Andy Weisberg is unusual.

He has performed and taught in over 100 universities and businesses throughout the U.S. and in five countries abroad.

As a result of his varied background in the Arts, Education, Government and Business, he is able to bring a unique sensibility to his presentations and training sessions, and they are both dynamic and transforming. His intense desire to be a catalyst for change is contagious, and his programs are as insightful as they are entertaining.

 

The way you look at work will never be the same...

 

Here are some of his most popular presentation titles:

"Why Isn't Work Fun?" - This is Andy's Humor in the Workplace presentation, with a unique spin on the real reasons why any company would need someone to come in and talk about humor in the  first place.

"Your presentation was a smash! It motivated

everyone who attended... Everyone I have spoken

to felt the seminar was very worthwhile and rated

it as one of the best they have ever attended..."

                                                  - Lori Austin,

                                                            The Prudential

"Changing the Change Strategies that Don't Change" - The problem with most change strategies is that they don't get to the heart of the problem: not changing is really comfortable!

"... the seminar was unique, engaging,

refreshing, and definitely energizing. It

helped us take action, re-looking at decisions

and considering possibilities we might not have

in prior meetings."    

            - Mark Broberg,

      Child Protection Services

"The Stress Mess" - The sources of stress are endless, but they all start with one critical misunderstanding: that they're outside of us.

"Thank you so very much for your seminars at the

National Sales Meeting. I have heard nothing but

positive comments about your style & content.

We are considering adding the seminar to our

Training Certification Program...“

 - Jill Grundy,

               National Computer Systems

"You Have all the Creativity You're Going to Get" - Very few people understand the workings of our creative selves, and school didn't help any. The good news is that we have an infinite capacity, and all we need is a place for it to flourish.

"...all evaluations gave him the highest rating,

adding comments such as, 'He's the best!', 'Great

speaker', 'He revitalized my thinking', 'Very

dynamic!'"                

                  - Bernice Baker,

         MN Department of Revenue

 

And here are some of his best known clients, in ascending order of name length:

3M
IBM
U.S. West
Prudential 
Land O' Lakes
Dayton / Hudson
U.S. Department of Education
American Women in Radio & Television

 

His 100% Guarantee:

All presentations are guaranteed to entertain and delight your audience or you pay no speaking fee!

(Please see my website at www.speaktomenow.com for details)

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An Abbreviated Biography

A Musician...

I started out in the presentation business when my father made me play guitar in front of his “Olde Fashionede Cande Shoppe” in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I wore a cowboy outfit, and took requests. Unfortunately, I only knew three songs, so when people would ask for anything but those three songs I’d say, “Uhh…. I don’t know that one.” They’d keep making requests, and I’d keep waiting for them to get to the three songs I knew, which were mostly Roger Miller songs. Since I was only 10 years old, eventually they’d figure it out and ask what I could play. And then I would kick it up with “King of the Road”. I also did a stirring version of “Old MacDonald”....

 And so, a career in public presentation was born.     

                                                   

In High School, I played in a rock band, performed in several plays, and got suspended once for smoking on school grounds. This was at a time when the teachers were still allowed to smoke in the classroom. I was confused.

An Actor...

By the time I was in college I was completely drawn to theater… for some odd reason. I had some wonderful experiences with great teachers, and amazing opportunities like working with Robin Reed, (one of the last true marionette puppeteers inthe country), living and working on the Navajo Indian Reservation, and studying and performing in Yugoslavia. 

Then I decided to become a Mime. Don’t ask. Well, maybe I should explain… This was the time of Shields and Yarnell, (remember their TV show?). Suddenly, there was a great deal of interest and respect for physical theater in general. And I got to spend hours making goofy faces in the mirror. 

After studying with people like Reid Gilbert, Leonard Pitt, Bob Berkey and Paul Sills, I performed for schools and taught movement for actors at several universities. It was very exciting, and very undependable. As an “Adjunct Faculty” member I had no rights, no support, no benefits, and no parking space. But I had a lot of freedom and again worked with a lot of great people. I considered it a good trade-off.

After fifteen years of teaching and performing in three different states, I found myself in Austin, Texas with two children, another on the way, and a consistently undependable income. My father “tipped me off” about a corporate training job with a large computer company in Minneapolis, and suggested, (read: insisted), that I apply. As he was the legal advisor for the company, I think he may have counseled them that it would be in their best interest to hire me. For legal reasons. And so they did. I became a part-time instructor for Presentation Skills, and that was the beginning of my second work life: Corporate Trainer.

A Corporate Trainer...

So, for the next fifteen years, I received an extensive education in the machinations of the corporate world of work. My first job, which developed into a full time position as a Senior Training Specialist, involved a lot of certification in varioustraining methodologies and an initiation into the mysteries of working in a cubicle.

Simultaneously and ironically, I was also being contacted by various businesses to give presentations on Humor in the Workplace. I soon found out that it was a result of an interview that I did for a local paper in Austin just before I started my new work life. It seems the title of the article, which was picked up by the wire service and published in newspapers all over the country, was, “Company Hires Corporate Clown”. (My new employer didn’t think it was the least bit funny… hence the irony.) And so, someone assumed that I could speak about Humor in the Workplace. I told them I didn’t have a presentation on Humor in the Workplace. Then they told me how much they would pay me for such a presentation, and I said, “Ohhh… Humor in the Workplace! Yes, I do that!” And so, I became a Professional Speaker.

A Government Agent??

After five years with the computer company, and speaking professionally on the side, I moved on to work for the Minnesota State Department of Human Services. (With even more irony, the public speaking presentations --- which were always a source of concern and discomfort for my first job --- were directly responsible for getting my second job with the State of Minnesota!)

This job was another kind of initiation into a very political atmosphere, with a lingering Union mentality and a collection of people who often just wanted to be left alone. My experience there was a mix of working with pockets of terrific people who really cared and wanted to make a difference, and the system that held them back. At the peak of our success as a highly effective and respected service, the department of eight professional trainers was abruptly shut down by forces ‘unknown’. And that was that.

I worked my way through two more corporate training jobs over thefollowing seven years. My experiences ranged from being in total control of and responsible for all internal training for huge and diverse pools of people, and being suddenly unemployed. I alternated between being afforded the respect and autonomy to do the job the way I knew it could be done best, and being micro-managed by complete maniacs.  

Throughout my tenure, I designed and delivered over 25 personal and professional development classes, developed in-house “Universities”, created new hire orientation programs, tailored on-line performance management systems, and designed sales training “Boot Camps”. It’s a bit mind numbing to think about this body of work as a whole.

And a Professional Speaker???

Throughout all of this I continued to give presentations on Humor, Creativity and Managing Change as a side bar to my career. I have never done any serious solicitation or marketing, yet I have worked consistently for over 12 years! I enjoyed my “real life” corporate training work, but all the while the presentations were what I enjoyed the most. They allowed me to mesh the best elements of both my adult careers -- performing and training -- in a fun and unique way.

So here I am, still presenting and loving it, and thinking that this will be my third work life. Either that, or I could be a cowboy.

                                      

                            (I promise I won't dress like this for your event!)