Free Miscellaneous Topics in Chicago
It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3: Browse for a topic, Click the orange request button, Fill out the contact form.
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Questions That Matter
Roger Breisch, Speaker / Provocateur, Dancing With Chaos
In his book, Questions That Matter, Roger Breisch writes, “Putting aside deceitful questions—whose cadence and tone imply an answer—all questions matter. Sentences that end with the ubiquitous squiggle atop a period open the future to new possibilities. Sentences ending with just a period condemn the future to limitation and constraint. Answers have a way of ending discovery and learning; captivating questions open us to unimagined possibilities.” MORE >
After spending more than 3500 hours answering calls on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Roger has learned a great deal about what questions truly matter in creating a life that matters. -
Enhance Your Communications Skills
Karin McNicholas & Dennis McNicholas, Mediation Services
This husband/wife team has been successfully training individuals, families and groups in effective communications for 12 years.
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The Bible and the Ballot – A New Vision for Christian Political Engagement
Ted Williams III, Political Science Faculty, City Colleges of Chicago/WYCC PBS
Faith is an increasingly controversial topic in US politics. Can diverse faith and secular communities find common ground on our nation’s most pressing issues? Should faith remain personal or can people of faith contribute to US politics? Ted’s non-partisan and holistic conversation offers a new vision for faith-based civic engagement.
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Your Brain is Lying to You!
Roger Breisch, Speaker / Provocateur, Dancing With Chaos
In her highly acclaimed book, Being Wrong: Adventures in the margin of error, Kathryn Schulz says “As far as we know, then, error is uniquely ours. Our fallibility is what keeps us suspended between the kingdom of lessor animals and the kingdom of God.” MORE >
How might we be different in the world if we knew a large percentage of what we think we “know” is wrong… or at least off kilter? If we entered the world each day with the understanding there is much to learn and revise about our current thinking, might we be more curious? Better listeners?The human brain is a pattern making marvel, but the stories we make up based on those patterns are often wrong. We do this every day when we make up stories about others based on very little knowledge of who they really are. Might we find people are far more interesting than our first impressions leave us to believe?
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Humanity’s Journey Home
Roger Breisch, Speaker / Provocateur, Dancing With Chaos
In his book "Humanity's Journey Home," Roger talks about the future of the species Homo sapiens and our relationship to the biosphere. It is a provocative view and well received by those who are willing to take off rose-colored glasses and examine the perils we face and the paradigms that got us here. The perspective is hopeful in the long term, but realistic in the short term. MORE >
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Elder Mediation
Karin McNicholas & Dennis McNicholas, Mediation Services
Mediation allows families to explore mutually acceptable solutions to difficult problems with parents and elderly relatives. It encourages creative problem solving within the private family setting rather than relying upon the legal system to resolve these issues.
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Changing the Course of Human History
Roger Breisch, Speaker / Provocateur, Dancing With Chaos
Neil Postman once said, "Children are the living messages we send to a future we will not see." When we change the life of a young person, we change the course of human history.
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Injuries on the Job: Navigating a Complicated Illinois Workers’ Compensation System
Paul Byck, Lawyer / Partner, Kreiter, Byck and Associates, LLC
Many who suffer work related injuries have no idea what their rights are. Even worse, because of their vulnerability, they rely on the assistance of insurance adjusters - the very people whose job it is to deny or limit their benefits. There are many risks with this approach that could be detrimental to the injured party's claim. MORE >
The lecture will focus on how to navigate a complicated workers' compensation system in Illinois, and the risks associated with trusting insurance companies to do the right thing. It will include common requests by insurance adjusters that seem harmless, but can have real consequences. The lecture will also emphasize the importance of managing a claim proactively.This lecture should interest any person, group or profession that is at high risk of suffering work injuries.
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Travel Hacking
Edwin Goitia, Founder and Visionary, I Am A Brand
Often travel is seen as a luxury and an expensive hobby, but there is a way to access the world with less money or resources - travel hacking. Edwin dives into this incredibly hot and trending hobby that has picked up the pace globally with people of all ages and backgrounds.
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Unintended Impact: One Athlete’s Journey from Concussions an Amateur Football to CTE Dementia
Jim Proebstle, Author
Tragic CTE Dementia Outcome from Concussions in Amateur Football Inspires a New Book: As an athlete, Dick was revered; yet, success turned traitor as the concussions received in high school and Big Ten (MSU) football led to a world of confusion, poor decision-making, and confinement defined by a wheelchair in a long-term care facility. In his multiple levels of impaired functioning, the opportunity for Dick to “get it”—life, that is—was over. He just didn’t know it. Dick was my brother. MORE >
Nobody will remember a backup college quarterback, but Dick’s story bridges the glamour of NFL football—its high-profile athletes and its $billion settlement for players with CTE dementia—and the millions of anonymous amateur football players who may suffer with the same concussion-induced devastation of CTE dementia. Unintended Impact covers the drama from childhood to adulthood, including numerous personal and business episodes that serve as warnings that something had been derailed. In 2015, with today’s focus on CTE, lack of knowledge is not acceptable. Yet in Dick’s life, lack of knowledge was just one of the underlying factors contributing to the heartbreak of his tragedy. How many other Dick Proebstles are there?