Dave Caperton

How powerful are you? Did you know that one person can solve a traffic jam? It’s true although doing so requires enough emotional intelligence to not focus on getting credit or blame and withholding judgment about who might or might not deserve to get in ahead of you (Wall Street Journal, 2017). What else can one person do to change the world around them? Here are five actions that can help you unleash the power of one.

1. Put on Your Own Oxygen Mask - You can’t help anyone else if your emotional reserves are at zero. Attend to your needs first so that you can make a difference for others.

2. Fill Buckets! You are an amazing resource for other people to feel appreciated, encouraged and inspired. Most people don’t get thanked on the job once in a year (Gallup, 2004). You can singlehandedly change that starting right now!

3. Skip the pronouns – We can do our banking, shopping, and fuel our cars without one human interaction. So make the ones you have count. Start by using people’s names. You’ll be amazed at the difference it makes.

4. Humor them - Shared compassionate and inclusive laughter brings people together in ways only surpassed by the way people come together after a calamity (but lots cheaper and safer than starting a flood).

5. Touch others (but don’t linger) – Since inappropriate behavior is finally getting the zero-tolerance response that it deserves, suggesting physical touching might seem weird. But research shows that high-fives, fist-bumps and brief hugs are good for team success. So, up top (don’t leave me hanging)!

Breakout / Skills Lab (60–90 min) / Half Day Training (2-3hrs) / Full-Day Deep Dive (3+hours) Audience:

Same as keynote; ideal for managers/charge nurses to translate to teams

Format: Hands-on lab with demonstrations, pair practice, and take-home tools What we’ll build together

1. The “Healing Humor” Map – Where humor helps (and where it doesn’t): targeting situations not people, using self-deprecating and observational humor to connect across roles and with families. (Practical guardrails to avoid alienating humor.)

2.90-Second Recovery Library – Quick resets clinicians can use between rooms: laugh-inducing micro-exercises, gratitude reframes, and movement cues backed by stress-response science.

3.Compassion Fatigue Early-Warning Dashboard – Personal signals + team check-ins that reinforce resilience and humanistic caring.

4.Civility & Safety Scripts – Humor-compatible phrasing for tense moments and boundaries that support your workplace-violence prevention program.

Additional optional deliverables

• Pocket Guide PDF: “Humor Do/Don’t in Care Settings” + 12 safe, connection-first one-liners for common stress points that reinforce de-escalation.

• Micro-Recovery Cards: Five 90-second resets for pre-shift, mid-shift, post-shift (breath, laughter cue, gratitude bump)

• Team Huddle Template: 5-minute weekly “Joy Check” that tracks compassion fatigue indicators and shout-outs

We're all familiar with Ebenezer Scrooge, that sour distillation of every bad boss anyone ever had. And since most everyone can cite one or two they've worked for, it's hardly a surprise that a Maritz poll reports that only 7% of US workers trust their leaders. Trust is low, disengagement is epidemic, cynicism is rampant, all of it is costly, but it’s also nothing new as Charles Dickens proved over 170 years ago in A Christmas Carol. But one minor character who appears in just three pages in that story represents an example of positive and people-centered leadership: Scrooge’s old boss, Mr Fezziwig. Fezziwig represents the four essential elements of joyful leadership: passion, gratitude, kindness and humor that energizes his people, fostering their devotion and shared sense of purpose.  This program will show you how smart leaders are using these same "Fezziwig principles" to revolutionize their cultures to build trust and success, and how you can do the same.

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You'll learn:

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• The top three things that your people want (and why they cost nothing)

• What leaders must know and practice to virtually eliminate disengagement

• The "Toxic Tandem" of perceptual blindness that leaders must overcome to inspire employees

• What all great leaders have in common

This transformative program challenges the boundaries that confine our thinking. In this keynote or half/full-day training, you’ll learn why it’s essential to question established limits and explore three critical rules when those boundaries should be broken. Gain insights on uncovering blind spots that reinforce the status quo and discover innovative solutions to pressing challenges. Join us to unlock your potential and embrace breakthrough thinking!

Great for: Corporate teams, education professionals, customer service teams and leaders

Influence is dependent upon our ability to transfer meaning effectively. We can’t truly manage people but we can manage the messages we send to them. O.P.E.N. stands for Other People’s Emotional Needs. Communication that makes the emotional needs of others a priority is a feature of effective communicators. Learn what elements are most influential in interpersonal communications and what you can do to make interpersonal communication more successful. Takeaways include:

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You'll learn:

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• The 4 common human needs that drive successful communication and influence

• The keys to effectively communicating attitudes and feelings

• How to clean your emotional filters

• Unlocking the power of random kindness and radical gratitude

Stress is often seen as a negative force in our lives, but it can also be a natural part of thriving. New research reveals that the key lies in our beliefs about the challenges we face and the resources we have to tackle them. When high demands meet a strong sense of support, skills, coping strategies, what could be stressful can actually become an energizing experience. Embracing this perspective can empower you to flourish even amidst change and adversity. In these days when more than half of the workforce say that they are close to burnout, this program with insights, interaction and laughter can lower stress and boost resilience.

Available as a keynote or a  half or full-day training or with long-term coaching and facilitation options, this is a great subject with wide appeal for leaders, managers, team members in education, healthcare , service or corporate organizations.

Brain research shows that the deepest and most effective learning doesn’t begin in the rational center of the brain, it begins in the emotions. Positive emotion enhances alertness. Learn ways to make compassionate humor a useful tool in the learning experience and join your students in enjoying increased learning and lowered stress.

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You'll learn:

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• What brain imaging reveals about the role of emotions in learning

• Creating emotional safety for optimal learning

• How joyful learning is consistent with the Growth model of intelligence

• How positive emotional experience can aid student engagement

Evidence shows that laughter disrupts stress, boosts immune function and connects people better than almost any other shared emotional experience.  Laugh and learn simple choices to boost joy, beat burnout and heal with humor