A lot can happen in two years.
At this time in 2017, no one had heard of #MeToo. The political climate, while still intense, had not reached the level of combustibility that exists today. Workplace political correctness has ratcheted up significantly.
What’s a speaker to do?
Easy. Change with the times by consistently producing new video footage and, in the process, showing corporate event planners the person they are hiring is aware of today’s landscape, and can adjust his or her remarks accordingly.
For the past 20 years, I’ve made my living as a business humor speaker. Some call me a “corporate comedian.” Whatever the title, my job is to make corporate America laugh at itself. It’s a job I enjoy and a challenge I relish, despite increasing warnings from meeting planners and HR departments to “not say this, stay away from that, and, under no circumstances, bring up this.”
The best way, in my opinion, to make meeting planners comfortable, is to consistently update my demo reel. It’s expensive (my video editing skills are slim at best), and time consuming, but so necessary. The themes of my 2017 reel focused on customization and my ability to work “clean.” Yes, I still customize and no, you will never hear me utter a profanity during a keynote, but my 2019 reel also includes references to how laughter is synonymous with wellness, and how workplaces have a tendency to stymie laughter when just the opposite should be occurring. Companies are more concerned than ever with their worker’s mental health these days so why not talk about it? In a humorous way?
There’s nothing worse than seeing a speaker whose “current” reel contains grainy footage from yesteryear. I watched one comedian whose opening minute featured his appearance on The Tonight Show…with Johnny Carson. Any comedian will tell you that appearing on Carson’s show was the ultimate feather in the cap during the king of late night’s run on NBC. Problem is, Carson has been dead for 14 years. Some meeting planners may have been in their early teens when he passed and have little or no recollection of the man, despite his legendary status. An appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon would carry more weight.
My new reel is only one week old but I am already beginning to think about my 2021 demo. Sometimes I liken myself to a member of Congress; I’m always running for reelection and always looking for ways to appeal to a new voter base. And if I can make you laugh while doing that, all the better.
Greg Schwem is a corporate humorist, hilarious motivational speaker and meeting emcee. His speaking clients have included Microsoft, McDonald’s, Southwest Airlines, Oracle and The CIA. Contact Greg here.
