Classes
and Presentations with Dave Fox
 Dave
presents informative workshops, presentations, and keynote
speeches infused with his lively humor.
Having
recently moved from Seattle to Singapore, he's now offering
online versions of his popular travel and humor writing
workshops, as well as one-on-one writing and humor coaching
--
online, by phone, or in person in Singapore. (And he can
find a time zone that works wherever you happen to be!)
For
more info, choose one of the following links or just scroll
down the page.
| Upcoming
Presentations and Online Writing Workshops |
Dave's got two online writing workshops on deck. They are
wildly fun, and also make great gifts for your favorite
aspiring writers!
Just
Announced : November 17 - December 22
Advanced
Humor Critique Group
This intermediate /
advanced critique group is for anyone who has already taken
one of Dave's humor classes, or who has some basic humor
writing experience and wants to bulk up their comedic muscles.
We'lll have a cozy, online group where you
can submit a story a week for five weeks (1,000 words maximum,
please, though if you have wordier projects you're working
with, let Dave know and he'll try to help). You can submit
something totally new each week, or a revised version of
something you've already written -- whichever is most useful
to you. (And as before, if you work with a different humor
genre, such as stand-up comedy, script writing, fiction,
or cartooning, you're welcome to focus on that too.)
Unlike the first class, this critique group
will not include detailed weekly lessons (hence the slightly
lower price of $149 for five weeks). Dave will send out
a short prompt each week to give you ideas for your writing.
You can follow that prompt for inspiration, or write whatever
you like.
Is this group right for you? If you have already taken
Dave's primary humor course, "Professional Humor Tricks
for Writers, Speakers, and Other Misfits," you'll do
fine here. You know how Dave's critiques work. If you have
taken one of Dave's shorter, in-person humor workshops,
or if you already have some humor writing experience and
don't feel you need the basic course, drop Dave an e-mail
-- with a writing sample or some info on your writing /
humor background -- and he will let you know if this course
sounds like a good fit for you. If not, his more structured
class starts up again on February 14.
To
Sign Up or For More Info, Please E-mail Dave at dave@davethefox.com
New
Online Workshop: January 10 - February 7, 2012
Globejotting:
How to Write Extraordinary Travel Tales
Geared toward beginning and intermediate
travel writers, this five-week course will focus on a specific
type of travel writing: the personal travel tale. We'll
start with a crash course in how to write lively and meaningful
travel journals. Then, we'll craft those "rough draft"
diaries into polished stories we can share with friends,
put in a blog, or publish professionally.
Each week, you'll receive a lesson via e-mail, and optional
exercises related to that lesson. In our private, online
group, you'll have the chance to critique and be critiqued
by your classmates in a supportive and encouraging environment.
Get
Full Details and Sign Up Here!
New
Online Workshop: February 14 - March 20, 2012
Professional
Humor Tricks for Writers, Speakers, and Other Misfits
Discover the techniques professional comedy writers use
to write consistently, exceptionally funny material. This
six-week workshop will teach you how to think, write, and
be funnier. (You will not learn how to smell funnier. You
must figure out that part on your own.)
Each week's lesson will offer techniques and exercises to
help incite maximum laughs. Dave will help you develop your
own voice and personal style, and identify common mistakes
that might be holding you back from being as funny as you
can be.
Get
Full Details and Sign Up Here!
Dayton, Ohio: April 18-21, 2012
Catch
Dave at the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
Travel humorists don’t dream of smooth journeys. When chaos
strikes, our funniest stories are born. Learn more when
Dave speaks at the 2012 Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop in
Dayton, Ohio. The topic: "Travel Catastrophes for Fun and
Profit."
This
is the workshop that launched Dave's career as an author
in 2004 when he won their book proposal contest for his
best-selling title, Getting
Lost: Mishaps of an Accidental Nomad. It's the primo
humor writing workshop in the United States, and it will
open soon for enrollment. In the past, it has sold out within
nine days, so if you are interested in going, check back
frequently to the humorwriters.org
website to find out when they start accepting payments.
Get
Full Details !
Below,
you'll find descriptions of Dave's most popular in-person
presentations. He also offers costomized keynotes, tailored
to your group.
Getting
Lost
Mishaps of an Accidental Nomad
“When you travel,
things go wrong.” That might not sound like uplifting advice,
but Dave proves otherwise as he shares stories from his
award-winning book of travel humor essays, Getting
Lost: Mishaps of an Accidental Nomad, as well as
more recent tales of his adventures in Asia and Africa.
A veteran tour guide for PBS travel guru Rick Steves, Dave
has spent much of his life traveling overseas and trying
not to make a mess of things. At age eight, he nearly started
a riot in Tunisia. In college, he discovered that two words
of a foreign language can be enough to convince the police
to stop pointing machine guns at you. As a pseudo-adult,
he has rescued tour groups from drunken rodents, helped
prevent a knife fight in the Vatican, and discovered that
quacking like a duck can cure traveler's burnout. He also
recently drove into the Kalahari Desert where he taught
a group of Kalahari Bushmen how to play Frisbee. This talk
is full of laughs, along with spoonfuls of history, language,
and culture, and a message that will inspire you to embrace
the moments in your own travels when things don't go as
planned. Dave can also tailor this keynote to the interests
of private groups.
Length: 20 to 90 minutes
How
to Write Extraordinary Travel Journals
And Still Have Time to Enjoy Your Trip
Recommended
in the Wall Street Journal
Every
journey has two parallel experiences — the external,
in which we observe the world around us, and the internal,
in which we visit new places within ourselves. With foreign
surroundings as a backdrop, you'll learn to tap your deeper
emotions and create vivid travelogues for yourself and others.
Simple but powerful exercises will help you discover your
unique voice as a travel writer. You'll explore different
journaling techniques to find the style that's right for
you, and learn ways to overcome one of the biggest challenges
in travel journaling —
simply finding time to write when there is so much else
to do! Whether you're writing for yourself or publication,
whether your explorations take you around the block or around
the world, this class will help you tune in to your inner
journey. You'll travel and write with exciting new insight.
For related articles and exercises, please see the online
version.
Length: Varies. This class can be taught in a single
session from one to three hours, or as a hands-on seminar
of up to five two-hour sessions.
How
to Write Phenomenal Travel Tales
Turn
your travel adventures into stories you can publish! Dave
Fox helps you take your travel diaries to the next level
and polish your journal entries into personal essays. Explore
sub-genres such as adventure travel, self-discovery, and
Dave's specialty: travel humor. Learn how to identify great
topics, shine up your rough drafts, and work within an editor's
requested word count. Dave will also talk about places where
you can publish your work, from personal travel blogs to
paying markets such as books and magazines.
Length:
One to two hours
Professional
Humor Tricks for Writers, Speakers, and Other Misfits
Well-written humor can inspire your readers to smile, laugh,
and beg for more. Poorly-written humor, on the other hand,
can inspire them to hunt you down and throw stuff at you.
Whether you’re writing full-blown comedy, or just wanting
to liven up your words and infuse laughter into other genres,
this class teaches you how to think funny and write funny
without getting splattered in the head with a tomato. In
this fun, hands-on workshop, Dave teaches his favorite techniques
for finding, creating, and strengthening the laughter in
your work.
This
workshop covers:
- Surprise:
The universal element of humor
- Proven
techniques to create or strengthen your humor
- Giving
your jokes maximum impact with the right words and timing
- Stretching
your humor to make it even funnier
- How
to critique and learn from professional humorists
- When
and why to throw away your best joke
- Markets
for humor writers
- How
to not be that annoying guy at the party with the lampshade
on his head
The
class touches on a wide range of genres from personal essays
and humor columns to stand-up and sketch comedy. While it
focuses on written humor, the techniques are also great
for public speakers.
(Dave
also offers a six-week online
version of this workshop.)
Scampering
through Scandinavia
A Slideshow Journey through Europe's Nordic
Countries
Explore the diversity
of Europe's Nordic countries — from agricultural Denmark,
to industrial Sweden, to fjord-splintered Norway. Discover
why the Vikings were such great travelers as we meander
through the Land of the Midnight Sun. Learn what the Danes
call a Danish pastry and why Finland isn't really part of
Scandinavia. We'll visit a salty fishing island, frolic
in fjord country, and compare capitals in Copenhagen, Oslo,
Stockholm, and Helsinki.
Length:
One to two hours
The
Vikings
For centuries,
the Vikings have been known as ruthless plunderers who rampaged
through Europe in the Middle Ages. While there is some accuracy
to this stereotype, they were more civilized than their
reputation suggests. Master shipbuilders, navigators, and
craftsmen, many Vikings led peaceful lives. Pagans in their
early days, they later brought Scandinavia in line with
the rest of Christian Europe. The Vikings were the force
that would ultimately unite Northwestern Europe's minor
chiefdoms into the nations that make up Scandinavia today.
In
this lecture, Dave explains who the Vikings really were,
and why they have such a merciless reputation. From the
first documented Viking raid in 793 AD to their eventual
absorbtion into the rest of Europe 300 years later, learn
about the Vikings' history, society, and the truths and
fallacies behind the Viking stereotypes.
Length:
One hour
European
Travel Skills
Everything
you need to know for a successful romp in the European playground.
Dave teaches you how to plan an itinerary that will maximize
your time without wearing you out. Find out when to use
a travel agent and when not to, how to get the best deals
on flights, and how to find cozy, family-run hotels for
a fraction of what mainstream tourists pay. Dave untangles
the confusing web of European railpass options, and discusses
when renting a car is an asset and when it's a headache.
Get tips on the formidable task of how to pack light, plus
travel safety, hurdling language barriers, changing money,
and more — with plenty of time for questions and answers.
This class is based on Rick Steves' best-selling travel
skills book, "Europe Through the Back Door." Dave
worked with Rick Steves for 16 years, and shares his tips
as a professional traveler with a lifetime of experience.
Length: One to two hours.
Dave Fox is available to speak to groups of five
or 500. Here are some of the organizations he has spoken
for in the past:
- Princess
Märtha Louise of Norway (Opening Speaker: April,
2006)
- Rick
Steves' Travel Seminars
- Holland
America Cruises
- The
Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
- REI
- Barnes
& Noble Bookstores
- Wisconsin
Book Festival
- University
of Wisconsin-Madison Travel Center
- Seattle
University
- Portland
Community College
- Pierce
County Dental Association
- Westcott
Bay Institute of San Juan Island, Washington
- Deaf-Blind
Club of Seattle
- Libraries
around Washington State
-
Rotary International
- Sons
of Norway
Dave
also gives lively radio and television interviews. He has
been a guest on the following programs:
- "Weird
U.S." - The History Channel
- National
New Year's Eve Broadcast, 2010 - ABC Radio, Australia
- "The
Morning Show" - ABC Radio, Perth, Australia
- "Travels
with Rick Steves" - Public Radio, United States
- "The
Travel Show" - WABC Radio, New York
- "Travel
Talk Radio" and "Business Travel Radio"
with Sandy Dhuyvetter (Syndicated Internationally)
- Q13
Television Morning News - Seattle, Washington
- "Community
Matters" - AM 1090, Seattle, Washington
- "Escapes
with Ann Lombardi" - Radio Sandy Springs, Atlanta,
Georgia
Whether
he is in the United States or leading tours in Europe, you
can reach Dave by e-mail at dave@davethefox.com.
Join
Dave's mailing list to receive e-mail about upcoming classes
when they are announced. For more information, please visit
the Mailing List
page.
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