About Brian Miller

Excerpt from featured article in Authority Magazine, March 2021

Thank you so much for doing this with us Brian! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

As a child I had a debilitating social anxiety. I was terrible at making friends, and even worse at keeping the few I made. Book reports were impossible. I would faint and wake up in the nurses’ office before getting out a single word. It didn’t help my popularity.

Bullies found me an easy target. I had books knocked out of my hands, was routinely shoved into lockers, and beaten up at least a few times.

Behind-the-scenes I was obsessed with magic tricks. It was impossible not to be, given how much I was around it. My dad and grandfather were magic enthusiasts, who regularly took me to magic shows, and bought me tricks for holidays.

Despite my love of magic, social anxiety prevented me from sharing it with anyone. Until one day in 9th grade, sitting in the cafeteria, I found the courage to show the kids sitting near me a card trick I’d been working on. They freaked out, and I instantly became the “magic kid” in school.

My sudden popularity was both startling and liberating. Magic tricks became the venue through which I developed self-confidence and interpersonal skills. I learned how to be funny, engaging, and even captivating.

I began my career as a professional magician at just 16 years old. Eventually I graduated from backyard barbecues and local restaurants to performing nationally at corporate meetings, exclusive private events, and on college campuses.

Then, having been successful doing something unusual — magic — I started getting invited to speak. One of those invitations was a TEDx conference in Connecticut. That TEDx talk was called “How to Magically Connect with Anyone,” and it went super viral.

In it I spoke about a magician’s ability to connect with any audience through perspective-taking, despite the antagonistic relationship of magic, and how anyone can learn to implement the same techniques to improve their personal and professional relationships. It’s been viewed by over 3 million people, which still blows my mind.

Following the success of the TEDx talk I transitioned from magic into speaking, writing, and consulting on human connection. Most of my work is now as a high engagement keynote speaker and interactive workshop facilitator for organizations. I also help individuals build their thought leadership platform through landing and delivering a world class TEDx talk.

Full Bio

Brian Miller is a magician turned top-rated international speaker on human connection, perspectives, and understanding.

Brian delivers engaging, highly interactive, and jaw-dropping programs. His talks inspire business and social success by teaching us how to connect with anyone.

His book Three New People was called “a brilliant system for deepening relationships” by Publishers Weekly.

That combined with his background as a magician and his mastery of storytelling makes Brian’s presentations captivating, often the top-rated session of the event.

Brian got an early start in magic, securing his first professional gig at the early age of 14, when a local youth group offered to pay him for a magic show. The lightbulb went on when he realized that he could get paid to do card tricks, and from there his focus became singular.

While attending school at the State University College of New York at Oneonta, Brian spent nearly every weekend on the road performing magic shows and stand-up comedy.

He completed a dual Bachelor’s of Science in each Mathematics and Philosophy achieving a 4.0 GPA in philosophy with over 10 campus-wide awards for academic achievement and two international awards for presenting original work in philosophy. Straight out of undergrad, Brian received a grad school offer to complete a PhD in Philosophy of Language, but turned it down in order to pursue his dream of becoming a professional magician.

Brian quickly discovered that his act was a hit on college campuses and was soon touring nationwide in the campus activities market. He earned two nominations for “America’s Best Performer” (Campus Activities Magazine) by the age of 24.

Still bitten by the philosophy bug, Brian developed a lecture entitled, “Magic, Philosophically Speaking” that combined live magic demonstrations with a inquiry into three major areas within contemporary philosophy. He pitched it to philosophy and humanities departments throughout the Northeast and thus began his career in public speaking by way of academia.

As Brian’s career grew he began receiving invitations to speak about magic and his success. In 2015 he was invited to speak at a tiny TEDx conference in Connecticut and, as they say, the rest is history. He has since shared his magic and his message with thousands of audiences in over thirty states and on four continents.

A passionate guitarist and singer, Brian spends his rare free time writing and recording original rock and pop music with his father, Dr. Russ Miller, under the pseudonym Escher’s Enigma.

He lives in Connecticut with his wife Lindsey and son Milo.