Here are our tips for having a wonderful holiday. It's what we do every year, so it must work!
Have high expectations. Plan every detail of your holidays, tense up, and if anyone messes up, yell “This is the worst holiday EVER!”
Overspend. Buy people gifts that you can’t afford. Leave the price tags on them also, so they know what price you paid for their unconditional love.
Eat everything. Food is love, and there’s no better way to love yourself than to stuff your face. So go ahead, eat those cookies, and mashed potatoes, and cheesecake, and stuffing, and pie, and figgy pudding, and…
Drink and be merry. Be sure to indulge in lots of alcoholic beverages. When you do this, remember to call, text message, and Facebook the people you care about. The only thing better than drunk dialing is “Frunk Dacebooking!”
“It’s the holidays.” Use this as your catch phrase for all of your behavior. Why aren’t you exercising? Why are you obsessing? Why are you doing all of the above? Because! It’s the holidays.
So there you have it. Let us know how these tips help you to have a happy holiday!
It's time for part 3 of our interview with Sheldon Senek of the Eagles Talent Podcast!
SHELDON SENEK: Each performance of the O’Shea Report is so funny and unique. To get that, I’m sure there’s a lot of prep, rehearsals, writing. I’m curious to know what your process is and if there’s a disagreement, how do you handle it? Do you do paper, scissors, rocks or…
KRIS O’SHEA: Oh, there are disagreements, but we, you know…
TIM O’SHEA: She disagrees and I go along with it.
KRIS O’SHEA: You know…
SHELDON SENEK: It sounds like my marriage.
KRIS O’SHEA: Exactly.
TIM O’SHEA: All relationships are the same.
KRIS O’SHEA: Well, one thing that we should probably mention is that our, the way we present is pretty different from a regular keynote. Or whereas, most speakers will tell a story to illustrate a point, we look at what point do we want to illustrate and then how can we turn this into more of a sketch or a news segment? So, we’re always trying to come up with, you know, well what would be funny about that? And we really sit down and we just brainstorm every single idea. You know, coming from the improv background, there’s a philosophy called Yes, And?, which is just that you accept what someone says and you build on that idea no matter how silly because it could unleash 10 ideas that the 11th one you would never want to, you would have never gotten to had you not gone through the 10 that were absolutely ridiculous. So, we have a big flip chart and we just write, write, write, write, write, write, write and then we go through and pick what we like.
TIM O’SHEA: And we always pull on own experiences from when we were working to create a relevant piece. For example, you know, our topic is change and we wanted to look at something, what’s funny about the changing times that we live in? So, we do a piece where we go through each decade, starting with the 1950s and it’s a couple at home and she’s making dinner for the husband. And then it goes all the way through each decade up to the 2000s where we’re just sitting at our laptops and on our cell phones not talking to each other, so.
SHELDON SENEK: And where will we be 10 years from now?
KRIS O’SHEA: Well, yes, that’s, we actually have a bit about that where everything’s implanted into your brain. So, you know, you make calls by flipping your eyes open.
TIM O’SHEA: Yeah, you can blink and you answer your call or tilt your head and you’ll download something.
SHELDON SENEK: How do you hang up on somebody?
TIM O’SHEA: I think you just go to sleep. I think that’s how.
KRIS O’SHEA: You have to reboot your system.
TIM O’SHEA: Yeah, you just reboot, you know.
KRIS O’SHEA: If they could come up with something, it would take like all your thoughts and turn them into tweets that go onto Twitter. That would be very dangerous, you know.
TIM O’SHEA: We don’t know, 10 years from now we’ll see. We’ll see what it’s going to be like one year from now.
CLIP
KRIS O’SHEA: However many people are saying that podcasts will soon replace radio shows, websites, blog, e-mails, cars, refrigerators, microwaves and even loving relationships.
TIM O’SHEA: So, it sounds like there are more demands today than there ever have been before.
KRIS O’SHEA: Yes, it is a sign of the times. People are generally so overloaded because they have to focus on 50 different things at once and it seems now it’s not enough to simply multitask. No, now you have to hypertask.
TIM O’SHEA: Hypertask?
KRIS O’SHEA: Yes, hypertask is when you work at breakneck speed to look busy and accomplish nothing.
END CLIP
SHELDON SENEK: So, there’s a lot of, there’s been a lot of negativity going on in corporate America between bailouts, businesses in jeopardy, Ponzi Schemes and, I guess, the word stress comes to mind and in walks the O’Shea Report. How does the audience embrace you? Is it a breath of fresh air for them?
TIM O’SHEA: Yeah, I mean, you know, again, right now it’s especially important to have some kind of a humor program at a conference. We did a booking recently where the, they had never done a closing general session and they had especially never done a closing general session where they had a humor program. So, they brought us in and they were kind of taking a chance because they weren’t sure how it was going to go over with their members. And when we were done, not only was the audience leaping to their feet in a standing ovation, but we looked over their heads and we saw the meeting planners in the back of the room who were literally jumping up and down high fiving each other. And we thought, I think we did a good job. You know, so it was a huge success and the evaluations they got back were this was great. This was the best conference we ever attended. Make this a regular thing.
KRIS O’SHEA: Yeah.
TIM O’SHEA: So, it’s actually very beneficial to do something like that.
KRIS O’SHEA: Yeah, I think in challenging times, people need to come together and they need to laugh together about what they’re stressed out by because when you can laugh about something, then it doesn’t have that hold over you that it had before. Then you’re empowered and then you could go into solution mode rather than in reactive mode. So, we help them to really look at things differently.
Enjoy Part 2 of our interview with Sheldon Senek of Eagles Talent:
Transcript:
SHELDON SENEK: Well, you know, that brings up an interesting topic here about 9/11 and there seemed to be that period that the nation really was in mourning and not too much was really funny. Was there a performance that you did that felt maybe, like, it’s a release and finally it’s okay for people to laugh?
TIM O’SHEA: Well, you know, we actually noticed that the next day. There was something on September 12th, we were doing a group and the response was huge. I mean, people really releasing a lot of stuff from the day before. So, actually, we found, you know, and we weren’t sure what kind of reaction we were going to get. We thought it was going to be really subdued, but it was the opposite. I mean, people were, they were just, they loved it. They had a great time.
And that’s especially true now too with all this stuff going on in the last 12 months with the economy and the recession and the election and all the Bernie Madoff stuff and swine flu and bird flu and moo flu and ox tox and zebra zits. All the things that are happening in the news, you know, and so right now, especially now, it’s the people really enjoy having humor also.
CLIP
TIM O’SHEA: How many of you are here? Raise your hand. Raise your hand if you’re here. Okay, quite a few of you raised your hands, but several of you did not. And for those of you who didn’t raise your hands, if you’re not here, where are you? Now, in order to stay competitive in today’s market, you need to be innovative. How do you do that? I don’t know. I’m just telling you you need to do it. Failures are nothing more than disasters waiting to happen.
END CLIP
SHELDON SENEK: From watching you, there is really such a crisp element of your performance. What are both of your backgrounds? Do you have theater backgrounds? [06:00]
TIM O’SHEA: Yes, we both have theater backgrounds and we actually met in a troupe, a local troupe here in Denver.
KRIS O’SHEA: Doing sketch comedy and improvisation.
TIM O’SHEA: Exactly, and since we had the corporate backgrounds combined with the humor, writing and performing backgrounds, we decided, well, let’s fuse the two together and create our own product. And that’s what we’re doing now and we decided, well, we like working together. We’re good at it. Let’s see what we can do and here we are.
SHELDON SENEK: Well, and both of you come from the corporate world as well and I’m sure that just gives you more fuel for your show.
KRIS O’SHEA: Absolutely, you know, as we were creating the program that we do now, Change 180, one of the things that was inspirational in creating it, aside from all of the interviewing of clients that we’ve done through the years, was that, at one point, we worked for a company that tripled in size in the three years we were there. So, it went from about 125 employees, which definitely had a certain feel to having about 500 employees with three different offices in different states. And so it was constant changing. Never knew what was going to happen. You never knew who was going to throw you under the bus and if they were going to backup and hit you again. So, we really were able to draw from a lot of that experience in creating our program and our material as well.
TIM O’SHEA: And that’s one thing that gives us an advantage over maybe other people that are in the similar field as us is that we’ve actually been there. We’ve done the jobs and sat in the cubes and been in the meetings that all the people in our audiences have been in. So, we understand firsthand what they’re going through and what it’s like. So, our material is really relevant to them.
CLIP
KRIS O’SHEA: Okay, let’s move on now to our next scenario. Here we’re going to look at how to deal with the clueless employee. Let’s take a look.
TIM O’SHEA: Yeah, my paycheck didn’t arrive on Friday. It usually gets there on Friday and it didn’t show up.
KRIS O’SHEA: Let me look you up in the computer. Are you still on 86th Drive. [08:00]
TIM O’SHEA: No, I moved three weeks ago. You didn’t know that?
KRIS O’SHEA: No, I’m afraid I did not.
TIM O’SHEA: Yeah, I moved in with my brother. I had to change bank accounts too. You didn’t know that?
Please enjoy part 1 of our interview with Sheldon Senek from Eagles Talent Connection. For those of you who like to listen to podcasts, click on the YouTube screen. For those of you who prefer to read, scroll down and read part 1 of the interview!
SHELDON SENEK: Welcome to the Eagles Talent Connection Podcast.
TIM O’SHEA: Thank you, Sheldon.
KRIS O’SHEA: Thank you.
SHELDON SENEK: First, I’d like to say congratulations on being named in the National Speakers Association’s Speakers Magazine as one, well two of the hottest speakers and I imagine this hasn’t hurt business that much.
TIM O’SHEA: It hasn’t hurt, you know. No, but you do bring up a good point, which is that, you know, we’re still trying to figure out if we’ve taken up two slots or if it’s just the one. I mean, usually with the married couple thing, it counts as one. So, we figure, all right, we somehow left a slot open for somebody else, but yeah, it’s very exciting to be a part of that.
SHELDON SENEK: So, there are keynote speakers and then there are comedians and then there are married couples who team up and tackle both. Was this always in the plan? Well, you know, was this in your vows, or?
TIM O’SHEA: Oh yeah, actually it was part of the contract when we got married.
KRIS O’SHEA: It was part of, it was in the pre-nup.
TIM O’SHEA: Yeah, it was in the pre-nup that I had to sign, that Kris had me sign. So, are we the only couples that do this or are there other couples that do this?
KRIS O’SHEA: I don’t know.
SHELDON SENEK: I may have to research that.
TIM O’SHEA: Yeah, you may have to.
KRIS O’SHEA: We actually, we met 12 years ago doing this kind of work.
TIM O’SHEA: Yes. We did, we actually had corporate jobs during the day and then at night, we would go around to theaters and nightclubs and cut our teeth as humor writers and performers. And then, we decided at one point, that we wanted to start our own business because there seemed to be a lot of fun that could be had at meetings and conventions and so that’s what we do now.
KRIS O’SHEA: And we started our business, actually we had great timing. We started it right before 9/11.
SHELDON SENEK: Yeah, I was going to ask that. That you had what, three days or before?
KRIS O’SHEA: Yeah, our first booking was three days before 9/11. So, you know, great timing. Thankfully our timing onstage is better than our timing of starting a business. So, it makes it, this whole economy thing that’s going on right now is really nothing, you know, in comparison.
TIM O’SHEA: Can you imagine, it’s September 8th and that was our first booking. Hey, we’re on our way and then three days later you see all of that. I quote Lewis Black, who said when the towers came down that there wasn’t a single person that didn’t go, “Well, this really messes up my plans.”
New video! We created this for a convention of group of business owners. This video is applicable to anyone in sales, recruiting, real estate, business ownership, or even dating:
We have updated our preview video with some brand new footage. Watch it to have a laugh. And while you're at it, forward it to anyone you know who is planning a meeting. Goodness knows there are plenty of boring meetings out there that could use The O'Shea Report! Visit our website at http://www.TheOSheaReport.com to learn more.
It’s a fast-paced, constantly changing world that we are living in. Workers today are under constant pressure to stay educated, motivated, and invigorated. And with all of this pressure, they simply want to get intoxicated.
People are overwhelmed with so much going on in the news: the economy, the recession, health plans, the housing bubble, credit default swaps, Ponzy schemes, bailouts, stimulus plans…and don’t forget all the diseases: swine flu, bird flu, moo flu, ox pox, zebra zits.
Everyone is expected to do more with less, and it seems it is not enough to simply “multitask;” now you have to “hypertask.” (“Hypertask” means “working at breakneck speed to look busy and accomplish nothing.”)
There’s always something… Once you accept that there will always be something amiss in the world, you can begin your journey to a somewhat sane way of living. If you live with the delusion that you can control the world and keep it from changing, then you are on a short jaunt to the crazy farm.
Think about all of the changes that have occurred in our world in just the last 50 years. We’ve moved from Leave It to Beaver, to Hippies, to Disco, to Yuppies, to Hip Hop, to Twittering Twits. When feeling caught up in the frenzy of constant change, remember the phrase that can make a happy person sad, and a sad person happy: This too shall pass.
Laugh about your challenges We all know that laughter reduces stress and releases endorphins. But laughter can also change your mindset. When you can laugh about your stressors, you are empowered. When you are empowered, you can positively create your reality.
Think about times in your own life that you were upset about a situation and were later able to laugh about it. What changed? You got some distance from the situation.
But you don’t have to wait to laugh. In fact, laughing about a situation can help you to create that healthy distance and dissipate the tension, thus allowing you to think more clearly. Below are some questions to ask yourself to help you move through your challenges with humor:
*How can I look at this differently? *What is funny about this? *Where is the irony? The inconsistency? *How is this sooooo typical? *What can I rename this? *How can I reframe it?
By asking these questions, you can begin to shift your state of mind.
Shift your perspective In the past 12 months we have heard a lot about the economy. Back when things were first starting to heat up, we decided to go out to Dave and Busters. The news channels were all saying that no one was going out—everyone was staying home because of the economy.
So we expected it to be pretty dead at the giant suburban fun-plex. However, when we got there, we circled the parking lot for 10 minutes and couldn’t find a single place to park. We ended up turning around and going back home…because there was no parking due to so many people going out!
We started to notice that this was not an isolated incident. When we were out, we began to video the annoying crowds at the airports and having to wait 30 minutes for a table on a Thursday night at a restaurant. After posting our videos online, we received many positive reviews from people who were happy to view something fresh and positive.
While the news was focused on the drama, we were personally experiencing something quite different. This led us to shift our own perspective from one of panic to one of plenty. When we can change how we view a situation, the circumstances begin to shift. We call this “Doing a 180.”
The bottom line? Most of us would rather pull our own wisdom teeth out than deal with the uncertainty of change, but one of the best things we can all do is keep our sense of humor. It’s simple, it’s effective, and it’s cheaper than Prozac. It’s a fast paced, constantly changing world. However, everyday we have a choice in how we deal with it: we can get overwhelmed and frustrated, or we can “Do a 180” and view our challenges with a sense of humor.
Welcome to The O'Shea Report BLOG. Here you can read the latest articles and watch fun videos.
If you would like to learn more about how The O'Shea Report can present their keynote program about dealing with change through humor, please visit The O'Shea Report WEBSITE at http://www.TheOSheaReport.com
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