Have you ever heard the old Chinese parable about the wise shepherd? It’s inspiring that these universal principles are still reminders we need today. What keeps them so relevant? When I heard a revelation of a friend last week, I searched the internet to find the parable I had heard in a speech years ago. [...]

As I drove with my new friend, Shashank, to the Chennai, India, airport, I asked him about his speaking topics. He surprised me when he said, “I teach people to quit.” What? In the motivational world, we’ve heard so much about never quitting and not listening to naysayers. But teaching people to quit? He had [...]

I was in the audience for a performance staged by emerging entertainers. They were perfect with all their imperfections. There was singing, dancing, and comedy skits — a fun program, including a guest appearance by a professional singer with an amazing voice. Then it happened. When they went to cue her second song, the audio [...]

“Enough is enough!” Have you ever said that to yourself? You absolutely decided you were going to make a positive change in your life. Immediately and with conviction, you started taking action. Was it in a relationship? Chasing your dream? Managing your money? That was the challenge for me recently: money management. I’d taken classes, [...]

In the mid 90′s, I attended a speakers’ conference in Nova Scotia. Still an amateur in comedy — and even greener in the speakers’ world — I was excited to sit in on a breakout session on ‘how to be funny’ as a speaker. I had attended a few sessions in the past and found [...]

After a long day of education and training at a recent conference, I was ready to kick up my heels and blow off some steam. The conference had provided a DJ, and it was time for dancing! There was a beautiful woman there who reminded me of someone I once dated. She was obviously married, [...]

At conference recently, I heard a story of a man who was goofing around and doing “unsafe activities” with a forklift truck at work. Then he posted the pictures of his antics on social media. When coworkers questioned him about it, he was kind of proud of his entertaining antics. I hope his friends were [...]

Turn down stage time? Darren? Yup! It’s not often I turn down stage time, but there does come a point in your career it’s the right thing to do. In my early days of stand-up comedy, I learned the key to becoming great was stage time. The more often you get up on stage, the [...]

Have you ever seen a student teach a valuable lesson to their teacher? Students can be great teachers – showing us what to do, or exactly what not to do. The learning comes from observation and reflection, and sometimes it can take a while to become clear. Just keep your eyes open, because the lessons [...]

You arrive for a seminar and look around the room as you take your seat. You nestle down and start skimming through the workbook to see what to expect. You wonder … will this be good? Did I make the right choice? Will I get my money’s worth? Before the first presenter takes the stage, [...]