James Robilotta
James Robilotta, CSP, is a seasoned motivational speaker, author, emcee, and professionally-trained improv comedian sought after for his ability to bring both humor and genuine connection to the stage. After nearly two decades of engaging audiences through his stand-up comedy and speaking work, James has mastered the art of using humor as a tool to create an environment where walls come down and meaningful messages get through.
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.
Most Requested Programs
Leading Imperfectly: The value of being authentic for leaders, professionals, and human beings
Hey Superwoman, take off your cape. Hey Batman, take off your mask. Hey decision makers, put away your ego. Let's talk about who you are personally as a leader and as a partner. As humans, we can't learn things from people who are perfect, we can only learn things from people who are imperfect. So, it is time to own who you are so you can be real to others and lead through your faults. 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.
Choosing to Care: How curiosity creates community in the workplace
No organization wants its people to be apathetic—toward the work, the people, or the community. Community ignites loyalty and drives retention in both in-person and hybrid workplaces, and is built with one simple thing: curiosity. Curiosity is the opposite of apathy. Events are ideal opportunities to authentically connect, reflect, validate, and innovate. 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.
Find Your Third Place: A work/life balance conversation that’s actually helpful
Hold the eye rolls, this is a conversation about balance that is both realistic and worthwhile! The truth is, work cannot run our lives AND work Is not the only source of our balance issues. In this session James offers an alternative to traditional methods (things like, find one hour of your week and hold it sacred) and, instead, uses the “Third Place Principle” as a way for us to gain more control and purpose. We all crave more balance, and this introspective session will help audiences understand how a Third Place can add more stability at work and home, create more impactful stories, and, most importantly, generate a more fulfilling life.
IMPROV Your Teamwork and Communication
Improv comedy and leadership? There are more similarities than you may expect. This session is grounded in the teachings of improvisational comedy from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City. In this session attendees will learn four basic rules of improv comedy (yes, and…; know your teammates; ask better questions; and commit don’t comment). To illustrate each point and how it relates to their roles as professionals, attendees will get up, play improv games and debrief them. The session is super interactive and will work on knocking down people’s walls to make them more comfortable in high pressure communication/problem solving moments.
Note: you do not have to be funny to come to this session. Also note: this session will not make you funny if you are currently not… but it will make you a better teammate and communicator!
Testimonials
"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." - Liz Russel, Employee Engagement Manager, Afterpay
“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.” – David Fabricant, Senior Vice President, American Express
“Huge thank you for making the trip down to speak with our GE Leaders of Tomorrow group. Whitney, my conference co-chair, and I loved it and learned a ton. I think it was a big value add for the people that attended – hopefully they took as much away from your talk as I did. Thank you for being so generous with your time.” – Cameron Duncan, Lead Supplier Quality Engineer at GE Power
“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 make it 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.” – Anthony Caputo, CEO, Concepts of Independence, Inc.
“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.” – Jenny Berkedal, Director of Employee Experience, Metal Toad