As his friend Jay Leno put it, "Finally a motivational speaker, without the speech!"

Ross Shafer didn't start out as one of the country's funniest motivational speakers though. A native Pacific Northwesterner, he was an All-Conference football player in high school and awarded a scholarship to the University of Puget Sound - a small NCAA II school where Ross was often the player voted most likely to be "shaken up on the play." He earned his BA degree in Business Marketing within four years...an achievement he's still convinced is a football team record.

After college, Ross blew his savings on what he was sure would be the "next big thing." He invested everything he had (and lost it) in "SOUNDS OK, America's Only Stereo and Pet Shop." Business failures aside, Ross started getting laughs at comedy clubs and his first big break came when he won Showtime's Comedy Laugh Off in 1983. Soon Ross began to open shows for Dionne Warwick, Eddie Rabbitt, Crystal Gayle, Neil Sedaka and other famous people with good voices.

Within a year, Ross was hosting KING-TV's weekly comedy/talk show, "Almost Live." With Ross at the helm, the show won 36 Emmy Awards and the prestigious IRIS award for the "Best Local Entertainment Series" in the United States. It was also during his time at "Almost Live" that Ross actually created Bill Nye, The Science Guy!

Over the next several years, Ross hosted a daily afternoon radio program, contributed to Dick Clark's "TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes," hosted the USA Network's game show "Love Me, Love Me Not," wrote and produced two comedy TV specials and had a recurring role on the hit show "21 Jump Street." He moved on to become host of Fox's flagship late night program (cleverly titled "The Late Show"), which competed against Johnny Carson and David Letterman. During this time, Ross continued to work on his stand-up act and regularly performed for the Improv, Comic Strip Live, the A List and eventually moved on to a nightly ABC entertainment magazine that he co-hosted with Matt Lauer and Spencer Christian. One of his most proud entertainment achievements, was the successful run as host of ABC-TV's "New Match Game." The show still plays every morning on the Game Show Network.

Surprising, but true, Ross is also a published author. He practically invented the genre of comedy cookbooks with Cook Like A Stud, featuring 38 recipes men can prepare in the garage using their own power tools. He also wrote Nobody Moved Your Cheese! : How to Ignore the Experts and Trust Your Gut and his book, The Customer Shouts Back! : 10 Things You Need To Do To Earn Their Lifetime Loyalty, which is the culmination of Ross' 11 years as a writer and producer of human resource training films. In his newest book, Are You Relevant? Twelve Reasons Smart Organizations Thrive in Any Economy (published Jan. 2009), Ross shares his insights from working with dozens of successful companies, across many industries and offers directives for thriving in ANY economy. Ross founded the Customer Empathy Institute™ because he's convinced the reason customer service hasn't improved is because we haven't tried to understand the customer's emotional state before, during and after the transaction.

Corporate and association audiences have become fascinated by Ross' story of "Failed Pet Shop Manager, turned Network TV Host." Nowadays, he is in demand as a keynote speaker, seminar leader and event emcee. His clean, funny and relevant programs have made more than 3,000 meeting planners look like heroes, and he's worked with dozens of companies that span various industries, such as Microsoft, Toyota, Safeway, Nordstrom, GE, Pfizer, Xerox, Verizon, Blue Cross, Wells Fargo, Ernst & Young, Allstate, Federal Express as well as a slew of professional associations. When you book Ross Shafer for your event, your audience is guaranteed to laugh, see their business in a new way, be inspired to trust their gut and fulfill their own potential.

• Nobody Moved Your Cheese! - Ross says, "Success is your own fault. We shouldn't look outside ourselves for quick answers or easy motivational formulas." This is a program about Accountability and taking Personal Responsibility for your own success. Ross was a small town pet store manager whose dream was to become a network talk show host like his idol, Johnny Carson. In less than 6 years of focused effort, his dream came true when he was named host of the Fox Late Show. In this program you'll learn why the world needs focused experts like you, how to exploit your hidden talents, how to tap into the enthusiasm of your coworkers, how to get your customers to accelerate your career, for you and how to Self-Motivate by example.
  
  
• Is Your Business Staying Relevant? - This is the one question that should keep your organization up at night. They used to call it "change," but change is too slow a word in this volatile and unpredictable economy. As a top keynote speaker and trainer, Ross has had a backstage pass to both the best practices...and the worst. He has seen who's failing...and more importantly who's succeeding. Organizations that succeed keep reinventing themselves to respond to the culture shifts in buying habits and human behavior. In his latest book, Ross shares his insights from working with dozens of successful companies, across many industries, and offers directives for thriving in ANY economy.
  
  
• How to Stop "Drama Management" - If you are managing an "Under 30" workforce, you have no doubt asked yourself, "Why am I spending so much time managing drama?" You are not alone. This younger workforce is often an enigma to baby boomer managers. This workforce was the first generation to grow up totally computer literate. The developed relationships through chat rooms, via email, on cell phones and text messaging. It's no wonder 45% of managers say they are dissatisfied with these workers' communication and collaborative skills. This keynote will give you valuable insight and specific tools to help you spend less time managing drama...and more time motivating productivity.
  
  
• Unconventional Thinking: The Masters Course - Ross discovered very early that nobody ever made big things happen by following conventional wisdom. "Unconventional wisdom has NO competition," says Ross. Ross cites how he invented Bill Nye, The Science Guy...and won Esquire Magazine's "Dubious Achievement Award" as examples of swimming against the tide into a blue ocean of opportunity. Take a skeptical look at who's telling you to avoid taking intellectual risks...and why?
  
  
• The Customer Empathy™ Solution: Part I - Ross says, "Ordinary customer service doesn't work in a Post 911 economy. It's Customer Empathy™ - the art of understanding the customer's emotional state before, during and after the transaction that will ensure long-term growth and loyalty." After dissecting 1,000 random customer complaints in 2004 and 2005, Ross discovered that the customer isn't always right. But, they are always vulnerable. In this program, you'll learn exactly how to implement Customer Empathy™ as well as the Top Changes you need to make to win your customer's long-term loyalty. You'll also see numerous examples of organizations that are experiencing record profits by using these principles.
  
  
• The Customer Empathy™ Solution: Part II - This is a great follow up to Part I - Same point of view but with - New Stories - New Case Studies - More Inside Customer Psychology. Funny and plenty of audience Interaction.
  
  
• Ross Shafer is the Ultimate MC - Ross is available for a limited number of multi-day conference hosting duties. Because of his talk and game show experience, Ross is the perfect moderator for events that feature A-List Celebrity guests...or your top level executive panel discussions. Ross is comfortable asking the tough questions in a way that is disarming, funny and insightful. He has led interviews and Q&A for such luminaries as Jack Welch, Senator Bob Dole, James Carville, Henry Winkler, Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan, Rap Mogul Russell Simmons, George Will...and dozens of others. You can trust your event will be on time, on target, and energized with Ross at the helm.

Books by Ross Shafer...
Are You Relevant? : Twelve Reasons Smart Organizations Thrive in ANY Economy	Nobody Moved Your Cheese! : How to Ignore the "Experts" and Trust Your Gut	The Customer Shouts Back! : 10 Things You Need To Do To Earn Their Lifetime Loyalty