Superstardom: a lesson on destiny, and destinations

“Secrets of Superstar Speakers”
By Lilly Walters
McGraw-Hill, 2000


What do Anita Roddick, Vince Lombardi, Jack Canfield, Les Brown, Deepak Chopra, Zig Ziglar, Norman Vincent Peale, Stephen Covey, et al, have in common?

They share the distinction of being “superstar speakers” in the United States. These are the much sought after motivational speakers, according to Lilly Walters, author of “Secrets fo Superstar Speakers” – subtitled “Wisdom from the Greatest Motivators of Our Time.”

And they are the 19 speakers from among 79 speakers chosen by 4,000 other speakers, meeting planners and press people who were asked the question who the greatest motivational speaker is.

The names of John F. Kennedy, Billy Graham, Mario Cuomo, and Ronald Reagan were also chosen – but whose lives and styles are not discussed in the book. The author, however, promised to feature more of them in a second volume. (That’s a promise, not a threat!)

The 19 featured speakers have one thing in common: They have acquired celebrity status as speakers and authors – not necessarily in that order – because they are able “to connect” with their audience or readers. Thus, their books bring more invitations for speaking engagements (where they are paid handsome fees), and such speaking tours become veritable platforms for making a sales pitch each time for their books.

Yes, as the book engagingly narrates, these celebrities have begun their speaking career rather modestly, if not inauspiciously. They had their “turning points” – which are as diverse as their humble beginnings. And from such experiences and Damascus-like encounters with compelling truths, these superstars started their steady if not phenomenal climb to superstardom.

And motivators as they are, they are generous with gems of thought – the author call them collectively as “wisdom” – which abound in the book. And these pieces do not only tell the readers how they succeeded, but also how “they stay motivated”.

Vince Lombardi, the famous coach better known for the quote, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing,” says of success: “You must pay the price to win, and you have to pay the price to get to the point where success is possible. Most important, you must pay the price to stay there.”

One more thing that characterizes these speakers, Ms. Walters says, is their humility. “True greatness lies in humility,” she points out. And she quotes Earl Nightingale, the popularizer of self-improvement audio programs, to illuminate her point: “The more I study, the more I read and the more I learn, the less certain I am of what I know. I stunned an audience once by telling them, ‘The only thing I know for certain is that I don’t know anything for certain.”

The way these speakers deal with criticisms and rejection is about the same: they don’t let negative thoughts come in the way. Mark Victor Hansen, famous co-author of “Chicken Soup for the Soul,” says: “When they say ‘no’, just say ‘next’.” Hansen advises that we must “reject the rejection.” This is believable coming from someone who had earlier received several rejection slips from 33 publishers!

As for how they succeed in their speeches, one other thing unites them with one quality: passion in their speeches. And his passion and intensity spring from how they relate to “real life” – which has the greatest appeal to listeners in a survey conducted by the author.

“Get to what you are passionate about,” Ms. Walters says. Ask “what gets your soul soaring,” she adds. And then she relates the respective passions of Anita Roddick, founder of Body Shop and famous environmentalist, and Zig Ziglar, a confessed evangelical Christian who she says violated one cardinal principle in public speaking – which is: “Do not bring your religion on the platform.”

Actually, it was not religion that catapulted Ziglar to celebrity heights; it was his sincerity, the book clarifies. “People are willing to grant you your belief if you are authentic.” You must believe in what you are speaking. “Touch your own heart first,” the author declares.

From such premise, the speaker must have a favorite theme – and thus audiences and readers can identify themes with speakers. Ms. Walters cited the famous speech of Winston Chruchill – which began: “We shall not flag or faill … We shall go on to the end .. We shall fight on the beaches … We shall fight on the landing grounds …”

Those who prepare lengthy speeches must listen to this advice from the book: “On the average, they remember 10 percent from a talk. So take control. Decide what you want them to remember. As for Churchill, his last sentence is unforgettable: “This was their finest hour.”

The book offers the reader the finest moments with these superstar speakers. More important, it challenges us to find out for ourselves what our passion is and fires our soul. This is not just a how-to book. It is one that drives you inside your soul and makes your heart miss a beat. What you find inside must so astonish you that you are close to your own “turning point.”