CAMPUSPEAK

Encouraging student leaders to take risks, try new ideas, confront apathy and ignite passion in their organization. T.J. Sullivan has spoken to more than 2-million students since 1989.

Student audiences appreciate T.J. for his speaking style, which blends humor, straight-talk and practical strategies. He consistently receives the highest evaluations because he fills his programs with great, practical ideas that make sense. With his direct speaking style, T.J. challenges your student leaders, makes them laugh and opens doors of opportunity for making real change in their organizations.

• Keynotes

• The Apathy Myth: Real Answers to Unmotivated Members
• Confronting the Idiot in Your Chapter
• Motivating the Middle: The Keynote

The Apathy Myth: Real Answers to Unmotivated Members

Student leaders say that member apathy and lack of motivation are the issues that plague them the most. How can they get their fellow students engaged? How can they get their officers motivated? How can they get people to give a damn? 

Unfortunately, too many respond to the apathy challenge with fines, mandatory attendance requirements and negativity. Ultimately, these student leaders hit a wall, alienate their members and suffer from frustration and burnout. There is a better way.

What if you were told that what you think is apathy is actually the result of poor leadership that is unresponsive to the needs of the students in your organization? Would you open your mind to the possibility that there are ways to motivate your group’s members that don’t require making every event mandatory?

T.J. offers student leaders a workshop that focuses on practical ideas—evaluating their events, changing their approach to meetings and redirecting their management of their people—attacking apathy head on. It’s about shaking things up, with an eye to re-igniting passion within their organizations. Student leaders have the power to eliminate apathy if they take specific steps to improve their organizations and approach to serving their members.

T.J. has been working with student organizations for more than two decades, and he uses his trademark humor and problem-solving style to energize student leaders who feel overwhelmed. This keynote is perfect for student activities leadership events, presidents’ retreats, fraternity/sorority life, or any other programming opportunity where students are searching for practical answers. 

T.J. can add up to two hours of additional workshop facilitation (for 100 student leaders or fewer) after the keynote to help your student leaders put ideas to paper, setting priorities, trimming their bloated event calendars and identifying key priorities. 

Confronting the Idiot in Your Chapter

Every fraternity and sorority chapter has at least one member whose behavior causes tensions and problems for everyone. The out of control roommate. The brother who gets in fights. The sister who won’t pay her dues. Bad grades. Hazing. Abusive drinking. Promiscuity. Drugs. Embezzlement. Bad eating habits. Violent relationships. Damage to chapter property.

Wouldn’t our chapters be much happier and healthier if we could confront the members whose bad behavior is bringing everyone else down? Don’t we have the responsibility to confront the “idiots” in our chapters? We often allow our friends to risk their own health, safety, relationships or grades with idiot behavior. We are afraid to confront because we fear losing a friend, losing respect or being judged.

In this hysterical, upbeat keynote, T.J. challenges all fraternities and sororities to step to the plate and find the courage to confront negative actions and attitudes from their fellow members. He offers practical strategies for increasing the effectiveness of constructive confrontations.

By encouraging members to confront each other, T.J. gives students a powerful opportunity to put the values of their fraternity or sorority into action. Regardless of the issues facing your Greek system, this keynote will challenge everyone to take responsibility for building a better, more responsible community.

Motivating the Middle: The Keynote

In 2012, T.J. published “Motivating the Middle: Fighting Apathy in College Student Organizations” which has quickly become one of the top selling books on student leadership in the nation.  Leadership classes, fraternities and sororities, student governments and more are using this quick, easy read as inspiration to reshape their student leaders’ approach to motivating and engaging members.  T.J. is available to do a keynote specifically on the content of the book for student organization officers (“top third leaders”). If you are looking for a larger keynote, we recommend you stick with his “Apathy Myth” keynote.  The “Motivating the Middle” keynote might interest those schools who are looking to do a large group “book club” type event – buy the books in bulk, then have T.J. come in to reinforce the lessons learned there.  Ask about bulk book orders when you speak to a CAMPUSPEAK staff member. 

T.J.'s Bio

T.J. has spoken to more than 2-million students since 1989 on critical issues of sexual health, confrontation and dynamic student leadership. He has received top national awards from the North-American Interfraternity Conference and the Association of Fraternity and Sorority Advisors for his contributions to the health and wellness of America’s college students. He is the co-founder and CEO of CAMPUSPEAK, the nation’s premier agency providing educational speakers and interactive workshops to colleges and universities.

T.J. is a well-known blogger on student leadership, and his articles have appeared in countless higher ed publications. In addition to running CAMPUSPEAK on a daily basis, T.J. speaks at approximately 50 campuses and leadership events annually. His book, Motivating the Middle: Fighting Apathy in College Student Organizations, was published by Wheatmark in 2012 and has already become a go-to publication for student leadership classes and organizations nationwide.  His blog at www.tjsullivan.com has been named one of the top blogs on student leadership in the nation.

T.J. is an active volunteer with his fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi. T.J., his family and their beagles live in the Denver area.