Keynote Speeches
Tom’s signature keynotes are immersive storytelling experiences that open minds and get hearts pumping. Using a combination of interactive games, martial arts exercises, comedic narratives, and academic research, Tom’s presentations captivate and educate audiences.
UNTAP POTENTIAL
Find Your Inner Black Belt
Learn about the strengths of character every black belt needs. Discover how to bring those black belt strengths within you to your day to day life as a team member and as a leader. Objectives inlcude:
- Become tough and ready to fight for your worth
- Make tenacity and grit work for you, not against you
- Strengthen your spirit to win compassionately
- Develop flexibility you will actually be stronger
- Embrace and understand conflict so everyone wins
* Tom enjoys working with event coordinators to customize his talks within the scope of his research and lived experience. The talk can be adapted for corporate audiences, parents, educators, and community organizations alike.
IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU
Myth of the Lone Warrior
Leaders are definitely made, but often with manufacturing defects such as the “lone warrior” mentality. Attempting to lead in this headspace ultimately causes you to get in your own way. Transform your leadership style from a solo exercise into a team sport. Objectives include:
- Become tough and ready to fight for your worth
- Make tenacity and grit work for you, not against you
- Strengthen your spirit to win compassionately
- Develop flexibility you will actually be stronger
- Embrace and understand conflict so everyone wins
* Tom enjoys working with event coordinators to customize his talks within the scope of his research and lived experience. The talk can be adapted for corporate audiences, parents, educators, and community organizations alike.
GET BACK UP FASTER
Learning How to Fall
One of the first things you learn in Japanese Jujitsu is how to fall. Counterintuitively, falling is a vital skill for advancement in the art. So why is “falling” outside the dojo a source of shame? Objectives include:
- Weaponizing your defeat – Taking an alternative perspective of your misstep is critical to the ability to get back up. Learn how to reframe your mistakes and wield them as tools for future success.
- Accepting the falls improves your ability to throw – Self-reflection and taking ownership of your mistakes are critical to turning a setback into a point of personal growth.
- Flow and remain focused – Do not let a fall prevent you from moving your forward.
- Learn how moving well prevents you from falling – How awareness of your environment and flexibility
- Realize that how you land also truly matters
* Tom enjoys working with event coordinators to customize his talks within the scope of his research and lived experience. The talk can be adapted for corporate audiences, parents, educators, and community organizations alike.
PERSERVERANCE
The B.L.A.C.K. B.E.L.T. Experience
Earning a black belt is tough but keeping it is even harder. It requires a strong mind as much as it does a strong body. Tap into the mental skill sets of a black belt to better endure even the most challenging tests in the dojo or the job site. Objectives include:
- Learn how to apply each of the concepts
- Understand how to use your environment to succeed
- Create great relationships as a leader and a follower
- Discover the power of yielding, flowing and redirecting
- Unlock your personal potential and achieve amazing results
* Tom enjoys working with event coordinators to customize his talks within the scope of his research and lived experience. The talk can be adapted for corporate audiences, parents, educators, and community organizations alike.
WORK BETTER TOGETHER
5 Traits of Black Belt Leaders & Teams
Drawing upon his lived experience and academic research, Tom illustrates the five essential traits critical to the efficiency and performance of a team and ways in which you can reduce conflict between team members. Objectives include:
- Find out how to apply and use the 5 traits for you and your team
- Analyze the various styles and approaches to leadership using the 5 traits
- Develop a plan for improving in all of these areas
- Create more openness and cohesion as your team improves
- Achieve goals and provide a framework for the next level of leaders and teams
* Tom enjoys working with event coordinators to customize his talks within the scope of his research and lived experience. The talk can be adapted for corporate audiences, parents, educators, and community organizations alike.
