Desi Payne

Desi INSPIRES and EQUIPS audiences who work with negative people to better manage their stress.

Expert on

  • Humor
  • Stress
  • Leadership
  • Difficult People
  • Motivation

Fee Range

$5,000–$10,000

Travels from

IA, US

High-Energy, Enthusiastic, Fearless, Funny – That’s Desi Payne!

Desi is passionate about helping leaders and their teams thrive in the workplace. She will energize your team to boost morale, enhance engagement, and elevate performance.
Showcasing nearly 25 years of knowledge as an educator, entrepreneur, business owner, author, customer service and leadership trainer, her expertise will motivate your team as she has worked with hundreds of companies and thousands of leaders.

She is an Executive Program Director with the John C. Maxwell Leadership Team.

As an award-winning entertainer with a comedy background, she uses humor and storytelling to keep the audience engaged (and awake). Participants will laugh while they learn.

Desi is a frequent guest on the lifestyle show, Hello Iowa! As a TV personality, she has a following who learn about managing stress.

She is the author of Do You Work with the Living Dead?, Give Me Some Chocolate…I’m Stressed! and Manage Stress Without Losing Your Mind.

Fun Fact: In 2022, she was a contestant on America’s Funniest Home Videos and won 3rd place!

 

 

No More Workplace Zombies: A Framework to Build High-Performing Teams

Do you want your team to be energized, see their morale boosted, and have them performing at high levels?  Here are the facts: In today’s rapidly changing workforce, we are confronted with complicated individuals, varying levels of experience, and differing opinions that must be managed to foster high performance. From the workplace zombies dragging themselves into work, unwilling to be there, to the highest performing ‘golden children’ of the organization, the gap between the two is significant. We must learn how to navigate each of these individuals.

By understanding the power of energizing your team with ‘CPR,’ you’ll be able to boost their performance and create a positive environment that everyone will want to be a part of.

Desi Payne has worked with hundreds of companies and thousands of leaders and their employees, teaching them how to energize their teams with ‘CPR’ to create sustainable, high-performing teams. You will love how engaging and entertaining this keynote is!

Key Takeaways

Participants will learn:

  • The “CPR” framework to boost your attitude and performance
  • How to effectively work with “workplace zombies”
  • To embrace different personality styles by understanding them
  • To discover how to reignite enthusiasm within your team
  • The best strategies & tips for navigating negativity

Format:  Keynote

Time Frame: 60-75-90 minute keynote

Audience:  Great for leaders and their employees who want a positive work environment and want to boost morale, engagement, and performance

This is Desi’s most requested session!

The Magic of Connecting for Leaders

Do you know the secret to becoming a great leader?

Are you under the illusion of what your team thinks of you?

Would you like to learn the magic of connecting?

If yes, then Desi wants to vanish your misconceptions of what connecting is about.

Today technology transforms the way we communicate.  In fact, technology has taken over our lives in so many ways that we’ve truly lost the skills of listening and making connections with people.  The pandemic certainly created habits of isolation that still linger among society.  People are starving for human connection more than ever before.

Everyone wants to work in a culture where they feel valued, heard, and understood.   Connections increase retention and collaboration and decrease isolation, conflict, and misunderstandings.  In this keynote or breakout session, participants will learn the principles of connecting as well as the impact and influence connecting creates.

Key Takeaways

Participants will learn:

The value of connecting with others

How important it is to value people

Why leaders MUST make connections

Secrets to connecting

How to build a culture of cohesive teamwork

How easy it is to make connections

Format:  Keynote or breakout session

Time Frame: 60-90 minutes

Audience:  Emerging leaders, mid-level leaders, senior management who would like to create more engagement and influence with their teams.

The Incredible Power of Laughter

Would you like to kick off or end your conference with enthusiasm and fun? Or maybe you need to fill that dreaded after-lunch spot?  Then this entertaining and engaging keynote will not only have everyone laughing; this presentation will teach everyone about the incredible power of laughter. 

Did you know that laughter will:

Boost your immune system

Decrease your stress

Lift your mood

Increase team morale

And much more!

Here’s PROOF of Desi’s experience with humor: 

Award-winning professional clown, winning the prestigious  “All-Around Clown” at the World Clown Convention & 1st Place in the Skit Competition in 2016

Guest performing with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus as well as the Carden International Circus

Directed Humor Therapy Department at local hospital for 29 years as a professional clown

Attended clown college and training throughout the country and Canada on the art of clowning with patients

Working on Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines

Winning 3rd place on America’s Funniest Home Videos in 2022

Key Takeaways

Participants will learn how laughter:

Makes you resilient

Benefits your mind and body

Boosts morale and teamwork

Sparks creativity

Releases feel-good endorphins and decreases cortisol

Format:  Keynote

Time Frame:  30-40 minutes

Audience: Women’s breast cancer survivor events, awards banquets, celebrations, or just wanting to have fun to kick-off or end an event.

The Resilient Employee: Turning Stress to High-Performance

STOP STRESS IN ITS TRACKS! 

The world today is moving faster than it ever has before and only a fraction of the speed that it will in the years to come. As a result, the times that we’re living in, whether we like it or not, are extremely stressful.  According to the National Institute of Health, research studies show that “employer efforts to decrease employee stress in the workplace may increase employee productivity.”

Help your employees to reduce their stress levels, prevent burnout, and be more resilient in life.  Desi Payne can help your team to show up for work (and life) with more energy, enthusiasm, engagement, and better mental health.   She teaches exactly how to navigate and manage stress so that we can be the best we can be and thereby lead the most powerful teams we possibly can. 

You will learn to be intentional about taking care of the stress that is robbing you of your happiness and joy, be more productive on the job and have more energy.   This is a fun, high-energy, and impactful session!

Key Takeaways

Participants will learn:

How to manage, reduce, or eliminate stress out of their life

The consequences of unmanaged stress

Their own “Stress Test” results

To implement the “3-L Framework” (Lifestyle Changes, Let Go, Laugh)

How to make an action plan to manage stress

Based on Desi’s book, Manage Stress Without Losing Your Mind

Format:  Keynote or Breakout Session

Time Frame:  60-minute, 90-minute, or half-day

Audience: Any employee overwhelmed with life, stress on the job, or near burnout

Energize Your Team with Incredible Communication Skills

Is your team experiencing stress due to miscommunication?

Would you like to see:

Better engagement with your team?

Improvement in collaboration among team members?

Decreased conflict among leadership and team members?

Then communication training with Desi is the best solution!

Participants are introduced to the DISC model and begin by exploring their personal profiles to better understand their own communication style and behavioral preferences. They then learn about the full spectrum of DISC styles, gaining insight into the strengths and value each brings to a team. Finally, they apply this understanding to enhance collaboration and communication across their organization. This workshop is ideal for individual contributors or for fostering a shared understanding and common language around the DISC framework within teams or organizations.

This dynamic and highly engaging session offers hands-on experience that will leave participants with a clear and practical understanding of how to communicate more effectively with one another.

“Desi Payne is an engaging and inspiring speaker who delivers valuable information in a fun and interactive way.  My staff gained valuable insights about their own personality and habits as well as how to better communicate with their co-workers. I would recommend Desi to anyone who wants to improve teamwork or just have an enjoyable team-building experience.”  Cassandra Dytrych, WIC Supervisor, Douglas County Health Department, Omaha, Nebraska

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Participants will learn how to:

Adapt their communication style to gain greater connection with others and reduce conflict

Identity four different personality traits

Learn their own communication style

Understand how to successfully engage and interact with styles that are different than their own

Understand the impact communication has with the people they work with and the clients they serve

ADDITIONAL RESOURCE: This training is based on DISC. An on-line assessment and 1:1 debrief may be available at an additional cost.

Format: Keynote, breakout, half-day workshop

Time Frame: Interactive 60-minute, 90-minute, 2-hour or half-day workshop

Audience: Senior Management, Leadership Teams, Employees, Associations

Team Building with Humor & Purpose

It’s the spirit of teamwork that breathes life and creativity into an organization, but today, more than ever before, team disconnection levels are at an all-time high.  What are the benefits of team building?

Builds Trust – Strengthens relationships and confidence in each other’s abilities and intentions.

Improves Collaboration – Promotes a cooperative mindset and smoother teamwork across roles.

Boosts Morale – Creates a sense of belonging and positivity that energizes the team.

Reduces Conflict – Builds empathy and mutual understanding, preventing or resolving tensions.

Increases Engagement – Makes team members feel valued, heard, and more invested in outcomes.

Strengthens Problem-Solving – Enhances collective resilience and adaptability to challenges.

Supports Retention – A connected healthy team culture makes people more likely to stay.

This is a fun and very interactive session which will give team members experience in either communication, trust, or problem-solving.   This team-building session is fabulous as a follow-up to any of Desi’s programs to reinforce what they just learned, or it can be done as a breakout session all its own.

Participants will not only learn how to work with each other but will have fun and be sure to laugh with each other.  This session will energize teams, boost morale, engagement, and the team’s performance.

Key Takeaways

Participants will learn how:

Teamwork ignites creativity

One is too small a number to achieve greatness

It’s easier to NOT do everything by yourself

Accepting everyone’s ideas can breed new ideas

Format:  Breakout session or workshop

Time Frame:  30-45-60 minutes

Audience: All employees of any organization