Author, Ghostwriter, Editor
SPEAKING
EXAMPLES OF WHERE TOM HAS SPOKEN
TALK DESCRIPTIONS
I want your partnership with me to be your best working experience with a speaker to date. My customer service and desire to let you focus on the other aspects of planning your event are paramount priorities of mine.
We all cross paths with, and perhaps shake our heads at, high maintenance people who are difficult to work with. I assure you I am not one of the people driven to the brink by First-World problems. You will invest in me and I will deliver for you seamlessly in such a way that both of us are eager to work together again.
I have spoken in schools as part of a suicide prevention program through a non-profit organization and my experiences interacting with cultures on five continents, teaching history, volunteering at animal sanctuaries, surviving Bolivia’s infamous Death Road, jumping from an airplane over New Zealand and numerous other adventures have given me unique perspectives to share.
I spoke to a health care company recently. The company employs people with a myriad of jobs supporting the actual life-saving work with patients. The management level employees I spoke to led teams from accounting, I.T., marketing etc.
I asked them to zoom out a bit when they think about what they, and their team members do professionally, and realize that they can look in a mirror and honestly say "I work for a company that saves peoples lives."
Because they do.
That talk was the highest-rated segment of the day and represents what I can do for your group by tailoring the outcomes of the talk to the specific audience in front of me.
I have had the honor of speaking to both corporate and youth audiences and have enjoyed the opportunities to serve as keynote speaker at conventions, along with presenting to audiences in less formal settings.
I enjoy speaking to audiences and helping them "tilt the mirror"of their attitudes just a bit so they can more clearly see impact of the lives they are living, the importance of the years ahead of them and the value of the work they do.
I always tailor my talks talk to suit the specific audience and event so that, when I take the stage, I can offer optimal value to everyone in attendance.
Please reach out so we can begin a partnership to help your event be as successful as you want it to be.
Attitude is Everything
Humans are a quirky bunch.
We teach young kids that honesty is important while, at the same time, reminding them that Santa Claus may not come if they misbehave. Some parents punish their kids for bad behavior, then embarrass themselves by berating their 8 year old's soccer referee, or brawl with the parents of the rival pee wee football team.
Drivers honk in anger when the driver of the car in front of them reacts slowly to a green light but 10 minutes later they cause a delay themselves while staring at their phone.
People buy treadmills as part of a rededication to fitness then use them as storage shelves for bags of chips and cases of beer. Others smoke cigarettes on the way to and from the gym; and some get annoyed when they cannot park close to the gym entrance when the whole purpose of going is to burn calories.
Each day, people are searching for better work environments, higher pay or a nicer city to live in but they boo their favorite athlete if they leave the local team for the same reasons. Many people get angry when they are treated disrespectfully but then dispense hate and negativity to others on social media.
We fall for marketing tricks that call huge portions "super-sized" and tiny ones "fun-sized" and many people focus on the quantity of the food over its quality.
Humans have the strange duality of being both the most intelligent, and most unhappy, life forms on earth. Much of that comes down to the attitudes we carry within us.
Yes, attitude matters.
It always has and always will.
Some athletes receive awards for having great attitudes while a more talented teammate sits on the bench because of a bad one. Some actors flourish because they are easy to work with while other talented actor's languish because they are not.
Employers search for qualified candidates whose attitude is a "plus" and fire employees who are negative.
My attitude talks will have your audience think "That is so true!"while laughing at the situational humor intertwined with our lives. However, the talk will also cause introspection and offer several mindset takeaways for every one attending.
People are so often too hyper focused on their own situation and they lose perspective about how good they have it. Your audience will be moved and have their priority "reset" buttons pushed as the stories and anecdotes are shared.
We cannot completely control our moods but we have total control over our attitudes and your audience will leave realizing the viewpoint they carry with them largely determines the impact they will make on other people.