(rough draft for 60-90 minute keynote speech)

(Note from TJ: does anyone have any thoughts on how to make a speech like this more palatable? This is essentially a motivational speech about success that debunks all other motivational gurus. This is a success/motivation speech that is anti success/motivational speech)

In my attempt to show the emperor is wearing no clothes, I am concerned that it can come across as too negative, harsh and nasty. Thoughts?)

(Notes for Speech on Success)

Increasingly, I am getting asked to speak at events that have a personal development/personal empowerment/success theme. This is a very different from my normal corporate audience. I am in the process of figuring out how to adapt my message to this audience.

I have to confess that I have certain ambivalence about these events. On the one hand, I fundamentally do believe in personal improvement and personal growth. On the other hand, I find that most speakers at such events are selling snake oil and often are selling either phony messages or are just dressing up old tired ideas/clichés/bromides with new labels.

Call me a cynic, but I find flaws and holes in everyone else’s arguments for what it takes to be successful. We all see the world according to our viewpoint and I obviously see the world from my own perspective, through the prism of speaking skills. When I look at how people succeed in life, I only see one consistent variable, the ability to speak well in many or at least some speaking venues. With every single path to success espoused by others, I can think of numerous counter examples that disprove that theory.
Here are some examples I am thinking of…

(Honesty – Trudeau)

Some success gurus say the most important aspect of being successful having lots of integrity. Well, I don’t want to sound like I’m against integrity, but it’s clear you can be wildly successful and have no integrity.
For example, Kevin Trudeau is an extraordinarily successful bestselling author and infomercial guru. He’s written (fill in number here) New York Times bestselling books. His infomercials are seen non-stop around the globe. But guess what. He’s also a convicted felon. He’s convicted of fraud, which is telling lies in a manner to fraudulently get money out of people. Now this isn’t something I dug up because I am a crack investigative journalist. NO, Kevin mentions these facts right on the flap of his book. (Show blowup of the page in his book where he mentions his fraud conviction.)

So what is the key to Kevin’s success? (Cut to video of Trudeau on one of his infomercials talking in a persuasive manner)

(Now I analyze what Kevin does well as a speaker)

***

(Ethical – Trump)

Some success gurus will tell you the secret to success stems form always being ethical. I wish that were the case. But entire books have been written about how Donald Trump has systematically lied about his network, his business holding and his accomplishments. He has looted his own companies. Investors have been destroyed in their dealings with Trump. By his own admission, when he was lobbying Forbes to include him on their list of the wealthiest Americans, he had a net worth of negative one billion dollars. And yet he is loved and admired by millions and given his own TV shows. I don’t recommend lying because it is morally wrong. But Trump shows that you can be successful and lie a lot.

(Pull quotes from TrumpNation book about Trump’s lies)

(Good karma – Strom Thurmond)

Some say the secret is spreading good karma. Just do good things and wish good things on as many people as possible. Don’t keep score. In the end, it will all come back to you. I wish this were true. However, there is the case of former Senator Thurmond. Thurmond devoted his life to three main things. 1. Keeping black people segregated from white people. 2. Doing nothing in elective office other than bringing back pork barrel projects. And 3. Seducing as many beauty queens as possible. Yes, he married a 21 yr old beauty queen when he was 65 yrs old. Oh, and when he was denouncing civil rights for blacks, he secretly had a child with his black maid. If there were such a thing as karma, Thurmond would have died young, broke, poor and alone. Instead, he died at 100 with a smile on his face surrounded by fans, power and admirers.
But he was a great speaker in his prime. Thurmond once spoke for 24 hours straight on the floor of the US Senate.

(Show footage of Thurmond speaking here.)

(Analysis of Thurmond speech)

(Being thin – Oprah)

The beauty magazines preach that people, especially women, have to be thin to be happy and successful. Not so. Look at Oprah. She often balloons up to over 200 pounds. But she is one of the richest and most influential people on the planet. Look at how she speaks

(Show clip of Oprah speaking on her show and showing empathy)

(Analyses why Oprah is a great communicator)

(Also thin- Rush Limbaugh)

(Show photos of a really fat rush Limbaugh)

Folks, rush Limbaugh makes $50 million a year by being an effective communicator. He has such a loyal following that I bet he could make money selling a Rush Limbaugh diet pill and his fans would still buy it.
What makes Rush such an effective communicator?

(Show footage of Rush)

(Analysis of rush’s speaking strengths)

(Accent – Arnold Schwarzenegger)

Certain accent coaches tell us that if we just learn to talk with a standard America accent like a network news anchor, then we can be successful.

But what about Arnold?

(Footage of The California Governor)

(Analysis of speaking strengths of Arnold)

(Good hair- Dr Phil… Trump)

There are personal image experts who will tell you image and style are everything. And you’d better have great hair if you want to be successful. Well, what about Donald Trump?

(Show photo of Trump on a bad hair day)

Or Dr. Phil

(Photo of Dr. Phil)

Yet both are successful.

(Video clip of Trump)

(Analysis of trump’s speaking skills)

(Video of Dr. Phil)

(Analysis of Dr. Phil’s speaking strengths)

(Goals – Oprah)

All motivational gurus talk about how important it is to have goals and to write them down. Yet Oprah says she doesn’t believe in goals.

(Footage of Oprah)

(Analysis of Oprah’s speaking skills)

(Strong religious values and belief in God – Ted Turner)

Many success gurus’ give all the credit for their success to their firm belief in God and their particular religious values. This may, in fact have helped them. But Ted Turner, the founder of CNN and one of the greatest philanthropists is an avowed atheist.

(Footage of Ted Turner)

(Analysis of Turner speaking)

Former Governor Jesse Ventura rose from obscurity to high elected office. Yet he contends that belief in god and religion is just for the feeble-minded. How did he rise to power? By his speaking skills.

(Footage of Ventura speaking)

(Analysis of Ventura Speaking)

(Traditional moral values Rudy Giuliani, Rush Limbaugh, and Newt Gingrich)

Many success gurus’ stress the importance of traditional family values. Treat your spouse and kids with respect and love. Give that your top priority and everything else will flow from that success in your personal life.

Yet look at these guys (show photos of Giuliani, Limbaugh and Gingrich)

And here are their collective nine wives (show photos of 9 ex or current wives of these three guys)
They might not be great husbands or fathers, but they are all excellent speakers.

(Footage of Giuliani speaking)

(Analysis of Giuliani speaking)

(Footage of Limbaugh speaking)

(Analysis of Limbaugh speaking)

(Footage of Gingrich speaking)

(Analysis of Gingrich speaking)

(Discipline and punctuality – Bill Clinton)

Start on time and finish on time we are told. Yet former president Clinton is known for always being half an hour late to everything. He was that was as a candidate and that was as a President. By the way, George Bush was always on time. Yet few would deny that Clinton was very successful

(Footage of Clinton speaking)

(Analysis of Clinton speaking)

(Being Tall – Dr. Ruth)

If you go to the back of comic books, young boys are taught the secret to success is being tall—so you’d better get lifts in your shoes.

But Dr. Ruth and Mother Teresa? Both under 5 feet tall. But both are good speakers.

(Footage of Dr. Ruth)

(Analysis of Dr. Ruth’s speaking skills)

(Footage of Mother Teresa)

(Analysis of Mother Teresa’s speaking skills)

(Good marriage – Barbara De Angelis)

We are told that a solid marriage is the source of strength for successful people. Marriage guru Barbara Se Angelis preaches the same thing. Only she’s been married five times, at last count.

Why is she successful?

(Footage of De Angelis speaking)

(Analysis of de Angelis speaking)

And Larry King has been married at least 7 times

(Footage of Larry king speaking)

(Analysis of why king is a good speaker)

(Good voice – Barbara Walters)

Voice experts will tell you the key to success is having a great, smooth and soothing voice.

Well what about Barbara Walters?

(Footage of Walters speaking with an irritating voice)

(Analysis of why Walters is a good speaker)

(Not about getting up early. Winston Churchill)

Benjamin Franklin was an 18th century motivational guru. He was fond of telling people early to be and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

But what about Winston Churchill? He was known to sleep until 10AM!!!

(Avoiding alcohol – Winston Churchill)

Many Success gurus, including Donald Trump, stress the virtues of avoiding all alcohol and drugs. This may be perfectly good advice, but again, let’s look at Winston Churchill. Churchill was known for his love of sherry, wine, and other liquors…on a daily basis…during and after all meals. And yet he defeated Hitler.

(Born into wealth with a good family name and connections – Barack Obama)

Some even claim that the secret to success, especially in America, is being born into the right family, with the right name, the right connections and wealth. Well then how do you account for a guy like Barack
Obama who had none of these things? But he did have one thing going for him.

(Footage of Obama form 2004 Dem convention)

(Analysis of Obama speech)

 (Education Tony Robbins, Peter Jennings, Steve Jobs, John Gray)

We are told by leaders as successful as Barack Obama that education is the key to success. Yet Anthony Robbins has only a high school degree. Peter Jennings was a high school dropout. Steve Jobs, Brian Williams are college dropouts. “Dr. John Gray” the relationship guru has a PhD, a masters degree and a college degree all form unaccredited colleges. His PhD is from a defunct diploma mill, oh well, hasn’t seemed to hurt his career.

(Show photos of all of them)

(Video clip of Anthony Robbins)

(Analysis of Robbins strengths as a speaker)

(Video clip of Steve Jobs)

(Analysis of why Jobs is a great speaker)

(Video of John Gray)

(Analysis of John Gray speaking)

Being young and hip—Art Linkletter, Zig Ziglar, John Wooten

Lately there has even been a cottage industry of success guru’s who claim the secret to achievement in life is being nice. Jay Leno even wrote a book about it.

But wait a minute. What about… (Show photo of Simon Cowell)

Even his biggest fans will admit Cowell is anything but nice.

(Footage of Cowell speaking)

(Analysis of why Cowell is a great speaker)

I am suggesting to you that the real secret to success is learning how to speak effectively. Period! That is the one and only consistent trait among wildly successful people. The good news is that absolutely anyone can learn how to be an effective speaker. The bad news is that you probably aren’t an effective speaker.
My message today is not that I want you to be cynical, though a little skepticism can be a good thing. It’s not that I take pleasure in pointing out people’s flaws or inconsistencies. I also don’t want you to thin that I am suggesting that the people I have discussed are insincere. I believe most of them are very sincere when they talk about their ideas on how to be successful and happy in life.

I hope what you take away is that regardless of your own flaws and inadequacies, you too can be a success. Whatever your own deficiencies are I have shown you people today who have even greater deficiencies and yet they are wildly successful.

Why? They learned how to speak effectively.

Lots of these experts have good advice. I’m not saying you should disregard their advice. But what I am suggesting is that their real secret to success is sitting right out there in front of you and no one ever talks about it. The real secret to success is simply asking for it. But asking in a specific way. Asking persuasively. Asking by speaking. Asking by speaking directly to people in a way that is memorable, persuasive, interesting and engaging.

Chances are I have offended most of you by now. Please realize that I am not trying to encourage you to drink more, sleep late, and divorce your spouse or start lying more. All I want is to help you give greater focus to the one thing I am absolutely certain will help you become more successful in whatever you want to do: become a better speaker.

I’m not trying to put anyone down. All of the people I have put a spotlight on today have some good ideas that we can learn from. But I am suggesting that there is a gigantic elephant in the room that most successful people never talk about. And that is the role of becoming a good public speaker has had in their career success. The good news is that this is a very specific quantifiable skill—and it’s a lot easier to become proficient at it than it is golf.

If you really want to be successful in life, then you need to improve your speaking skills, improve your asking skills, and improve your presenting skills. And you need to do it in a systematic way. You need feedback and a way of measuring progress. Fortunately most of you already have that already and it’s in your pocket. I don’t mean your money. Instead I mean your cell phone if it captures video. You can start video recording your practice presentations today. There is nothing holding you back.

Here’s the real key to success. You’ve got to figure out how to spend less time sitting where you are right now, in the audience and more time where I am –speaking to an audience. Now this could be an audience of one other co-worker. It could be an audience of five colleagues. Or if 15 new business prospects. Speaking to an audience of any size, even if it is just one, beats speaking to no audience.

So what is the solution? The solution is to learn the secrets of people who are more successful than you are. But I mean the real secrets. The secrets of how they speak effectively and raise money effectively and sell effectively.

As you can see from what I’ve been talking about for the last hour. You can break down second by second exactly what works in a speech and what doesn’t. If you watch the video of any speech and stop it every few seconds. It’s easy to see what works and what doesn’t work. You’ve seen me do that here.

Guess what, you can do the same with your own speeches, presentations and job interviews. But you have to have positive role models and you have to watch yourself. That’s why I’ve created my home and office presentation training course. In this course, you will learn everything I’ve learned during the last 25 years of training CEOs, Nobel peace prize winner, Presidents, Prime Ministers and Miss Universes. Even more important, you will be recorded on video and taught how to critique yourself to get better and better.
Does my system work? No, if you don’t use it. If you leave it in the box and put it by our nightstand, it will be of no value. However, if you do use it and you do practice and do record yourself, I guarantee you will become a better speaker. I guarantee you will lose your fears of public speaking. I guarantee you will be more successful in all aspects of your life. So the choice is yours. Are you going to continue leading a life where you sit passively as an audience member and let other people speak to you and sell? You stuff and get you to do things. Or are you going to turn the tables and start speaking yourself. I don’t mean you have to become a professional motivational speaker, but are you going to speak out more forceful at your own job, speak up to your own board of directors, start pitching to 10 prospects at once rather than one at a time? If you are ready to make a real change in your life, not just a feel good change, then it’s time for you to get out of your chair as a permanent audience member and take your first step toward being on the stage….the stage of life that will let you speak out whenever and wherever you want to help you get whatever you want. Get up now and go to the back of the room and purchase your speaking success kit today.

(Note form TJ: need something that is a call to action at the end, but that is less cheesy)

I just stumbled across a website, www.teleprompterpresident.com, which chronicles every single mistake Obama makes on camera (pus it fabricates a few in a funny and mean-spirited way). Even though I suspect that the organizers of the site are avid opponents of Obama, I think they are doing a great service for him. Obama is on notice that every blunder will be magnified and re-played again and again. This would keep anyone on his or her rhetorical toes. And it is a great motivator for practice and speech rehearsal. My only regret about this website is that it can’t be duplicated for every public official in the world, every corporate leader and, indeed, anyone who ever has to speak to more than 3 people in a room.

No matter how good you are at using the Teleprompter, mistakes are going to happen if you don’t practice. Obama got caught yesterday thanking himself while reading a prompter—he was reading the wrong speech!

http://tinyurl.com/d2f7f6

There is no foolproof –protection against this unless you rehearse each and every speech—something Obama can do for big speeches, but not necessarily the run-of-the mill stuff on a daily basis. This is, in fact, why other presidents didn’t use prompters for ordinary meet-n-greet speaking opportunities at the white House. I’m not ready to suggest that Obama give up the prompter, but a little more rehearsal may come in handy, or switching to a system where only his outline appearances on the prompter screen.

If you are curious as to how a Teleprompter actually works, I produced a video 4 years ago on how to use a teleprompter. As far as I know, it is the only video in the world on how to use a teleprompter.
http://www.mediatrainingworldwide.com/TelePrompTer.html

By TJ Walker

Barack Obama’s greatest challenge, perhaps of his entire presidency, will be to get a handle on how to communicate complex economic solutions and principles while trying to solve the financial crisis. The challenges for the Obama Administration are that they must come up with policies that A. Benefit the economy as a whole, B. Help as many individuals as possible, C. Minimize taxpayer risk, D. Help to create smarter government intervention in the economy but not necessarily bigger government, E. Does not redistribute wealth from the middle class to the wealthy, and F. Appear Centrist and pro-capitalist.

 Here are 10 specific messages and principles that would go a long way toward winning over the public to his plans:

1. No Wall Street Bonuses. Period. Bloomberg News and other sources are predicting a 40% reduction in Wall Street Bonuses for this year. Only 40%???!!! In a year when banks are losing billions of dollars by the day? The average taxpayer will be thinking “why should there be any bonus if their company lost money and I had to bail them out?” And that taxpayer would be correct. Imagine next March when the New York Times tracks down some snot –nosed 28 year old Goldman investment banker who is complaining that his $2 million bonus from last year shrunk to a measly $1.2 million this year. When taxpayers realize they are, in effect, paying for this bonus, there will be a bloodbath in the streets of New York, Washington and across America. Secretary Paulson stupidly believes his crony CEO buddies when they complain that have to continue giving massive bonuses in order to stay competitive and not lose talent. News Flash—nobody is hiring bankers! In fact, hundreds of thousands of them are being fired around the world. This bluff won’t work any longer.

2. No Bank dividends. It has been insane for banks to give dividends for quite some time. But it is doubly insane for tax payers to subsidize dumb investors. No financial institution that receives a single penny of government money should be able to pay a dividend until this crisis is over and every tax dollar has been paid back, with interest!

3. No Shareholders bailouts. The government has a vital interest in helping industries and the economy as a whole stay alive, but not in preventing harm to any particular set of investors. Shareholders should be completely wiped out before government steps in to take over, say, a car company.

4. Bondholders must lose all or most of their money. Same as above. The government has an interest in making sure millions of workers who directly or indirectly are a part of the automobile industry are not suddenly unemployed and applying for welfare. The government has no compelling interest to make sure bold holders don’t lose money.

5. Bailouts will only be given with a thousand strings attached. (See above). The days of Paulson and his “Liberal” giveaway programs with no strings attached must become a thing of the past.

6. Cut taxes—on payroll taxes. After 8 years of sermonizing from the Bush Administration on how cutting taxes is the solution to every problem, the Obama Administration should take this ball and run with it. Only this time, the first $5000 normally paid for by workers and their employers would be eliminated. The cap on payroll taxes could just be rolled upward $5000. Workers who currently make more than $80,000 would not see any net change in their social security taxes, but the majority of workers making less would receive a dramatic tax break. Better, employers would have an easier and less costly time hiring new workers. Would this throw a monkey wrench into the Social Security accounting in 20 or 30 years or so? Maybe, but so will the end of capitalism, if we don’t do something quickly. 

7. Bailouts for anyone making less than $100,000. If we are going to have another massive $700 billion bailout, why not give it directly to taxpayers? Why not just send a $7000 check to the least wealthy 100 million Americans. For many, that would pay several over-due mortgage bills and the money would no doubt be spent right away. A Keynesian recovery is still a recovery.

8. Solve the housing crisis by letting anyone in the world have a US green card if they buy an existing house in the US. This would instantly cause a surge in housing sales as successful entrepreneurs from Mexico, China, India and Korea would surge into the US. Overnight, abandoned neighborhoods would become full. Housing prices would instantly stabilize and then perhaps enjoy moderate growth. Obama and his party would become overnight and permanent heroes to millions of immigrants. Non-white immigrants would coalesce disproportionately around Obama and the Democratic Party. The increasingly white Republican Party would be further marginalized by its likely opposition to this proposal.

9. The term “Free Markets” will be banished from all Administration members’ vocabulary. Four out of five billionaire hedge fund managers testified in front of Congress his week that they believe even hedge funds should receive more regulation. As long as there is a phony debate about “free markets” versus “big government” there will never be time for an intelligent, rational debate of what is the right amount of proper and smart regulation.

10. Return Eisenhower-era 90% marginal income tax rates to Joe the Plumber! Of course the legislation could be withdrawal after one day, but the message would be clear: now is no time for the national economic debate to be dominated by incredibly stupid, ill-informed people who say demagogic things about tax policy that are completely unsupported by facts.

I am a confident speaker. Very Confident! But even I have my limits. If I had to speak in front of an important audience for the first time and I had to be unshaven, that would shake my confidence. That almost happened to me today. I woke up in Los angeles this morning and went to shave, but half an hour before I needed to leave the Hotel, I realized I had left my razor and shaving cream at the beach the day before back in Long Island. Oops! The clock is ticking and I look like a bum! Fortunately, I was at a first class hotel and house keeping brought me a razor and shaving cream in less than five minutes. I made my speaking engagement with a clean face.

So what’s the lesson? If you’ve got a big speaking engagement, that’s not the time to skimp. Motel 6 and Econo Lodge might be great bargains, but you are unlikely to get a razor delivered in less than five minutes. And that can make the difference between giving the speech of your life and delivering a presentation you’d rather soon forget.

   

I’ve never believed in the old saw, “never ask a question that you don’t already know the answer to” unless you are in a court of law. After all, how else would you ever learn anything? But at some point, it is futile to ask questions when you know the answer is extremely negative. On a taxi cab ride today from an airport in Los Angeles I was subjected to extreme heat (90 degrees plus) with no air-conditioning in the back seat. The driver had air conditioning, but he informed me that he didn’t want to have any contact with passengers in the back to protect his safety, thus the glass protection separating the air-conditioned front seat from the sweltering back seat. To make matters worse, the cab was filled with signs asking passengers not to talk to the driver, as he did not wish to be disturbed. After nearly passing out from the heat, I rolled down the back window, even though the driver admonished me for doing so. At the end of the trip, the driver turned to me and asked,”Sir, was your trip satisfactory?”

Some questions don’t need to be asked when the answser is glaringly obvious and the questioner doesn’t seem to be sincere.

Does anyone know of an expert in starting ad networks? I am looking to start an ad network focusing on web sites that deal with the following topics: speaking, public speaking, presentations, powerpoint and media training. If you know of anyone, please have them contact me at tj@tjwalker.com.

The following comes from TJ Walker’s upcoming book “The Wisdom of Your Audience”. Consistently, the worst advice speakers and presenters get, comes from everyone who is NOT your audience. The following gives examples of some of the WORST advice people are often given. It is followed by the advice of your audience. Listen to them. They are your true judge and jury.

Should I give a PowerPoint presentation?

Your Corporate Communications Department: “Yes, use the PowerPoint so that we can maintain a consistency of message. This way everyone will be seeing the same thing and we can maintain control.”

You: “Yes, I should use a PowerPoint. This will make it really easy for me to give the speech. This way, I don’t have to remember anything or practice, because all my points will be in front of me.”

***

Your Audience: “If you are going to give a Powerpoint the way most people do, i.e., do a boring data dump of bullet points, then please, for the love of God, please, please spare us! But if you are going to use interesting visuals, pictures, or graphs that are genuinely interesting and relevant, then, by all means, use a PowerPoint.”

From TJ Walker’s upcoming book “The Wisdom of Your Audience”

How many Points should I cover in my speech?

Your Marketing Department: “Between all of our major accomplishments last quarter, plus our general corporate message, I’d say no more than 35 key messages.”

Your Speech Writer: “Limit yourself to ten key points.”

You: “I had better cover my a*&. If I list every accomplishment of the last year, every product innovation for the next year, and then cover our company’s entire history, then no one can criticize me for leaving anything out. About 95 points should it.”

*********

Your Audience “Unless you are our teacher and have the ability to flunk us, you are smoking crack if you think we are going to remember more than 5 key messages. We don’t remember a single message from most speakers we hear because they just do boring data dumps. Occasionally we remember 2-3 messages from speakers who use interesting stories and examples. On very rare occasions we can remember a handful of key points because the speaker took the time to paint pictures with words and to tell relevant stories and case studies.”

The following comes from TJ Walker’s upcoming book “The Wisdom of Your Audience” (The best advice always comes from your speaking audience)

What is the best way to begin my speech?

Your Director of Communications: “Start by thanking your hosts or order of rank.”

Your Marketing Director: “Be sure to weave in our branding slogan in the first 30 seconds. Then tell people about all of our locations.”

Your director of new business: “Tell people about all of our locations and branches.”

Your mother, “Tell people how humbled you are by the nice introduction you received.”

Your inner voice: “Good morning. As you heard, my name is ___ and my title is ___. I’m happy to be here today. Thank you for that lovely introduction. Before I begin today, let me tell you about the incredibly boring history of my company starting back to its founding in 1923. Next, I’d like to tell you about all of the cities we are in (that you couldn’t possibly care about, because you aren’t in those cities.)

*****

Your Audience: “Stop boring us to death! We don’t care if you are happy to be here; we don’t know you well enough to care yet. We already know your name and title; the person introducing you told us–we aren’t stupid!!! Stop talking about you, you, you. We don’t care about you at this stage of our relationship. Instead, tell us something interesting and relevant to us. We care about ourselves. If you address our needs, we’ll be more likely to pay attention to the rest of your speech!”