TJ Walker defines the metaphorical "speaker tax": the opportunity cost or financial loss you incur by not speaking to your full potential (e.g., lower sales close rates, missed promotions). He urges viewers to assess whether they consistently present at their best and suggests that improving speaking ability can eliminate this hidden cost.
Do you know how much you're going to pay this year in income tax? You might. Do you know how much you're going to pay in your speaker tax this year? What's a speaker tax? That's the tax you have to pay because you are not speaking up to your full potential. If you give 50 sales presentations a year and you close 30%, maybe you could be closing 50% if you learned how to be a better speaker, a better presenter. So your speaker tax might be hundreds of thousands. It might be a million dollars. What if you don't stand up and speak or raise your hand and speak at meetings and you get passed over for a promotion because you're not seen as someone with leadership capability? Okay, that promotion may have cost you a couple hundred thousand dollars. That's your tax. There's a tax on your ability to speak less than 100%. Optimum level. It doesn't come in an envelope every year. It's not mailed to you by the government, but it's a tax nonetheless. I want you to really think about it. Are you absolutely convinced you are speaking? You are presenting your absolute best every single time you have the opportunity to talk to clients, prospects, colleagues, people in your industry? Yes, there is a tax loophole. Become a great speaker and you won't have to pay that tax any longer.
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