Tim Clue, Speaker, Educator, Motivator

After one of my comedy sets a wannabe agent advised that I should organize my first three jokes of my act in a manner that would make it easy for a producer to instantly visualize my future sitcom. Think Ray Romano or Roseanne Barr for a handy, "Oh yeah, I get it" reference. Now, clearly, I never quite found my joke trio OR the agent's pager went off—it was the 90's after all—and missed my big three "Ha's" that were meant to trigger sitcom stardom. I'm OK. As both a stand-up comedian and a speech teacher—unsure which role was moonlighting for the other—I’m struck by the overlaps that inform my own crazy content construction today. So, here’s my advice, minus the wannabe agent part: whether you’re crafting comedy, delivering a keynote, or even leading a turtle-training webinar, nail down those essential setups, refine your big 3 -2 -1 to superhero levels of clarity and audiences' minds will align and review before you do. The mighty force of knowing where you're going is content king, set and match. Sometimes they come easy, sometimes not so much. I'm still working on that third joke—I’m sure I’ll find it someday soon. *** Tim Clue offers funny motivation for meetings as a keynote speaker, blending humor with inspiration to help teams and modern-day conferences stay connected and energized. Visit funnymotivator.com for more info and bookings. #funnymotivationalspeaker #motivationalspeaker  #inspirationalspeaker #conferencespeakers 

I’m reminded that the vibration of knowing that you are accepted, appreciated, and belong is central to even an adult performing and thinking well, let alone a 2nd grader. The Connected Classroom can help make this possible for every thinker and student. Find out more about how to bring The Connected Classroom to your school on FunnyEducator.com. #education #professionaldevelopment #funnyeducator #motivationalspeaker #teacherlife #teachertribe

As we head deeper into the school year, I thought I'd post a few of my favorite pics from the Professional Development days and convocations I've done at school districts around the country—sharing improv techniques to create laughter, interaction, and connected classrooms. I focus on transforming PD into stress-free spa days that promote wellness for teachers, while helping them renew, recharge, and remember what they do best. One of my earliest memories as a school kid was sometimes getting to stay home for what seemed like no reason whatsoever, when it wasn't even a holiday. But there it would be on the blue dittoed school calendar they sent home to parents: "NO SCHOOL. TEACHER'S WORKSHOP." I had no idea what the teachers did at these "workshops"—the word itself seemed to suggest that maybe they were learning how to make shoes or furniture, or build birdhouses out of popsicle sticks. But I didn't worry about it too much. For me it was an opportunity to lie around on the sofa watching The Price Is Right without even being sick. What a deal! Of course, these days those "workshops" are known as Professional Development, and I know exactly what goes on there because I'm right smack dab in the middle of it. I love the opportunity to share inspiration and techniques with fellow educators—in fact, I'm even more excited to see a PD Day on my calendar now than I was as a kid, even without Bob Barker and a bowl of Doritos. I know that educators like those of you reading this are the connectors who help spread the word about what I do—and I owe a lot of my bookings to your word of mouth. And I'd be thrilled to get a chance to pay that debt forward to a few deserving teachers, by thanking them with gift cards of up to $1,000 to restock their classrooms with supplies and equipment. So here's how it works in 5 easy steps: 1) Please help me spread the word about the benefits of classrooms that are more collaborative and less competitive. 2) If I get hired based on your referral, and the hirer confirms that you sent them my way, I'll send you a gift card for classroom supplies and equipment — $1,000 if the event is scheduled to happen *before* December 31 of this year, and $500 if it's after January 1 of 2025. 3) Here's the link with all my best videos: https://lnkd.in/gpcAwKy8 You can reshare this posting, or use email or text messages, or maybe even hijack the conversation in the teacher's lounge. Ask your colleagues to check out FunnyEducator.com to see samples of my work and get in touch. 4) And of course, ask your referrals to tell me that it was you who sent them! You can use the contact form on the link given above to let me know if you've made a successful referral. 5) You can also tell your contacts they'll get an automatic 10% discount on the booking if they mention this "Everybody Wins" promo. Thanks again for all you do, and I hope to get a chance to see some of you on my travels this year!

As a unique learner, I also became a unique teacher. Well, that’s what I tell myself anyway. But I do think I have knack for simplifying the complex. Here’s one: schools are set up for the abnormal student, not the normal. Why, you might ask? Well, the abnormal child is the one who’s capable of sitting, listening, and digesting content for more than 20 minutes at a time. Studies show that about 15% of any school has a gaggle of these functioning focus types pre-coded with this innate ability. But while we’re sharing, research also shows that the average attention span peaks at around 20 minutes — after which focus significantly decreases, leading to diminished learning outcomes. Yet many classrooms and teaching styles continue to cater to this "abnormal" model, leaving many of our new-normal students’ minds behind to meander and wonder things like why this teacher's talk on the Ming Dynasty feels equally as long as the Dynasty itself. So, we get the flip to the script here, don’t we? Most classes are set up for these abnormal minds, while the rest of us are left to figure out how to adapt and survive. This is why I became a teacher. *** Tim Clue, the Unlikely Teacher — dyslexic, determined, and up for a laugh — helps educators rethink, reimagine, and refresh the way we teach minds of all kinds to fit and not quit. Please visit FunnyEducator.com for more information.

Welcome to "Who Can Call the Meeting on Voicemail?" As promised, this installment of my "Who Can Call the Meeting" series launches itself at the low-hanging (yet sour) grapes of voicemail — specifically its annoying uselessness. Apparently, there are 17 different ways to leave a message these days — my least favorite being the nasty sticky note on the windshield of a car. But even this mini-message madness will outlast voicemail in regard to "sent and received" ratios. Voicemails, much like axolotls, are technically extinct but still manage to survive in captivity. (Look it up or leave me a voicemail about it.) We should have known its relevance was waning when magical transcribers mangled messages and we still wouldn’t listen. Millennials and Gen-Z's complete dismissal of voicemail was evident early on — even in how they refused to customize their own voicemail greetings. Embedded in this auto-10-digit recital was a more simple message: "Please let me ignore you on text instead." So, who can call the meeting to finally end voicemail? The next time I’m asked to leave a voicemail, I might just say, never mind, let me float a message in a bottle. It's more efficient. Wait — I forgot about smoke signals and airplane banner proposals. So I guess there are actually 19 ways to be ignored, which only hurts if you’re the one who left your significant other a voicemail to look up at ... Yeah, that hurts. Please, someone call the meeting. *** Tim Clue offers funny motivation for meetings as a keynote speaker, blending humor with inspiration to help teams and modern-day conferences stay connected and energized. Visit funnymotivator.com for more info and bookings. #funnymotivationalspeaker #motivationalspeaker  #inspirationalspeaker #conferencespeakers 

As part of my ongoing "Less Is More" series, please welcome the new sub-theme "Who Can Call the Meeting?" to the family! I understand that a new family member sounds like more — until we consider this sibling's end goal: To call an end to some of the junk-drawer items that still clutter up our business lives, as if someone forgot to call the meeting and give them their walking papers. I'm here to dress down topics like "Voicemail: Why Still?", "Paper Receipts: Non-Eco and Irritating Too," "The Unused App Trap" — and so much more in hopes of less! Please share any topics you think are worthy of this clean-out — and feel free to call your own meeting if you have time. See you soon! *** Tim Clue offers funny motivation for meetings as a keynote speaker, blending humor with inspiration to help teams and modern-day conferences stay connected and energized. Visit funnymotivator.com for more info and bookings. #funnymotivationalspeaker #motivationalspeaker  #inspirationalspeaker #conferencespeakers 

Welcome back to part two of my "Less Stress Is Best" theme. Look, I don't mean to pick on conference themes and toss them into the messaging dumpster. My goal is to head-nod companies toward a more playful, engaging approach that clicks with today’s company camaraderie, swipe-left, swipe-right meetup stylings. A 2024 theme committee is like an old habit — familiar, but perhaps more of a relic of time better spent. The task is simple, but much like sorting through a junk drawer full of dead batteries, who really has the time or the will to suggest, "Let’s just toss 'em out, safely, and move on to something more useful"? Take, for example, a Guitar Center conference where the theme was simply "We're here." No overthinking — a perfect note. Another company went with "We like chocolate" as their theme. The implication being, we have a website and a mission statement, so why not add in a Versailles-inspired chocolate fountain to give it some flair? Toot Toot! Or how about making a refrigerator poetry magnet board to mix and match top mission statement words? Wait, we have a mission statement? This kind of approach is silly but also dynamic, fun, and brings in a flow and energy that’s an add-on, not a major stressor. But last and for our more traditional "theme-sters," here's a catch-all gem: "Care like crazy. Motivate, appreciate. Know the way, show the way. Enjoy the journey." What CEO couldn't agree with that one? C’mon, take a theme stress break this year — cut 'n' paste to slide deck, set it and forget it! *** Tim Clue is a funny motivational and inspirational speaker, trying to help the modern-day conference stay with it and kick it. Visit funnymotivator.com for more info and bookings. #funnymotivationalspeaker #motivationalspeaker  #inspirationalspeaker #conferencespeakers 

Asking for less stress is like asking for a pleasant spam call or delightful hold music — you can ask, but it rarely gets delivered. Wellness is one of the most requested topics I get as a speaker, and coping with stress is essential to achieving and maintaining wellness. So, this edition of "Less is More" will incentivize calm while honoring the groundbreaking work of Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn and her Nobel Prize-winning research on telomeres. Telomeres are special structures at the ends of chromosomes that are a little like the plastic caps on the ends of your shoelaces — you want them to stay in place as long as possible. When the caps on your shoelaces wear down, the ends get all frayed, and it's hard to tie your shoes without a lot of mumbly swears. To put it another way, when your nerves get frayed, your telomeres get frayed too, and this can lead to a bundle of crazy disease-type stuff I won't get into because reading about that crap can be stressful! And the number one enemy to those frayed telomeres is frayed nerves, and you got it — stress!!!!!!! OK, everyone, take a deep breath, go binge some Ted Lasso, take a peaceful walk, or find that calm-y space in the way you do less-stress, you. And while you do that, I'll thank Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn for all her cool research that reminds me of the usefulness of worry and stress. Maybe I'll even share this information with my next spam caller — though I’m pretty sure they won’t appreciate it as much as we do. *** Tim Clue is a funny motivational and inspirational speaker, trying to help the modern-day conference stay with it and kick it. Visit funnymotivator.com for more info and bookings. #funnymotivationalspeaker #motivationalspeaker  #inspirationalspeaker #conferencespeakers 

This edition of "Less Is More" is staying in theme but is also a bit of a cheat because it's less work for me—every now and then, WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times will ask me to contribute a little nugget to the "Parenting Wisdom" section of their educational newsletter. Now please understand, I’m not claiming to be a 5-star guru of Dad wisdom—but if finding humor in our modern parenting experiences helps me get through the day, then that’s good enough for me! Here's my latest entry. Oh, they always start with a question like ... Q: When faced with a generational and cultural divide, is it better to say less or more? A: On a recent trip with my daughter, I made the mistake of drawing an old-fashioned map. I thought she might find it useful. “I don’t need your ugly map. I have a phone,” she said. Her dismissal missiles come fast at 14. She eyed my DIY map as if it was a See ‘n Say toy for texting. We locked eyes in a cultural standoff happening in real-time for all time. I sighed, she tilted her head, and stuffed the map in her backpack; it wouldn’t see the light of day. My father never understood my brother’s long hair and love for Cat Stevens in the ’70s. I get it, but I don't like it either. Acceptance, ugh! *** Tim Clue is a funny motivational and inspirational speaker, trying to help the modern-day conference stay with it and kick it. Visit funnymotivator.com for more info and bookings. #funnymotivationalspeaker #motivationalspeaker  #inspirationalspeaker #conferencespeakers 

"Change," "Empowerment," and "Resilience" still top the list of the most popular and most often used themes for conferences. I suggest even more popular might be less time wasted on seeking a perfect theme, which, to be honest, could be almost anything. Feel free to check this with the "time-wasted in search of the perfect theme" committee. Today, my "Less is More" series offers conference planning a nudge to reduce “perfect theme-ing angst"—a nudge to care less about something that matters so little. Don't believe me? Feel free to conduct internal polling, asking your teams to recall their favorite themes from past conferences. I promise, the top answers will be "Huh?" "Is this a joke?" and "I've got a Zoom meeting in five." PLEASE HEAR ME: I'm not advocating for de-fun-ing the live conference. Quite the contrary, I'm suggesting that ridding yourself of reinventing themes—ones that could be chosen off a spin wheel or a boardroom bingo card—might kick a yawn committee to the curb. This would allow for more focus on ways to build trust and camaraderie, and open precious lines of communication for better flow, go, and "work-stay" forces at play in a very tricky and often time-prickly 2024 workplace. I'll share a fun story and a few suggestions about this in my a future post. Oh, a cliffhanger—do I sniff a theme here? *** Tim Clue is a funny motivational and inspirational speaker, trying to help the modern-day conference stay with it and kick it. Visit funnymotivator.com for more info and bookings. #funnymotivationalspeaker #motivationalspeaker  #inspirationalspeaker #conferencespeakers