Backstage with Chicago Cub’s Legend Dave ‘King Kong’ Kingman

Growing up in 1970’s Chicago, Dave ‘King Kong’ Kingman was our home-run hero for the Chicago Cubs. At 6’6, this guy was a giant that could park the ball so far out of Wrigley Field that no one could find it. Every time the game was tied, Jack Brickhouse, the voice of the Cubs, would...

Bombing Onstage in New York City

I was speaking in New York City in 2003 for about 1,000 people from a Wall Street investment firm. I had spoken there before, but today was different. Little did I know that I was going to follow a famous psychic who had a very popular show at the time called “Crossing Over with John...

My Death Threats after The Today Show and Good Morning America

One of the best strategies you can employ as a professional speaker is to write a controversial book and embark on an aggressive media campaign. It’s one of the most profitable things we’ve ever done. But if you’re going to follow this path, beware of the potential attacks. After my first appearance on The Today...

Backstage with the Father of the Internet

Back in 2003, I was speaking at a business conference in Washington, DC, at the Gallup Building. The program was packed with many of the leading academics from around the world, as well as top business executives and consultants, including Dr. Martin Seligman, Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihlyi, and Vint Cerf, the Father of the Internet and...

Onstage with President George W. Bush

One of the greatest lessons Bill Gove, The Father of Professional Speaking, taught me was to always be prepared for my big speaking opportunity. Bill would say, “practice, practice, practice, just like you did as an athlete, and when your big opportunity arrives, you’ll be ready. That’s what happened on December 9, 2001, when we...

How to Become a Professional Speaker

How do you become a professional speaker? Don’t believe everything you read or watch about this online. There’s a lot of money in selling people how to get rich quick in professional speaking. From ‘just tell your story’ to ‘just get on as many stages as possible’ to ‘get discovered as the next big motivational...

Speakers Don’t Get Discovered

The latest speaker marketing lie is that professional speakers get discovered. This is NOT how the business works. This idea is sold to people who are trying to break into the business, and earnestly trying everything possible. If you’ve fallen into this trap, don’t feel bad because it’s easy to do. In this video I...

The BIG LIE in Professional Speaking

Back in 1996, my first year as a full-time Professional Speaker, the BIG LIE was everywhere, and I bought into it. Thats why I lost $50,000 my first year. In 1997, I attended the Bill Gove Speech Workshop, and Bill Gove told me the truth. He gently explained that I had been duped by marketing...

97/100 Speaker’s Make This Mistake

Just wrapped up our 7th national convention in the past 7 weeks and witnessed more of this mistake than I’ve seen in the past 25 years of being a professional speaker. At first I thought it was because there are so many new, young speakers in the business, due to technology. But I’ve also seen...

Speaker’s FATAL Mistake

Amateur speaker’s make a lot of mistakes on the platform as they ascend to the professional level. I certainly made my share. But there’s one mistake you must avoid at all costs. I just returned from 2 weeks on the road and 4 national conventions, and watched a total of 57 different speakers. In my...