Program Details

Resurrecting Resilience (keynote address)

It is not a badge of honor to constantly being stressed, stretched, and strained. Resilience is defined by dictionary.com as “the ability to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness, the ability to spring back.” In the professional world, we’re surrounded by stress which may lead to burnout. You know you add value and contribute. In fact, do you care too much? Research has shown that those who care the most burn out the fastest.

Sometimes we need to take a deep breath or scream out loud, or simply find the shoulder of our support system to get through it. Whether we’re looking for a quick fix or a sustained strategy, our success will always be greater when we resurrect our own resilience. When we find ways to more effectively bounce back, we can be more engaged, more energetic, and ultimately happier.

How to Transform Yourself into Who You Really Want to be Professionally (keynote address)

Using key teachings from Tom’s award-winning book, The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World, lessons will lead toward the ultimate goal—to transform as an individual in the workplace to have a productive and satisfactory work-life that differentiates you from the masses, without working yourself into the ground.

The themes revolve around:

1. Self-awareness
2. Belief that change is truly possible
3. Taking action to make it happen

Let Your Connections Work for You — How to Build a Professional Network

This course teaches the importance and value of building a professional network. It goes beyond LinkedIn and large gatherings of people with stickers that say “Hello my name is…” Although we are taught to control what we can control, the stark fact is that much of our success and satisfaction cannot be done alone. Let’s concentrate on what can be controlled in our immediate environment.  We need a sphere of influence to get past the potential roadblocks in front of us. Participants will walk away knowing how to make genuine connections, not name-gathering or meeting checklist accomplishments, that will spur future relationships to advance their careers. Participants will learn key concepts of professional networking:

1. Influence key decision-makers
2. Drive your own career
3. Allow the network to do much of the work
4. Break out of traditional hierarchical business models
5. Networking is not as hard as you think

Command and Influence — Better Business Communications

Part I:

This seminar emphasizes that communication is a learned skill.  Concentration will revolve around the following factors:

1. Why business communication is critical
2. How business communication is really defined
3. The impact of improving communication skills
4. How to use written communication to your advantage

Part II:

How to communicate up, down, and around- communication influence with bosses, peers, and subordinates

Everyone has a boss. Everyone has a peer. Some of us have direct reports. Communication is an art. When you start thinking about the people you’re communicating with at an individual level, you can cultivate your emotional intelligence and improve your overall effectiveness at all levels.

From Fear to Success — Practical Public-Speaking (in-person)

Using the highlights of Tom Dowd’s Gold Medal award-winning book From Fear to Success:  A Practical Public-Speaking Guide, participants will:

1. learn how to relieve the stress of speaking to a crowd
2. become skilled in speaking with notes, without notes and using slides
3. learn how to think quickly, speak logically and engage your audience
4. learn how to summarize by using analogies and short stories
5. understand the importance of preparation, personal stories and mental and physical insight on reducing anxiety and increasing confidence

Most importantly, participants will be taught how to become influential in achieving YOUR goals and your audience’s goals.

Manage Your Time — Don’t Let it Manage You: Time Management and Organization

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
We are all very busy. Being overly stressed isn’t a badge of honor, it’s a hindrance to doing what we want to do. The pandemic didn’t make it any easier with time demands (e.g., emails increased 5%). However, what if you could accomplish more in a forty-hour week than your current fifty, sixty, or seventy-hour work week? What if your success was simply a matter of working smarter, not harder? Additionally, what if you did it with better quality, found more time to build relationships, and strategically improved the business? Good time management and organizational skills are a must. Participants will learn about the following themes:

1. Manage your time, don’t let it manage you
2. Time management is required of all levels, in all positions
3. The benefits of managing professional time effectively spill into your personal space

PROGRAM BENEFITS

• Clear distinction between work and life balance
• Increased productivity (personal and professional)
• Strengthened commitments with greater flexibility
• Less emails (almost guaranteed!)
• Better planning for reduced worry

TOPICS COVERED
We will explore:
• How to effectively balance work and life
• Real conversations about multi-tasking
• Individualizing routines and planning based on your own individual styles
• Managing your calendar and email without needing special productivity “apps”
• How communication, prioritization, and decision-making influence time management and organization

Everything we do has time management implications. This program is designed to benefit anyone who wants to improve their time management and organizational skills that match their styles and personalities, especially:

WHO SHOULD ENROLL: This program is designed to benefit:
• Business leaders
• Entrepreneurs
• Educators
• Managers
• Municipal employees
• Nonprofit workers
• Students
• Researchers
• All levels of Employees
The online format of this course makes it possible for participants from across the globe to participate. A stable internet connection and the ability to participate in these synchronous sessions as they are happening is required.

Make Your Story Come Alive — Résumé Writing Workshop

Many résumé seminars teach a specific style. The business world has morphed away from many traditional approaches. Participants will be taught how to effectively use strong words, styles, and formatting that catches recruiters’ attention and truly tells the story of the professional. Attendees will be able to independently assess their strengths and make these strengths come alive on a résumé.  The themes of this seminar emphasize and concentrate on what will work best for different individuals while giving clear walk-away tips to begin the process immediately. The key is how to best package each person’s past to maximize the future.

It’s Not Bragging if it’s a Fact — Improve Interviewing Skills

The goal is not to predict what the interviewer may ask. The goal is to learn to make an interview a two-way dialog that will show anyone that you are the right person for the job or promotion.  Too many interview courses include “the most commonly asked” questions. There should be nothing common about your interview. Students will learn how to differentiate themselves through behavior-based-type interviewing and confidently talk about anything. Interviewers, for the most part, are not just looking for the perfect answer.  They are looking for your reaction.  Participants will be taught how to minimize surprised reactions and maximize the interaction so the real YOU comes out. Some of the key themes to enhance a forward-looking, problem-solving approach include:

Maximize Your Virtual Presence — Make the Most of Changing Work Environment

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The information age–and COVID-19 starting in March 2020–has driven many people to work online/work from home or in many cases a hybrid work environment. There are many advantages of working from alternative locations, but not meeting face-to-face can also have its challenges. This workshop will teach employees how to make the most out of virtual meetings. Highlights include:
• How to deal with distractions and disruptions
• How to prepare for virtual meetings
• How to engage the audience
• How to prepare a solid presentation
• How to ensure communication effectiveness

PROGRAM BENEFITS
• Understanding what the various virtual platforms can offer (e.g., Zoom, Webex)
• Maximizing your video and audio presence
• Minimizing derailers
• Commanding the virtual stage
• Increasing interaction and engagement

TOPICS COVERED
We will explore:
• Online platform options and capabilities (technology light)
• Lighting, backgrounds, sound, and “Zoom Fatigue”
• Using various tools and resources to keep the audience engaged

WHO SHOULD ENROLL
Most of us can no longer avoid being in online meetings. This program is designed to make the most of the virtual situations to stand out in the crowd as a leader who can command the meeting. Anyone who wants to simply avoid “Zoom Fatigue” or employees who want to “wow” their audiences, we have something for everyone, especially:
• Business leaders
• Entrepreneurs
• Educators
• Managers
• Municipal employees
• Nonprofit workers
• Students
• Researchers
• All levels of Employees

Impromp-To-Success:  How to Effectively Think Quickly on Your Feet

This presentation is about success.  What was once his Achilles heel, the speaker shares his stories about how learning to quickly and effectively formulate his thoughts changed the course of his life and career. In this highly interactive session, the speaker teaches the audience specific methods to think and speak quickly on the fly. More importantly, how to slow down your thinking to build the right habits to increase your influence. Key take-aways include:

1.  Refine techniques to think quickly

2.  Organize and articulate innovative and unique thoughts thoroughly

3.  Engage an audience in a short time

Riding The Elevator Discussion to Success —How to Deliver an Effective Elevator Speech

We are all given one chance to make a good first impression, grab the big sale, get the promotion of our dreams, or simply nail the presentation. Do you realize much of this success is contingent on the first few moments, sometimes measured in minutes, other times in mere seconds. This interactive session delivers specific actions, exercises, and stories that will resonate with all audiences trying to influence others and help show that this elevator moves horizontally.

• Who needs an elevator pitch when we aren’t going to be on elevators anytime soon? We all do! Each day we’re presented with opportunities to share our individual value proposition. Be ready for these moments to deliver them with confidence.
• Perfecting your pitch starts with people fully focused on you. You can maximize your own virtual presence before you even say your first word. Participants will begin the session by understanding how to make the most of the virtual environment we’re in, then learn the value of making a lasting first impression.