Storytalks
Storytalks are not speeches, but dynamic and entertaining presentations to COMMUNICATE a relevant message,
ENCOURAGE the audience to think and
INSPIRE them to act.
ENCOURAGE the audience to think and
INSPIRE them to act.
Latest Additions
- Path to Success - I have had tremendous success in my career. I have done amazing things, worked with extraordinary people and been part of significant events. My path to success all started by changing seats in Geometry class in my Freshman year of High School, hear the story.
- Cockpit to Conference room - Sharing what I learned as a Marine pilot, combat veteran and Test Pilot about leadership, teamwork, decision making and resiliency and translating that into practical advice for leaders and teams.
- Mission X - Post flight - In 2001 I had the privilege to complete Mission X in the X-35B. This talk describes the excitement, innovation, teamwork and commitment I learned from that event.
- Lines, Limits and Ledges Things We Shouldn’t Go Over - Don’t go cross the line! Don’t exceed the limits! Don’t go over the ledge! All of us have heard one or all these phrases at some point in our life. Generally speaking, not going over the line, limit or ledge is sage counsel, but in flight test it can be even more critical. Often what lies beyond that boundary is danger or the unknown. This presentation will look at how we approach those boundaries in flight test and aviation and offer some strategies for how to ensure we take the appropriate steps to stay on the safe side of those lines, limits and ledges.
Here are some examples of topics for Storytalks
- Decision Making – The ability to make good decisions is an extremely important skill and one that people involved in high risk endeavors believe is essential to not only mission success but in risk mitigation and avoidance. This talk uses a familiar decision making scenario to highlight the complexities and considerations that are a part of the decisions we make in a high risk environment.
- Situational Awareness – Mark Twain said "It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." This talk looks at the importance of good situational awareness and ways to achieve it.
- Communication –Accomplishing the mission, working as an effective team, managing crisis are just a few situations that require effective communication. This talk addresses the challenges and barriers to effective communication and how to overcome them.
- Team Effectiveness Workshop (4 Hours)- Combines the Decision Making, Situational Awareness and Communication talks with practical application team exercises
- Know When to Say No- This presentation addresses the “no-vote”. This talk discusses creating the environment, empowering your team, and building understanding to know when to say no.
- Smart People, Good Teams, Bad Decisions - Sometimes when you make bad decisions, bad things happen. This talk uses unique historical examples of accidents and disasters to look at bad decisions made by smart people and good teams and attempt to highlight some of the contributing factors to those bad decisions.
- R U RDY - This talk uses examples of courage, confidence, cleverness, and working together as a team to frame the question "Are you ready to make a difference"
- What I learned in the Arcade - As a kid I spent a lot of time in Arcades feeding quarters into video games for hours. This talk takes an amusing look at life lessons gleaned from those arcade games and the days playing them
- My Way to the Danger Zone- We usually don't think of ourselves as dangerous yet often we find ourselves in dangerous situations. This talk looks at some of the "Danger Enablers" that have pushed me toward the danger zone to raise awareness which is a critical first step in mitigating and avoiding these enablers.
- Better Be Lucky When your not Good - We have all heard and perhaps sometimes used the phrased I’d rather be lucky than good. But in the business of aviation good is a prerequisite and luck is hard to plan for. Using a aviation "close call" as a case study this talk looks at the difference between luck and skill.