We created this video to highlight the challenges facing young people entering high school—and encourage them to take responsibility for their own actions. It encapsulates many of the presentations that Mike has made over the years. The concepts Mike talks about in this video are expanded upon in his keynote of the same name.
GENERAL AUDIENCES / KEYNOTE OR WORKSHOP
Mike works with the hosts of the event to build this experience from the subjects covered in the chapters of his book by the same name.
A great deal of life’s experiences are simply repetitions of a few basic skills, talents, and processes. While a study of positive thinking provides many a technique for handling the attitude part of life’s challenges and innate talent and hard work often provides abilities to accomplish certain things, when it comes to working with others, it is the understanding of process that has helped move experienced people comfortably through the situations many others have found difficult. The process used to run a Cub Scout meeting is the same to conduct a stockholders meeting. Fundraising for a worthy charity uses the same process as fundraising for a social club. Directing employees uses the same processes as effectively directing volunteers and so on.Mike helps create your experience based on these processes and includes the appropriate checklists as handouts to help reinforce their presence long after the conference.
KEYNOTE FOR MANAGERS / TEAM LEADERS
The words you choose to say to others and how you say them is important. But the words you choose to say to yourself are the essential building blocks of your future. Ancient wisdom suggests the path to destiny is a sequence beginning with personal thoughts. In the 20th century someone declared that the greatest human discovery was the fact that we can each control our personal internal conversation and change our outcomes. Mike wrote this rhyme to capture those thoughts:
The WORDS I often THINK and use
CREATE my daily ATTITUDES,
GUIDING the ACTIONS from which I CHOOSE,
To FORM the HABITS so HARD to LOSE,
HIGHLIGHTING the CHARACTER others see,
and they decide that that is ME,
and that is all THEY’LL LET ME BE
so thus is built MY DESTINY.Words matter! Choose your thoughts well.
This presentation is explores the words we commonly use when talking to ourselves and others. It offers alternatives for improving self-image while improving communications skills and enhancing the work environment. It includes support materials to be used to spread the message throughout your organization. Let Mike help you improve the collaborative atmosphere of your organization.
An interactive guide to the challenges and checklists for working collaboratively
STUDENT AUDIENCES
For student groups of up to 150. Can last from 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on the desired outcome.
This is a great follow-up activity for selected students after the assembly and/or as standalone workshop for exploring the basics of collaboration, management and leadership to help engage the student body in proactive and positive participation. Usually these sessions include a few of the following: Listening Effectively, Group Goal Setting, Working With People, Directing Supportively, Recruiting Skills, Adding Value To Any Activity, Working At An Event, Evaluating Experience and Saying Thank You. These topics are covered in Mike’s book by the same title and handouts including recaps and checklists for each of these sections will be provided.
An adventure exploring what we have in common
STUDENT AUDIENCES / ALL-SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES / CLASS MEETINGS
This is a large group experience, often an entire student body.
The activity begins with Mike’s introduction and proceeds with him offering the young audience a choice: “Do you want a speech or an experience?” The answer is usually overwhelmingly: an EXPERIENCE. That triggers his change from speaker to facilitator. It begins with fast talking and a lot of group interaction. Their decision for an experience is the reason they then must explore who they are and what they can do together. From there they spend time exploring what they have in common—people Mike’s age with people their age and what they know they know and a few things they might not know just yet. The lessons often explored in this adventure range from the self-talk and choices, how they work, to the role attitude and self-awareness plays in everyone’s life. Mike can tie in any message or theme the school needs or wants included. It ends up discovering what power each one has to build who they are and who they want to become. Realizing that the presentation is only a small part of capturing the message, the hosts are provided with suggested questions to continue the experience in smaller group interactions.
GENERAL AUDIENCES / LEADERSHIP KEYNOTE
Many candidates for Leadership positions work to earn the “title” and benefits—and end up with a “responsibility” they are not be prepared to for. Too often leadership is viewed as a task-oriented opportunity judged by how well an event or collection of activities is executed. The true test of a leader, according to President John F. Kennedy, is to lead people. This presentation focuses on the responsibility leaders have to engage and grow those they lead.
This definition of Leadership is explored, along with the basic tools for helping others get involved. The presentation finally embraces the lead question, “How do I make a difference?”
GENERAL AUDIENCES / KEYNOTE
Today we are redefining our roles in this culture and we need to be looking at them through eyes focused on our responsibilities and working toward a cooperative experience to create the outcomes we want to see. In this presentation, Mike works with the audience to discover their tools of self-actualization—self-talk, habit formation, attitude adjustment and collaboration. From the first action-packed moment to the last “oh, yes!” the audience is engaged and encouraged to work together. The foundation of everyone’s success is accepting responsibility for the collective outcomes. Explore the tools for making that happen.