Thomas Umstattd Jr.

Technology Talks (March 2010)

As you may know, I teach on technology a lot. Several of you have asked when my next classes are. So here you go here is a list of some of my upcoming talks. I would love to see you there! How Everything Has Changed & Nothing is New What the changes in Social Media mean for your business. Date: March 2 (8-9:30am) Cost: Free (registration required) City: Austin, TX Register Now Tools like...

How Everything Has Changed But Nothing Is New – Patriot Academy 2009

At Patriot Academy this year I gave a talk about how technology has changed the world. While everything has changed, nothing is new under the sun. Everything that is has been before. By studying the past we can predict the future even when it comes to social media. Here are the slides for the talk. I’m sorry if they don’t make much sense if you missed the talk. Slides Patriot Academy...

Profesional Speaker

One of my favorite things in the world is teaching. Now I (sometimes) get paid to do something I love.  If you would like to learn how to use Twitter better you are invited to come hear me speak. I’m just getting started as a professional speaker and so many of my classes are still free. I have also added an upcoming speaking events widget to the sidebar. Upcoming Classes: July 27, 2009 Introduction...

Generation Y on Abortion

The following video is by Lia who is only 12 years old. She gave this speech to her 7th grade class. Are the public figures emerging? Generation Y, my generation, is much more pro life than Generation X and the Baby Boomer generation. I can’t wait for the male baby boomer pro-life establishment to be augmented and replaced by young women. From a public speaking standpoint I want to point out...

The Ladder of Abstraction

If you are a writer or a speaker this will help you understand how words work and how to make you message stick. This talk comes from the books Presentation Zen by Garr Reynold and Language in Thought and Action by S. I. Hayakawa. Here is a recording and slides for the Ladder of Abstraction talk that I gave at the Austin Rhetoric Club a few weeks ago. Transcript Download MP3 | View | Upload...

5 Reasons Why Enthusiasm is Better than Confidence

As you can see from my last post I am not a big fan of self confidence. So often presenters struggle with fear and so they compensate for their insecurities with self confidence. The Bible has a word for self confidence. The Bible calls it pride. Confidence might make you feel better but it can turn your audience off. Our confidence should be in Jesus Christ alone. I found these not to long ago and...

Don’t Believe in Yourself

I am going to start reposting achieved posts from my old blog on the first of each month. The enemy thinks he can purify pride with Disney films and encouraging posters. Motivational books tell people they need more self-esteem in order to succeed. Many say, “If we only thought higher of ourselves we could accomplish more.” Just “believe in yourself” the cartoons say. Yet, throughout the Bible...

Balance in Evangelism (Video)

Here is a talk I gave at the 2007 Christmas Evangelism Boot Camp. You may recognize the first few minutes as from my blog. The audio quality improves dramatically after about five minutes. Summary Learn the principles that ground good evangelical methods. Learn to balance your presentation of the Gospel between Spirit Truth and Love. In this talk we discuss the challenges to balanced evangelism and...

5 Tips to Avoid Boring PowerPoint Presentations

When I gave a talk at a Rotary Club I could just see everyone cringe as I pulled out my projector. As soon as a presenter shows their first slide riddled with text we know we are in for a long boring talk. But PowerPoint does not need to be boring. A guy named Cliff Atkinson author of the book Beyond Bullet Points opened my eyes to a radical new way to present using Power Point. I used his approach...