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In a head-scratcher that has been documented in numerous studies, giving people monetary rewards routinely reduces performance. But why? How do you know when offering cash rewards will help or hurt? Consider five quick mysteries. MYSTERY NUMBER ONE: Go back in time with me to 1995. You are a fly on the wall in a […]
Read MoreImagine trying to win a skeet-shooting contest… while blindfolded, and not even knowing which direction the skeet is being
Read MoreHappily Disillusioned By Billy Riggs, the World’s Only Dis-Illusionist You and I have something in common: we’re both illusionists…
Read MoreIf your group or organization holds a decent number of seminars over the course of the year, you may find that some other motivational…
Read MoreGood teaching does not occur by accident. Onthe contrary, it is the result of finely honed skills and an intimate knowledge of the…
Read MoreThe capacity of the human mind for self-deception is astounding. Until we accept this fact, and consciously choose to look inward at our own personal belief systems (rather than
Read MoreWOW! I was floored. After more than 20 years as a loyal AVIS Rent-a-car patron, I was transformed into a Hertz customer in…
Read MorePositively Magical Service! (Part II) By Billy Riggs An entire industry thrives around delivering customer satisfaction. Yet, satisfaction…
Read MoreFew things will so sap your joy as consistently behaving in a manner that is inconsistent with whom you really are, because…
Read MoreA recent article in Education Week Magazine (by Sarah Schwartz, May 15, 2019) reports that the most profound emotion that…
Read MoreA boss and a leader are not the same things. In fact, they’re almost opposites. Though millions wear both hats simultaneously…
Read MoreI’ll never forget Villanova University’s victory over Patrick Ewing’s mighty Georgetown Hoyas in the NCAA National Basketball Championship…
Read MoreCompanies who are able to transform customer interactions into fun experiences gain a huge advantage over those who don’t…
Read MoreIn 2013, Army Captain William Swenson was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery at the Battle of Ganjgal…
Read MoreIt was Monday morning, February 3, 1969, and Al was relieved to be leaving behind the frosty weather of New England for…
Read MoreThere is a verse in the Bible that says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter difficulties of all kinds, knowing…
Read MoreEvery parent has struggled with a grouchy child. The whining and crying can drive you crazy, not to mention the frustration…
Read MoreSister Helen P. Mrosla wrote this moving story years ago. It so moved me when I first read it that I’ve saved it for nearly a decade…
Read MoreLook at the two photos below. The one on your left appears to be snarling and angry, while the one on the right seems serene…
Read MoreSteven Van Rensselaer was a go-getter by anyone’s definition. Elected to the New York legislature at the tender age of 25, he…
Read MoreHarlan was a loser. He’d lost his Dad at the age of 5, and for the next 6 decades things only seemed to get worse. He dropped…
Read MoreOne of the most renowned pianists of the first half of the 20th century was the elegant, mysterious Olga Samaroff. She was…
Read MoreIn the middle of the 19th century the obstetrics ward of Krakenhaus Hospital in Vienna, Austria was supervised by Hungarian…
Read MoreThe year was 1935, and an eighth-grade boy whose uncle had nicknamed him “Sparky” was doing even worse than usual. As…
Read Moreil·lu·sionnoun. 1. An erroneous perception of reality. 2. An erroneous concept or belief. 3. The condition of being deceived by…
Read MoreJust a few months before I was born in 1958, the first International Tchaikovsky Competition was hosted, as it has been every…
Read MoreThey say that seeing is believing, but new research suggests that isn’t so. To the contrary, believing is seeing. We do not…
Read MoreThis is a continuation of Billy’s previous blog…Really smart and quite sane people can believe not-so-smart and way-too-crazy things…
Read MoreThis is Part III of Billy’s previous blog…As I write this morning two monsters, brothers named Said and Cherif Kouachi, are…
Read MoreDISCLAIMER: Billy Riggs does not speak on (or even address) the topic below in any of his public presentations, but his interests are…
Read MoreYears ago I watched myself on videotape performing a very difficult sleight of hand move onstage. It’s a part of a routine in which scores…
Read MoreHOW DO YOU KNOW IF IT’S REALLY A MIRACLE?In August of 2014, doctors pronounced dead a Brazilian man named Valdelucio Gonclaves..
Read MoreIn 2006, New Age self-help guru Rhonda Byrne published her international best-seller, The Secret. The thesis of that landmark book…
Read MoreOn a recent speaking trip to Chicago I finally saw the opportunity to undertake a pilgrimage I had been planning for over a year…
Read MoreI once had a barbarian for a boss. He hovered over each employee like an angry schoolmarm, barked out orders like a drill…
Read MoreYou and I have something in common: we’re both illusionists. There are differences, of course. I perform my classic illusions on …
Read MoreIt was one of those rare, once or twice-in-a-lifetime epiphanies, a flash of insight that was – I would learn later – to become a hinge…
Read MoreThe classic fantasy movie, “The Wizard or Oz”, provides an interesting parallel to the progression through which our illusions…
Read MoreDISCLAIMER: Billy Riggs does not speak on (or even address) the topic below in any of his public presentations, …
Read MoreDISCLAIMER: Billy Riggs does not speak on (or even address) this topic in any of his public presentations,..
Read MoreKNOW WHEN TO BREAK THE RULES OF CUSTOMER SERVICE As a rule, you should always greet your customers with a smile,…
Read MoreEvery philanthropic organization (and many companies, too) tends to trace a predictable arc from its birth through its apex to its eventual obsolescence ..
Read MoreA LITTLE SECRET ABOUT RHONDA BYRNE’S BOOK, THE SECRET (Shhh! Don’t Tell Anyone, But It’s Utter Nonsense!) …
Read MoreThe Woodward Siblings, 1960 On July 9, 1960, a middle-aged resident of Buffalo, New York named James Honeycutt…
Read MoreLosers complain when the direction of the wind changes. Winners just set their sails differently to take advantage of it…
Read MoreThe thesis of the cult-classic film series, The Matrix, is that the world we all perceive is actually a computer simulation fed into the brains of people who are…
Read MoreWhat can rock stars teach us about life and business? Plenty, according to my friend and colleague…
Read MoreHow to Overcome the Price Objection in SellingPrice is, of course, an important factor when customers consider a purchase,..
Read MoreI recently spoke at the brand new Hotel ZaZa just outside Houston, Texas. It’s a boutique hotel chain…
Read MoreWHY HIRE A FUNNY, MAGICAL MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER?One of the most rewarding aspects of being a motivational speaker is the opportunity …
Read MoreMy newest book, How to Become a Born Leader, is now available. Purchase a copy by clicking on “Store” at the top of your screen.
Read MoreLeadership, at its core, is the ability to influence other people. Three hundred and fifty years before the birth of Christ, the philosopher Aristotle summarized…
Read More“I’m sorry, Dave. I can’t do that.” HAL 9000 computer from 2001 A Space Odyssey by Stanley KubrikThe earth shook in November of 2017 and no one noticed…
Read MoreOne of the most important lessons a boss can learn is this: hire slowly; fire quickly. Take great care to find the right people for the right positions. ..
Read MoreOver the past ten days (August, 2019), I’ve been the keynote speaker for 9 opening convocations (that’s a kick-off rally for faculty and…
Read MoreOn Oct. 12, 2019, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge became the first human being in history to run the marathon in under 2 hours, finishing with 20…
Read Moreil·lu·sion ( -l zh n) noun. 1. An erroneous perception of reality. 2. An erroneous concept or belief. 3. The condition of being deceived…
Read MoreTremors in the Global Economy….In last month’s blog, I predicted that an economic catastrophe is coming to the world that…
Read MoreIn 1968, Dr. Paul Ehrlich released his international bestseller, The Population Bomb, predicting the starvation of hundreds of…
Read MoreLife is like a bicycle; it derives its stability from forward motion, and what is true of your life as a whole is also true of your career…
Read MoreNothing is worse than telling a joke and hearing nothing but crickets chirping in response. (Okay, cancer is worse, but you know…
Read MoreHappiness and success, the crown jewels of life, are universally sought for ourselves and envied in others. But these twin…
Read MoreI’ll never forget it. The meeting that day in the summer of 1997 was a disaster. Being generally accustomed to attentive audiences…
Read MoreIn the early part of the nineteenth century, there was but one province of India not subject to British rule.The state of Kolhapur was…
Read MoreIt was every young speaker’s worst nightmare, especially one who viewed himself as a funny motivational speaker…
Read MoreBilly Riggs
