German Uboat commander sinks ship the size of the Titanic then rescues as many survivors as possible. Story gets stranger when an American plane intentionally bombs the Uboat knowing over 110 survivors are onboard. Ultimately story is one of triumph for those who survived 7 weeks in an open boat without food and drifted 700 miles. (Tougias co-wrote Abandon Ship which is a “cross-over” book for both adults and young adults)

Tougias relies on his many interviews with first responders, extraordinary leaders, extreme survivors, and psychological studies to share techniques to live your best life, reach peak performance, handle change and overcome challenges.  He shares the tips and uses slides from some of the actual events he draws on for inspiration.  Tougias also gives a personal account of the steps used to achieve a goal most said was beyond his reach:  when he was 30 years old he set an objective to someday become a full time author, achieve the NY Times Bestseller List, and have a movie made of one of his books.

The NY Times Bestselling Author and Dynamic speaker says “I’ve relied on my years of research working with and reading the work of psychologists for my book No Will Set You Free and personally interviewing and examining studies on the most resilient people for Extreme Survival: Lessons From Those Who Have Triumphed Against All Odds. I want to share practical steps to help audience members achieve their full potential. And at the end of the program I share a dramatic personal story on how the steps and habits helped me.

This multi-media keynote is positive and entertaining, meant to inspire and empower!  Some of the topics in this presentation include:

1. Learn to Improvise
2. Overwhelmed? Try the Power of Little Steps
3. Focus on what you can Control
4. No to Negativity
5. No to Fear, Yes to Empowerment
6. Use Humor in Tense Moments
7. Pro’s and Cons of Adrenaline & Emotion
8. Goals Can Be Fixed, But the Plan Must be Flexible
9. Accolades? From Whom?
10. Traits of Good Decision-Makers
11. What is Intuition
12. How to be Lucky
13. Resilience is Already in You
14. Listening vs “Talkarrhea”
15. Simple  Way to Handle Change
16. You Have More Strength Than You Know

First 25 Minutes

Always best to open up with a story: How JFK’s listening skills and decision-making steps solved the Cuban Missile Crisis without starting WWIII (based on Tougias’ book about the topic)

Instead of using dry power point slides of texts or charts the slides Tougias will share are amazing – from the actual event.  Many recently declassified. (The audience will be surprised to learn the Russians shot down and killed one of our pilots over Cuba and I’ll share a slide from this actual event.  JFK had to respond, but how?)

Video of Tougias speaking found on his website https://www.michaeltougias.com/video

Next 25 Minutes

Here is where we will give practical tips for more effective listening. I would work with your team to add any additional points you would like me to emphasize.

• The importance of fully listening before offering a solution
• Eye contact, nodding to let the listener know you are engaged
• When the person has finished talking, you may want to quickly summarize what their key point and concern was to make sure you are on the same page.
• How I make my living as an author by carefully listening. Why do survivors of extreme situations (I’ve written eight true survival books) trust me rather than other authors who contact them?  It is because of the way I conduct the initial interview – I’ll share my listening technique.
• Tips on how to run an effective meeting/brainstorming question – the host needs to let everyone have equal time to speak without being interrupted, and the host should not tip their hand which direction they are leaning as that may influence the participants.
• After addressing the need to listen effectively, we also need to discuss what to do when someone can’t stop talking. We can have a little fun with this as I did in my recent article for AARP titled Talkarrhea!    https://seniorplanet.org/articles-man-cave-on-talking/
• And we have to look in the mirror: could we be the person who talks too much and talks over people?
• Finally, Tougias can discuss the different ways men and women listen and process, citing from the extensive research in the book Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus. Knowing about these subtle differences can lead to greater understanding.

At the end of the session open it up to Q&A.  Besides questions about listening and running more effective meetings, I’ve found people are fascinated when they learn about the untold story of the Cuban Missile Crisis.