Scott Friedman

Scott Friedman, CSP and former President of the National Speakers Association (NSA), is an internationally sought after speaker and author. As a motivational humorist, Scott inspires and entertains with fun-filled, interactive and content-rich programs. He speaks on a variety of topics over 80 times a year. Scott’s main area of expertise is as an employee engagement speaker and innovation, celebration, and customer experience expert.

In addition to being the CCO—Chief Celebration Officer—at Friedman & Associates, Scott has written “Celebrate! Lessons Learned from the World’s Most Admired Organizations,” “Happily Ever Laughter—How to Engage Any Audience,” “Using Humor For A Change,” and “A Celebration a Day! 365 Ways to a Happier, Healthier Workplace.” He is also the co-author of four additional books.

Scott’s opportunity to entertain and engage as President of Salesmen with a Purpose (SWAP, now Sales Professional International) in 1985 created his desire for a career in professional speaking. He took the marketing director position with Speech Masters, a company that trains lawyers, executives, and professional speakers in presentation development. This lead to the start of his professional speaking career in 1986. For three decades, Scott has combined improvisational comedy, quick wit, and engaging material to become the speaker he is today. Scott’s mission as a speaker and Chief Celebration Officer is to improve organization performance and productivity through the power of celebration and humor.

As a Certified Speaking Professional (as designated by the NSA) and trusted member of the speaking community, Scott continues to have a strong presence both domestically and globally. Scott is the 2013 NSA Cavett Award Recipient, presented annually to the NSA member whose accomplishments over the years have reflected outstanding respect, service, honor, and admiration in the Association and the speaking profession. Scott was awarded the Meeting Professionals International (MPI) 2013 Recognizing Industry Success and Excellence (RISE) Award. ”This award honors those rare individuals who by visionary hard work and creative insight have positively changed the global meetings and events industry community (MPI).” In 1988, as the President of the National Speakers Association of Colorado, he founded the Meetings Industry Council of Colorado (MIC), a coalition of professional meetings industry-related organizations. He is proud to continue involvement with MIC and their latest event which included over 800 meeting professionals in March of 2013. In 2002, Scott was awarded the International Association of Speaker Bureaus (IASB) Pace Setter Award, given annually to an individual outside the IASB who played an integral role in partnership with IASB to further advance the speaking industry.