Kevin SimpsonCPA Web Books · Founder at CPA Web Books

Pranking Bob Burg: The Secret Word Challenge!

19 Aug 2026 · 1 min

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In this YouTube anecdote, Kevin Simpson recounts a playful prank he pulled on fellow speaker Bob Burg during a live event. Bob Burg, described as a polished gentleman who authored The Go-Giver and always behaves courteously, was given a "secret word"—"skid mark"—to slip into his upcoming stage talk. With only a few seconds before Bob's appearance, Kevin whispered the word to him, and Bob successfully incorporated it into his speech, delivering it with confidence and a sly glance back at Kevin. The story highlights the camaraderie between speakers, the quick timing required in live events, and the humor generated by inserting an unexpected, slightly vulgar term into a polished presentation.

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One of my favorite speakers, Bob Burg. Bob Burg wrote the book called The Go-Giver. Bob Burg is the consummate gentleman. He wears the 3-piece suit, is perfectly primed. If he's sitting and a woman comes in the room, he instantly stands, he opens the door for everybody. But you can play with him. Bob and I are speaking at an event together and he's gonna go on right prior to me. And then there's some other speakers going after. I grab Bob, he's like, they're announcing him on stage. So that means he's got about 5 seconds before he has to walk out. I said, Bob, Bob, real quick. He goes, yeah, what was it? He goes, the secret word. I'm like, you have to say the secret word on stage. All of us have a secret word. And he goes, what's my secret word? I said, skid mark. You have to say skid mark. And he goes, he fixed it. Okay. He delivers a speech and he throws in skid marks so well, so perfect. And you see him kind of look offstage back at me. He's like, take that, you mofo. I was like, damn, Bob Burke! Bob Burke just schooled me.