About James
James Robilotta, CSP, is a seasoned motivational speaker, author, emcee, and professionally-trained improv comedian sought after for his ability to bring humor and genuine connection to the stage. With nearly two decades of experience engaging audiences through both comedy and speaking, James leverages a unique blend of relatable storytelling, comedy, and profound insights to leave his audiences both laughing and deeply moved.
James has captivated both willing and unwilling audiences at over 700 events for a variety of organizations, including American Express, GE, Minnesota Twins, Canadian Olympians, and MIT. With a professional background in counseling and education, and through years of building, training, and leading teams, James has mastered the art of using humor as a tool to create an environment where walls come down and meaningful messages get through.
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Choosing to Care: How curiosity creates community in the workplace
In this hysterical and motivational keynote we will talk about how to ask better questions, change the way we hear people’s stories and insights, and adapt the mindset of curiosity. Let’s stop the apathy and the assuming and start learning about each other because curiosity creates community
Leading Imperfectly: The value of being authentic for leaders, professionals, and human beings
This deep but hysterical session will leave you feeling introspective about the person you show to others and recognize the rapport and trust building power of authenticity in your communication and relationships. If you're looking to master the art of courageous feedback and authentic relationship building, this is the session for you.
Awards & Publications
More About James
As a full-time speaker at conferences, retreats, trainings, and more, James leverages a unique blend of relatable storytelling, comedy, and profound insights to leave his audiences both laughing and deeply moved. His secret sauce? The ability to connect with audiences authentically, leading with humor and then diving deeper into principles that build stronger individuals, teams, and company cultures.
With a professional background in counseling, education, and successful entrepreneurship (one business incorporates freestyle rap into improv comedy—a story for another day!), James brings years of research and a few too many real-life case studies to his work on the stage. From top leadership to early career employees, James’ messages to become curious, lead imperfectly, and foster community resonate at all levels.
James has captivated both willing and unwilling audiences at over 700 events for a variety of organizations, including American Express, GE, Minnesota Twins, Canadian Olympians, and MIT. By bringing humanity and community back into the workplace, James is on a mission to ensure people are seen, heard, respected... and giggling a little, too.
Reviews
standing ovation
- David Fabricant
The initial calls with James showed his energy, authenticity, and effortless communication style. He took time to understand the objectives of the session and also focused on details like the composition of my leaders so that he could best articulate his message. James helped with the pre-work, facilitated the session, and joined us for an evening event where we could relax and enjoy time together. He was a champion throughout.
best of the best
- Liz Russell
James was a breath of fresh air for our company who is suffering burnout from all the uncertainty of the world. His energy was incredible and really got the crowd engaged and few people’s faces even started to hurt from laughing so much! It was nice to have a company event that didn’t feel corporate at all, James is as authentic as they come.
best keynote speaker we've ever had
- Jared Pollaco
That was better than expected. Don’t get me wrong, I knew it was going to be good, but that was incredible and exactly what we needed.
made a difference
- Anthony G. Caputo
From your initial research into our company, to working with us during your presentation as we communicated our wants and needs, you navigated your workshop to be a productive and fun success. Your personal stories and delivery combined with your discussion of our office were instrumental in capturing staff’s attention and developing rapport and inspiration. Concepts has taken a wonderful step with you during your workshop with us. Your ideas on authentic leadership, appreciation and communication have sparked a new way of thinking for our company.
captivating from the beginning
- University of Dayton
James was amazing! Our students were captivated from the beginning — his sense of humor, his down-to-earth personality, and his real life stories kept everyone’s attention! He did an amazing job teaching the first-year students some really important college tips in a funny and realistic way. Thank you so much for coming to UD James!
A breath of fresh air
- University of Pennsylvania
James did an amazing job as the keynote speaker during our virtual student leadership conference on Sunday!! Both of his breakout sessions were great and his think your keynote session is exactly what we needed. He made us laugh and cry. I love the story telling and the humor that he incorporate into everything. It’s definitely a breath of fresh air with everything going on. I’m also impressed that James was able to keep up his energy while not needing the audience fanfare. It was perfect for a virtual conference and so impressive that he's able to do that. Would definitely recommend James for another leadership conference for college students. He just gets it!
inspiring and motivating
- Ball State University
Hosting James virtually was a great decision for our virtual leadership conference! We’ve hosted James in person a few times in the past, but this year we made the switch to virtual and he made a two hour session feel like 10 minutes. He leads with passion, enthusiasm, knowledge, and his sense of humor. James personalized the presentation and crafted it to the needs of our conference. I would highly recommend him to anyone looking to be inspired or motivated to make change in this world.
Amazing speaker
- Manhattan College
While this is a year unlike any other, having James speak to our first-year students felt like a bit of normalcy. Despite being halfway across the country, James was as present to our first year students as though he was in the room with them. His stories and observations on the college years still hit home for our students and it was great to see them chatting with their roommates and with each other in the chatbox as they were thinking about the experience they were about to begin as Manhattan College students.
immediately engaging
- Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity
James Robilotta was one of the featured speakers for our virtual Leadership School this summer. He was immediately engaging participants as they joined the meeting by having them type into the chat box and welcoming them as they joined. He utilized breakout rooms to engage participants with each other and created a learning environment that was casual, welcoming, and vulnerable for undergraduate men.
Inspiring speaker
- Youngstown State University
Having James Robilotta return to campus virtually to address our student leaders was a great way to kick-off the school year, especially during a global pandemic. His authentic approach to speaking, message on leadership during uncertainty, and his ability to relate it to what's happening in our country was exactly what our students needed to hear. Additionally, his ability to captivate the audience while adding his own mix of humor and sincerity is unmatched. Leave it to James to make Zoom Meeting enjoyable to the point that you don't even notice time passing by all while motivating and inspiring listeners to reevaluate how they lead and interact with others.
always a pleasure
- Zeta Psi Fraternity
James is always a pleasure to work with, even through Zoom with muted participants, he had the rapt attention of all Keynote address attendees. Our undergraduate and alumni members greatly appreciated his message to lead imperfectly and connect with stories. We have already had a call for James to come to our next in-person Convention! We look forward to working with James to produce a video on how to use stories to connect in a virtual environment. We highly recommend James (and Tina!)
highly recommend
- Metal Toad
Absolutely bring James on board, he’s relatable and his messages will ring true in any industry. Also make sure to build in time at the end for people to ask questions and spend time with James because that was invaluable.
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