Michael Kerr

Michael Kerr, Speaker, CSP is one of North America's leading authorities on fostering innovative and inspiring workplace cultures. His presentations - known for introducing practical ideas that audiences can put to work immediately — are delivered in a truly unforgettable manner through his memorable brand of clean, high-energy humour. Why choose between a high-energy entertaining presentation and relevant, insightful content when you can have both? +

Meet One of North America’s Most Influential and Entertaining Workplace Culture Thought Leaders. Life is too short to work in a soul-sucking workplace. That’s why Michael’s on a mission to turbo charge inspiring, happy, and humane workplace cultures that drive OUTRAGEOUS results.

Canadian Speaking Hall of Fame inductee Michael Kerr is an international business speaker, very funny motivational speaker, and workshop trainer. He’s also the author of 8 books including: The Jerk-Free Workplace: How You Can Take The Lead to Create a Happier, More Inspiring Workplace; The Humor Advantage: Why Some Businesses Are Laughing All the Way to the Bank; and Hire, Inspire, and Fuel Their Fire: How to Recruit, Onboard, and Train New Employees to Live Your Culture Out Loud.

For more than 20 years, Michael has travelled the world researching, writing, and speaking about inspiring workplace cultures, inspiring leaders, and businesses that leverage their humor resources to drive outrageous results for their employees and their customers.

He is known as one of North America’s leading speakers on creating high-performing, service-first cultures. His high energy, hilarious, inspiring, and thought-provoking programs are often rated as having the greatest impact and relevance of any presentation at a conference, which is why Michael has been listed as one of Canada’s most requested business speakers.

Michael has delivered his captivating keynote presentations and training workshops to more than 3,000 audiences, from Austria to Australia, from Boston to Bermuda, from Cleveland to Calgary.

His presentations offer relevant, practical ideas delivered with his memorable brand of clean humor. “Inspiring,” “hilarious,” “energizing,” “fabulous ideas,” and “incredibly relevant and timely content,” are phrases clients repeatedly use to describe the impact of his presentations.

His ideas on building better workplace cultures have been featured in hundreds of publications worldwide, while his Inspiring Workplaces blog has been recognized as one of the top-30 workplace blogs in the world.

Michael lives in the spectacularly inspiring Canadian Rockies.

Looking to create an inspiring, rocking, humane, fun, service-first workplace culture? Contact us! --

VIRTUAL / LIVE KEYNOTES:

Inspiring Workplaces: How to Create a Dynamic, Collaborative, Service-First Culture That Drives Outrageous Results! +

Your workplace culture is your #1 competitive advantage. But here’s the rub. Great cultures don’t just happen! You can’t fake a great culture. You need to be intentional about your workplace culture. And you need to enlist everyone’s support to contribute to a purpose-driven, happier, more resilient, innovative, collaborative, and service-focused culture. --

Leaders Leading Leaders: Great Cultures Begin with Intentional Leadership from the Top +

Great workplace cultures don’t happen by accident, and they don’t happen without intentional leadership. I use the term “intentional”, well, intentionally. I’ve interviewed hundreds of leaders around the world, and inspiring leaders tell me time and time again that the key to their success as a leader starts by simply being more intentional about being a leader.

This means knowing there’s a difference between being a manager or boss and being a leader. Being intentional means consciously making decisions and choices about your attitude and behaviours that reflect and demonstrate real leadership.

Intentional leadership is about creating more leaders at work, not more followers, which is why so many high-achieving organizations embrace the mantra “we are leaders leading leaders.” --

The Jerk-Free Workplace: How to Take the Lead When You’re Not the Boss +

As he explains in his book, The Jerk-Free Workplace, this presentation is more than just about shining a spotlight on jerk-like attitudes and behaviours that might lead to conflict and poor morale in your workplace.

It’s about the need for all your employees, regardless of their position or role, to step up, take responsibility, be accountable for their actions, and embrace the power they have as leaders to create a greater future for themselves and for your workplace.

This presentation celebrates the idea that everyone has the potential to step up as a leader. And if you want to create a happier, more collaborative and more innovative culture that drives outrageous results, you absolutely NEED to encourage all your employees to embrace a leadership mindset. --

The Humour Advantage: Putting Humour to Work for Less Stress and More Success +

Mike Kerr has visited dozens of inspiring workplaces around the world that take their humour, well, seriously! And for good reason. Study after study reveals how humor helps companies reduce employee turnover and absenteeism rates, lower stress levels, foster an environment of resiliency, build relationships, improve morale, collaboration, and communication. Humour also helps companies stand out with their remarkable customer service, humanizes their company, and in some cases even builds a unique brand.

As he stresses to audiences, it’s not about telling jokes, being the office joker, or even about being funny. It’s about finding the funny in your everyday work lives, being more authentic at work, laughing at the things you have no control over, and, especially, about laughing at ourselves.

When you infuse your entire culture with a spirit of safe humour, it’s one of the most powerful tools there is that truly can help you energize your culture and drive outrageous results! --

Inspiring Change at Work: How to Champion Innovation and Turn Ideas into Action +

Change is happening on so many levels and at a faster pace than ever before. And if the pace of change outside your company exceeds the pace of change on the inside, it’s just a matter of time before you’re going to be in trouble. Serious trouble.

You have three options really, when it comes to your relationship with change. You can ghost it (in other words, cover your eyes and ears and ignore it), you can host it (learn to adapt to the change that is happening around you), or you can toast it (by embracing and leading change).

To wrap your arms around change and show change the love it deserves, you need the right mindset, the right tools, and the right culture that supports creativity, resiliency, and innovation. --

Creating a Service-First Culture: Why You need to Stop Providing Good Customer Service! +

Since your customers already expect “good customer service,” all you’re doing by providing “good customer service” is staying out of the customer service. All you’re doing is meeting expectations. Yawn.

You’re never going to stand out from the herd and earn a reputation for your phenomenal service if you don’t do one of two things:

1. Exceed your customers’ expectations of good customer service.
2. Do something different, something your competitors won’t do or can’t do.

And this customer service mindset begins on the inside of your company, which is why, once again, there’s a deep connection to your culture. You need to create a culture that is infused with a service-first mindset; where it is second nature to provide remarkable customer service on the inside; and where everyone treats their teammates like their most important customers. --

Hire, Inspire, and Fuel Their Fire: How to Recruit, Onboard, and Train New Employees to Love Your Culture Out Loud +

You cannot create a rocking, innovative, service-first culture without getting your hiring, onboarding, and training right! As the old mantra goes, “If you hire wrong, you can do no right, but if you hire right, you can do no wrong!”

Everything starts with hiring the right people — the people that are a right fit for you; the employees that are going to grow your culture in the direction you need to take it.

This is an essential topic for leaders who understand the significant costs associated with a bad hire and, conversely, the enormous benefit of recruiting top talent who are a perfect fit for your company.

Participants will love Michael Kerr’s unique take on this in-demand topic and appreciate the many relevant ideas based on his extensive interviews with CEOs, senior managers, and HR professionals from around the world who are using innovative techniques with their recruitment and onboarding. --

Additional Virtual / Live Presentations & Webinar Topics

• Managing and Motivating Virtual Teams
• Putting Humor to Work for Less Stress and More Success!
• Communication is Everything and Everything is Communication
• Building Resilient Cultures
• Encouraging Everyone to Step Up as a Leader During Difficult Times

Michael Kerr is represented by K&M Productions. To inquire about Michael Kerr's speaking schedule & booking Michael Kerr, contact us.