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Here you will find most everything you need to plan your meeting with Vern. Click links to move to each section: Preview Video, Pre-Program information, Keynote Biography, a downloadable Headshot of Vern, Testimonials, Room Set-Up information, and the Letter of Agreement.

Preview Video (16 minutes)
Vern was the closing keynote speaker at the Oklahoma Nutrition Association Convention. Note how he customized the presentation to fit the group and reach the objective of the meeting.
Click here to view the preview.

Things to look for:
His "Every third person is ugly!" opening is designed to the the audience to relax and get in an upbeat mood. It worked!

Note the overall reaction of the audience. Since most worked in schools, true motivational stories were told that related to schools. Professional card tricks were used to involve members of the audience. Major motivational points were made with each card trick.

The closing motivational "Graveyard Story," is humorous and designed to leave the group aroused and inspired. The standing ovation started before he was finished! The atmosphere of the room indicated his talk was a success!

Video being updated. Please check back later.

Pre-Program Questionnaire
After Vern is engaged to speak, he send a Pre-Program Questionnaire to the client. This enables him to customize his presentation for the most impact and to the desired objective of the meeting. If it is a Safety talk, he works in the areas of concern about safety problems in his jokes, card tricks and stories. This produces a very entertaining but effective Safety presentation. Together, the client and Vern can produce knockout programs!

Keynote Bio:
Vern was born on an oil field lease in Oklahoma and has 40 years experience in the oil and gas industry. From roustabout to roughneck, Vern has been a project engineer at a research and development laboratory, and marketing and sales manager while working in eighteen countries. He is married, has four children, four grand children and lives in Edmond, Oklahoma.

He attended the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma City University while obtaining a BA degree in Geology and a BS degree in Business Administration. A year’s graduate work in physics rounds out his formal Education. While in the Army, he was an instructor in basic electronics of guided missiles.

He has been speaking professionally since 1971. Vern won "International Salesman of the Year" in a professional sales club. And was one of two speakers voted "Best of Year" in 1976 and 1986. He is a member of the National Speakers Association, past president of the Oklahoma Speakers Association and listed in "Who’s Who in Professional Speaking". He is called a HUMOROUS MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER and uses jokes, card tricks and stories that relate to the topic to get his message across. His motto is: WE’RE HAVING FUN…BUT WE’RE NOT PLAYING!

Humor is always a common thread throughout Vern’s talks. So be prepared to laugh a lot while revving up your life to reach your full potential. VERN WILL DEFROST YOUR FROZEN ASSETS!

Downloadable Picture:

Click on the link to download a Headshot of Vern in  ".tif"  format.

Testimonials:

“Your attitude talk, card tricks, and dynamic sense of humor, all linked with audience participation and involvement truly made the evening a delightful occasion. Many of our employees and spouses have remarked that this was the best safety banquet they have ever attended!”
        Ruth C. Duval, Safety Director
        AMOCO
       
Riverton, Wyoming

 “Thanks to you, we had one of the most successful Oklahoma Safety Conferences we have ever presented, judging from the rave reactions we have been receiving. The praise should not come to us, but to you, who made the meeting a truly worthwhile experience.”
        Bob Eastman, Executive Vice President
        Oklahoma Safety Council
        Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

 “Our Accidents have dropped by 47% in the past two years.” (Vern gave 14 safety talks to this company during that time and received a special award for his contribution.)
        Randy Jankowski, Safety Director
        Williams Natural Gas Company
        Tulsa, Oklahoma

 “The year after your four talks on attitude about safety, coupled with our new program, we had a 50% reduction in accidents and a drop from 300 lost time days to 3!”
        Steve Gerrard, Director of Quality, Safety and Environmental
        Hilti Corporation
        Tulsa, Oklahoma

 “They thought you were better than Zig Ziglar!”
        David L. Grimes, Marketing Manager
        Southwestern Bell
        Mission, Kansas

 “We thank you for your outstanding presentation. The Participants and staff were entertained, motivated, and learned something as well!! Thank you for helping us begin our conference with SUCCESS! You received “Rave Reviews” on the conference evaluations.”
            Nancy Trench                         Cindy Finkle
            Assistant Director                  Conference Coordinator
            Fire Service Training
            Oklahoma State University

 “Thank you so much for doing such a great job presenting “Attitude – The Ace of Achievement.”  The comments we received about your sessions were overwhelmingly positive! Your humor, content and delivery fit perfectly into the theme of the conference and truly benefited all involved.”
        Tom J. Hoby
        Associate Director
        Colorado Special Olympics

 “You not only delivered what you promised, but you greatly exceeded my expectations. Everyone I spoke to loved you! I heard comments such as: ‘This was the best presentation I have seen!’ ‘Very funny and informative!’ ‘Very interesting. Opened doors to different ways to look at safety.’ ‘Fast paced, entertaining, good info, great approach - subject with humor.’ ‘Very motivational. This guy is good!’
       Deena Palmer
       Payroll and Employee Relations Manager
       Oklahoma Department of Transportation

Room Set-Up:

  • Sound System: Since Vern uses card tricks in many of his presentations, he needs both hands free. Therefore he prefers a wireless lapel microphone.
  • Lighting: Good lighting on the platform is always appreciated to help the audience see facial expressions and card tricks.
  • Audio/Visual Equipment: None required.
  • Platform Arrangement: A small (3’ X 3’ or larger) table placed to the speakers right beside the stand-alone lectern. If a tabletop lectern is used on an eight-foot table, placing the lectern in the center of the table works fine. See drawing below.
  • Room seating style: The modern method of having the backs of the seats perpendicular to the speaker is preferred. The style is called “U” shaped or “Chevron”. See Drawing below.

Letter of Agreement:

Click on the link to download the Letter of Agreement in '.pdf' format.