Marty Wilson

Marty Wilson’s career path to date is nothing if not varied. He’s a former pharmacist who became an award-winning advertising copywriter then a full-time stand-up comedian before becoming a best-selling author and in-demand speaker.

He has spoken to more than 500,000 people since he first leapt up on stage in 1997. In his first 12 months Marty won Australia’s premiere comedy competition – Green Faces – the only national competition judged by audience vote, appeared on The Footy Show, and was invited to the UK to become a full-time stand-up comedian. He returned home in 2009 and is now the bestselling author of 18 books and a hilarious yet serious keynote speaker.

Marty’s life experience, plus his interviews with over 1000 inspirational people for his book series, has given him a unique capacity to notice some profound truths buried in even the humblest life story and, just as importantly, the skills to pass that wisdom on with integrity, empathy and gut-busting humour.

He writes for Reader’s Digest, the Sydney Morning Herald and a dozen magazines, and regularly appears on Sunrise. He has also written a children’s book called What do you want, the truth or a good story?

Every time Marty teaches – in his books, mentoring and hilarious keynotes – he uses laughter to short circuit peoples’ resistance and sneak powerful ideas about change, collaboration and employee engagement in between the laughs.

But Marty isn’t just the funniest speaker you’ll hear all year. His content is thoughtful and thought provoking and rammed full of scientific knowledge and takeaway tips and strategies.

Marty Wilson talks about:

Strategic Evolution – Move your people beyond resilience into restart, relaunch and recovery

COVID has been tough. But it’s time to focus on progress, productivity and profitability. Let’s roll up our sleeves and design something EVEN BETTER. We have to take back control and create a new way to do business with new skills and a new attitude. It’s time to shrug off the cloak of COVID. Forget resilience, it’s time for restart, relaunch and recovery. Let’s get your business back to business.

Change Without Fear – The Science of Using Humour to Manage Stress and Conquer Your Fear of Change

Marty shares his vast knowledge of all the rigorous scientific evidence that proves the best way to short-circuit fear and get your people to open up to new ideas is to use large doses of humour. While other change management speakers talk about implementation workflow, process models, and personal transition frameworks, Marty Wilson speaks to your people like they are thinking, feeling human beings.

What I Wish I Knew About Success – 1000 Inspirational Interviews in One Hilarious Hour

While writing the many editions of his bestselling What I Wish I Knew book series, Marty Wilson interviewed over 1000 inspirational people of all ages and from all backgrounds, and asked them to pass on the secrets of their success. Marty now distils their advice and presents it in a way that will leave your conference inspired, motivated and laughing out loud too. This hilarious keynote is the perfect way to start your event and get your people out of ‘work mode’ and open them up to learning new things.

Sell Without Fear – The Psychology of Using Humour and Stories to Bypass Fear in Sales

There is so much fear on both sides of the sales process – you’re scared of rejection, and your prospect is scared to make a wrong decision and be ripped off. This stops us selling well, and prevents your prospect staying open to being sold to. Using humour and the power of stories pulls both you and your prospect out of your survival mindset, and this gets you back to selling and relaxes them and makes them more open to buying

What I Wish I Knew About (Your Conference Theme) – Your People Star in this Session Based On The UK Comedy Circuit’s Famous ‘Joke Competition’

As a full time Stand Up and MC on the UK Comedy Circuit, Marty learnt the format used by all the great clubs to make the audience the star. He asks the crowd to submit answers to a question designed around your conference theme in the format of his bestselling What I Wish I Knew books series. Marty then reads out the responses and runs a competition getting the audience to vote for the most insightful response, and the funniest.