All Topics in Chicago

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  • Off High Alert: Practical Nervous System Tools for High-Pressure Work Environments

    Ron Martin, Principal, Founder, Executive Coach, Ocean Park Strategic Advisors

    TOPIC CATEGORY: Business

    Many capable, high-performing professionals experience stress in their body even when things are going well at work.

    - A tight chest before meetings.
    - A jolt when emails come in.
    - A constant background sense of being “on edge.” MORE >

    This free talk introduces Off High Alert, a practical, body-first approach to understanding and reducing work-related stress that doesn’t rely on mindset shifts, positive thinking, or therapy.

    Participants will learn why the nervous system often stays on high alert in modern work environments and why “just relaxing” rarely works, even for highly competent, prepared professionals.

    This session is especially relevant for people who:

    - Feel physically reactive to emails, meetings, or work interactions before their brain has time to catch up
    - Stay functional and productive while feeling tense or exhausted underneath
    - Don’t want therapy, oversharing, or long emotional processing
    - Want practical tools that can be used during the workday, discreetly and effectively

    During this talk, attendees will:

    - Understand how and why stress shows up physically at work
    - Learn simple, in-the-moment nervous system regulation tools
    - Reframe stress responses without self-blame or pathologizing
    - Leave with a clear, repeatable way to help their body stand down in high-pressure situations

    This is a grounded, practical, work-safe talk designed to meet professionals where they are, without asking them to lower their standards, change who they are, or step away from their careers.

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  • What can I do to reduce my climate footprint and how effective is it?

    Dorelle Ackermann, Activist, Pachamama Alliance: Chicagoland Co-Hearts

    TOPIC CATEGORY: Climate

    Are you concerned about our warming planet want to do your part to create a sustainable future? Is it possible to have a thriving economy today and protect our planet? According to Hannah Ritchie, a data scientist, it is! Now, let's learn how we, as individuals, can make this happen. Using Project Drawdown's "Explore" we will follow the science in choosing measurable actions to consider. Next, we will recognize that respectful conversations are key to magnifying our individual actions into community actions that will bend the warming curve down.
    This presentation will explore the work of Jonathan Foley (Project Drawdown), Hannah Ritchie (Our World in Data) and Katharine Hayhoe (Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy) to give participants the information and resources they can use to create meaningful change. MORE >

    The presentation will end by creating a group "word cloud" to remind us that in the words of Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
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  • So You Think You Know A Lot About Babe Ruth? Let’s Find Out!

    Gary Livacari, Author and Baseball Historian

    TOPIC CATEGORY: Entertainment

    During the first half of the twentieth century, America experienced profound cultural changes. Many of those changes were the direct result of the life of one man: George Herman "Babe" Ruth (1895-1948). Author Gary Livacari is available to present a one-hour PowerPoint presentation covering the life and times of this original American sports icon. The discussion begins with Babe's early life as a neglected "incorrigible" orphan cruelly dispatched at age seven to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys by a family that didn't seem to want him. It continues through his early adulthood, highlighting his marriage to Claire Hodgson Merritt who finally gave him the stable family life that he so desperately desired. Included are many highlights from his record-setting, historic career. MORE >

    No one better personified the extravagance and excesses of "Roaring Twenties" that the great Bambino. At the height of his fame, he was possibly the most recognized and celebrated person in the world. The presentation details some of the most memorable Babe Ruth stories and fables, all illustrated with rarely seen photos. It concludes with a fun "Babe Ruth trivia quiz," followed by a question and answer session.

    The discussion will have appeal to baseball fans of all ages, but will also appeal to those who are intrigued by one of the most beloved and enduring personalities in American history. From our perspective in the twenty-first century, it's hard for us to appreciate the impact this one man had on American sports and culture. His legacy continues even now, 77 years after his death. All this and many more topics will be examined in detail.

    The presentation can also be given remotely via Zoom.

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  • Reducing Deadly School Violence

    Katazyna Weresz, Clinical Director / Executive Director, Counseling Speaks / In Her Shoes Foundation

    TOPIC CATEGORY: Self-Improvement

    Learn from Kasia Weresz about reducing deadly school violence in a thought provoking presentation that focuses on prevention through understanding behavioral health.

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  • Successful Sailboat Racing

    Bob Bernstein, MBA, Sailor and Author, My Sailing Odyssey

    TOPIC CATEGORY: Miscellaneous

    In Chicago I have raced sailboats for a lifetime. I have won many races in many different boats. I have also crewed on many boats. Recently I have been tactician on offshore boats and continue to win with my Rhodes 19 sailboat.

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  • Sailing and Life

    Bob Bernstein, MBA, Sailor and Author, My Sailing Odyssey

    TOPIC CATEGORY: Motivational

    I recently have written a book "My Sailing Odyssey" that has connections at many levels between my life experiences and sailing.

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  • General Self-Defense

    Peter Honigmann, Founder and Head Instructor, Best Defense Concepts, LLC

    TOPIC CATEGORY: Health & Fitness

    Offering presentations, seminars or hands-on classes in basic self-defense. The presentation can cover the following topics: law of self-defense, situational awareness and de-escalation, simple and effective strikes and techniques for dealing with the most common street attacks, how to defend against attacker's with weapons, the use of improvised weapons/pepper spray, or any other self-defense related topics of interest to the group. MORE >

    Presentations will be tailored to the group and the topic. Any "hands-on" classes would require participants to sign a waiver.

    I am only available to give presentations weekday evenings and weekends, and limit my travel to suburbs north and west of Chicago.

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  • New Beginnings

    Natoya Johnson, Entrepreneur, Musician, and Aspiring Evangelist, Live for Christ Ministries

    TOPIC CATEGORY: Self-Improvement

    Our ministry provides encouragement to youth and women that need love, support, and ways on how to recover.

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  • What to Do when you have NO IDEA What to Do: Reconnecting to your Purpose

    Gabby Rosely, Consultant, Gabby Rosely LLC

    TOPIC CATEGORY: Motivational

    You feel stuck, uninspired, unmotivated, & you're asking yourself - what do I do now? Maybe you're working a job you don't care about, maybe your relationship feels unfulfilled, maybe you're craving a new hobby... the point is, something is missing and you feel it - every single day. MORE >

    In this keynote / workshop, I break down the actionable steps (in the workshop we actually go through them together) to reconnect to your purpose, your gifts & talents, and how to take aligned action EVEN WHEN YOU DON'T feel like it, in the direction of your vision.

    When we feel stuck, it's usually a lot deeper than "what we're doing" & "what we're not doing" - this is an opportunity to connect to your heart, your dreams, & ground them into reality in ways that feel inspiring AND realistic.

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  • Staying in Your Own Lane Doesn’t Work in Business: Bridging Communication Gaps across Generations & Personalities

    Gabby Rosely, Consultant, Gabby Rosely LLC

    TOPIC CATEGORY: Business

    The US workforce is the most age-diverse it's ever been, with Gen Z now outnumbering Boomers for the first time. Yet most teams are still struggling with the same old generational friction.
    I'm gonna be real with you: generational cohorts are just the starting point. MORE >

    You're not actually going to walk around asking coworkers their age so you can put them in a box. That would be weird. If you know someone’s age but still make assumptions about them, the point is totally missed.

    The POINT is: learning about how worldviews & values are shaped, how to ask the right questions, read the room, and connect with people who think completely differently than you do. This keynote / workshop gives you the tools to do that - with your team, with strangers, with prospective clients - so you stop second-guessing yourself and start building actual trust.

    “Staying in Your Own Lane DOESN’T work in Business” moves beyond tired stereotypes to unlock what actually motivates Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z.

    What You'll Experience:
    - Understand the real values and communication preferences driving each generation
    - Interactive exercises that build empathy and reveal hidden strengths
    - Practice the conversations you've been avoiding, like, giving feedback, addressing conflict, motivating people who seem checked out
    - Leave with a personalized strategy to connect authentically with every team member

    The real result? You stop tiptoeing. Your team stops living on islands. You build the kind of trust that makes people actually want to work together. Generational differences become your greatest advantage.

    Why me? I'm a Gen Z leader who managed teams across all four major generations at age 21. I also totally face-planted at first, thinking I could "stay in my lane," do things my way, and it'd all work out. Spoiler: it didn't. I had to learn this stuff the hard way, in the face of everyone doubting me because of my age. (Trained by Gallup-certified Strength Advisors & MetaPerformance Institute, but honestly, the real credential is that I've lived both sides.).

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