Speaking topics

Titles of Bob Tomasko's presentations include:

 

Acquiring the Mindset of a Grower

Bigger Isn't Always Better

Go for Growth!

The Five Paths to Growth - Which one is right for you?

The Three R's of Corporate Change: Resize, Reshape and Rethink

Beyond Reengineering - Creating a new organizational architecture

Lessons from Successful Streamliners

 

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Examples of the issues he has been asked to address include:

 

"We've already downsized, now we are planning for growth.
You've written about both. How do we change from one mindset to another?"

 

"Tell us how our organization and management practices stack up compared to world class companies."

 

"Help our managers understand they are not alone in going through massive restructuring."

 

"Help us send a signal to an audience of our best customers that we think their growth is one of our top priorities."

 

Customization

Most of Bob Tomasko's speeches are extensively adapted to the specific needs of the audience he is speaking to. This customization is based on:

  • examination of documents and reports provided by the meeting arranger
  • research Bob conducts about the client's industry and the challenges it is facing
  • conversations and meetings with the people sponsoring the meeting
  • interviews - by phone, e-mail and in-person - with people who will be in the audience

From this advance work, he will learn the audience's hot buttons and sensitive issues. He has many stories and material from his books, consulting and research available to draw upon. The more he knows about the group, and their situation, the better able he is
to match this material with its needs.

He works with the meeting planner to specify specific results to come from his talk. He coordinates with other speakers on the program so his remarks dovetail with theirs. This will help ensure the entire event is perceived by the audience as a unified whole, not a series of disjointed presentations.

He suggests room arrangements that research has found are most conducive to interaction with the audience, and best able to promote their retention of what they hear and see.

Some of Bob's presentations draw upon consulting techniques in the preparation of his material. Go to Anatomy of a Workshop to see how these were applied for a Tetley senior management conference.

For another example of customization, here is the approach he took at a Fort Lauderdale event for 150 senior Marriott Corporation managers:


The evening before I spoke I distributed
a short questionnaire to each person who would be in the audience.

While it only took about 5 minutes to complete, it was based on many hours of background research about the challenges Marriott was facing in the marketplace.

The form asked them to make a few simple marks on a line
to indicate what each person felt the company's current priorities are now- with respect to the issues that were being addressed at the conference -and also - where each of them thought these priorities ought to be.

Then, as a wrap-up question, I asked each to imagine he was having a face-to-face meeting with Bill Marriott. And then to jot down one or two aspects of the company that he would urge Bill Marriott not to change, as preparations moved forward for a major reorganization.

As soon as the group finished the forms, they were all invited to that evening's get-acquainted reception, but my work had just begun - staying up late into the night summarizing their answers.

The next morning I interspersed, anonymously, the results of the questionnaire along with the "what would you tell Bill Marriott" comments, throughout my prepared talk on trends in organization restructuring.

I didn't just talk about what other company's were doing - I also showed the audience exactly how Marriott stacked up compared to their toughest competitors.

Needless to say, the attention level - especially for an early morning session - was very high.

Also,within a week of returning from the conference, every participant had on their desk a bound summary and analysis of everything discussed that morning.

For more information about Robert Tomasko's speaking see:

Click here for information about Robert Tomasko's availability to speak at an event you are planning.

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