David Julian Price Raising the Bar Keynote London

Welcome.

We're ready to start the afternoon session. Beforehand, though, I've been given a pair of glasses, but I can't see a thing with them. So has anyone lost a pair of glasses?

There we are.

Can we pass it to the gentleman? I have to also mention to you that those of you who have got a pack, if you see on the inside is a name, LIA, the Life Insurance Association, who very kindly donated the packs for us as an assistance towards our first conference. They're very highly influenced I actually am involved with the LIA. And just to mention, a lot of people here who are professional speakers do talk around the country. The Life Insurance Association has 25,000 members and 35 regions, and you can get a trip to, uh, up to Glasgow, Edinburgh, or even Ireland. If you're interested in doing any talks for And also, if you're wanting an opportunity to put articles, a lot of people here have also written articles for me that I have put into Prospect magazine. So just come and talk to me afterwards. Our first speaker this afternoon is David Julian Price. Now, David comes from Perth in Australia. He's the speaker and he's the author of Also the book, The Cosmic Convergence.

Thank you.

an author. He's actually known as a short guy who helps people walk tall, and he's well known for lots of energy and tremendous amount of enthusiasm. He's very highly involved with the Professional Speaking Association, and David is the world president of the International Federation of Professional Speakers. He also received a very good coveted award called the Australian Nevin Award, which is similar to the American US Cabot Award, all these awards, and that's only given once a year for people who have given service over and above the call of duty to the Professional Speaking Association. Not only that, he received the CSP accreditation in 1993 Being one of 6 people only in Australia to receive that award. So today, David's going to share with us some wit, some wisdom, some knowledge, and some experience of people and businesses and organizations throughout the world. So sit back, relax, you're in for a tremendous half hour. Please welcome the short guy who helps people walk tall.

Thank you.

When I was young, I was invisible. No one ever noticed me because I was the short kid with red hair.

Aww.

Yeah, aww. Yes, when I was young, I was invisible. No one noticed me. I don't know when they started to notice me. They didn't notice me for a long time because I was invisible. How many of you were invisible when you were young? Not noticed by anyone?

Anyone else?

Bert?

Yeah? A few words? I went to a government primary school. And at that government primary school, we had there a block of toilets. And the toilets at my government primary school were made of red brick. And every Friday afternoon, they used to line us all up against the red brick wall, and 2 kids out the front who I couldn't help noticing were tall, then most kids were, from my perspective. 2 kids, tall kids, were picked to be the captains of the teams and they would stand out the front and they would do this. You have to look at the better side of me for just a moment. And they'd say, I'll have you and I'll have you and I'll have you. And guess who was the kid that was left standing there?

You.

No, it wasn't me. It was Jimmy Mackay. He was shorter than me. But I was the last kid for one team and Jimmy Mackay was the kid chosen for the other team. We were the 2 kids kids that were invisible. Nothing ever happened. And so can you imagine what my feeling was towards physical activity, otherwise known as PT or phys ed or PE? Can you imagine what my mood was towards that activity at school? What do you think it was?

Terror. Terror.

Absolute terror. Because at my schools, I don't know what it's like in your country here in Britain, although I have actually I've never worked in a school here in Britain, and I guess, when I think back, yes, it's the same. But in the schools that I went to, the PE teachers weren't human. I don't know what planet they resided on, but it was not Earth. Who had the same PE teachers as me? Isn't that amazing? Isn't that amazing? Everywhere I go, I find these people who had PE teachers just like mine. No, I haven't yet met a human one. Anyway, I didn't like sport. I didn't like PE. I didn't like phys ed. I didn't like whatever you want to call it. I didn't like it one bit. But now, now that I'm just 22 years of age, give or take a couple of decades, I have discovered that in this activity that I hated so much as a kid, there are so many lessons. lessons that you and I can learn as business people and as speakers. Because we need to be business people first. If we're not business people first, what sort of speakers will we be?

Amateurs.

Well, we might be amateurs. We might be free. Who said that? Very good. I reward wit, wisdom, humour, and inappropriate remarks. So this one comes under the first 3. There we are, Jim. Packet of fruit tingles. Now, are you Australian or British or Peruvian? I'm a salt and custard person. Oh, you're one of them. So you're neither of them, none of those, are you? So look, these are an Australian sweet which you will enjoy. They're called Fruit Tingles. Who knows Fruit Tingles? Good. Then those of you that don't know, you need to work hard to get them, don't they, Dennis? Yes, don't they, Max? Every Aussie knows what Fruit Tingles are. There we are, Max. So see, the rest of you can work hard for a packet of Fruit Tingles because I only have 100 packets. 50 of you will miss out. I'm sorry, but 50 of you will miss out. You see, so I've discovered in this activity, particularly with the Olympics being so recent, some amazing things about our business. Absolutely amazing. Now I'd like you to do this. This is an interactive presentation, you know that, don't you? So I'd like you all to do this. I'd like you please to point to the ceiling. It's a very high ceiling in here.

It's very high.

Thanks. It's the roof, isn't it? It's not the ceiling. Not quite so high. Now bring your hand down like this.

Okay.

Now take it up again. Bring it down again. Take it up again. Good. Now just keep doing that for a moment. I need a volunteer. Oh look, there's one. Now, Mari, can you come down and help me please? Hold on, hold on, hold on. Just stand there. Just for a second. Turn around. And then the 3 men face there. They're good. Isn't she wonderful?

Beautiful.

I just love short women. Now, with red hair. Come up here, Mari. Now, Mari, Mari has actually agreed to help me, so this wasn't actually a complete setup, just almost a complete setup. Mari, in that bag there is something, and I would like you please to open that bag. And take out everything you find therein. There are 2 zippers. Very good. Now, so far, I think you will agree that for someone from Ireland, she's doing pretty well. She told me to say that line. I didn't have it in. I didn't have it in. She told me to say something about it. Okay. Who told you to toss the bag aside? No one.

Good.

Could you now toss the bag? Okay. Just, just, you know, just asserting my authority here on the platform. Now I'd like you, Murray, and for those of you who can't see at the back there, there are— how would you describe this, Murray?

Sticks.

Quite quickly, if you wouldn't mind. 6 pieces of metal, basically. So, Mari, could you please put that together for us? And make something. And make something. Isn't it fortunate she didn't wear a skirt? Now, Mari thinks she's doing a pretty good job now. She's not, but she thinks she is. Now, Mari, why can't you put this together? What is the problem now? Because you don't know what you're doing. Does this sound familiar? How many of us in our business do not really know what we're doing? Answer: none of us. But look at the person not next to you, but the person next to them. They don't know. They'll never admit it. You can give it a miss now, Mari. Give it a miss. Let's give it a miss there for a moment. Would you like to come and sit over here for a moment? Just have a seat there. You see, Mari is a business psychologist and she double majored in psychology and biochemistry.

Am I right?

Of the brain. Yes, of the brain even. And she can't do this. Isn't this amazing? Here we have a qualified psychologist, admittedly Open University, but qualified psychologist with a double major in biochemistry of the brain, and she can't do this. Now, I am not, you may think, having a go at Marie, and Marie knows I'm not, because she is a very competent business psychologist. I don't know how competent she is as a bio— What are you, bio whatever? Chemist of the brain. But anyway, she's a very competent business psychologist. And those of you who know her, is she competent?

Yes.

Is she a competent speaker?

Yes.

Is she a super competent speaker? Yes.

Yes.

And yet she cannot do this simple task of putting this together. And do you know why? She doesn't know what the finished product looks like. So how many of you— let's stick with the boys for a moment. Those of you who are boys, Can you put up your hand? Good. And I notice there's a few female boys out there, but anyway, that's okay. Those of you who are boys, how many of you, when you were young, built model aeroplanes? Okay. Girls, your turn. When you were young, how many of you— and boys, you can join in this one— how many of you did a jigsaw puzzle?

I did.

Now when you did that model aeroplane, or you did the jigsaw, on what did you base the structure? The picture. You knew what the finished product looked like. Who said that? Ah, look at you. I know that you said it, but there's someone further back trying to get credit for it. So you can have the 3 tickles. And who was the other one trying to get credit for it? Ah, it's, ah, Elaine. Here we are, Elaine. Have some rectangles. There we are. 147 packets left. Okay. So, you see, when you did the jigsaw or the model aeroplane, you had a picture, didn't you? You knew what it looked like. That's why Mari couldn't do this because she didn't have a picture. Now let's try— this is the serious bit. Mari, can you just go for a sec? I wanna sit down for the serious bit. Just stand there. Thank you. Now, This is the serious bit, okay? How many of us in our businesses don't have a picture of what the finished product's gonna look like? Look at the person next to you and say this. Touch them on the shoulder first, do that. And say, do you have a picture?

Do you have a picture?

That'll move. Now, there is one person in the room Who already has a picture of his business? That's Max, who's got his videotape running. So another packet of fruit tingles for Max the Aussie. You think I focus on the Aussies? Yeah, I thought it was fair. So Mari, as competent as Mari is, she couldn't put this together because she doesn't have the finished picture. Those of you who are new in this business, you need to get yourself in your own mind a firm idea of what your finished product is going to to look like? Are you going to be a trainer? Are you going to be a speaker? Are you going to be both? Are you gonna market to this industry or that industry or this profession or that profession? Have a picture. Maren, you're tall enough now and intelligent enough to print— finish the last piece. Would you mind putting it up? I'm banking on that.

I would.

Total trust and faith in you. Very good. Now, Mari, this is a high jump stand. Could you jump that stand?

No way.

Why not?

I don't know.

Well, what would you jump?

Jump over.

Oh, you're assuming that you would jump over that bit. No, how many of you have ever seen a high jumper jump over a stand like that? None. None. So Mari, what's missing?

The bar.

The bar. And yet so many of us attempt to jump in our businesses over the bar, but we don't set the bar.

Where's Michael Tipper?

What were you saying about erotic this morning, Michael? You see, with no measure, how do we know if we're successful or not? What is your measure in your business, in your speaking business? What is your measure of success? If you set it low, Mari, let's just hold this down low for just a moment. Could you jump it?

Yes.

What would your level of success be? It would be low, wherever the bar was. However, we're gonna set the bar a little higher. Mari, can you take the top one off?

Put that on.

On there like that, anywhere will do. And then slide the bar down through. And we'll just place them in. Now, there's just one problem, isn't there?

No.

Mari, if you look at the top one, you put it on back to front. See? No matter how smart and bright you are, we all make mistakes. But they can be fixed, can't they? Now, Mari, could you jump that? At the moment, it's set at 1.75 meters. Could you jump that? And a push, maybe. Who could? Not the Olympian. I'm there. Hold it. Hold it.

Hold it.

Hold it. Two and a half packets of fruit tingle should keep him quiet for the duration. There we go. There we go. There we go. Okay. Stay. Mary, can you take it to 2.45 metres for me, please? You might have to take the top bar off to slide it on and then put it back up, but see how you go.

2.45.

Take the top one off and do it and then put it back on.

2.45 metres.

You see, Mari's taken it to 2.45 metres, which is the world record for high jumping. It wasn't set at the last Olympic Games, nor even the ones before that. But 2.45 metres is the world record for high jumping. That, not from the floor that you're sitting on, but from this platform, that, ladies and gentlemen, is the world record for high jumping. Could you jump that?

With a push, Doctor.

And a push, he said. And a push. It would be a big push, would it not? I think so. Because the highest high jump at the last Olympics held only 2 weeks ago was 10 centimetres lower than that. That was the highest jump at the last Olympics, but that is the world record. Murray, come and stand here with me. Is it a long way? You're supposed to look up there, Murray. I know you can't help yourself, but force yourself to look up there. Is it a long way? That, ladies and gentlemen, is a long way. Would you agree?

Yes.

That is the world record for high jump. But Murray, you couldn't jump it, could you?

No.

Neither could I, and neither could anyone else in the room. Not even Max. And Max can jump almost anything, but he couldn't jump that. So Murray, have you done a good job, do you think?

I did OK, yeah.

A round of applause for Murray. You've got the world record behind you. Now you all received a little card on your seat except some people sitting there because the fan would have blown it away. So people sitting there, did you get a card at the end? Oh, you did. Well, have some free tingles yourself. Now you be a good boy, okay, and you pass these cards to the people around who didn't get one. Is that okay? And you handle that. This is Very good. This is the home straight, okay? Okay, so you can see on this card that there are 7 steps. Hey Max, how did I make that one happen? You can see on your card that there are 7 steps, 7 strategies that we're going to share today about how we can raise the bar. Because that's what we all need to do in our business and in our speaking. You tell me what number 1 is. And here's the trick. If we're raising the bar, where do we start? At the bottom. Well done. Another packet of Fruit Tingles coming up. So what does the first one say? I'll just repeat that because you obviously didn't hear. What does the first one say?

Take stock.

Take stock.

Exactly.

Take stock of where you're at now. Look at your business, but look at it honestly. If I ask the pros table, I was doing a session on making the transition from training to speaking. One of the points I made is you need to work out where you're at now to find out if you do wanna go into speaking, whether you've really got it. So you've gotta take stock. And you've gotta take honest stock. So I want you to touch the shoulder of the person next to you right now. I want you to say these words to them. Brother or sister, whichever you think is appropriate. Take stock, my friends. Take stock, my friends. But be aware.

But be aware.

That when you need honest feedback. That when you need honest feedback. The person on the other side of me is willing to give it to you. The person on the other side of me is willing to give it to you. So you need to take stock. Now, can you imagine what it was like for me at my government primary school at phys ed lessons when we did athletics and And we need hydro. Here I was running up to the bar. Now, what do you think would have happened if I saw a bar at that height? Easy, I would have done this. Would have got to the other side. But reality is that would have scared certain things out of me. You know what I mean, don't you, Chris?

You could.

Yeah, remember the American next to you with the sound? Yeah, yeah, you up here. Okay. That would have created a challenge. But you know, if Mari could jump that bar, which I think she would agree she probably couldn't, and none of you probably could, with one possible exception who's almost through his 2 and a half packs of reticles. There's another one. Just keep him quiet for a little while longer. Would we agree that— can we agree for the purpose of exercise that no one in this room could jump that?

No.

But if we could, look at the person next to you. If they could, then what? No, you don't have to say that, Mick Cross. When I want you to say it, I'll tell you, okay? Yeah, alright. Yep, very good. Was that you? See, I told you I reward inappropriate comments. For those of you who didn't hear it, tough. Okay, so let's just think on Maori for a moment. If Mari could jump that, what would she use to get over the bar? The Chris Chris Ackerman says what? Shoulder.

Very good.

Reality is she wouldn't use any of those things. She would use everything that was in within her own body. She wouldn't have anything else. See, high jumpers, this person over here, the high jumper uses nothing but what they have in themselves. Just like when Chris Acabusi was running around that field, he didn't have anything else pushing him. He was wearing what he wore. He wore his spikes and he wore his gear and he had his training and his energy and his knowledge and all of that. But nothing else got him around the track. Am I right or wrong?

Right.

Same thing with the high jumper. However, let's look at this one. Here's the pole vaulter. The pole vaulter's not the same. The pole vaulter uses something different. We all saw someone have an interesting experience with the pole this morning on Max's video. But even so, the pole vaulter uses— this is not a hard question, by the way— the pole vaulter uses a pole. Very good. To get over the Ah, very good. Now, that world record is a little higher than this world record. This is 2.45 metres. The whole— the pole vault world record is—

6'14. 2.19.

Here I've got a little gadget that measures the height from the floor to the ceiling. And if I shoot it up to there, it tells me that this ceiling is 11.12 metres from here, which means it's 12 metres from there. The world pole vault record is exactly half.

Hit your own.

6 metres. 6 metres.

6.12 metres.

That's a long way higher than that.

Have a look up.

It's halfway to that. And that is the world pole vault record. It's high, isn't it? It's a long way. And the only way that the pole vaulter can get over there is with the pole. Now the interesting thing is the world high jump record holder could not get over the pole vault.

Different skill.

Different tools. No leverage here except their own body. Over here they have leverage. The pole vaulter has leverage. What's your leverage? We'll get to that in a minute. What does number 2 say on there? Find the high flyers. Find the high flyers. You do 3 things.

You look.

You listen. You learn. If you're a high flyer in this audience, stand up. Very good. Very good. See, if I did that in America, what do you think happens?

They're all up.

They're all up in about 3 seconds flat. That's right.

Okay.

So those of you who stayed sitting down, look at the ones who stood up. One packet for inappropriate comment, three packets for totally inappropriate comment. Yeah, for those of you who didn't hear, you're very lucky. You see what some of us do in this business. business, when you look at the high flyers, is you try to copy. Emulate, by all means, but don't copy. You look, you listen, and you learn. And for those of you who are new to this association, that's what this association is all about. The looking, the listening, and the learning. It provides the forum to do that. This is one of the greatest professions for sharing that you will find anywhere. I challenge any of you to tell me any other professional association shares like we do, that shares the secrets, that shares their marketing tips like Max did this morning, that shares as much as we do. So if you're here for the first time, thanks for coming. Make sure it's not your last because this will be the beginning of your career. Just as you need to have in your diary, if you can afford it, the last weekend in March next year, that's the conference of the Australian Association. It's a bit close, I know, but the 20th of November this year, that's the New Zealand conference of this association. And next year in August, the NSA USA conference, and you need to go to that. And I know there's lots who have been there. Who has been to the US conference? Would you agree with me that that's the beginning of your career in many ways? Yes, say yes.

Yes.

Yes. And to prove to you that there are rewards, everyone who's been to the US conference stand up. No, going next year doesn't count.

Can you see?

I can't see you. Excuse me for throwing these, but I don't have much choice when an audience is going. There we are. How many more have we got? A few over here. I've got to get through 100 papers. Oh, look at them! 3 out the back. Oh, very good, Guido. Very good. Look, he's I'm going to deliver them. Oh, and yours. Why are you throwing them back at me, Lesley? Oh, did I? Thank you. Here we are. Oh, look, and Val and Brendan. There we are. Who else? And Richard, of course. Can you catch it while you lose views of the camera? Smash! There goes the lens. There we are. And Mitchell. Where's Mitchell?

Here.

You know, there are some fantastic things about being on stage with these spotlights. Sometimes they stop you seeing Seeing certain people, so you can't reward them. Ah, Mitchell, is that a cruel thing to say? Oh, look now I can see you, Max. Can you give this to Mitchell later?

What about me?

Give it to Max. I know that'll be you. Anyway, you've got to get there, so you've got to look and listen and learn from the professionals. Another one. Hello. Oh, now this one. Ah, Philip. There we are.

Give him.

And my mum. Okay. My mother's here in the audience today. So, why? Only if you deliver these to Philip and my mother. There we are. Slowing me down, Nigel. Taking me out of your time. So you need to look at this little— let's fly through. What's the third one on your sheet there?

Ask.

Now here's a tiny word that means so much. In this business, you're not gonna grow unless you start asking. And the great thing about this association is you can ask anyone for anything. They might say no. But if you don't ask, the answer's always no. So say this to the person next to you and say it really clearly. Look at them and say this. If you don't ask— The answer is no. The answer is always no. The answer is always no. Now shake them on the shoulder and say, this is an important bit. If you don't ask, the answer's always no. Last year at USA NSA in San Antonio, I was talking to a lady in that group and I was making this point to her, although not in this presentation. I was talking to her over a coffee and I gave her the wisdom of this concept which I learnt from Mark Victor Hansen, whose picture you saw in Max's presentation this morning, who wrote The Aladdin Factor before he did the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. And I was talking to this lady about the concept of asking. And she said to me later in the conference, I have to thank you. And I said, why? And she said, well, when I came to this conference, my fee was $2,000. And I've just met someone who's asked me what my fee is. And I swallowed and I said, $5,000. And she said, and they didn't bat an eyelid. They said yes. 2 days later, because their conference is 4 days, she came up to me and she said, I have to thank you again. I said, what's your fee now? And she said, $10,000. She said, I just thought I'd see what happened and I asked for $10,000 and this guy said, sure, come and see me after the conference. If you don't ask, you don't get. And she said, I'm never gonna be charging $1,000 or $2,000 again like I've been charging for Ten years. You've got to ask. What's the fourth one down there? You might have watched the Olympics. You might have watched the high jump and the pole vault. They don't take the bar up a long way between jumps. They take it up a teeny teeny weeny bit. Say to the person next to you, they take it up a teeny weeny weeny bit. I just thought I'd try that because the. I thought you were going to say, I'm going to do it. I thought you were going to say, I'm going to do it. So you've got to take it up a little bit at a time, a little bit at a time. Now let's take that to your business. Don't try and do everything. You see, after this conference you're going to be full of ideas. You're going to have a notebook full. You are not going to be able to do everything at once. What you've got to do is do it a little bit at a time. So choose the things which you think are going to move you forward the most with the least effort. First and do those. Do the easy ones. Why do you think you do the easy ones first?

Big.

Yeah, very good. Do you want enough bank for your giggles on that? Good. You sat in a bad row. Oh, are you alright?

Okay, yeah.

So you've gotta do it a little bit at a time in your business. Don't go away from this conference and think I've gotta do this all. Trust me, I've been there, I've done that. and I achieved nothing because when you try to do it all, you can't. Who's been to enough conferences to know that? Who's learnt that?

Yeah.

And it doesn't have to be speaking conferences, by the way. It's all the conferences. You can't do everything. You gotta raise this bar one notch at a time, a little, little bit at a time. And do that in your business as well. What does the next one say? Dedication and people.

Leverage.

You should've heard what you sounded like. No, perhaps you shouldn't have. Leverage. The pole vaulter gets higher because they use the leverage. Now what is your leverage? I said we'd come back to this. When I do this as a longer presentation, I use the glorified PowerPoint. But you're lucky, I've chosen to use the iPad. Up there right now, I want you to imagine, there is a photograph of a garage. And it's a garage that has a storage shelf hanging down from the ceiling of the garage about 2 feet, 60 centimetres, 600 millimetres, 0.6 of a metre. Have I reached everyone? 24 inches. Covered everyone?

Yes.

Okay. And on that rack shelf, There are about 150 poles, and it is the garage of an Olympic pole vaulter. And the point of the photograph is that it says an Olympic pole vaulter doesn't have one pole. An Olympic pole vaulter, this particular one, has about 150. And I am told, and you guys might confirm or help me with this later, but I would prefer not to help you publicly if the story's wrong. Do help me, Lando. But I'm told that the average Olympic pole vaulter takes with them about 30 poles to use. And it depends on their mood, the humidity, the temperature, the surface, and the height they're going over. And all of the various things. They don't just have one actual aspect of leverage. They use a whole range of them. Now what do we do in our businesses? What is our leverage? Let's look at what our language is. Okay, it's our communication system. It's our voicemail. It's our computer. It's our databases. All of that sort of stuff. But it's something else. I want you to stand up, all of you please. Those in the front, turn to the back. Those in the back, stay looking where you are. Look around. What do you see? People.

People.

In what profession?

Business.

My friends, people that are looking at you are your leverage. As well as all the things I said. As well as your communication system, your computer, your phone, all of that, your voicemail. These people are your leverage. I want you to shake hands with people near you and say, thank you for being my leverage.

Thank you.

Thank you. See, I thank you too for being my leverage. Because every time I do this presentation, I change it. Do any of you do the same with your keynotes? Change them and the results of something that happens? You are my leverage. I'm yours. You are each other's. Sometimes the pole vaulter takes 30, 20, 40 poles to get them over the bar that they need to. Half the height of this ceiling. So you as a speaker need to find different types of leverage. Chris, what was the quote you said about change this morning? Adapt or die. Adapt or die. What do they do, the pole vaulters? They choose the poles that will suit them that day. They metaphorically die. We need to do the same thing in our businesses. We need to find the leverage that suits us today for this client in this circumstance, in this economic climate, perhaps in this country or in this city because it all varies. And yet so many of us think, okay, this is the way I do my business. This is the way I do my leverage. This is the way I do it. And if we do it all that way, what will happen, Chris? We will?

Die.

We will die.

Adapt or die. What's the next point then? There's only one person holds the world record for hijab. There's only one person holds the world record for pole vault. There was only one person that held your record while you held it, and it was you. I still have it. And he still has it. Would it be showered with praise? Yeah! One person holds the world record, but how many people— well, Chris, let's use you. Let's move away from the high jump and pole vault for a moment. In your— what's your record in the 400 hurdles? How many people in the world compete in the 400 hurdles, would you guess? Thousands? Ignore the remarks that don't fit. Thousands actually are in that event, but one holds the world record. But how many of those thousands hold personal bests? Probably lots. Yeah, yeah, they probably do. All hold personal bests. They all have PBs. You need to go for your PB. Don't aim for the world record solely. Sure, aim for it, but Pat yourself on the back along the way for every PB that you get. Pat the person on the back next to you and say, congratulations on your personal best. Final point on your card, my closing point is this: constantly raise the bar for yourself. If you don't raise the bar, guess what? It's on your card. Someone else will. The market might raise it for you. Your competitors might raise it for you. Raise it yourself so you are in control of your business. You are in control of your destiny. How many of you joined this business and left employment so that you could be in control of your own destiny? I did. Yes. Raise the bar yourself before someone else does. Final point, which isn't on your PowerPoint. I have a family. They're back in Perth at the moment. Most of you probably have a family. I have 4 kids, a wonderful wife. They're back there, 12,000 miles away.

Put them first.

Don't take a booking on the significant dates in your family and personal life. That's the number The one booking that pays the highest fee. Don't let this business take control of you. You take control of your business. Raise the bar, but don't raise it to the extent that you ignore the special and important people in your life. So go back from here to wherever it is you go, whether it's Australia, Birmingham, London, Cardiff, or Dublin, wherever.

Yes.

Go back and raise the bar. If he doesn't, someone else will. Thank you all.

I agree, he might be a short guy, but he's got a massive impact and a tremendous presence on stage. Once more— has he disappeared? Where are you, David? Let's have you back again.

Well done.

Come on around.

I'm glad I wasn't up here trying to put that up. Coming to the last wonderful presentation, before I announce Nigel, just to let you know, when this is over, you are welcome to go to the bar and buy your own drinks. Buy one for me or whatever. But we're not going to the main bar because there happens to be a wedding on in there, so we're actually going to indoor garden, wherever that might be. So do join us afterwards. Nigel. Nigel is fantastic and really, with me personally, he's helped me in my career here with the Professional Speaking Association. He's totally motivated, he's inspirational, and he does over 100 talks a year all around the world. Nigel was a high flyer because before he joined the association and his business. He actually was a chief executive at the age of 27 in his own financial company in the City of London. I won't say any more because Nigel is just, in his own words, tremendous. So please welcome Nigel for what's going to be a really exciting 40 minutes.

Thank you, Everybody say yeah! Thank you.

If you are sitting next to someone you've been sitting next to any part of today's program, would you please move? The people at the back, you need to come forward and fill up the seats, please.

Oh, can I get past it?

I don't know if my reach is going to get me down there.

Try yourself.

Ow!

I didn't mean to knock it over. No, that's okay.

Okay, thank you very much indeed. Shall we try that better? We're having a problem with the sound, but you know what, you need to be innovation and just move on. It'll all be fine. Chris, my stage. Chris, my stage. Do you all have pen and paper?

Yes.

I've watched lots of people today taking notes, being busy, listening, being assertive, doing all the things that virtually every speaker before me has spoken about. However, one of the biggest fears that I have for most of you before you leave here today is what are you going to do differently? You see, if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always got. And I'd like you to start thinking about right now, what are you going to do differently? So we're going to do a very quick exercise. And some of you will have seen it before, and I'm delighted if you have, but I have another exercise for you. So just put 9 dots on a piece of paper. Can I have a piece of paper like this, please? 9 dots. And it's one of the oldest tricks in the world. I love that. I'll leave it in a second. If you know the exercise, what I'd like you to do is go to 16 dots. The 6, please. Because some of you won't know that one. So 16, by the way, because I know we've got a few people who are visually impaired, looks like that.

Okay?

The 16, 4 by 4. What I'd like you to do with the 9 dots.

Count them.

I'm going to give you about 30 seconds to connect all 9 dots, 4 straight lines, without taking your pen off the paper, going back over the same line twice. If you know the exercise, go to 16 dots please, with 6 straight lines.

Ah yes.

And if there's time to smile, I can do my presentation more than 3 or 4 times, stick your head. Go to 25 dots with 8 straight lines, okay? 9 with 4 straight lines. 16 with 6 25 straight lines. with 6, 25 with 8. I'll give you 30 seconds. Okay, that's great. Okay, fantastic. Okay, just stop where you are.

How many—

stop where you are, please, Derek. That's called stop where you are. Thank you.

Thank you.

How many people connected all 9 dots, 4 straight lines, without taking your pen off the paper and going back over the same line twice? How many people didn't?

Fantastic.

And most of you have seen me before and I've done the exercise before. How many people who knew the 9 dots went to 16 dots with 6 straight lines and did it? How many people started going to 25 with 8? That's what we thought. The biggest fear that I have, and I share it as a professional speaker, and I share it as a father, I share it as a husband, and more importantly I share it as a friend, is the only way you're going to start improving where you are is to start going outside your box. Is to start thinking differently to where you are. I've changed my whole career in the last 3 years. I've changed everything about my whole relationship with my wife. I've changed everything about my kids. Because there's— the last speaker just said what's most important, our family. So the only way you can do this exercise is to do something that's really scary. And the thing that's scary is to come outside your personal box. So 1, 2, 3.

1, 2, 3.

Oh yeah, I've seen that before. The problem is, for most of us though, you've seen it before and you forgot how to do it. What did you do when I asked you to go to the 16? Because that's the same thing. And you just heard David talk about raising the bar, going the next step. You heard every person who's spoken today in every single session. What are you gonna do differently? 16 is dead easy, but it's scary because we don't like to be uncomfortable. Cool. Put your hands together like this, please, just very quickly. Notice which thumb is on top, your right or your left. If your right thumb is on top, it means you're more sexually active. Can't change your thumbnail, Derek. If your left thumb is on top, it means you're more mathematically minded. And if you've got both thumbs like that, Chris, you're obviously in the street, but that's okay. Now what I'd like you to do is move all your fingers up one so the other thumb becomes on top, please. How does that feel? Uncomfortable, awkward. What do you want to do right now without doing it? Winners are those people who make a habit of doing the things losers find uncomfortable. Winners are those people— it's hard to write a quote with your hands like this though, isn't it? I could see half the people. Everybody take your hands away please. Put them back together again. Oh, that's better. We're going to keep going back to what's comfortable. I'm going to give you the answer for $16. You know what I'm going to give you the answer for? 16 dots? If I don't, where are those people going to be for the next 30 minutes? Quick quote for you right now, for the rest of your lives, especially if any PSA meeting you go to, NSA, you get the break for Australia, the same thing. When you're in the room, be in the room. When you're in the room, be in the room. Many times your mind's going to drift off somewhere. The problem is right now the only people that are important in this room are the people sitting around you, beside you, behind you.

And me.

Right now. This is the only time where your families and your children are not as important. Unless you've got a problem and you've got your children sitting next to you, then that's an important factor. Because they're not here. And I have the most phenomenal wife and 2 kids. And right now the people I love the most are the people in this room. And when I get home tonight, I have a guess the 3 most important people in my life are the people back in my room. So the answer to this exercise, very quickly. 16 dots. So, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

There you go.

No, you don't have to clap me, I've been doing this for years. You should be clapping yourself. I'll tell you what, let's just do something very quickly, move a bit of energy. I'm looking for a volunteer right now. Someone who's willing to receive some love, care, support, attention from the rest of the group. I've got to tell you what just went on. As I said the word volunteer, this is what went on. Ooh, not me. Ooh, no, this is scary stuff. What stopped you volunteering, my friend? Believe me, something did. What stopped you volunteering? What stopped you volunteering? What? Yeah, fear. Yeah, the key word here is fear. Fear of what? If you're in the room, there are no— no, the arrows are coming later. I said if you're in the room, be in the room, John. I remember those words. The arrow's coming later, in about 30 minutes. I'll ask for a volunteer to come to the front. I'll put the arrow in your neck just like this. You'll walk forward, you'll break it in half. Derek's face goes— So we'll see. So where is my volunteer who wants to come to the front very quickly? Come to the front very quickly. Okay. You know what we're going to do for you, Robert? No. Just stand up and face them. You know what we're going to do for you? We're going to do the one thing that everybody wants more in the world than anything else. Support, love, attention, and acknowledgement. We're all going to stand up in a moment and give you a 30-second standing ovation. That's what we're going to do. You're going to do nothing. They're going to do all the work. They're going to intermove a bit because it's hot in this room. But there are 3 ground rules for you. Please breathe through this exercise. It makes a terrible thud on this floor and I'm not qualified to deal with it. Second of all, please maintain eye contact with all of them. And last but not least, nobody action. None of this, what's your name? And none of this sitting here listening up. Okay, so you're going to be open for this, Robert?

Yes.

What I need all of you to do is stand up, please. Now I want to see what PSA and NSA think a round of applause is. I do not want it like this, but we want to see people rip. Okay, let go. So you're gonna have 30 seconds for Robert, just for being him, to go for it. So the count of 3.

1, 2, 3, let's go!

That was amazing. The answer was fabulous. It took In most people's lives, you get a chance to do things providing you're in the arena. But most of us are holding back. We're scared. We're nervous. We're not sure what to expect. But because you volunteered, a little work for me will make life a lot easier. Have fun with it. Give him a round of applause. Let's wait and see what happens the next time I ask for a volunteer. I want to ask a question for I'd like to talk to all of you right now because I've heard some keywords that have been mentioned today. I've got it on a flip chart and I'm gonna read the words out, but I'd like you to write them all down please. 4 keywords that will change your life. This is not a possibility, it is a promise. It is vital you write them down. I know you can't see, so I'll tell you what the words are. First word is imagination. You've heard a lot about imagination. Second word is visualization.

Visualization.

Third word is determination, and the fourth word is innovation. And I remember hearing a young speaker this morning quite quiet. May not have heard that word innovation. Remember any speaker this morning use the word innovation? May not have heard that word. Quiet type of fella. Four key words, and I've heard virtually every speaker today over the last year, two years talk about this one, two, three, four. I'm afraid to say I disagree with them all. But I think there's something missing that's key. One thing that's missing that's key with all 4 words. It's tiny.

Tiny.

And most of you are fantastic at what you do and are missing out big time on opportunities.

Thank you.

Because I'd like you to imagine what would happen if you could put the letter C somewhere. What would happen to all those words? A few puzzled looks right now. You see, you can imagine what it would be like to be a professional speaker. You can visualize all day long what it would be like to be a professional speaker. You can be as determined as hell to be a professional speaker. And you can have all the innovation in the world to be a professional speaker, and something is missing. One letter is missing. I'll tell you what the letter is. If you were to add the letter C everywhere along the line where there's an -ation and put a C there, what do you think you'd get?

Action.

Innovation without taking action means nothing. Determination without taking action is nothing. Imagination without taking action is nothing. And I really mean it from the bottom of my heart. I've worked with hundreds of people this year. I've had the privilege of setting up mastermind groups in the UK. I've had the privilege of mentoring hundreds of people. And I say, great, let's visualize all day long. Let's visualize harmony in the world. Let's all do it now. Somebody once said to me, the best thing you can do for the poor is not be one of them. And I'm gonna tell you now, the longer you sit and dream and hope and wish and want, what do you think's gonna happen? Absolutely nothing. I've got £10 here, who would like it?

Please!

Give it a round of applause.

Stand there, Dom.

Stand there.

Stand there, Dom.

I want you to stand there.

I've got to tell you, I'm getting really sad. I'll tell you why I'm getting really sad. We have 3 Olympic champions in here. Every one of them is wearing a ring that says sub-3. Take it off right now. Take it off right now. 'Cause I don't know what it means. I'm being serious, I have no idea what it means. And having us where they were sitting, in the front row, I've just set the whole process up. That visualization without taking action means nothing. Determination without taking action means nothing. And I put up £10 in the air. $15 for those that don't understand the monetary system here. $432,000 Australian dollars. Not you, David. Driving seems so cheap when you get there. What stopped most of you coming for the money? Not you, Bob, because you've got my money. Put that in your pocket, please. Put it in your pocket. What stopped most of you coming for the money? Lack of action.

Lack of action.

Or one other word. Fear. The last volunteer. What happened to the volunteer? What did they get? A standing ovation. I said, I wonder what happens the next time I go for a volunteer. What do most of us do? We model off the wrong people. Just do this for me, please. Put your hands like this. Make a circle like this. Put it to your chin. That's your chin, by the way, ladies and gentlemen. You've just heard someone share! You've just heard someone share about modelling off the right people. He's told you, look around, these are all your mentors. And I've got half the audience saying, this is the key speaker? Fantastic.

Unbelievable.

My friend, I want to ask you one question. What stopped you, man? I love that, it's impolite. You're right! But have a guess who can start helping the poor if he wants to? With my money. I said the best way to help the poor is not be one of them. I don't even care it wasn't about the money. Because Bob, you see, I watched your face. Because see, my friend over here got up, because most of you do what I call the PSA wiggle. And it looks like this. You're sitting in the back, not my problem.

Oh no, oh no.

I know I've been sitting for three hours in this war room, but I'm going to be very comfortable here. But one person decided to take a risk, and my friend here, hold on now. That's your reward. You decided to take a risk, and how far did you get? I know! But you know, you got almost there. That's where most people are in their lives. They're almost there. But Bob decided to do something quite risky. He's in front of all these people, he's got ever so slight, just like David did. You can't hardly notice him. He took a risk. But then some other risk came about. When he got about just there, up came the next risk. Do I go for it? And what made you come all the way up and take it? I wanted to step through that because the only way you get it is by doing it. That's right. Give him a big round of applause. I'd like you to write down on a piece of paper please, right now, your top 5 strengths. This is for every single person in the room. This will be a major change. for your business life in becoming a professional speaker? And if you are a professional speaker, what will make you different? Write down your top 5 strengths, please. Okay, thank you. What I'd like you to do, would a few people just shout out what their number 1 toy is please?

Experience.

Okay. What I'd like you to do right now is look at number 5. I'm gonna give you, or even number 4, if you only got to 4, look at number 4. But I'd like to ask you a question. Over the next 12 weeks, I would like you to spend 10% more time on Number 5. What do you think would happen to most of your businesses if you spent a bit more time on number 5? You see, you're very good at number 1. You're very good at number 1. You're probably very good at number 2. Remember I asked you to write down your top 5 strengths? This is not what you're not good at. I promise you, your lives will start changing when you work on your number 5 strength. And the reason is, is because we know we're kind of good at it. But we don't spend too much time because it's not comfortable. What we like to do is keep on number one. How many people here, when they do presentations, are still using a flip chart like I am? What's it gonna take for you to go to using PowerPoint?

A laptop.

A laptop, or your laptop. Do you need support with that? Hold on. Do you have one? Do you want support to get one? How much does it cost? You don't know. Well, how much do you think it may cost you? Okay, let me help you with the first stage along the way. There's a pound. Now, what do you think you need to do for the rest of the people in this room? Do you think, Leslie, if they knew how serious you were about your goal, they would support you? Will everyone get out one business card, please? A pound coin, a piece of paper and a pencil. A $1 bill, business card. As quick as you can, please. Okay, everyone got a £1 coin and business card now, please? Okay, a £5 note will do. What I'd like you to do as quickly as you can, please, is will you just pass it to the end of the rows, please? The cards and the money, please, as quickly as you can. Thanks very much indeed, that's fantastic. Thank you, that's great. Thanks very much indeed.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That's great, thank you. Chris, can you just help me collect the money as quickly as you can, please? Thank you. As many people as can help me, that's fantastic.

Thank you. I'm coming, I'm just—

As much as we can, as quickly as we can, please. Thanks very much.

Thank you.

Oh, sorry, I'd like to get anyone out there. Can you just go to the bank for me, Derek? You're quite fast. I bet you asked me where for the money. My lot. Okay, that's great. Thanks so much indeed. Okay, I'd like to get anyone else. Okay, let's try to hold. Thank you very much indeed. Oh, someone's American Express card. Thank you. Okay, so let me move on now about where we're going to go. It's probably actual home anyway. I just want to continue about time. Got very long today. We'll poke around a bit, but I'm not going to blame you.

What's wrong with that?

Sorry? You might as well go in person. What do you mean? I want to tell you what I just did. Oh, sorry, Derek. That's about the same speed you ran the last 400.

Not my tenor, you didn't know.

Not my tenor. Remember, if you're in the room, be in the room. See, I want to tell you what I just did. This is the key. I asked what I wanted, but I didn't