Kate Burr
Disengagement Specialist
Founder of Comic Intelligence
Where Humour Meets Leadership
to Fix Disengagement & Drive Performance
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HAPPIER PEOPLE . STRONGER TEAMS . EFFECTIVE LEADERS . BETTER RESULTS
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FUNNY FEMALE KEYNOTE SPEAKER ON HUMOUR, LEADERSHIP & CULTURE
The Challenge in Today’s Workplace
In today’s high-pressure, fast-paced world, leaders face a tough challenge: keeping teams motivated, productive, and engaged. As stress spreads, performance plummets, and productivity grinds to a halt.
Let’s face it: when people feel crap, they do crap—then work’s crap, and everyone suffers.
Disengagement: The #1 Silent Killer Of Performance
Disengagement is hard to measure, but you feel its drag every single day. It’s the slow, silent leak of energy, creativity, and focus that seeps out bit by bit, like air from a tyre, until your people are running on empty.
Traditional solutions often fall short. So what’s the missing link?
The Solution: Kate Burr’s Comic Intelligence
When used with purpose, humour is one of the most powerful tools in leadership, and that’s where Comic Intelligence comes in.
Comic Intelligence™ is a practical system that helps leaders fix disengagement and drive performance by using humour strategically — not for entertainment, but for engagement.
Comic Intelligence goes beyond having a laugh in the workplace. It’s a strategic tool that elevates your people, supercharges performance, and boosts productivity.
Meet Kate burr
From Comedian to High-Performance Humour Coach
Kate Burr is a Comedian turned Business Engagement Specialist who transforms disengaged teams into high-performing, energised powerhouses.
With over two decades of experience as an award-winning comedian and high-energy facilitator, Kate uniquely blends humour and leadership strategies to create meaningful change.
The Disengagement Drain No One is talking about
Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace Report shows:
- 25% of workers are engaged and thriving
- 64% are disengaged or quiet quitting
- 11% are actively disengaged
That means 75% of the workforce is checked out—while your business suffers.
And then there's the financial cost
Disengagement costs an estimated $3,400 for every $10,000 of salary.
For an employee earning $75K, that’s $25,500.
For a leader on $120K, it’s $40,800.
And it’s not just money, it’s time, morale, resources and talent leaking out of your organisation every single day. It’s silently killing performance and profits, hitting harder than most leaders realise.
Disengagement Is Sneaky, Slow, and Subtle
Often, it’s not caused by one big thing—it’s the slow, silent loss of energy, connection, and creativity.
It leaks out little by little, like air from a tyre—until your people are running on empty.
The Current Strategies Aren't Working
Most leaders try to fix disengagement with the wrong approach. They try to pump people up – with perks, pay raises, pep talks, and pizza parties.
But if your people are already drained and deflated, pumping them up while ignoring the leaks won’t get them moving again.
The Real Solution Isn't Pumping People Up - It's Fixing the Flat
We don’t need more pressure, more motivation or more corporate cheerleading. Leaders need to find and fix the invisible leaks.
Once they recognise and repair what’s draining people, then they can reinflate energy, connection, and creativity—the very things that drive high-performance.
Comic Intelligence: Your Strategic Advantage
Comedians see the world differently. That’s why they’re funny.
They notice what others miss. They question what others accept. They read the room, command attention, and shift the atmosphere to connect, engage, and energise the entire audience. Skills every leader needs, especially when their people are flat, fatigued, or checked out.
But humour in business is not about being a comedian. It’s about acting like a comedian. That’s where Comic Intelligence comes in.
Comedians use a comic approach—they’re highly conscious of what’s going on around them, deeply curious about different perspectives, and relentlessly creative in finding fresh angles. That’s how they spot what others don’t even see.
Comic Intelligence takes this comic approach and applies it to leadership, helping you find and fix the invisible leaks that cause disengagement.
Comic Intelligence gives you practical tools to re-engage your people, re-energise your teams, and reignite performance.
It's not about telling jokes. It's about seeing things differently.
It's not about being funny - it's about using humour strategically
Comic Intelligence goes beyond having a laugh in the workplace—it’s about leveraging humour as a strategic tool to drive better business outcomes.
Imagine a workplace with less stress, stronger connections, and greater capacity—where people feel good, do good, and make life better for everyone.
Humour isn't Just for Entertainment
Humour isn’t just for entertainment – it’s a game-changing tool for leaders and teams transforms the entire workplace culture—resulting in happier people, stronger teams, effective leaders and better results. Here’s how it works:
HAPPIER PEOPLE
Laughter reduces stress by lowering cortisol levels and boosting endorphins, improving mental wellbeing and resilience (Martin, 2001).
STRONGER TEAMS
Teams that laugh together collaborate better, resolve conflicts faster, and achieve higher performance – 15% higher, according to studies (Tews et al., 2015).
EFFECTIVE LEADERS
Leaders who use humour effectively are seen as more approachable and authentic, creating a culture of trust and openness that inspires teams to excel (Bitterly & Brooks, 2016).
BETTER RESULTS
Humour stimulates creative thinking and problem-solving, helping teams tackle challenges with fresh perspectives and innovative solutions (Martin et al., 2003).
Why Comic Intelligence?
Comic Intelligence blends leadership strategies with the principles of stand-up comedy and the science of humour to:
- Re-Engage People: Enhance wellbeing, reduce stress and burnout, and boost morale to create resilient, happier people.
- Re-Energise Performance: Strengthen collaboration, improve communication, and reduce conflict to build stronger high-functioning teams.
- Re-Imagine Productivity: Unlock creativity, inspire fresh thinking, and fuel innovation to expand capacity, and drive measurable results.
It’s not about being funny, it’s about being effective. Because when people feel good & do good, everyone wins!
“In business, the primary reason for humour isn’t laughter; it’s engagement. Engaged people perform better, communicate better and deliver outstanding business results.”
Kate Burr
KATE'S KEYNOTE TOPICS
THE RE-ENGAGEMENT REBOOT
Unlock the Power of Humour to Fix Disengagement and Drive Performance
Find and fix the invisible leaks draining energy, motivation, and productivity in your teams.
THE FEEL-GOOD EFFECT
Using Humour to Build Resilient, Adaptable and High-Performing Teams
Use humour to reduce stress, enhance wellbeing, and boost morale in fast-changing workplaces.
HIGH-PERFORMANCE HUMOUR
The Smart Way to Engage, Influence and Lead With Impact
Discover how to use humour strategically to engage people, build trust, and drive results.
Think Like A Comedian
Master Creativity, Problem Solving and Decision Making
Apply creative thinking techniques comedians use to generate insights, solve problems & make smarter decisions under pressure.
What people are saying about Kate…
“Kate’s background in stand-up comedy allowed for a high level of interaction with the audience and captured their attention and focus throughout the formalities. Her ability to balance the formal nature for the awards event with her energy was fantastic and we were honoured to work with such a professional speaker and leader.
AILA SA engaged Kate Burr for our recent annual Landscape Architecture Awards night as Master of Ceremonies. Her passion, enthusiasm and professionalism were wonderful and provided the event with a new level of prestige for our members and industry friends.
Kate’s remarkable eye for detail working with a complicated script provided opportunities to test ideas, set up practice run throughs and ongoing review, allowing us to host a seamless event.
Feedback from our members and guests has been amazing and we hope to work with Kate again in the future.”
SALLY BOLTON –
AILA SA STATE MANAGER
“Kate brought a fantastic sense of humor and character to the role of MC that no one could match! Her lighthearted and go-get-’em attitude was just what our event needed. Can’t wait to work with you again!”
KERRI IRELAND – SA HEALTH
“Kate had the whole room captivated. I’ve had lots of feedback from people saying how much they’ve loved listening to her and the things that she shared.”
CARLY THOMPSON-BARRY SA WOMAN
Here's what to do next...
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