Top 20 Topics

Ten frequently presented Top 20 concepts are listed below.

Although the length of each module can be adjusted, a typical length in minutes is given in parentheses.  In each session, the Top 20 Trainers will lead an audience through an interactive and high-energy presentation filled with personal stories and teaching tips on how to make Top 20 Training concepts come alive in your life and your classroom.

Above and Below the Line: How Our Thinking Governs Our Experience (60)

This concept focuses on becoming aware of our thinking so we know when it is working and when it is not working. It explores (1) the conditions that come up in our lives that invite us to go Below the Line, (2) indicators telling us when we are Below, (3) how to handle Below the Line experiences with more grace and dignity and (4) how to trampoline back Above the Line.

The Frame: What We See Is What We Get (60)

The Frame helps people understand why they are getting the results they are getting out of life. The session examines (1) the tendency we have to blame others when we are not getting the results we desire, (2) how our ‘need to be right’ activates blame, (3) how curiosity helps us to get better results, and (4) what we can do to see more or differently.

Learning from Mistakes: Moving Outside Our Comfort Zone (50)

This session focuses on (1) the beliefs students form about themselves from the messages they receive from others when they make a mistake, (2) what keeps students stuck in their comfort zone, and (3) more effective ways of responding to our own mistakes and the mistakes of others.

Roadblock to Success: I Am Stupid (60)

Based on research from students and adults, this has proven to be an extremely important

issue in schools where countless young people feel stupid in the classroom.

This session identifies (1) five causes of stupid, (2) responses students make when they feel stupid, and (3) what teachers can do to minimize the negative impact stupid has on kids.

Reducing the Impact of Self-limiting Messages and Beliefs (60)

Student achievement and engagement in school is largely impacted by their beliefs about themselves. This session examines (1) the influence messages have on forming self-limiting beliefs, (2) three laws of belief, and (3) a process for reducing the negative impact of potential limiting beliefs.

Creating a Top 20 Culture (60)

Top 20 teachers create a culture that develops the potential of students and colleagues. This session presents four components of a Top 20 culture: (1) help others succeed, (2) communicate ‘you matter,’ (3) honor the absent, and (4) see the problem, own the problem. It also presents a tool for assessing the degree to which these components exist in a culture.

Listening Levels: Being in the Zone (30)

Student learning is enhanced by their ability to focus. This session presents (1) five levels of listening and (2) a simple technique students can use to be more focused and stay in the Zone.

Reducing Negativity: Eliminating Thought Circles and Tornadoes (40)

Student experiences and relationships are diminished by negativity. This session provides students with awareness and means for reducing negativity in their own thinking and in their social conversations.

Pods: The Key to Classroom Interaction (25)

This session identifies three factors that result in students being more engaged in a class: when their voice is heard, when their name is spoken and when they feel a sense of belonging. Pods is a process in which teachers can intentionally make these three factors happen during typical classroom discussions.

Conflict Resolution: Heart-to-heart or Toe-to-toe (60)

For most people, conflict seldom results in satisfactory resolution. After examining several habitual but ineffective responses to conflict, this session focuses on a new way to see conflict. It presents (1) a number of strategies for making conflict situations productive for all involved, (2) a process for preparing for effective conflict resolution, and (3) a simple but practical tool students can use when they have handled a situation in a problematic way. 

Additional topics covered in Top 20 books and training seminars include:

Stages of Potential and 80/20 Rule

A New Formula for Success: S = IQ x EQ

Relevancy in School: Developing Star Qualities  

Realizations: In the Moment and After the Fact

Roadblocks to Success: Boredom, Procrastination

Nonverbals: What We’re Saying When We’re Not Saying Anything

Building Trust: Honoring the Absent

Classroom Processes: Affirmation and Conflict Circles     

Becoming: Quest for True Self

Leadership: Creating Value for Others

Formats + Classroom Application