Michael Kerr
Award-winning Motivational Speaker & Workplace Energizer
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! --
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Live or Virtual Keynotes:
Small Moments, Big Outcomes - How to Create an Inspiring 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 or buy your culture at IKEA!
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.
One of the things that so many inspiring workplaces do so successfully, in fact, is they hold their employees accountable not just for the work they do, but for how they contribute to to a more positive workplace environment.
And the great news is, it truly is the smallest of moments that make all the difference!
Here are some of the key messages Michael Kerr touches on during this presentation. And not to worry, he’ll work with you to tailor the presentation so it’s focused on the areas you need the most, and yes, he can mix and match messages from my other presentations as well.
Key messages for Small Moments, Big Outcomes:
- Why work matters! It’s far more than just a paycheck!
- The attitude choice we all make every day that contributes to a more positive workplace.
- How do you define your culture and does culture really eat strategy for breakfast? (Spoiler alert: Your culture seriously impacts every aspect of your business!)
- Leaders leading leaders: Why everyone in your workplace needs to step up and take personal responsibility for how they contribute to your culture (Fun fact: a study showed that some employee’s presence at work causes the rest of their teammates’ blood pressure to rise! We should probably talk about that.)
- Valuing your values: Actions speak louder than words and talk is cheap! How great companies live their values out loud and treat them as lines in the sand.
- Creating a purpose-driven culture: Connecting employees to the most powerful and influential motivator there is.
- Communication is everything and everything is communication: Busting silos, strengthening collaboration, creating space for meaningful conversations, and getting your meetings right!
- Money isn’t always honey! Creating a “want to” vs. a “have to” workplace that truly engages employees and turns lifelong employees into loyal, raving fans (there’s a huge difference between the two).
- Creating a service-first culture: Why phenomenal customer service starts on the inside and why some of your most important customers are also known as your teammates.
- Work is hard enough as it is without making it any harder! Why great organizations embrace a spirit of fun and how humor both creates more humane, resilient cultures, and reflects humane, resilient cultures.
- Keeping the culture message alive. You don’t build a rocking culture through a 1 or 10 times a year event. Get ready to walk away with inspiring ideas that will keep your culture conversation alive.
This presentation is geared for all employees at any level in any organization, or it can be customized for only front line employees or for senior leadership teams.
If you want to leave your audience laughing, inspired, and armed with practical, relevant ideas they can immediately put into practice to make a real difference in your workplace, this talk is for you!
Additional Keynote / Workshop Topics
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:
- Exceed your customers’ expectations of good customer service.
- 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.
We were drowning in tears of laughter – Michael is a very dynamic and upbeat speaker. His presentation was an excellent way to end our conference.
–Industry Canada
We were drowning in tears of laughter – Michael is a very dynamic and upbeat speaker. His presentation was an excellent way to end our conference.
–Industry Canada
Michael's presentation yesterday was fantastic!! It was exactly what we were looking for....humourous, upbeat, inspiring and conveyed our objectives for the meeting. Thanks to K&M Productions for suggesting Michael Kerr and we look forward to working with you again in the near future.
–Atlantic Packaging
THANK YOU very much for making our company's 25th Anniversary conference so memorable. I received nothing but glowing, rave reviews for you and your presentation from all the attendees. Your message of Inspiring Workplaces was one of the most effective, enlightening, and entertaining presentations we've ever had at a conference (and we've had a lot!) Thanks again to you and K&M Productions.
–Executive Director / ClimateCare Co-operative
One of the best and one of the most highest rated speakers we've ever had at our annual confderence.
–Farm Credit Canada
He was fabulous. What a fantastic speaker!!
–Association of Yukon Communities
You received the highest evaluation out of any speaker we've ever had. Well done!
–Mr. Safety Shoes
Michael, your presentation was beyond excellent! I cannot thank you enough for all of your hard work prior to and at our conference last week. You have the unique ability as a speaker to both entertain and educate people. Our audience all felt you had a good understanding of our business challenges, and were darn funny at the same time. Your presentation was the perfect mix of a serious business based message, along with a very funny and engaging delivery. Michael Kerr is a very talented, entertaining and compelling speaker. I would strongly recommend Michael Kerr to any company as I would use his services again without question.
–President, Sandvik Canada, Inc.
A heartfelt thank you for helping to make the National Wholesale Conference an event to remember. Your keynote was exactly what we were looking for to kick things off - high energy, packed with great ideas, and laugh out loud funny. The feedback from the Store managers was incredible, and you left everyone with positive energy to take back to the workplace.
–Loblaw Companies Limited
Michael Kerr was amazing! Not only was he thoroughly entertaining but he also delivered a valuable, pertinent message at the same time. His delivery was great. It was well received by the audience. I would confidently recommend Michael to anyone looking for an incredible and inspiring speaker. Great job!"
–Bell Canada
Your name and topic brought a record crowd to our dinner meeting. Your presentation not only provided us with an opportunity to laugh, but also with a chance to look at how we can use humor to make our workplaces truly exciting and fun places to be!
–Human Resources Management Association of Manitoba
You had our delegates on the edge of their seats with your anecdotes.
–Canadian Registered Safety Professionals
You were absolutely sensational yesterday! Magical! Inspiring! Outrageous! Mesmerizing! I only heard the absolute best comments about you...WOW! Thank you for ending our year in such a phenomenal way!
–Canadian Association of Professional Speakers
The delegates were truly entertained, educated and enlivened by your presentation. The fact that we could acquire someone of such high calibre as yourself was a true bonus!
–Toastmasters International
To anyone looking for a humourous and educational speaker - Mike was outstanding. Not only was he very funny and entertaining, there was a lot to learn about humour in the workplace. We will see him again ... no question about it!
–Canadian Association of Pharmacy Technicians
We made the right decision. Michael’s talk was both enlightening and entertaining. Michael delivered everything we hoped for and more. 83% of our delegates rated him as excellent, the other 17% as good. How many speakers earn ratings like this? I recommend Michael without reservation, he will NOT disappoint.
–Independent Community Bankers of America
Your talk was a HUGE success, I have received many compliments on my choice of keynote speaker. Your topic was an excellent compliment to the more technical nature of the conference, and was both entertaining and thought provoking.
–Canadian Petroleum Tax Society
I have never heard so many compliments for this type of session. Michael presents valuable, pertinent and USEFUL information in a manner that is highly effective.
–Sustainable Resources Development
Michael Kerr did an excellent job of demonstrating how humour can influence a positive attitude, relieve stress, build stronger teams, spark creativity and improve morale.
–Allstate Canada Group