Doni Tamblyn TOPICS: Humor Communication Change Team Building FEE CATEGORY:* 5.0k to 10.0k TRAVELS FROM: Pennsylvania Video Profile Program Outlines Testimonials/Client List Request This Speaker

Doni Tamblyn: Profile

HumorRules president Doni Tamblyn is an internationally-published author, a professional speaker, trainer, comedian, singer, and former commercial actor with clients like Apple, Nestle and Hewlett Packard. She got her singular start in the training business when, as Instructor Coordinator for a California traffic violator school, she recruited and trained 48 professional comedians to lead state-sponsored classes in traffic safety. (And you think your staff is challenging!) In revamping both the classes and the training department, she brought attendee evaluations up by some 25%, and her school was ultimately chosen to take part in a quality control study by the state of California.

Doni spent six years as a top-rated speaker for CareerTrack Seminars, Inc., and founded HumorRules in 1993.

"Research reveals that laughing reduces the output of negative stress chemicals in the brain, while it dramatically improves cognitive and creative thinking," she notes. "More than ever, humor has become an indispensable business skill. Used appropriately, humor helps people work better, think better, and get along better. And it sure as heck makes life a lot more worth living!"

Her audiences—from Fortune 500 companies to high tech groups to government entities, and more—agree. Bring Doni on board, and show your team what they've always secretly known: If you're a former kid, you were born with creativity and a natural sense of humor. Use them!

Doni Tamblyn is a corporate trainer, a professional speaker, an internationally published author, comedian, singer, and former commercial actor with clients like Apple, Nestle and Hewlett Packard. She got her singular start in the training business in 1990.

As Instructor Coordinator for a California traffic violator school, Doni's job was to recruit and train professional comedians to lead one-day, state-sanctioned classes for ticketed speeders and stop sign cruisers. "Only in California would someone hire you to do this," she laughs—then adds, "Managing a statewide staff of 48 comedians is like sharing a bed with an elephant: you know it doesn't mean you any harm, but you still don't get much sleep."

The learning format she designed used hilarious theatre improvisation games in which learners taught—and delighted—each other with imaginative presentations of curriculum material. The response was phenomenal: Whereas no one could watch a stand up comic for six hours, it seemed people could go on almost indefinitely when they were the ones being innovative and—yes—funny! Attendees went home from their day in "Detention" energized, flushed with success—and sold on driver safety. "Human beings are astonishingly adept at thinking and communicating creatively, if they are just given permission and then facilitated right," says Doni. "Countless people came up to our instructors after class with a joke they had made up themselves: 'Would I have to get another ticket to come back here?' I finally decided to start up HumorRules."

To date, Doni has designed and delivered training to groups throughout the US, Canada, Europe, and Southeast Asia (see client list). She is a regular, invited presenter at international conferences for the American Society for Training and Development and the International Society for Humor Studies. A former trainer with CareerTrack Seminars and top-rated keynote speaker, she has shared platforms with Daniel Goleman, Patty Duke, and Maureen Reagan. Her numerous writings include The Big Book of Humorous Training Games (McGraw-Hill, 2000) and Laugh and Learn: 95 Ways to Use Humor for More Effective Teaching and Training (AMACOM Books, fall 2002).

Doni graduated magna cum laude from San Francisco State University with a BA in Communications. She is a member of the American Society for Training and Development, the Association for Applied Therapeutic Humor, and the International Society for Humor Studies.

* Please note that while this speaker's specific fee falls within the range posted at the top of this page (for Continental U.S. based events), fees are subject to change without notice. Also note that most celebrity keynotes begin in the $25,000 and up range (most list "Contact for Fee Schedule"). For current fee information or international event fees, please contact your Speakers Platform representative.