A few years ago I got a call from an executive at Oprah Winfrey’s company, Harpo Productions. She was interested in having their executives attend the Bill Gove Speech Workshop. It was an unsolicted call from one of the best possible clients. We’ve had similar calls from Dear Abby, John McCain, (the senators cousin) and...
I’m often asked what made Bill Gove, the father of professional speaking, so successful as a keynote speaker and coach of more million dollar speakers than anyone in history. After spending five years on the road with Bill, I think I know the answer. Listen to this post and copy the habits of the great...
The average best-selling author spends 12-24 months writing their books, yet there’s a bunch of people promising new speakers they can do it in 30 days. These are the same people claiming the speaking business is easy and you can throw a speech together overnight and you don’t even have to be a good speaker...
I interviewed a senior executive last weekend in Atlanta at the Siebold Success Network meeting for almost 2 hours onstage, and the audience of speakers was shocked at what she had to say. This executive hires some of the biggest speakers in the business, and she told the truth about what it takes to get...
If you’re interested in speaking for the biggest, richest companies in the world but you haven’t been able to figure out how to do it, don’t feel bad. Fortune 500 companies have multiple gatekeepers whose only job is to screen and block calls from unknown vendors. The good news is there’s a secret to cracking...
In mental toughness training, I speak to Fortune 500 sales teams about critical thinking to increase sales. For all of you who have the dream of being a fee paid professional speaker, I have a critical thinking question for you. I ask this question completely out of love. After all, I dreamed the same dream...
There’s a group of people in the speaking industry telling emerging speakers how easy it is to become a successful professional speaker. Back in 1996, the year I started my full time speakering career, I heard the same thing. It turns out the people perpetuating this lie are profiting from it. Chances are they’re trying...
The personal development/self-help industry is once again being accosted by the national press in the United States. The catalyst seem to be the Sweat Lodge tragedy that occurred at the James Arthur Ray event in Arizona earlier this month. (more comments on that at www.mentaltoughnessblog.com) My question for speakers is; are you delivering a message...
[media id=1 width=320 height=240]
In the last 13 years as a professional speaker, I’ve probably reached a couple million people with the mental toughness message. Last week, through the power of television, more than 10 million people, most of whom probably never heard of me before, saw me on NBC, FOX, and NBC/Australia. I’m in the beginning of a...