Scott Bloom interviews Tom Pesce, a professional magician, speaker, and former educator who made the leap to full-time speaking after over two decades in education. Tom discusses how his teaching background informs his work as an entertainer, drawing parallels between creating memorable classroom moments and unforgettable event experiences. Tom reflects on his unique classroom environment inspired by his father's "school utopia," emphasizing culture, intentionality, and making people feel part of something special. He explains how both employees and students are motivated by purpose and genuine investment, not passive involvement. A major focus is Tom's concept of "engineered surprise"—using intentional entertainment to disrupt expectations and foster audience connection through magic, music, or cultural adaptation. He insists the real magic is helping others discover their unique strengths and bring their whole selves to their roles. The conversation addresses risk, failure, and recalibration, encouraging event professionals to value presence and authenticity over perfection. Tom discusses current trends: hyper-personalization through technology, meaningful hybrid integration, and the growing emphasis on wellness and immersive experiences. They wrap with backstage stories (including runaway doves), speaker mistakes, and advice for planners: book entertainers who understand the corporate world and deliver full experiences, not just brief acts. Overall, the episode is packed with insights on translating teaching skills into world-class speaking, the power of intentional surprise, and the evolving landscape of immersive, people-centered events.
NMBE Episode 80
Tom Pesce
GUEST BIO:
Tom Pesce is one of the country's most sought-after speakers and motivational entertainers, working with NASA, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Fortune 500 companies worldwide. Recently honored as "Entertainer of the Year" by WinWin Charity, he's also a distinguished educator with twenty years of classroom experience and multiple graduate degrees. Tom helps organizations build resilient, high-performance cultures where people thrive.
HIRE THEM TO SPEAK
Follow Tom Pesce: Tom’s Website
Follow Scott Bloom: eSpeakers Bio
Follow eSpeakers: eSpeakers Marketplace
ABOUT NO MORE BAD EVENTS:
Brought to you by eSpeakers and hosted by professional emcee, host, and keynote speaker Scott Bloom, No More Bad Events is where you’ll hear from some of the top names in the event and speaking industry about what goes on behind the scenes at the world’s most perfectly executed conferences, meetings, and more. Get ready to learn the secrets and strategies to help anyone in the event industry reach their goal of putting on nothing less than world-class events.
Learn more at nomorebadevents.com.
ABOUT THE HOST:
A veteran comedian and television personality who has built a reputation as the go-to choice for business humor, Scott has hosted hundreds of events over two decades for big and small organizations alike. Scott has also hosted his own weekly VH1 series and recently co-hosted a national simulcast of the Grammy Awards from the Palace Theater
As the son of a successful salesman, he was exposed to the principles of building a business at an early age. As a comedian, Scott cut his teeth at renowned improv and comedy clubs. As a self-taught student of psychology, he’s explored what makes people tick and has written a book (albeit a farce) on how to get through life. He’s uniquely positioned to deliver significant notes on connecting people and making business seriously funny. And who doesn’t like to laugh?
Learn more about Scott: scottbloomconnects.com
PRODUCED BY eSpeakers:
When the perfect speaker is in front of the right audience, a kind of magic happens where organizations and individuals improve in substantial, long-term ways. eSpeakers exists to make this happen more often.
eSpeakers is where the speaking industry does business on the web. Speakers, speaker managers, associations, and bureaus use our tools to organize, promote, and grow successful businesses. Event organizers think of eSpeakers first when they want to hire speakers for their meetings or events.
The eSpeakers Marketplace technology lets us and our partner directories help meeting professionals worldwide connect directly with speakers for great engagements.
Thousands of successful speakers, trainers, and coaches use eSpeakers to build their businesses and manage their calendars. Thousands of event organizers use our directories every day to find and hire speakers. Our tools are built for speakers, by speakers, to do things that only purpose-built systems can.
Learn more at eSpeakers.com.
SHOW CREDITS:
Scott Bloom: Host | scottbloomconnects.com
Joe Heaps: eSpeakers | jheaps@eSpeakers.com