Biography

Joel Zeff creates energy. He is a dynamic speaker, improvisational humorist, and author. His interactive performances invite members of the audience to participate in hilarious improvisational exercises that illustrate Joel’s central message—that organizations and individuals should celebrate everyday successes to increase collaboration, productivity, passion, and innovation.

Since 1997, Joel has inspired audiences from Wells Fargo to Samsung to KPMG and even the IRS—yes, the IRS. Joel is a masterful public speaker, nationally renowned motivator, lifelong humorist, and improvisational actor.

His career is a search for fun and passion. He quickly realized the importance of both at his first jobs delivering the hometown newspaper and cleaning up trash at a suburban movie theater.

He started his professional career as a newspaper journalist and public relations executive. In 1994, Joel went out on his own as a corporate communications specialist. He helped clients with their employee communications, media relations, strategy, and customer marketing. Throughout the consulting process, Joel realized his clients – many of them high-level technology and telecommunications firms – needed more than marketing and public relations strategy. Many of his client’s employees were starving for fun, passion, and a new perspective on finding success.

At the time, Joel was having fun on the weekends as a comedian. Through friends, he discovered improvisational comedy. One of his clients (a large technology company) knew Joel performed comedy on the weekend. The client asked him to play some improvisational games before dinner for a group of high-level executives. He brought a fellow comedian, and a corporate speaking career was born.

He connects to his audience with humor that has them laughing so uncontrollably that their mascara runs, their cheeks hurt, and their bellies ache. And he doesn’t do it alone. Volunteers from the audience join him on stage and play an integral role in an improvisation game in front of hundreds or thousands of people—something the audience members have never done. He expects nothing less than their success. He expects the volunteers to focus and work together as a team, communicate effectively, positively support each other, and take responsibility.

Joel makes his audience laugh so hard that they forget about the corporate nonsense of conference calls, “strategic deliverables,” PowerPoint presentations with upside-down triangles, or “paradigm shifts in a cross-functional organization.” Make the Right Choice is conversational, funny, and very informative. Yes, Joel will make you laugh but also make you think. This presentation delivers a combination of inspiration, essential business knowledge, and significant ideas to help audience members reconnect with their passion and success.

As discussed in his book, Make the Right Choice, Joel believes we all encounter career choices. We always have the opportunity to make the right choice to live a more creative, passionate, and productive life. How do you “make the right choice”? You can choose to provide opportunity. You can choose to provide positive support. And along the way, you can choose to have fun. It’s really that simple. Joel teaches us just how easy it is to make these choices.

When he is not speaking, Joel expresses his creativity as an actor, writer, and comedian.  He started performing professionally in 1992. In Dallas, he was co-host of The Movie Zone on UPN 21.  He has appeared in dozens of commercials for numerous clients, including the Dallas Cowboys, Harrah’s Casino, Mydiscountbroker.com, Time Warner Cable, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, Eagle Country Markets, and Extraco Bank. He has appeared in hundreds of corporate videos and on shows from CNBC’s The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch to the Fox Network’s Fox and Friends Weekend. His articles have been featured in The Dallas Morning News, The Houston Chronicle, The Kansas City Star, among many other mainstream media outlets.

 

 

 

 

 

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Videos

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The Tao of Ta-Da: Watch What Happens When Work Becomes Play

In this hilarious interactive keynote, Joel invites members of the audience to participate in improvisational exercises to help illustrate the central message: That organizations and individuals should CELEBRATE everyday successes to increase collaboration, productivity, passion and innovation.

Joel’s presentations focus on the following:

Seven Lessons Learned:
1. Learn to celebrate work and create a positive environment.
2. Learn to improve collaboration and teamwork and help all partners find success.
3. Learn the three keys to leading change: be prepared; be focused; be open and flexible.
4. Learn the key to success: staying in the game and keeping your passion.
5. Learn to promote ownership and accountability.
6. Learn to encourage innovation by creating opportunity.
7. Learn to enhance communication.

Testimonials

Congratulations again for your success in delivering an impactful message in a memorable and entertaining way. You and your message were a hit with the Restaurant Managers, Regional Trainers and Consultants and USTL&D Leadership. Once we have our debrief meeting, I am hoping to find out if McDonald’s has a database for highly recommended presenters and vendors. If it does, we will be sure to add your name and contact information to it along with the positive feedback that we have received. Thank you again for your professionalism, wisdom and humor.
– MCDONALD'S CORPORATION
I would definitely give Joel 5’s across the board! He was just hilarious and I don’t think that I have laughed that hard in a long time! I spoke with him about the possibility of working with our company again for a different group. I will keep you posted as I believe he would be just perfect! Also, just a delight to work with!!!
– SECURIAN
You’ve done it once again!! Joel was hilarious. But, more than anything he provided practical application to help me become a stronger leader with my team. I LOVED learning about creative ways to engage my team, taking advantage of opportunities and providing positive support to my employees to show they are heard and valued. I will also be using the communication improv and ‘Mr.-Know-It-All’ during my next team meeting. Keep listening and demonstrating you hear us by doing all you can to provide the tools necessary for us to be stronger and more effective leaders. Thank you!
– AFLAC INCORPORATED - WORLDWIDE HEADQUARTERS
Your keynote session was exceptionally relevant to the central themes of our meeting, and you managed to energize our participants around these topics through your dynamic delivery. Thank you for a fantastic session that sent our attendees back into their workplaces with fresh perspective and renewed passion.
– CAPITAL ONE
We all agreed that you are the best motivational/leadership speaker we have had at our events.
– CITRIX

Booksby Joel Zeff

Make the Right Choice

Blog Posts

An Astronaut’s Guide on Leadership and Innovation Lessons on Earth

Explore how former NASA astronaut Dr. Leroy Chiao’s experiences in space unlock insights on leadership, innovation, and resilience for teams on Earth.

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The Future of Event Keynotes: Personalization, AI, and Interactive Storytelling

Find out how event personalization, AI-driven insights, and interactive storytelling are revolutionizing keynote speeches with business futurist Greg Verdino.

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The Power of Play: Why Entertainment Is Essential for Engagement

“Entertainment is the emotional glue that connects people to ideas.”—Robert McKee, storytelling expert There’s a shift that happens the moment someone laughs. Shoulders loosen. The room lightens. The noise of the outside world fades just...

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Designing Events That Spark Lasting Connections

Discover Wendy Porter’s proven WPE Planning Process for crafting live, virtual, and hybrid events that foster genuine connections, boost engagement, and drive ROI.

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The Best Diversity and Inclusion Speakers

Why are diversity and inclusion speakers some of the most transformative voices on stage? Because inclusion is no longer a box to check; it’s a culture to create. From boardrooms to classrooms, arenas to virtual...

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AI, Brain Science, and Resilience with Sarah Baldeo

Expand your mind on how AI, neuroscience, and emotional intelligence converge to rewire resilience and drive growth with TED speaker Sarah Baldeo.

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Blog Posts

 

An Astronaut’s Guide on Leadership and Innovation Lessons on Earth

In the boundless vacuum of space, leaders face challenges that dwarf anything encountered on Earth....

Read More

The Future of Event Keynotes: Personalization, AI, and Interactive Storytelling

Imagine a keynote at your next event that feels designed just for your audience—where every...

Read More

The Power of Play: Why Entertainment Is Essential for Engagement

“Entertainment is the emotional glue that connects people to ideas.”—Robert McKee, storytelling expert There’s a...

Read More

Designing Events That Spark Lasting Connections

Imagine stepping into an event where every detail is designed to foster genuine human connection—from...

Read More

The Best Diversity and Inclusion Speakers

Why are diversity and inclusion speakers some of the most transformative voices on stage? Because...

Read More

AI, Brain Science, and Resilience with Sarah Baldeo

Imagine harnessing the power of AI (artificial intelligence) together with cutting-edge insights from technology and...

Read More