Are You a “Go-Giver” Speaker

“For it is in giving that we receive.” – St. Francis of Assisi

I attended the National Speakers Association Washington DC Area Chapter Auction one year. You might imagine the types of items up to bid on at a speaking group auction: electronic doo-dads used by speakers, three hours with premier speaking business coaches, and of course speaking books.

I won a stack of speaking books. You might think I immediately went home and devoured each book in order. Well, I didn’t. At the time I was in graduate school and after school I was in the process of building the foundation for my business.

It wasn’t until I was perusing my substantial collection of leadership, self-development and speaking books that I came across a book entitled, “The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea,” by Bob Burg and John David Mann.

It was an “eye-opener.” You have probably heard the expression, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” I was the student and this book was my teacher. I was trying to get smarter on networking and this book “rang a bell” for me.

It is the story of Joe, a go-getter, and how he is taught by a wise man named Pindar why it makes relationship and business sense to replace his “go-getter” ways with “go-giver” ways. Through this story, the authors introduce five laws of the “go giver.” We will explore these five laws briefly to see how they apply to our speaking profession.

The Law of Value – Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.

We all admire the person who goes the “extra mile.” You’ve probably heard the expression, “There are no traffic jams on the extra mile.” Working in this “extra mile” deepens and strengthens the relationships between you and the people you serve. The people you serve are a large part of your speaking business network. The depth and strength of your relationships are directly proportional to the depth and strength and success of your career and business.

The next law of the “Go-Giver” concerns how your income is determined.

The Law of Compensation – Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.

If you are in a speaking business your income is determined by how well you serve your customers, because if you serve them well, they will keep coming back for more and tell others about your great service which makes a good portion of these new people new customers. Serving your customers superbly is your best marketing plan.

The next law of the “Go-Giver” concerns how to expand your influence with others.

The Law of Influence – Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.

The analogy here for speakers is always put the interests of your audience first. The way to do this is present information that is important to them and they can immediately use. Audience members attend a lot of presentations where it is obvious when the speaker has not done his or her homework to find out what the audience knows, wants to hear and needs to hear about the topic. So, it is obvious when speakers do their homework on the audience. Do your homework on your audience and expand your influence.

The next law of the “Go-Giver” concerns sharing your most valuable gift.

The Law of Authenticity – The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself

No one has ever been or will be exactly like you. Whether you speak in your business or speak on your job, if you are not yourself when you speak, you will have a credibility problem. Audience have a sixth sense when speakers are not acting true to themselves. You are giving a gift to your audience when you are yourself. Don’t hide yourself “under a rock!”

The final law of the “Go-Giver” concerns your openness to receiving from others.

The Law of Receptivity – The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.

The book, “The Go-giver” talks about what we are taught from infancy: “It is better to give than to receive.” Is it? From the book, “All the giving in the world won’t bring success, won’t create the results you want, unless you also make yourself willing and able to receive in like measure. Because if you don’t let yourself receive, you’re refusing the gifts of others and you shut down the flow.” Aid the “flow” by accepting gifts from others graciously. An example of receptivity for you as a speaker means accepting the gift of feedback from others about our speaking. They’re gifts you should accept. How else will you improve?

So, are you a “Go-Giver” speaker? Do you give more in value than in payment? Do you realize your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them? Do you abundantly place other people’s interests first? Do you give the gift of yourself to others? Are you open to receiving from others?

If you answered “No” to any of these questions, you know what you have to do.

Practice being a “Go-Giver” speaker and make the world a better place for all of us!

Call to Action

• Strive to give others more in value than you are paid
• Increase your income by increasing the number of others you serve better
• Put other people’s interest first and create an “army” of people looking out for your interest.

“No one has ever become poor by giving.” – Anne Frank