Through the principles of improvisation, we teach people to be more effective in the areas of leadership, customer service, sales, creativity, communication and teambuilding.

Out of the Blue's acclaimed "Performance Keynote" presentation blends our keynote content into a unique multiple-speaker, multi-media, theatrical event.

Our message is delivered by the "ultimate presenters" – a cast of two to four professional speakers who are also highly trained improvisation actors. Your audience will listen, laugh and learn in our fast-paced, humor- packed, message-rich performance keynote–customized for you and with you, every step of the way. Whether the topic is customer service, teambuilding, leadership, sales or creativity, we’ve got the perfect program for you.

"Out of the Blue swept in and re-energized our company in a manner that far exceeded our expectations. This is one experience your company cannot afford to miss!"

-- Beth Cecil, Senior Manager
Wheaton Sport Center

Programs include:

Improvise This! How to Think on Your Feet so You Don't Fall on Your Face (Based on the book by Mark Bergren, Molly Cox and Jim Detmar.)

Spontaneous Combustion– Igniting the Spirit of Customer Service (Leadership, teambuilding, sales)

Learn how to ignite the creative spark, take risks, work as a team, break repetitive habits, put your energy "out," not "in," lead by example, work from the gut and create personal confidence in your intuitive self.

Program length:
60 - 90 minutes

Call for information about our keynote and workshop packages.

"Your energy and enthusiasm is infectious. I know that our associates walked away from your sessions with a new outlook on their positions and a new focus on how to deal with the day-to-day issues that arise."

-Renee Tolson, Partner
Hardy Development Group, Inc.

• To confidently say "Yes…And!" in a "No" corporate culture.
• To interact effectively with your daily "scene partners," on the job and at home through improvisaton.
• To successfully "Go With Your Gut" in dynamic business relationships.
• To commit to every "life scene" fully with more humor, creativity and spontaneity.

S.C.O.R.E. How to deliver Championship Customer Service!

Let’s face it, customer service is a game. You either win…or you go home. And in today’s demanding business climate, your team must be prepared to play the game. Out of the Blue’s easy to implement training Workshop coaches your team how to consistently S.C.O.R.E. big points with customers, ensuring that your company wins the most coveted of titles: Championship Customer Service. No trophy... no trip to Disneyworld... just customers who become your biggest fans and brand advocates.

S.C.O.R.E., takes customer service forward to the basics—the X’s and O’s.


S. - Set the Stage
C. - Communication & Confidence
O. - Open Mind & Open Arms
R. - Resilience
E. - Engage with Energy Out

“On behalf of the entire ProStaff team, I’d like to thank you for your contribution in making our annual meeting a huge success. The SCORE exercise is something that we’re looking to add to our new employee orientation, and daily routine in general.”
- T. Chalupsky, Regional Vice President

Out of the Blue provides customized seminars and workshops in the areas of:

• Peer Coaching
• Teacher & Administrator Training & Enrichment
• Kick-Off Events
• National & Regional Conferences

"I can’t imagine a better way to gain the skills and knowledge for being a successful peer coach, nor better instructors to get us there. In fact, we have made the practice of improvisation training with Jim Detmar and Mark Bergren a staple of our yearly professional development."

Brad Anderson
Q Comp Supervisor
Wayzata Public Schools

Every organization needs to be innovative. But how can yours consistently generate new ideas, or products, product extensions, new markets and new ways of doing business? Out of the Blue has an answer. Apply the principles of improvisation in our unique BlueSky Creativity Workshop. Using Improvisation team tools, participants experience an energetic non-traditional brainstorm session in a judgment-free environment, which is specifically geared toward their goals and outcomes.

And, it all starts with the simple phrase; “Yes…And!” enabling their creativity to go from partly cloudy to a “100% chance of brainstorms.”

This program is perfect for in-house conferences or convention breakout sessions.

The Las Vegas Athletic Clubs generated 100 new ideas to increase sales and employee retention in only 2 hours.

Topics:

• Teambuilding
• Idea Generation
• Report Out - Presentation
• Branding

Program length:
Breakout, half-day, or full day.

It has been proven that people learn more and remember it when than are being entertained and not being bored to tears or to sleep… or early retirement. And commonality is one of the key ingredients in bringing people together to forge strong staff bonds. Out of the Blue’s unique brand of corporate comedy provides the perfect conduit to connect these two very important elements of corporate success.

Our Corporate Comedy is training & entertainment linked into a seamless "laugh & learn" package.

Whether your event goal is simply to provide relaxation and laughter, or it’s a new product rollout that needs an inventive theatrical twist, Out of The Blue can tailor a program that delivers the sure-fire funny that’ll have your attendees asking each other, "How do they do that?"

“Out of the Blue literally blew our attendees away when you presented last week. No only did you have everyone rolling in the aisles with your “spot on” sketches, but your message was so well received. If anyone asks, you can say I recommend you 100%. No, make that 200% - but only if they want to have the very best sales meeting of the year.”

- Program Chair, S.M.E. – Sales & Marketing Executives

Consisting of original sketches, songs & improvisation, or the simple hilarity of improvisation alone, Out of the Blue’s anything but standard offering features a cast of 3 to 5 actors and a musician who perform in a high-energy, fast-paced comedy revue format.

We are skilled at working closely with you to customize our written material to your exact content needs. And– our menu of audience interactive improvisation pieces, from scenes to song to satire, is virtually endless.

While many entertainment companies can make this offer, no one is as well versed at adding the personalized business touch as Out of the Blue. Our amazing improvisers steeped in corporate savvy, can deliver the punch lines while punching up your message Lean and mean… and always clean.

“You must know that our VP Vision Quest evening was met with rave reviews. Our president Dave Pottruck, kept saying, “How do they know so much about us?” The scripts you wrote were right on and will be remembered, by all involved, for a long time.”

---Amelia Harding, Senior Creative and Production Manager, Charles Schwab

Emcee / Master of Ceremonies

Emcee / Master of Ceremonies
An Out of the Blue emcee can ensure seamless transitions, professional introductions, sustained interest and high energy levels. All of our emcees are highly trained improv actors and speakers who can roll with the punches and add humor to even the driest event.

“Thank you for the GREAT job at the Media Best Awards. The mock award show was hysterical! You were both funny and very professional.
You added a lot to our event.”

--- Rebecca Mellor, Minnesota Broadcasters Association

Don’t hesitate to give us a casting call.

Phone: 612-384-9448

Show & Event Creative Direction

When it comes to Event Expertise, Out of the Blue partners have years of experience as creative directors, writers and producers for national sales events, award evenings, product roll-outs and major trade show exhibits, and more – for clients such as Butler Manufacturing, Wells Fargo, Charles Schwab, Whirlpool, and Disney Event Productions.

Script & Speechwriting

The creative team at Out of the Blue scripts many original, professional comedy, satire and musical productions for such venues as the Brave New Workshop, the Actors Theater of Minnesota, and Disney Entertainment. In addition, we craft start-to-finish scripts for national sales meetings, special events, after dinner entertainment and trade show presentations. Allow us to color your script and speech with our unique business and theatrical perspective.

Speech & Presentation Coaching

In today’s media-focused business world the ability to engage your audience, whether it’s in a live speech, a conference room presentation, an interview, or in a web video is an essential skill. Our coaches have extensive performance and teaching backgrounds and will provide you with practical tools and techniques to make you “pitch perfect” the next time you’re in front of an audience or a video camera.

Video Production

Does a quick three to five minute comedic short film that opens your annual meeting or a series of one-minute “man- on- the- street” video interviews to segue from speaker to speaker sound like a winner?

“From beginning to end you showed a true desire to understand our business, understand our audience and meet, no, exceed our expectations! The video hit the mark and was really funny!”

--Pat Hickey, Chief Operating Officer Executive Vice President, Lifetouch Publishing, Inc.

Phone: 612-384-9448