Speaking and workshops

Talks that leave your audience with something to do on Monday.

Practical AI for small-business owners, and the management judgment that AI adoption demands. Built for chambers, SBDCs, associations, and leadership teams.

Request a talk See the talks

A menu of talks

Two tracks. Each talk can run as a keynote or as a hands-on workshop, and I tailor the examples to your audience.

Practical AI for small-business owners

Where AI Pays Off First

A tour of the three places most small businesses feel AI first: marketing and sales, people and HR, and finance and operations. Attendees leave with ready-to-use prompts and a simple way to pick their first project.

Best for chambers, SBDCs, and owner groups

Practical AI for small-business owners

What Not to Paste: Safe, Practical AI for Your Team

Which information should stay out of outside AI tools, how to set simple ground rules, and how to get useful answers without exposing customer or employee data.

Best for owners, office managers, and HR leads

Management judgment in the AI transition

Judgment Call: Deciding Well When AI Has an Answer

Drawn from Judgment Call, book one of the More Capable series. How managers decide when to rely on AI, when to question it, and how to stay accountable for the call.

Best for leadership teams, associations, and conferences

Management judgment in the AI transition

Augment, Don’t Replace: Leading People Through AI Adoption

How to bring a team along: what to automate, what to protect, and how to measure whether it helped, so AI takes the routine work and people keep the work only they can do.

Best for managers, HR leaders, and executive groups

Formats and fees

In person or on Zoom.

Keynote

30 to 45 minutes, with time for questions.

Workshop

60 to 90 minutes, hands-on, with prompts and exercises attendees keep.

Panel or fireside chat

A moderated conversation on AI, management, and small business.

Free for SBDCs and chambers of commerce. See the pages for SBDCs and for chambers.
Associations, conferences, and corporate events: fees depend on format, length, and travel. Ask for a quote.

About the speaker

Thomas J. Norman, Ph.D.

I’m a tenured full professor of management at California State University, Dominguez Hills, where I teach management, human resources, compensation, and labor relations, and I’ve served as department chair and acting associate dean. I’m the faculty founder of the university’s Innovation Incubator and was an Entrepreneurial Lead in the NSF I-Corps program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

I’m the author of Outsourcing Human Resource Activities, two 2026 textbooks, Management and Compensation, and Judgment Call, book one of the More Capable series, now in press. I also coach executives through Norman Coaching Services.

Request a talk

Send the date, the audience, and the format you have in mind, and I’ll follow up with options.

Request a talk [email protected]