“Humor gives you the faith to carry on…”

Steve Rizzo is a sought-after speaker and author on the subject of humor and its role in success and happiness. I had the honor of meeting and working with him a few years ago when I asked him to speak to a group of managers I work with. He’s very, very funny. Smart, too.

Beyond that, however, he is an exceptionally humble, caring, encouraging and accessible person. And very, very funny.

A former stand-up comedian, Steve has appeared nationally on Showtime, the Comedy Channel, Fox television, Evening at the Improv, and many other cable and network television programs.

In recent years, Steve has devoted himself and his talents to coaching organizations like American Express, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and the Central Intelligence Agency on how to embrace change and boost human performance with laughter.

He is the author of the book, Becoming a Humor Being.

He and I had a chance to talk recently about why he does what he does, what he sees as people’s biggest challenges, and what he’s working on for 2008.

“When you stifle laughter, you stifle your spirit, the very essence of who you are,” he says. The complete conversation, in mp3 format, is below:

A Conversation With Steve Rizzo (3.3 MB)