Jim Zitek is a well regarded speaker on the topics of Critical Thinking Skills and applying those skills to the economy and markets. This web site covers his current speaking topics. 

Jim Zitek is also an Investment Advisor with Feltl & Company, a Minneapolis based securities and investment-banking firm where he manages individual investment portfolios using a top-down approach. He starts with the economy and works down to individual securities. 

He also writes and publishes an e-mail publication: Economic Update and a blog: Paradigm Adjustment. 

You can also e-mail him for more information at:jim@zitek.net

 

Critical Thinking Skills Will Help You Become A Better Decision Maker

Good decision makers, those who make the correct decision in a timely manner, are more successful and sought after employees. The problem of course is that making good decisions is very difficult to do. One reason is that the information and data points used to make decisions are often flawed.

Unless you do your own primary research, much of your information comes from and is filtered by the media. Media information is often over-dramatized, misinterpreted, over-simplified or simply incorrect. Headlines and sound bites do not provide adequate information or analysis. Consequently, media stories can often lead you down the wrong path.

I have learned that you simply can't read more or watch more TV and expect to be better informed. To be better informed and make better decisions, you need to use a Critical Thinking Process that will give you more accurate, reasoned information and better alternatives.

 The critical thinking process I use has seven basic steps. I simply tear an article or story into its parts; analyze the parts and then reassemble the article, but in a more informed way. 

Following are the seven steps.

1. Identify the argument (issue, conclusion and reasons used)

2. Define the ambiguous concepts and words

3. Uncover the author's assumptions

4. Examine the evidence (fallacies, evidence, statistics)

5. Identify missing information

6. Determine causes and effects

7. Draw conclusions

Using this process results in the kind of information and data points you need to make better decisions. 

 Chose from three different presentations    

1. Economic Conflict: Are We On The Road To Recovery In 2010/11?

 Everyday, I hear from businessmen, executives and other well informed people that they often feel confused about the direction and health of our economy. Worse yet, this confusion soon becomes frustration because no sooner does one “expert” tell us where the economy is headed, then another “expert” says the exact opposite.

You can eliminate both confusion and frustration when you understand the three major approaches economists use to analyze the economy:

The demand-side approach, 

The supply-side approach, and 

The classical liberal (capitalist) approach. 

Learn how these approaches differ and how they handle different issues. For example, what do these three approaches think causes inflation or how would the three approaches handle a stimulus program or or unemployment? 

Once you understand the basics of these approaches, you will also understand why these “experts” have such conflicting analyses. You will know where they are focused, which policies they are likely to propose and which pieces of economic data they consider critical. 

More importantly, you can immediately apply the skills learned in this presentation to gain a better understanding of where the economy really stands and where it’s headed. You will not only better understand the current direction of the economy but which data or issues down the road could change that direction.

This presentation, as with all my presentations, are customizable in length and complexity to meet the specific needs of the audience.

2. Help. The News Is Driving Me Crazy!           

Stop talking back to the TV and throwing the newspaper against the wall. This presentation explains why information from the media is often unreliable and what you can do to turn biased, often misleading information into solid, reasoned information you can use to make better decisions. This presentation discusses: 

1. A practical, seven-step, Critical Thinking Process anyone can use to get at the real story behind the news, 

2. How to build the breadth and depth of information you need, one story at a time, 

3. Then, how to focus on the critical pieces of information you need to make better, more timely decisions. 

Each participant will walk away with easy-to-understand, relevant information that can be implemented immediately when they get back to their desks. 

Depending on the size of the audience, this presentation can also be interactive allowing the audience to participate in the presentation/discussion.

3.  This Is Not Your Nightly News        

This presentation covers the "news" in a way you will not see or read about in your daily paper because it covers the different sides of each story; not just the story the media wants to present.

This presentation exposes the audience to some of the problems of media information and briefly discusses the Critical Thinking Process; but, it's focus is on applying critical thinking skills to the major issues of the day. 

Prior to the  presentation, relevant issues will be selected. Issues like: the credit crisis, the housing crises, is inflation or deflation next, when will job creation begin will be selected, etc.   

Each participant will walk away with: 

1. A better sense of how the media presents each issue,  

2. The essentials of an easy-to-use, critical thinking process,  

3. An issue-by-issue examination of news stories selected, and 

Depending on the size of the audience, this presentation can also be interactive allowing the audience to participate in the presentation/discussion.

More information about each presentation is available on the Presentations Page.

Presentations that give your audience the opportunity for active participation.   

Depending on the size of the audience, these presentations can use a special, audience-response system that gives audiences an opportunity for active participation. From a question presented on the screen, the audience responds using a hand-held keypad. A computer then gathers all responses and displays the results in table or graph form on the screen and in seconds. This gives the audience the opportunity for active participation. You get presentations that live up to your audiences' expectations.

Call for date availability

If you are looking for a speaker that will give your audience something to talk about for a long time, please give me a call at 612-978-7222 or e-mail me at jim@zitek.net for more information or to book a specific date.