timgard.com he mentioned Mike Rayburn. I think he's episode two that when we interviewed him Mark about his hologram ironically. And there's a Fripp episode too if you want to learn more from her. So check out our other podcasts and we will see you next week. Week Bye.

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