Guy Browning is the David Attenborough of the business jungle, combining the two elements essential for a great communicator: a firm grasp of the key issues and an industrial strength sense of humour. Guy is the Daily Telegraph's Pocket Guru and the man behind The Guardian's Office Politics column. He also presents Guy Browning's Small Talk, both on Radio 4 and live from the Edinburgh Festival. He also writes Radio 4's hit comedy Weak at the Top, starring Alexander Armstrong.
Guy is the founder of Smokehouse - an innovation consultancy which helps organisations brainstorm new products and services, new ways of working and new ideas for communication. Clients include HBOS and Unilever.
Formerly Creative Director of Added Value and before that a copywriter, Guy is an acknowledged expert on the use of creativity in business. He is also unquestionably one of the most engaging presenters and after dinner speakers on the circuit.
In his workshops Guy demonstrates how to use basic intelligence, initiative and imagination to tackle core business issues. As a conference speaker he gets back to basics, cutting through the mass of clichés to sort out what really matters from what really, really doesn't.
Guy Browning has also written some of the funniest books in circulation, including, Double Your Salary, Bonk Your Boss, Go Home Early and Never Hit a Jellyfish with a Spade.
As a keynote speaker Guy gets back to basics, cutting through the mass of clichés to sort out what really matters from what really doesn't. He is also without question one of the most entertaining after dinner speakers, offering invaluable advice to anyone seeking to climb the greasy pole: 'You've got to unleash the power of gratuitous flattery, and congratulate your boss on tasks that can be done by a small monkey.'
Born in 1964, Guy was educated at Magdalen College School and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. he started out in the comedy duo Dross Bros with Patrick Marber. The two characters fell out and Browning went into advertising with Darcy Macius Benton Bowles where he was responsible for the line, “Delicious Meaty Chunks in a Nutritious Gravy”. He went on to become the Creative Director of Added Value, Europe’s largest marketing agency, before setting up his own business, Smokehouse in 1997.
Browning is a regular on Radio 4 (Small Talk – 2003) and Weak at the Top ran for two series in 2005/6 starring Alexander Armstrong. The program is enjoying another series in 2007. John Weak works for Smokehouse, which is the name of Guy Browning’s real business.
Browning combines a serious career as a business guru writing books Innervation: Rewire Yourself for the New Economy (Momentum 2003) and Grass Roots Management (Prentice Hall 2002) with funny columns and books, like the Weak at the Top in Management Today.
His books collecting his Guardian columns, Never Hit a Jellyfish with a Spade and Never Push When it Says Pull, were Christmas hits. His most recent book is Office Politics. They have been translated into eight languages.
His humour is gentle and incisive; he steers clear of political comedy and cruelty. His lines appear regularly in books of quotations.