DifferenceMakers, Ltd. - The "Original" Mike Smith

The "Original" Mike Smith's high-energy presentations on personal responsibility, academic focus, mutual respect, civility, making good choices, and getting positively involved are the result of over 20 years of experience working in middle and high schools across North America.

Aside from his keynote presentation, Mike's workshop topics include:

Languaging for Leadership
Leadership Processes
Leadership Workshop Planning
Effective Calendaring
Inclusion Strategies
One-on-One Communication
Living Your Life on Purpose
Citizenship & Responsibility
Ethical Decision-Making
Getting Involved
New Student Orientation
Mentoring

Mike's honorarium will vary with the type of presentation and use of his time. Presentations have been paid from local school funds, student government funds, parent-teacher association funds, state grants for teacher training and anti-drug and alcohol abuse funds. Often local businesses will help supply grants for self-image and leadership training for young people.

Mike works very hard at keeping his fees to schools affordable. It is not uncommon for Mike to work with the entire student body in a morning assembly followed by a workshop for student leaders and an after-school faculty meeting or parent meeting. Many schools pool their resources and hire Mike to do three all school assemblies in one day. Some have organized several days of work in one area and saved even more.

Please call us at 800-658-6082 or e-mail bookings@differencemakers.com if you need more information on availability and "outside funding" for these presentations.

To learn about Mike's presentation approach to student audiences, please see his student keynote presentation notes.

Faculty/Staff & Parent Audiences

For the past 20-plus years Mike has been working with schools to help improve their effectiveness. From this experience has grown a deep appreciation of the teaching profession and all it encompasses. Mike has written rhymes, articles, video presentations and numerous workbooks aimed at helping teachers feel better about themselves and their profession and at helping communities better understand the positive significant difference the teaching profession makes.

Mike has spoken to over a quarter of a million professional educators on motivation, inspiration, the future of education, right brain learning in a left brain world and many topics related to restructuring. He teaches workshops for teachers on subjects from classroom management to sponsoring cocurricular activities.

He was a founding member of Family Friendly Schools, an organization designed to help schools include parents and student leaders in the workings of a school. He helped found the National Association of Student Activitiy Advisers – an organization devoted to training teachers to sponsor student organizations. He is a leading force behind the Alliance for Student Activities, which is organized to gather information on the value of co-curricular activities and to provide much-needed training and support for student activity advisors and club/class sponsors.

Teacher In-service Training/Professional Development

One of Mike's most popular presentations to teachers is called Salting the Oats! How many times have you heard, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink?" Mike contends the job of the teacher includes "salting the oats" to help make them WANT to drink. This presentation focuses on the teaching profession as a "people" business and outlines the simple things that, done daily, help entice the student to learn.

Mike offers other presentations as well:

Help Them Win: In Search of a Definition of Education
The Three P's of Teaching: Preperation, Persistence, and Passion

...to name just two. He loves tying your theme or message into his presentations to help make your event even more important.

Mike's honorarium will vary with the type of presentation and use of his time. Presentations have been paid from local school funds, student government funds, parent-teacher association funds, and state grants for teacher training. Often local businesses will help supply grants for self-image and leadership training for adults.

Please call us at 800-658-6082 or e-mail bookings@differencemakers.com if you need more information on availability and "outside funding" for these presentations.

Associations & Organizations

The "Original" Mike Smith can "light up" your meeting. "He is a burst of energy any meeting can use." Mike creates the atmosphere that energizes performance. He is fun, fast-paced, entertaining and effective. He sets a great tone as a keynote. Or, as an endnote, he provides the energy you need to help you launch the "success" your people are looking for at the end of a great event. His breakout programs on self-talk, personal responsibility and making great things happen in your life are thought-provoking and entertaining. He is equally effective with your association and corporate audiences.

For Mike, life is an adventure full of choices and in his presentations he explores many of them. He works his audience through the process of successful living with humor, anecdotes and numerous participation activities. The presentations are built around his personal experiences, life lessons, his studies and observations. He uses his rhymes to highlight his message and to make it live long after he says goodbye. The rhymes are made available to those who want them after the presentation as a means of continuing the opportunity to THINK about what was said and done.

No two programs will contain exactly the same material because of the fluid nature of the presentation and the specific area your association is highlighting at your event, but all are based around these simple ideas:

SELF-TALK IS NORMAL and positive self talk is vital. You can control what you say to yourself and it helps you to build a better you.
LAUGHTER is best when directed at ourselves. Laugh and learn.
POSITIVE PARTICIPATION AND PEER PRESSURE often conflict regardless of the age of the participant. Getting "involved" is an individual choice which can lead to new and better experiences.
CHOICES are often hidden but always there. Sometimes just the realization that there are choices in every situation can help. Making good choices is the lynch-pin of a successful life.
BLAME-FIXING is a waste of time. All human beings are unique, special, important and 100% responsible for everything they do and do not do. Taking responsibility is a must.
A POSITIVE ATTITUDE is the vital anchor in a successful life.
HUMAN BEINGS ARE CREATURES OF HABIT and habits are changeable. Habits will run us if we do not run them.
FEAR OF FAILURE holds many of us back. We are all afraid of the same things: being laughed at, looking dumb, and failing. It is okay to be afraid, but not to let that fear keep us from acting positively.
BE THE BEST "YOU" YOU CAN. You are not alone in this effort to be the BEST YOU. You have friends and mentors to help guide you and you have a spiritual side. Examine it!

Let Mike work with your message to make it last for your attendees!

To gain insight into Mike's presentation approach, please see his presentation notes.

Mike's honorarium will vary with the type of presentation and use of his time. Please call us at 800-658-6082 or e-mail bookings@differencemakers.com if you need more information on availability and funding ideas for these presentations.

Collegiate Audiences

Like every keynote presentation Mike Smith delivers, he promises "an experience, not just a speech!" And boy, does he deliver!

He speaks at leadership conferences, fraternity and sorority events, parent events, and residential/orientation leader trainings. Besides his keynote presentation, his workshop topics include:

Leadership Processes
This workshop is designed to help any leader master the proven processes which ensure group success. You will be exposed to the dynamics of team interaction with a model for motivation and the tolls for ensuring that individuals enroll in your group's activities. Mike teaches meeting skills, brainstorming, and developing vision/mission statements.
Leadership Workshop Planning
Expand your positive influence deeper in your community by providing the training your leaders need. Mike discusses everything you need to handle the logistics of a workshop - checklists for the facilities, handouts, budgets, curriculum and presenter recruiting, as well as step-by-step planning procedures.
Inclusion Strategies
Learn about practical applications and proven strategies that help your leaders lead others to the benefit of involvement. It's one thing to want to help other, less involved people reap the benefits of being involved, but it is altogether different to actually make it happen. Whether your membership is a working faculty or staff, a parent association, a club or organization, you can help them develop the power of esprit through your personal commitment.
One-on-One Communication
The simplest of people skills makes all the difference in the world. This is a basic communication workshop on personal skills - listening, delegating, and working with people. The workshop includes exercises and handouts to help you help others learn these vital people skills.
Living Your Life on Purpose
Citizenship & Responsibility
This workshop offers participants an opportunity to explore their understanding of the words and then the concepts of responsibility and service as they relate to their citizenship. For student leaders, it offers a look at helping the general student body expand their commitment to service and several ways to enhance the community service that's already being done.
Ethical Decision-Making
This is an interactive workshop on the process for making ethical decisions. Participants begin by defining their individual value structure and then apply a step-by-step process for making tough decisions when the choices are between two right answers. This workshop teaches participants HOW to think, not WHAT to think.

...among others.

One of Mike's most popular workshops is Languaging For Leadership. In the mind of the listener, a spoken word or phrase translates into pictures which contain an emotional response based upon previous experiences. These emotional memories produce habitual, conditioned responses to the words. So, effective communication is not based on what you say, but rather, what others "feel" about the words they hear you say. Leaders have a choice of words in every situation; to change the reaction, change the word. Mike has identified several words and phrases which hinder clear communication and offers replacement words and phrases to make your communication more effective. This interactive workshop explores at least 20 word choices leaders must make to maximize effectiveness. As a result of this experience, participants will be able to help other leaders learn the power of word choice.