Focus On Talents: Insights from Improv & The Magic Harmonica with Joel Zeff

🎙️ Get ready to inject some laughter into your day with the latest episode of Pathways with Amber Stitt, featuring the incredibly humorous and insightful Joel Zeff! 🌟

In this uplifting episode, we dive deep with Joel Zeff, a renowned speaker, humorist, and author known for his incomparable wit and wisdom. From his roots in stand-up comedy to his mastery of improv and public speaking, Joel shares his journey through 2,500+ events, drawing a roadmap of how spontaneity and positivity can transform our professional and personal lives.

🔊 Episode Highlights:

- Joel's electrifying role as an MC and why your event shouldn't settle for "Bob from accounting"

- How improv can unlock creativity, improve teamwork, and enhance communication

- An unforgettable keynote moment featuring Larry Hagman that charged up a crowd

- Balancing life's unpredictability: Joel speaks on the day his daughter was born

- The story of the "magic harmonica" and the power of a positive reaction to job loss

- Joel's take on leadership, being present, and the value of vulnerability

- A riotous party at the MDRT conference that showcases the uniting power of humor

📚 Don't forget to check out Joel's book, "Make the Right Choice," a treasure trove of inspiration for embracing life's twists with a smile. Find it through the link below and on his website:

http://joelzeff.com

As always, Amber Stitt, your host, brings her charm and curiosity, making this episode a delightful journey through the serious business of not taking life too seriously.

Joel even goes so far as to dub Pathways with Amber Stitt "probably the best podcast in the history of all podcasts" — a claim that's hard to dispute after this enlightening discussion!

So, whether you're commuting, working out, or just looking for your daily dose of joy, tune in to Pathways for a dose of cheer and motivation. 🎧

To watch this episode:  https://youtu.be/mp0Tuku_HcA

👇👇👇

Grab your headphones and click play to join Amber and Joel for a conversation that may just change the way you view your next challenge. And remember to subscribe for more fantastic content from Amber.

Website: https://www.amberstitt.com

Joel Zeff's Book: "Make the Right Choice":

https://www.amazon.com/Make-Right-Choice-Innovative-Productive/dp/0470099291

Connect with Joel on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelzeff/

On Facebook:

https://web.facebook.com/thejoelzeff?_rdc=1&_rdr

✨ Thank you for listening and be sure to leave your comments below – we love to hear from our listeners! Now, let's dive into this transformative episode with Joel Zeff on Pathways with Amber Stitt. ✨

#TheAmberStittShow #JoelZeff #PublicSpeaking #Improv #Motivation #Leadership #Comedy #Humorist  #InspirationalConversations #JoyinWork #TeamBuilding #KeynoteSpeaker  #MakeTheRightChoice #PathwaysWithAmberStitt

Transcript

Amber Stitt [00:00:00]:
Hello and welcome to The Amber Stitt Show. I am your host, Amber Stitt and today we welcome the globally known speaker, humorist, author, and more. Welcome Joel to the show.

Joel Zeff [00:00:11]:
Thank you. I'm excited.

Amber Stitt [00:00:13]:
So I need to know.

Joel Zeff [00:00:14]:
Yeah.

Amber Stitt [00:00:15]:
Were you always considered a funny guy, or is this like a new thing for you?

Joel Zeff [00:00:20]:
Yeah, it's just I woke up one day, I think I ate something and then all of a sudden I'm like really loud. And even going back to thinking about going back when I was younger, I remember doing a stand up routine in 8th grade for the whole eigth grade. I mean, it's not like I was writing jokes. It was basically just kind of doing impressions of the teachers and principals, which kills. So, yeah, I mean, I would say I was always funny. Got in trouble a lot, especially if it was at a family gathering, you know, I was making fun of Uncle Oscar.

Amber Stitt [00:01:00]:
Were you showing like food while you're doing this too? Like opening your mouth behind grandma's back?

Joel Zeff [00:01:04]:
Yeah, doing family impressions. And it's kind of like when Spiderman gets his powers and he doesn't know how to use them, he just keeps running into walls. And so it took me a while to figure out how to kind of focus it. It was always out there and sometimes it would just be loud and expressive at the wrong times. And then once I figured out how to channel it and use it for good and not evil, it created a career. And I never planned on being a keynote speaker and MC. I didn't even know people hired keynote speakers or that it even existed. I didn't even know.

Joel Zeff [00:01:42]:
And so it kind of chose me and it was all my experiences kind of helped each other. My experiences being a journalist and a public relations professional, an advertising professional, and then also doing stand up and improv on the side and all these worlds kind of connected in the mid nineties. And by I say '97 was when I started because that's when I did a video. The client was Allstate Insurance. I spoke to them, they called it an auditorium, I called it a lunchroom. And so I spoke in their lunchroom, they called it an auditorium, but there was a stage and I recorded it, edited a little video together. And so that's when I say '97 is when, I did things before that, but '97 is when I say I started. And then 2,500 events later, now I'm on the Amber Stitt Show.

Joel Zeff [00:02:36]:
Wow.

Amber Stitt [00:02:38]:
And only my grandma is watching and people know in my audience, they know.

Joel Zeff [00:02:42]:
I'm like, I'm here. The Amber Stitt Show. Are you kidding me?

Amber Stitt [00:02:46]:
Well, I met you at an MDRT Million Dollar Roundtable conference. One of the biggest ones. One of their best ones. Yeah, if we're going to pick from what I've seen. And I guess part of the deal was to be able to bring some heavy metal to the stage. So was it a requirement for you to collaborate with a drummer? No, so for the audience, we had this amazing collab that was like a super surprise, and you were a part of that. So it's pretty fascinating.

Amber Stitt [00:03:14]:
You get to live that life. So let's talk about MC life.

Joel Zeff [00:03:17]:
I would say 80% of my business is as a keynote speaker and about 20% is as an MC. And that's where we met at the MDRT, and I was the MC. And it's really the same energy. And sometimes I get to use some of my keynote elements as an MC, but it's just about just creating energy and fun and connecting with the audience, engaging, making sure everybody's having an awesome time. And it's awesome because it's just a totally different animal than the keynote animal where you come in, you do a keynote, 60 minutes, boom, you're gone. As an MC, you get to spend two, three days with the audience and you really connect to them and you really learn about them. And it's fun because those connections can create these really incredible moments on stage, these unique, amazing, just moments of perfection that you're looking for, that everybody has this unique experience and laughs at this one joke that only can happen with this group at this time, at this moment. And it just makes it a fun, exciting event.

Joel Zeff [00:04:21]:
And I love doing it. I love both. They're just two different... You know, one's an apple and one's an orange. But I love both.

Amber Stitt [00:04:26]:
That's nice that you can mix it up.

Joel Zeff [00:04:28]:
You connect more as an MC because you spend more time with the client. And that's a lot of fun because you get to know them in a more personal level and that's a lot of fun. And it's inspiring, too, to meet so many incredible people. It's energizing as an MC because you're seeing a lot of other speakers and connecting them. Not all of them are great. Some of them are not good, and some of them are awesome. And you become friends and they inspire you and they energize you. And so you kind of make that connection.

Amber Stitt [00:04:59]:
Well, you have a gift of taking the group, we'll call it the industry event. And you come back for usually repeats. I've seen that you have multiple clients that you come back and then there's this storyline. You learn about them, you know who the main people are. You get people in the audience and then you keep building on that. So the next day you show up and you're talking about the night before and this or that. There's definitely a linking that just tells the story that doesn't stop until people leave. Why do you think that's so important for companies to have that for their teams?

Joel Zeff [00:05:30]:
I think it's connection, it's engagement and I think it's important to have that. A lot of companies don't think the MC is a critical part of their event and they get Bob from accounting to do it. Bob's job is not to create energy. Bob's job is...Bob's a mess.

Amber Stitt [00:05:48]:
Bob is like pushing everyone to the cocktail hour because we want Bob to stop talking.

Joel Zeff [00:05:53]:
Yeah, Bob doesn't care. And especially if there's an awards presentation. I love when clients hire me to MC their awards presentation. They tell me what they did last year and it was like Bob from HR, or Karen from HR. I don't know why Bob and Karen are the names that come up, and they're not professional. Like, I'm not going to come in and try to do your HR job. Don't try to do something... It's a profession, it's a skill set.

Joel Zeff [00:06:20]:
And I've done in the neighborhood of 2,500 events and then I've probably done 3,000 improv shows and probably a couple of thousand stand up shows. And you put all this together. It's an amazing experience of being in front of different audiences and you understand how to connect, you understand how to engage with that audience because every room is different. This group is going to be totally different than that group. What their energy is, what their mood, kind of just how they're feeling, how they're interacting. And it's your job as an MC to kind of bring that all together, figure out what's happening and create that spirit where we're all engaged, having fun and making that connection, because that's what it's all about to come together. You have this opportunity that you have this room full of people. And whether you're going to entertain them, you're going to educate them, you're going to motivate them, you're going to inspire them.

Joel Zeff [00:07:10]:
Whatever is happening, it's a special time when you bring a group of people together to experience this as a group. And when you have that experience, it stays with you. It's this unique moment in time, because this group of people are only together for this moment in time. And so, as the MC, you want to create that energy and make that connection and utilize that to make it special, where they walk out of the ballroom or the event space, and they go, "Wow, that was the best conference we have ever attended," and that's what it's all about. And you mentioned we met at MDRT, and it was an incredible group of people. And what was really, for me, inspiring is that there was people from all over the world.

Amber Stitt [00:07:52]:
Yeah.

Joel Zeff [00:07:52]:
I don't know how many countries were represented. 30 different countries, maybe, were represented. And so that is inspiring in itself, that you have people from all over the world, and they're laughing together at something that you say, or they're being... Or, one of the keynotes, like Seb Terry was one of the keynotes. He did an awesome job of inspiring people, and that he's reaching 500 people from 30 different countries, and a lot of people are having the keynote translated or having my jokes translated. And for them, the laugh comes, like, 10 seconds later, which is awesome. Where they find, oh, but when you are doing something or saying something that people from around the world are all connecting and laughing at, that's, to me, one of the absolute greatest moments as far as being an MC, or as a speaker. It's incredible.

Joel Zeff [00:08:48]:
And that event was just incredibly energizing, inspiring to me to have that happen, and people come up to you and tell you how much they enjoyed it in their language and being translated. It's awesome. It's absolutely awesome. I'm very lucky. I'm very fortunate that I get to do this.

Amber Stitt [00:09:05]:
Yeah. And the other thing I like about the multicultural, it's men and women from anywhere, and no one brings up anything, but just having a good time, having thought leadership, and then just being happy that people are successful together. So there's some bonds that can come about that, and I figure you're also seeing them a lot of times the next year and the next year on out because of that. I think the gift that you have that can bring that connection, and people ask you to come back for more. So that's great. On my show, we talk about focusing on talents. And part of your speaking experience, did it come from being a writer, journalist, or were you aware of your talents and you pulled it all together over time, it just evolved?

Joel Zeff [00:09:44]:
That would be cool. That would be really cool if that happened.

Amber Stitt [00:09:47]:
It did.

Joel Zeff [00:09:48]:
Oh, my gosh, that'd be so cool. You know, there really wasn't a plan. Amber, sounds like I worked on something and Amber's like, "Did you plan it? You worked at it. You took all these skills, and you outlined it, and you put a presentation together," and that sounds like a tremendous amount of work. I'll tell you what happened. So I was doing improv on the weekends at a theater in, you know, the first weekend I moved to Dallas, I came to Dallas to work at a newspaper, the Dallas Times Herald. I was a journalist. And so the first weekend, a friend took me to see this improv show, and it was literally like the movie where it know the moment where the protagonist finds that one thing and the music kind of, and you realize this is the moment.

Joel Zeff [00:10:37]:
And I had that moment where I don't know how, I don't know why, or when, or what, that I can perform that improv, but that's what I want to do. And so I started taking some workshops. Eventually, I auditioned, got in the troupe, and was performing improv. And one of my clients at that time, and then, so fast forward a couple years, I was doing PR for an agency, and one of my clients was Texas Instruments, and this group was having an executive retreat. And the client said, "I know you do improv on the weekend. Can you take that improv, come up and play some of those games with us before dinner?" And I'm like, yeah. I mean, it wasn't like I jumped in. It was kind of like, "Yeah, sure."

Joel Zeff [00:11:18]:
I took another performer with me. This was all men. The audience was all men, all VP level technology. And so they had an awesome time. More importantly, I had an awesome time. And the light bulb started flickering, and this was like, "Oh, maybe I can offer this to other clients. Maybe this could be something that I could do every once in a while." And just, like, know, if you follow your passion and you love something, it's not work.

Joel Zeff [00:11:44]:
And that's what I did. And your name gets passed around, and, like, "Oh, you should hire Joel."

Amber Stitt [00:11:48]:
Well, I was going to ask you about the improv, because you get probably through a certain series of, "Okay, I can do this on stage now I'll add on, add on." But you have to touch a lot of people and put a lot of people on stage together. When you say touch, you can tell the audience, like, you're doing, or you're the prime example, and people are moving elbows, hands, and just. You're doing some silly stuff. And we can find this online. I've seen evidence of this online.

Joel Zeff [00:12:19]:
Minimal touching. Minimal touching.

Amber Stitt [00:12:22]:
But it's so funny. And I think that's part of the team building experience, is having people that would never probably do some of this stuff to have this feeling of just joy. No matter what personality, style, or their task at the company, they can have that collaboration and camaraderie.

Joel Zeff [00:12:37]:
Yeah, I mean, you hit upon it. First of all, I love improv. It's a passion of mine. And so I love sharing what improv gave me and what improv taught me. I love sharing it and I love performing that improv. And so I found a way to do it and kind of share that and make a living, which is awesome. Again, following what you love to do, not worrying about whether you get paid. When I first started, if you gave me a $50 Chili's gift card, I was like, "It doesn't get any better than this.

Joel Zeff [00:13:08]:
Are you serious? I'm going to do some improv games and you just gave me a $50 Chili's gift card." And then you add on like a hoodie, or like swag. I'm like, "Are you kidding?"

Amber Stitt [00:13:19]:
"I got a hoodie and a koozie."

Joel Zeff [00:13:20]:
"And a koozie!" Incredible. So what I realized is that people love improv. They take to it. It's unique because, one, it's unique, it's different. Two, you're performing with people in the audience, your friends, your colleagues, your mentors, your managers. That is different and unique. It's what I'm bringing to the game, my sensibility and my humor and how I interact with the people on stage.

Joel Zeff [00:13:46]:
And so everybody wants to play. I don't care what type of group it is, what type of industry people want to play, they're just not given that opportunity. And to be given that opportunity at an event, at a sales conference, at a leadership event, at a user's group, at an education function for financial professionals, it just unlocks something, because people want to play and they want to laugh and they want to be entertained. And today, when we talk about learning at these conferences, we talk about education. Nowadays, most audiences, they want that entertainment as part of the education.

Amber Stitt [00:14:22]:
They need the relief, like that distraction from just the stress of the job. They just need that.

Joel Zeff [00:14:26]:
They want the interactivity, they want the engagement. And so improv is just such a unique art form and it's so much fun. And I think it's also very inclusive is that it just allows everybody to participate. Whatever your background is, whatever your experience is, you're the CEO, or entry level, or middle manager, whatever industry, it just includes everybody. Viola Spolin created improv at NYU in the late thirties to teach young acting students. So improv is a teaching tool at the beginning and so it draws on bringing people in, being inclusive, letting everybody participate, and having an ability to learn through that connection, through that engagement, whether it's learning about change or teamwork or leadership, or being a better listener, or being a better communicator. There's so many messages that improv focuses on, and I just kind of pick a few to share in my keynote through playing some of the improv games.

Amber Stitt [00:15:24]:
So when you do the improv games, I've noticed there's the few that are paying attention, and there's, like this wild card that's like, a little more aloof. Is there always one of those in the room?

Joel Zeff [00:15:35]:
I think I know who you're talking about, Amber.

Amber Stitt [00:15:37]:
Is there always one that you're like, this is the one. We got to use this.

Joel Zeff [00:15:41]:
Okay. When I do an improv game, I never know. You bring people up to the stage, and I'm reading them because I want them to be successful and I want to put them in the right role that allows them to be successful. And so I'm talking to them. I'm kind of reading their body language because people come at it with different skill sets. And then I'm going to either have to do a lot or I'll pull back and do a little.

Amber Stitt [00:16:08]:
Just let it happen.

Joel Zeff [00:16:09]:
Just let it happen. And I have seen some absolutely spectacular...I mean, people that had no improv experience, they come up on stage and it's incredible, and you go, "Oh, my gosh, that was amazing." And then you have some people that they might struggle a little bit or they might do something a little bit different, make some choices that maybe you wouldn't necessarily make.

Amber Stitt [00:16:33]:
But you don't want to embarrass them because, gosh, they got on stage. That's hard for a lot of people.

Joel Zeff [00:16:37]:
And the great thing is that it works either way, whether everybody plays the game perfectly and they're incredible, or it's just complete chaos. And which I think you're referring to one of the games at the MDRT, where it's just complete chaos and just a mess, but it's a beautiful mess. And improv allows for that. It's about choices. There's no right or wrong. There's just some choices are better than others. And sometimes those moments of chaos are more entertaining, when everything goes wrong can be even more entertaining.

Amber Stitt [00:17:12]:
You got to manage a lot.

Joel Zeff [00:17:13]:
You're managing a lot on stage, juggling a lot. But I've done it so many times, and I love to be surprised, too, because that, as a performer, that surprise energizes you, because improv, again, when you're performing improv, you never know what's happening. There's no script, there's no plan. There's no rehearsal. So if something happens and you didn't see that coming, that's going to just energize you and you want to take that choice and run with it. And when that happens with the audience volunteers, sometimes that is just absolutely brilliant. And I love when that happens, because, again, that chaos is sometimes just so beautiful. And improv is all about just finding success during that change and disruption.

Joel Zeff [00:17:55]:
And sometimes that disruption is chaos, and you just kind of find a way to get everybody on the same page, the entire team, to work together, and find that success through chaos.

Amber Stitt [00:18:06]:
Yeah. It's almost like the jazz of comedy.

Joel Zeff [00:18:09]:
Improv is very often compared to jazz. There is a lot of similarities.

Amber Stitt [00:18:14]:
So is there any fun story that you just go, there's this one time where it was just, like, your favorite moment of, "Holy crap." There's a lot. There's, like, too many. It's like asking my brother-in-law, who's a sheriff, tell me about the latest drug deal that went down. He's like, "Which day?"

Joel Zeff [00:18:32]:
One time, you know Larry Hagman? He was J.R. From the show Dallas.

Amber Stitt [00:18:37]:
Yeah, yeah.

Joel Zeff [00:18:38]:
So I'm doing this keynote in Dallas. And so this was when they were recreating Dallas, when they brought the show back.

Amber Stitt [00:18:44]:
Yeah.

Joel Zeff [00:18:45]:
And so they brought Larry Hagman back, and he was actually, I think, living at the hotel, and they had the big suite, or whatever. Big presidential suite, and they said, hey, somebody was friends with Larry or knew Larry or whatever. And they said, "Larry offered to come and say hello to the audience as a thank you." "Oh, that's fantastic." "The only thing is, it might be during your keynote. Would it be okay if he interrupted your keynote?" I mean, whatever. It's J.R., Larry Hagman.

Joel Zeff [00:19:15]:
So I'm doing my keynote, and they're like, you'll know when he walks in the room. And we're just going to send him up to the stage. And I'm like, "Great." So, again, a little bit of chaos. So this audience, I would say low energy. There's a big group, but the energy was low during my keynote. I hadn't made that connection. Sometimes, right? Sometimes that happens.

Joel Zeff [00:19:34]:
Larry Hagman comes in. I'm in the middle of whatever. I don't know. I don't remember. Larry Hagman comes in, comes up on. He's got the big hat. He's got his big belt buckle, you know, the whole thing.

Joel Zeff [00:19:47]:
The audience goes nuts. Remember, I'm talking no energy.

Amber Stitt [00:19:55]:
What industry was this?

Joel Zeff [00:19:56]:
Hello? He's like, is this microphone on? Hello?

Amber Stitt [00:20:00]:
Yeah. I mean, that's got to happen sometimes when you're speaking. It's got to be something you've worked towards. You got to have that joke or something.

Joel Zeff [00:20:09]:
They go, nuts. It was like they were at a Chippendale's concert.

Amber Stitt [00:20:16]:
What's the demographic here? Are we talking, like, all women.

Joel Zeff [00:20:19]:
I swear, I'm pretty sure people...there were some bras. I'm pretty sure people were whirling bras and threw it up like 50 shades of J.R. And this was. I'm trying to figure out what year this was. This is right before, actually, right before he passed away. And so I always remember that. That was a great story.

Joel Zeff [00:20:39]:
I did have a keynote the day my daughter was born. So I had a client, and they hired me to speak. It was in Dallas. And I said, "My wife is pregnant. She's due around that time." They're like, "What are the odds? We understand we're going to book you and want you to know we'll just take our chances." And I'm like, "Great. If something happens, I'll give you a call."

Joel Zeff [00:21:03]:
And so, sure enough, the day before the event, my wife goes into labor, and we go to the doctor. I call the client. I say, "Look, she's in the hospital. Should be fine." This is like, 6:00 o'clock.

Amber Stitt [00:21:17]:
You're not out of town. Because a lot of times you're out of town.

Joel Zeff [00:21:19]:
It's in Dallas. The event's in Dallas. The keynote is at, like, 9:00 a.m. It's like 6:00 p.m. we're at the hospital. Like, no problem. We're like, okay, great. Fantastic. So the doctor is like, this could be a long labor.

Joel Zeff [00:21:30]:
This is going to be a long labor. Long one. Yeah. So now it's like 11:00 p.m. at night, not even close to this baby being born. And I call the client, I'm like, "I don't know." And then it's midnight, and I'm like, "I don't know if I'm going to make it. I don't know if I'm going to be able to be there." And then the doctor comes in and goes, "We got to do a C-section."

Joel Zeff [00:21:52]:
"We got to go in and get that baby." And I call the client. I'm like, "I'll be there. We're going to cut that baby out." That's true story. And so, boom, baby's born right after midnight. And we do the whole thing about 6:00 a.m. No sleep.

Amber Stitt [00:22:08]:
Oh, my God.

Joel Zeff [00:22:09]:
Go home, take a shower, and go do a keynote at nine in the morning.

Amber Stitt [00:22:13]:
Wow. Clearly your wife said that was okay. She's like, "Go make me some money while I'm doing this."

Joel Zeff [00:22:19]:
Yeah, we got to pay for this, baby. I don't know what the insurance was, but there was a lot of out of pocket. There's two. I got lots of them.

Amber Stitt [00:22:30]:
Well, I really appreciate you talking through. It's not always what you expect. You go through these different positions, jobs, experiences. And I remember my husband thinking, you're pretty funny, kind of fanboying. Is that the right word? After the reception, he's like, trying to hang out, and you're like, "I got other people to talk to," so he's talking with you. But we learn your story and just bringing some humor to life. It's almost like that should be the key to a lot of things, just to have a laugh and kind of lighten up and not always be so serious. And I think a lot of us just feel that way.

Amber Stitt [00:22:59]:
Even after the last few years. Even though I think you shared that your wife doesn't always appreciate your humor at all times. Does that ever happen?

Joel Zeff [00:23:08]:
Not anymore. Actually, you know what? You made a good point about? I'm going to bring out. I don't do this every time, Amber, but I'm going to bring out my magic harmonica. Because you mentioned something that kind of reminded me of a story. And this is the day I lost my job at the newspaper that I just moved to Dallas. And it was six months.

Amber Stitt [00:23:31]:
Yes. This is where I feel like you told me this at the reception. Yes. Let's pull it out.

Joel Zeff [00:23:37]:
Magic harmonica. So I moved to Dallas, and then six months later, I was working at a newspaper. And they say, "The paper's closed. Come clean out your desk. You're out of a job." That was six months after, I'm in a one bedroom apartment with no furniture. I think I had a couch.

Joel Zeff [00:23:52]:
I didn't have a table. I had a bed and a couch. And so they said, "Come clean out your desk. You don't have a job." And so I'm walking out the door and I grab this harmonica. And I bought this harmonica. I went to a lecture in college, and I don't remember the lecture. I don't remember what was happening.

Joel Zeff [00:24:08]:
I'm guessing it was a harmonica player. So that's why they were selling harmonicas. So I grabbed the harmonica. It's not like I grabbed the harmonica when I walked out the door a lot. This is not one of the things I did. So I don't know why that moment in time, I made this choice. And so I get down to the newspaper and people...There's all different emotions.

Joel Zeff [00:24:28]:
People are sad, angry, confused. It's just a wide range of emotions. I'm single. I don't have any debt. I was disappointed, but I didn't have a lot of emotion. And so the media was on the back loading dock, the cameras from the tv stations, various other media. And I walk out there, and I kind of look around and remember. I just want to preface, I have no musical ability.

Joel Zeff [00:24:57]:
So I'm talking to your listeners, Amber, your mom, grandma, cousin Eddie, whoever is listening, my dogs. Your dogs. I have no musical ability, but a harmonica is kind of magical in that allows you to at least pretend that you have some musical ability. And I can do one blues note. I can do this. That's all. So I get on the loading dock, the media is right there, and all of a sudden, I pull out my harmonica, and I went, "I got no job, got no money, just moved here six months ago. They told me to clean out my desk and don't ever come back.

Joel Zeff [00:25:40]:
Don't ever come back because you lost your job. Bye bye bye. You got nothing. You moved here for nothing. Big mistake. To move to Dallas six months ago. You got nothing." So something like that.

Joel Zeff [00:26:01]:
I don't know if those are the exact words.

Amber Stitt [00:26:03]:
I don't remember this part of the story. You saved this part.

Joel Zeff [00:26:07]:
True story.

Amber Stitt [00:26:08]:
You didn't have your harmonica.

Joel Zeff [00:26:10]:
Actually, it was kind of like a movie moment. You could actually see the cameras and hear them go, because that's not the emotion they were expecting, to have this nut play the harmonica on the back loading dock the day he lost his job. And so what it taught me is that you kind of have to sometimes make a choice, and when you have a situation... I could have chosen to be upset, and I could have chosen to be despondent, that I just moved here six months ago, and I lost my job. I left a great job, and now I moved to Dallas in six months, and now I don't have a job, and I'm unemployed, and it's a tough economy. It's 1991. What am I going to do? And I could have made that choice, but I chose the magic harmonica, which said, I'm going to decide how I am going to accept this moment, and I'm going to accept this moment as this is an opportunity, an opportunity to take a different path, an opportunity to find a better job, an opportunity to find success. And so the magic harmonica is kind of signifying that I'm making that choice, and I get to make that choice.

Joel Zeff [00:27:27]:
And I'm telling the media, "Look, I can't control that I lost my job, but I can control how I react to it." One of my favorite messages that improv taught me is that you don't control change. You only control how you react to change. I don't control that I lost my job. I control how I react to it. And my choice was, I'm going to be energized, and I'm going to have fun, and I'm going to play, and I'm going to lift my spirits with the magic harmonica and then see what happens. And it did. It created that energy, and it kind of gave me that spirit, and it made me feel better.

Joel Zeff [00:28:00]:
So it was my choice in how I reacted to that. And then that night, like, two local tv stations kicked off with me playing the harmonica. There was a huge picture of me in the other newspaper playing the harmonica. People across the country were saying, "Oh, I saw you play the harmonica. What was that all about?" This is 1991, before social media. And so I always call it my magic harmonica moment because it's my choice in how I react and you choose. When you choose you don't choose something that

Joel Zeff [00:28:29]:
happens to you, or somebody says something, or somebody does something. You only choose how you react to it. And at work, we talk about reacting to this change and disruption, and it's our choice. And are we going to be helpful and supportive and patient and understanding, or are we going to choose at work to be stressed and impatient and negative? It's our choice. And that's what improv teaches us. It's your choice. You don't control the change. You control how you react to change.

Joel Zeff [00:28:57]:
And so to me, that's what that moment signified, that magic harmonica moment, of how you react to that change.

Amber Stitt [00:29:05]:
Such a good story.

Joel Zeff [00:29:06]:
No charge.

Amber Stitt [00:29:07]:
No charge.

Joel Zeff [00:29:09]:
See, it sounds like I know what I'm doing. Right.

Amber Stitt [00:29:12]:
You've never learned, like, the. No, that is the Joel special.

Joel Zeff [00:29:17]:
That is my blues.

Amber Stitt [00:29:19]:
That's the Joel Blues.

Joel Zeff [00:29:22]:
That's the Joel lost his job at the newspaper blues. And then I got a severance check, and I went skiing, and then I went to Vegas.

Amber Stitt [00:29:32]:
Were really just. You were taking it in stride. You're like, this is an adventure.

Joel Zeff [00:29:37]:
Yeah.

Amber Stitt [00:29:39]:
We are not saying go to Vegas always with your money, but maybe...

Joel Zeff [00:29:46]:
If you don't have any debt. Might be a good choice to get your mind off losing your job, you know, everybody's going to lose their job at one time or another. I think it's hard to go through your work life without ever not losing a job. Right? And I think it's how you react to that, it's your choice what you're going to do next. You have a range of emotions, and I get that. And you have that moment where you're like, "Oh, no, what am I going to do? Or what's going to happen next?" And it's just about you kind of find your way.

Joel Zeff [00:30:15]:
And if that moment didn't happen, because after that moment, okay, I'm unemployed. I decided to start doing stand up. So I found an open mic, started doing stand up. I took a workshop at the improv group that I eventually auditioned for and got in. So if that moment that I lost my job didn't happen, would I have started doing standup? Would I have taken that workshop for the improv group and auditioned and got in that troupe and learned more and practiced that improv, and then had that moment where Texas Instruments asked me to speak to their team, and then a few years later, that Allstate Insurance, and I do a video. And then next thing you know, I have this career using improv as part of a keynote and sharing what I've learned. And all those moments happened from that moment where I lost my job and played that magic harmonica. So if that moment did not happen, would all these other moments happened, which brought me to this moment where I'm a guest on your show, Amber.

Joel Zeff [00:31:15]:
And so all of it happened started to me with that moment where I played the harmonica when I lost my job. And that's incredible to me. I think it's incredible.

Amber Stitt [00:31:24]:
Yeah. I think sometimes we could downplay what people are coming to us for. You were improv, and then the improv got on stage for that exercise with Texas Instruments. So pay attention to those things that are being asked of you, because that could be what you're supposed to be doing. And I think you proved that with your story.

Joel Zeff [00:31:42]:
I mean, I didn't think about, I'm going to be doing this for 25 more years or 30 years. That happened in, like, '94, '95, the Texas Instruments thing. And so we're talking about 30 years ago, and I had no inkling that that moment was going to lead to this moment. But you have to be open to those opportunities, and that's another message that improv teaches us, to be open to the opportunities to kind of incorporate that positive support and match it with that opportunity. And you never know what's going to happen, but something magical will happen if you create that opportunity for the people around you, for the leaders that are listening to your podcast, you want to create opportunity for each other. You want to create that positive, supportive foundation for each other. And when you put those two things together, it's amazing what people can accomplish. And improv.

Joel Zeff [00:32:29]:
You talked about some of the improv games and bringing people up to the stage. I just give them opportunity, and then the audience gives them positive support and then watch what happens.

Amber Stitt [00:32:37]:
You can see the energy.

Joel Zeff [00:32:38]:
Same thing for whether you're a financial advisor or you're a manager or whatever industry you work for, we all want opportunity. We all want positive support. We don't get enough of either one, and we have to demand it. And as a leader, we have to make sure we give it to the teams around us to create that foundation, because that opportunity and positive support, when you put it together, amazing what people can accomplish.

Amber Stitt [00:33:03]:
Yeah, I wonder if there's a little bit of magic between being vulnerable, to be open minded, to allow that improv, because you have to be a little silly and outside of your normal comfort zone, and then you get the support. There's just like, this magical formula happening, and it's a lot of fun.

Joel Zeff [00:33:18]:
And when you're having fun, you realize you're in that play mode and you kind of revert to your true self. And that fun brings out a lot of energy and inspiration and creativity. And you're a better leader, and you're a better communicator, and you're a better teammate because you're having fun. And one of the key elements of fun is that you're very present. You're present with what's happening around you. You're present with the people that you're with. And in improv, we call that being in the moment. And when you're in the moment, you're at your best as a communicator, as an innovator, as a leader, as a teammate.

Joel Zeff [00:33:51]:
And we want to have more of those times where we're present in the moment with the people around us. And that's an element of fun, because we're so present, we're having fun, and we're present with each other, and that allows that fun to happen.

Amber Stitt [00:34:05]:
Well, thanks for being present today on the show and having fun with me and everybody. How should people find you?

Joel Zeff [00:34:11]:
It's a good rehearsal. Have we started recording yet?

Amber Stitt [00:34:14]:
Oh, I forgot to push it.

Joel Zeff [00:34:16]:
Yeah, no, I felt like this was just kind of like a recap.

Amber Stitt [00:34:21]:
How should people find you? Because I feel like people need to have you in the room.

Joel Zeff [00:34:24]:
You know, it's just my website. www.JoelZeff.com. Pretty easy. JoelZeff.com LinkedIn. I love to connect on LinkedIn. That's my favorite social media at the moment. Pretty easy to find me on LinkedIn. You can follow me on Facebook again, Joel Zeff.

Amber Stitt [00:34:40]:
What's that book behind you?

Joel Zeff [00:34:42]:
This is my book.

Amber Stitt [00:34:43]:
What is that over there?

Joel Zeff [00:34:45]:
Yeah, this is my book, "Make the Right Choice". Creating a positive, innovative and productive work life. If you want to check it out, Amazon is a great way to get your copy. And it just basically follows most of my messages from my keynote in just a little more detail with some ideas and tips and things that I've learned along the way that could hopefully help leaders, or anybody on the team find success, create that energy, be more present in the moment, stay in the game, create opportunity, positive support, and like we've talked about, react to change in a positive way.

Amber Stitt [00:35:17]:
Well, thanks for being here today. I love being able to hang out with you again.

Joel Zeff [00:35:20]:
This all happened because we ran into each other, bumped into you at a party, right?

Amber Stitt [00:35:17]:
That was a great party, too.

Joel Zeff [00:35:27]:
The evening party at the MDRT conference.

Amber Stitt [00:35:31]:
And so you just never know where those moments start, but make it a point to go connect with people if you want to have that interaction. And so I try to do that with the people that I find interesting, and you are one of them. So, thank you.

Joel Zeff [00:35:49]:
It was a great conversation. And anytime we got to play the harmonica and we talked about lots of fun stuff.

Amber Stitt [00:35:57]:
Well, we're going to link up where to find you in the description box and get your book on there. And I can't wait to check it out. So thank you for being on the show today, Joel.

Joel Zeff [00:36:06]:
Thank you, Amber. And to all of Amber's listeners and viewers, this is probably the best podcast.

Amber Stitt [00:36:13]:
The best.

Joel Zeff [00:36:14]:
This is. I'm just saying this is probably the best podcast in the history of all podcasts.

Amber Stitt [00:36:21]:
Grammarly would have removed probably.

Joel Zeff [00:36:23]:
No, I'm saying it.

Amber Stitt [00:36:25]:
It is.

Joel Zeff [00:36:25]:
If I say probably, it's true, right?

Amber Stitt [00:36:31]:
Yeah.

Joel Zeff [00:36:31]:
You can put this on one of your promotions, The Amber Stitt Show: Probably the greatest podcast in the history of podcasts. My name is Joel Zeff.

Amber Stitt [00:36:44]:
Thank you for joining us on today's episode of The Amber Stitt Show. For more information about the podcast, books, articles, and more, please visit me at: www.AmberStitt.com Until next week, enjoy your journey at home, and at work. Thank you for listening!