He's a modern day Renaissance man. He's been a medical photographer, a legal secretary, a teacher and a business owner. He's been an employee, a boss, fired and unemployed. He hasalso been an actor and a stand-up comedian. In addition to his own work, he worked as a location producer and cinematographer on an Oscar-nominated film (Twist of Faith). He's an author, a writer, producer, director and an award-winning filmmaker. And he likes to talk about his experiences. A LOT. He offers funny, insightful, entertaining and informative speeches, workshops and seminars that appeal to all types of audiences. His experience in show business helped him craft the presentation programs, seminars and workshops he offers to a wide variety of business clients. Tom has worked in the entertainment world for more than two decades. He started out as a comedian and spent portions of eight years traveling around the eastern half of the United States. He has worked in over 300 clubs, colleges and private venues. After four years in LA, Tom returned to Toledo in 1997 to shoot a sketch comedy TV pilot. His next challenge was to assemble an improvisational comedy troupe, The Around the Bend Players. This troupe continues its long and successful run in the northwest Ohio area with performances at private parties and corporate events. While pursuing these creative endeavors, he spent a year teaching an introductory course in visual communications at Bowling Green State University and another year teaching improvisation and filmmaking at the fledgling Toledo School for the Arts. He continues to offer private acting instruction and coaching and teach several workshops for the actor and filmmaker. In January of 2001, Tom produced a film from his original screenplay, In the Company of Strangers. In November of 2001, he screened In the Company of Strangers to a sold out black tie crowd at Toledo's Valentine Theater. Nine hundred people attended the screening which raised $20,000 for David's House, an AIDS outreach center in Toledo that was the location for much of the action in the movie. The film won the award for Best Dramatic Feature Film at the Telluride IndieFest and the Key West IndieFest. It has also been honored with the Festival Director's Choice - Gold Medal for Excellence at the Park City Film Music Festival in Park City, Utah and a Best Dramatic Feature Film award at the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival. Its' most recent accolade was the Festival Director's Choice Award at the well-respected Trail Dance Film Festival in Duncan, Oklahoma. In 2003, Tom teamed up with Cleveland filmmaker Deb Halinski to make a documentary about a recovering drug addict and alcoholic who now runs Ironman Triathlons. This four time award-winning film is called ADDICT. In 2004, he was hired by LA filmmakers Kirby Dick and Eddie Schmidt to handle camera operator duties and location production on their 2005 Academy Award-nominated documentary, Twist of Faith. Because of his 25 plus years of experience in entertainment and performance, today, he is focusing on helping business executives and associates to deliver more effective oral and PowerPoint presentations as a communications coach and trainer. His latest offering is a great program called "SnoozeProof Your Presentations & 10 Things I Hate About PowerPoint". It's an engaging presentation about simple things we all can do to become more engaging presenters. Couple this with his MasterClass Coaching Program and you have a terrific way of taking your organization's presentations to the highest level. Tom's presentations cover a wide range of topics from failure to success, from active listening to improving presentations, from filmmaking to running my own business, and always with a sense of humor and an emphasis on self improvement. His presentation titles include "The 5 Ps of Success", "Missed it by That Much", "Spellcheck Your Life", and "When Opportunity Knocks, You Don't Want to be in the Shower". He's also developed a fun and challenging leadership & teambuilding game called - oddly enough - "The Amazing Leadership & Teambuilding Challenge" as well as an interactive communication booster called "Thinking on Your Feet". This uses improvisational comedy techniques to help people become better communicators by using active listening skills, trust and support and working as a team. Tom's presentations and events will be the most fun and the most inspiration your associates have ever had - he guarantees it.