Posts by Yvonne Conte

It was 1995 and I was booked at Hiccups Comedy Room in Rochester, New York.   The comic before me was very dirty. He got major laughs. I went up and started my set. I was afraid I wouldn’t get any laughs unless I was dirty, so I did some material that I’d never done before. I tossed some curse words around in the attempt to get laughs.  Larry Miller was the headliner that night. After the show he asked if he could talk to me. He said, “You don’t need to be dirty, because that’s not who you are.  Tell the stories of your family.  That’s funny and that’s truth. Dirty won’t advance your career, but funny will.”  It was great advice. He said, “Be honest. Be yourself.  Be Funny.”  Larry went on...

CHRISTIAN WOMEN’S CONFERENCE – Laughter Learning Worship Praise & Fellowship! REGISTRATION NOW OPEN! Day of Joy God’s Got YOU Covered 2012 Speakers: Patricia Holbrook, Yvonne Conte, and Rev. Colette Matthews Saturday March 24th, 2012 8:15 am – 4:00 pm Church of the Resurrection 7125 Collamer Road East Syracuse, NY 4 Christian Teachings For more information or to Register go to: www.dayofjoy.org Only $25 Full Day.  Includes Meals.  Go to www.dayofjoy.org NOW to register! Call 315.487.3771 for more information. Over 100 Door prizes! 4 Teachings Based on the Scripture: Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to...

WISE Symposium: Corporate climate means a lot to your bottom line… Find out why by listening to the interview with WISE Speaker and humor expert Yvonne Conte! ~~~ Yvonne Conte, Motivational Humorist Humor Advantage, Inc. 4736 Onondaga Blvd., Ste. 231 Syracuse, NY 13219 Yvonne Conte Website Voice: 315.487.3771 Fax: 315.487.5633 E-mail Yvonne...

I spent  the first third of my life worrying about how I looked.  Worrying if any boy was ever going to like me and worrying about silly things like are my legs the same size and when will I every have boobs as big as my sisters.  The second third of my life I worried about my kids.  What if they get sick?  What if I don’t have enough money to feed them?  What if they grow up and don’t like me? What if they get involved with the wrong kids?  What if someone hurts them?  I’ve worried about job interviews, germs, deadlines and  bills.  I’ve even worried about having my home spotless when company comes. All my worrying never did a bit of good, in fact the time I spent worrying was wasted and added to my stress, which added to my...

My business,  like so many others, depends on networking.  If you don’t know about me, you can’t hire me. I talk to people wherever I go. You never know when you are sitting next to someone who will eventually need a speaker.  However today, I’ve been traveling non-stop for four weeks. I just wanted to sit down and be still. A  perfectly normal looking woman sat next to me. I buried my nose in my magazine and ignored her.  She began to read.  Thank goodness.  I don’t have to make small talk. We landed. I gathered my belongings and stood in the isle waiting to get out.  She looked up and smiled at me so I HAD to say something right?  I looked at her book and said, “What are you reading?”  Which of course began a...

Yesterday was my birthday.  It was a very significant one for me. And since I am now officially  ‘older & wiser’ I thought I’d pass along some of my sage advice.  Sixty times I’ve lived through the Holiday season and this is what I’ve learned. 1. Spend less and enjoy more. Lets start with holiday shopping. The right amount to pay for gifts this year, is what you can afford to spend without compromising your own needs.  That means no credit cards.  Pay for your gifts now. You will be ever so grateful come January. 2.  Do less and enjoy more. When planning your parties and family feasts this year put all the fuss on the back burner. Most of us work our butts off trying to make everything perfect.  It never is, and then we...

Do you know people who just never seem to be happy? Never enjoy anything? They take life so seriously.  Their attitude is, how can you laugh when life is so difficult? People are losing their jobs, there’s illness, death and the threat of terrorists.  I agree it’s nothing to laugh about. Laughter will motivate us in troubled times.  A good belly laugh allows you to stay flexible in the face of difficulty so you’re more likely to solve problems and less likely to be embittered or broken by them. People who live a joy-filled life are no different than anyone else. They have to pay taxes, they get the flu and they experience loss.  They look at life differently.  They see humor that is literally all around. They’re not afraid to be...

What a different world it would be if everyone was HAPPY! Think what it would be like at work or at home if people were able to enjoy life more.  Read Yvonne’s Essay:  The secret to Happiness and find out how to create some happiness for you and those around you and why that’s so important to your health and well being. ~Then check out the Silly Nuggets with short  silly jokes from some of America’s funniest comedians. ~This month’s Speaker Spotlight Yvonne offers her Laughter Class. This is one of the funniest sessions she offers and a great way to relieve stress in the office, at home or anywhere.  Learn how to laugh, laugh and laugh some more. ~In Your Stories  a client  shows us that you can even crack yourself up at your...

This is a message for anyone you may know who wants to feel more comfortable as a Speaker, Teacher, Manager, Sales Person or Public Official.  Do you have anyone on your staff  who leads meetings,  gives presentations or teaches workshops within the company?  If you know of someone who needs to polish up his or her speaking skills, feel more comfortable in front of an audience or learn how to inject some humor into the presentation, I hope you’ll pass on this information.  September 20th from 10-4p.m. at Onondaga Free Library Yvonne Conte will lead a class on being a great speaker.  The class is geared for the person who wants to follow Yvonne’s footsteps into the speaking industry, however it is a great class for anyone who wants to be more...

I’m no math whiz, but if I’ve calculated correctly on August 1st  I will have lived on this earth a total of 21,747 days.  That’s 3,106.7 Mondays.   I figure I’ve had 3,106.7 opportunities to start out fresh and accomplish something.  If I’m to be totally honest, there have been many weeks when I didnt’ really do much of anything.  I’m going to be sixty in December. That got me thinking that  if the average person only lives to be seventy-five, then I’ve only got fifteen years left. That’s only five thousand, four hundred and seventy-five  days.  And that means I’ve only got seven hundred, eighty-two and one-tenth Mondays left.  I must say that once I figured all that out, I started to panek. ...