The Power of a Story

Rene Godefroy
Speaking Hero
May 2008

The Power of a Story
By Terri Marie

The Journey

He was under a truck, wedged between three tires of a big rig
in an attempt to cross the border into the land he’d dreamed
of for so long – The United States of America. After four hours
of a very painful ride, Rene Godefroy reached the point of giving
up. I asked him why he didn’t. “Survival has always been the
thing for me. I was supporting my own weight on my hands and
elbows. It got to a point where I said, ‘I don’t really know if I can
take it any longer.’ But that’s what we say to ourselves throughout
the journey all the time. Whether you own your own business,
or you work for somebody – there’s going to be some point where
you will be thinking about giving up. Because you have the thought,
doesn’t mean you have to entertain the thought. Right after I said
that I began to think of what lies ahead for me - the future in
America. Then I began to think of the people in my village who
were counting on me. When you have a “why” or you have something
that you are looking forward to, you can do it.”

Everyone loves a story like Rene’s. It’s similar to Dottie Walters
story - the power of an indomitable spirit. Rene uplifts thousands
of people each year during his many speaking engagements
around the world, from the National Speakers Association (
NSA) to corporate events.

After coming to the states and working various jobs from carpenter
to washing dishes, Rene ended up at The Renaissance Hotel, working
as a doorman and parking cars. It was there he discovered
something that Dottie Walters also loved…books. “Whenever
I’d see a book, I’d go to the bookstore and buy it.” Hungry for
knowledge, Rene would devour books. Rene also ordered tapes
from Nightingale Conant and attended seminars like “Unleashing
the Power Within” and “Personal Power” by Anthony Robbins.
Rene decided he wanted to try speaking. “I had fears and doubts,
thinking I could give Americans advice since I didn’t go to high
school or college in America.” But Rene did it anyway.

When Rene got his first check for $1500, it became a huge
motivator.” I still have this check to this day. I made a copy
of the check. I’m looking at it right now. So every time things
were tough and it appeared as if I was not going to make it,
I just look at my check and say, ‘There’s somebody who paid
me $1,500. There’s somebody else who would be willing to
pay me another one and another one.’ I tell people all the
time to be hopeful. Think about what lies ahead for you
in the future.”

Back to Rene’s Story… the Very Beginning of It

Born in Haiti in a small village, Rene’s mother left when he
was nine months old. He became very sick due to a poor diet
and little medical care. Those starving children you see on TV?
Rene was one of them. When he was 7 years old he left the
village to be with his mother, sister, and brother in Port-au-Prince,
living in a shack infested with rats and roaches. “I slept on the
floor with my brother and sister. The rats and roaches were
crossing us all night. Many nights I was just terrified to go to bed.”

Rene became involved in theater in a small Catholic church.
The group was invited to perform in Montréal Canada.
“America was the finest land to me, but going to Montreal
was great because I was closer to America - the land I dreamt
about. I’d say, ‘One day I want to go to the United States.
I wanted to come here to eat lots of rice and chickens.
I’m sick of rice and chickens now. Life is GOOD today in America.”

The Promise

“I found a way to come to this country. It wasn’t easy. There
was a price I had to pay.” Wedged between those three tires of
a tractor-trailer, covered with ashes dust and smoke. Rene
made a prayer. “God I promise you, if you help me make it to
America safe, I will do something with my life.”
God needn’t have worried about Rene.

“I’m a US citizen today and a very proud one. I’m not a
burden on the government. I believe that everything I will
ever have and everything that I will ever be in this country is
going to be by my own volition. I dare to believe that I can
step out and take massive action to make it happen.”

Rene went to Miami and taught himself English, learning 3 words
at a time. “I was writing them on my hand,” Rene said. He
eventually left Miami for Atlanta, Georgia with a parish council
group, living in a run down apartment and working at a K-mart
warehouse. “I was not making much money at all. I was loading
boxes in the truck but I was making progress because I came
underneath the truck. Now I was inside the truck.”
How’s that for positive thinking!

Eventually Rene got a job taking care of an elderly Jewish man.
He and Rene became good friends. The man died in Rene’s arms.
“I took great care of him. One of his children helped me get
a job at the Renaissance hotel.” Rene worked at that hotel
for 14 years. It changed his life.

Working at the hotel put Rene in direct contact with some
of the world’s best speakers. Rene learned from many of the
top speakers like Les Brown and Jim Rohn, “They each awaken
your awareness to different levels,” Rene says, Once Rene
made up his mind to speak, destiny took over. He got that
$1,500 check in 1998. In 2000, Rene was on the big stage.
That’s fast. Rene says, “I just learned how to speed up the process. “

Rene’s Number One Speaker’s Trait

“The ability to tell stories,” Rene says. “Because at the end
of the day, they really won’t not remember the points you made.
They can buy a book and read those points. But what they
can’t get are the personal stories we use to wrap around the
points we’re making. That’s what will make the message stick.
Most people will say, ‘I don’t have a story because I wasn’t
born like Rene, in a poor village in Haiti, or I didn’t climb
Mount Everest.’ That’s not true. We all have stories. The
stories that really connect us with our audiences at a deep
level are not the big stories, but the little pebbles,
little stories and vignettes.”

“That’s the beauty of it. You paint a picture. Everybody comes
and looks at the picture. They draw their own conclusions
from the picture. You share the story. You’re talking about
your grandmother, your cousin, your dog. Somebody sees
their dog in the story. Somebody else sees their cousin in
the story because they had some kind of connection with
their cousin. Somebody sees their grandmother in the story.
Everybody gets something different from it. You’re just never
going to please everybody in the audience. That’s why I say
to speakers, ‘The time to start your speaking career is NOW’
because there are people that I’ll never ever be able to connect
with for whatever reason. For some people it’s just because the
way I sound, my accent. Maybe I look like an ex-husband.”

Rene’s Gift

“Village Hero” is Rene’s gift to Haiti. It is an orphanage with
28 kids and a health clinic in Haiti. “I’m still struggling to
get my 501C, which means I have to find every little penny
that I have to support some of the projects. In December I
went to have dinner with the kids. It was the best Christmas
dinner I’ve ever had. They sang for me. They danced.
They performed. I served them. It was awesome. I believe that
God took me out of the village so that I can reach out to the village.
There are going to be a few chosen ones. We have to be wise
enough to understand that we are not chosen to drive a nice car,
or live in a nice house, or live a self-centered life. It’s because
at some point, we have to reach out and make a difference.”

A Free Demo Leads to an NSA Keynote

Here is a Huge Gift for You From Rene
“How to Get Your Demo Video Made”
Be sure to listen to the whole story on the audio
above find out how he did this. This is the short version.

1. Get the hotel manager to donate a room and finger food in
exchange for free staff training
2. Get speakers to agree to speak and train on that day
3. Get gift certificates and door prizes and publicize the event
4. Get an audience to fill up the room
5. Arrange for a videographer

“It’s something everybody can do, Rene says. “They can go
to the local hotel and set a meeting with the general manager.
Offer them a $100,000 package. Each speaker agrees to
do some kind of training for the hotel staff so you can g
et that room. Trust me, you can get bodies in that room.
And you can create that video.” By the way, Rene gave the
speakers some of the money back because he had money left over!

In 2000, Mark Mayberry, well known in NSA, heard about
Rene’s story and requested his video. Rene got an email
from the president of the NSA saying, “Congratulations.
You have a great future in this business.” The NSA
chairperson for the conference also called Rene and said,
“I just saw your video and I’m just so excited. I want you to
be in my program. You’re going to be on the big stage.”
I asked Rene how he felt. “I felt GOOOOD!”

I have to tell you how I met Rene. It was 2006. I was t
aking a conference from Declan Dunn and Jody Colvard
north of Atlanta and had to get to the train station, a long
cab ride away. I’d just met Rene two days earlier. When
he found out I was going to take a cab, Rene offered to
drive me. He insisted. That’s the kind of man Rene is.
On the seat of his car was a book...his own. He gave it to me.

Rene’s Hero

Rene’s hero is Sidney Poitier. “His family migrated from
Haiti to the Bahamas. He and I have kindred spirits.
He’s my hero. When I see all that he went through to be
where he is, that’s just incredible. He’s my inspiration.”

Rene has a great message and an incredible story. He wants
you to find your message and tell your own story. If Rene
believes in you, how can you not believe in yourself?
From Haiti to speaking in a land he once dreamed of,
Rene is a true speaking hero.

Live like a hero!

Terri Marie

RENE’S SPEAKING TIPS

* Don’t Take Every Bit of Advice You Get
“I don’t believe that we ought to take advice from
everybody. Depending on what level of success
they’re at, their advice may not be applicable to
me or you or to somebody just starting out.”

* Use Your Own Style
“There are some speakers who say you have to say
something to upset the audience, to stir up something.
I’m a nice guy by nature. I can’t go out there and try
to be in my audience’s face. It’s not good advice for me.
Fortunately for me, I understand what it is to start from
scratch. I have not distanced myself from that. I go to
national conventions all the time and see the newcomers.
I’m fully aware of the stretch, the sacrifice they make
just to be at the conference. I look at them and feel
where they are. I understand that they will be successful.
They will make money if they can just hang in there. I just
never forget what it was like for me when I started.”

* Get Into NSA by Going to Meetings
“Depending on where they are in their speaking career,
they might not be qualified to join NSA. I wasn’t when
I started either. I started going to meetings. Go to the
local chapter of NSA. Join as an apprentice. I get calls
from people who want to pick my brain. They want to
take me out to lunch. I don’t have time to have everybody
take me out to lunch and pick my brain or I probably
wouldn’t have a brain.”

“When they go to the local chapter they get to ask us
questions and have lunch with us. Get involved. Then
once you meet someone at that level you can say,
‘Is it all right if I call you for 10 minutes if I have a question?’
You limit the time. Then slowly work your way to getting
to know the people so you can ask them questions.”

* Volunteer
“I started volunteering from day one on different
committees. I’d carry the books or take care of the
audiovisual. I just wanted to be there and make
myself useful so I can be a part of the click so to speak.”

* Keep a Journal for Your Stories
“Little things connect us with our audiences. Why?
First, my audiences were not born in a village. They
really can’t identify. But the little stories – right off the bat,
they can identify with those stories. Early on I took
some classes in storytelling. I’d buy tapes and read books.
Life is storytelling in the making of it. You can’t wait to
go tell somebody about the speaker you’ve heard. You’re
not going to say “This speaker called out 5 points and I
want to share them with you.’ No. You’ll say, ‘I heard this
speaker. He told this story. It was amazing.’ Above all
when I share my story, I’m giving my audience the
permission to be open to their co-workers, to their friends,
to share their stories so they don’t have to be embarrassed
or afraid or ashamed. Really focus on the stories. Trust me.
No matter where you grew up – no matter what situation –
you have stories. There’s no such thing as
‘I don’t have any stories.”

* Learn From Every Speech
“My best advice is to record every speech from the beginning,
even if you’re speaking to your local civic club.”

* You Are Your Own Coach
“I believe in mentoring. I believe in coaches but I believe
ultimately I am my best coach. I know when I walk away
from the platform whether I did good or not.. Right after
the speech I know. I don’t really like feedback from the
audience. I get my feedback while I’m on stage from
the reactions I get. If they are laughing at my humor,
if they are reacting, or nodding, if I’m asking them
questions and they’re raising their hands,
I know I’m doing well.”

* Practice
“Speaking or telling a story is like learning a new step
or a golf swing or dance move. You can be awkward
for a long time but you keep practicing. Once you get
the step, like in a dance, you know you’ve got it.
You feel it in your body. You know that’s it. Don’t let
people tell you, ‘You’re not there yet.’ You know when
you’re not there. You just keep going back and keep
tweaking. Keep working it. Spend a lot of time working
on the speech because it’s the only marketing tool
that you actually have.”

* Knowledge is More Valuable Than Money
His latest book “Kick Your Excuses Goodbye.” has a
wonderful twist. One of those speakers from the
Renaissance Hotel wrote the foreword to Rene’s book.
Rene had helped him with his bags. The speaker
asked him, “I have $5 for a tip or a book. Which
one do you prefer? Rene said, Of course, the book.”
“I was a janitor in America. Whenever I would go to
the office to pick up the trash, I’d look at the letters
in the trash can because I didn’t speak any English.
I wanted to learn English, but more importantly I
wanted to learn how to write letters. I’d take the letters,
collect them and come home. I’d read the letters
to myself so that I could listen to my own voice.”

* Learn From Everything – Be Curious
Rene takes things from all sources and repackages
the info for his audiences along with a lesson.
Look for the best in everyone. Then emulate the best.
“Probably my biggest strength is that I learn from
people. I ask questions. When I go to meetings,
I seek out people. I’m not a pest. I’m very professional
about it. As you might know, I have a lot of contacts
with big names in the industry. But I don’t pick up the
phone. I go to the conventions where I know they are
attending. I get to go to lunch with them.”

* Staying Power
“I was watching an interview with Chef Boy R Dee years ago.
He said, ‘By the time I realized that I didn’t have enough
talent to be a chef, I was already too successful.’
What I got out of it was that if you stay in it long enough,
you may not be the best, but you will succeed at it.
Staying power is the key.”

Speaking Hero Tom Antion

In The Moment With Tom Antion


This is the first in a series about Speaking Heroes.
What makes a Speaking Hero?
One who can stand out and bring
others to their own greatness. It is their
message, content, delivery,
information, willingness to share, and their heart, that
comes across on stage and makes them heroes.

Click here to download… Part of This Interview
or Click here to hear Tom

The audience was listening to every word. A cell phone rang. The
presenter stopped his presentation and looked in the direction of
the disturbance. Every one was silent, wondering what he’d do.
Not missing a beat in his presentation, he said, “If that’s my mother,
tell her I’m not married yet.” We all cracked up. The presenter was
speaking pro, Tom Antion. That’s the masterful way Tom handles
an audience.

Later in Tom’s talk, a person got up to walk out. Tom interrupted
them and said, “Excuse me. Come here. You need this.” He gave
them a big piece of paper with the words “Hall Pass.” It was another
crowd pleaser. Tom’s a master at taking things from the event
itself and weaving them seamlessly into his presentation. Tom speaks
in the moment, although many of these “spontaneous occurrences”
are actually from his suitcase of pre-planned, well-rehearsed
one-liners. You’ll find a long list of them on one of his web sites
www.public-speaking.org.

I first met Tom under some sad circumstances. Both of us spoke
at Dottie Walters memorial service. We both loved Dottie and learned
so much from her. Tom had the advantage of more years with
Dottie under his belt.

In the late 80’s, Tom was in the practical joke business, performing
for an entertainment company. But he kept thinking to himself,
“There must be something bigger than this for me. How can I take
my talents to the next level?” One day Tom was in Crown Books in
Greenbelt, Maryland, They were stocking the shelves. Tom leaned
back because a woman was coming through the aisle pushing a
baby stroller. Anyone who knows Dottie Walters’ story knows where
I’m going with this. Tom’s head hit a book. “Speak and Grow Rich,”
by Dottie Walters. In Dottie’s book, she tells how she saved the
family home by pushing her two babies in a stroller. Tom took the
sign, bought the book, called Dottie and booked a consultation
with her. They became good friends.

Dottie was a great influence on Tom in two ways - the things
she told him and the things he observed her doing. Tom often
helped Dottie give her “Speak and Grow Rich” seminars. “Every time
I helped Dottie,” Tom says, “she had loads of new material. Dottie
kept up with the latest on everything. She could’ve easily gotten
away with the same old stuff because there were new people in her
seminars all the time. But she didn’t. I may have been the only one
to notice that, but it had a huge impact on me.
I do all my seminars that way.”

It was Dottie who we can partially thank for Tom being so prolific.
“The thing Dottie told me that sticks out in my mind most vividly is,
‘Tom, you have to become a product machine.’ I didn’t get it in
the beginning. I got it a couple years later and I’ve been just cranking
out products like crazy. He certainly has. Today Tom has over 400
products. “That has created a massive presence for me and an enormous
cash flow. That’s what you’ve got to be because that also helps
spread your status as a celebrity and an expert,” he says. Tom could
quit working today, even tear down his web sites, and still earn
over $300,000 a year!

There are two main things Tom is passionate about: helping
people become professional level speakers and teaching them to
sell on the Internet. “My entire life, I’ve been doing what I want to do,“
says Tom. “I deal only with who I want to deal with. Most people go
through life and do what society expects them to do, try to get
a secure job, but live paycheck to paycheck. When I see this,” says
Tom, “I’m desperate to help them. I just love seeing people make the
transition to independence. That’s security for themselves and their
family. I’m no genius. I’m a hard worker who figured this out so
you don’t have to.”

Tom Has a Hero’s Heart

You can tell Tom enjoys speaking. His favorite part used to be the
laughter he’s been able to generate in his audiences “I really love
that part,” Tom said. “But recently I shifted a little bit. I’ve raised
a lot of money to give to those who are helpless. If someone is
standing on a street and can work, that’s not what I’m talking about.
If I give them money, I’m just teaching them to be a beggar.
They must learn to give value. I’ve raised $85,000 in one talk for
charity. It took fifteen minutes.” That is the power of influence.
Heroes have it. Especially Speaking Heroes.
(By the way, Tom has improved his track record. It used to
take him a whole hour to raise that much money.)

This ability to make a difference is what moves Tom’s heart. “That
money will feed 288 children for a year. Those little beings are
helpless,” Tom states. He’s also raised an enormous amount for
another group of “helpless beings.” “One of my favorite sites is
www.iamnotapoodle.com,” say Tom. ‘I’ve got two little Bichon Frise
rescue dogs. They’re just the cutest little things. I’ve got them right
here in the office with me right now. Maggie and Baby. Baby was
totally hairless which doesn’t look too good on a Bichon. They’re
really white fluffy dogs. We’re rehabilitating her. When you take these
dogs out, they’re so pretty with this big, white, fluffy fur, people say,
‘Hey what a cute poodle you have.’ Well it’s not a poodle. It’s a Bichon
and they’re going to get a complex if you keep saying that. We’re
going to have to go to the doggie psychiatrist over this. So we came
up with the site. We sell little t-shirts for the dogs that say, ‘I am not
a poodle.’ We have T-shirts for the owners that say, ‘My Bichon Frise
is smarter than your honor roll student.’ That’s where the humor
comes in. Ideas for websites can come out of nowhere. Everybody
was calling them a poodle. They’re not. We give a lot of money from
that site to Tidewater Bichon Rescue. It’s another way to help out
and have fun doing it.”

How did this Speaking Hero get such a great sense of sense of humor?
Tom said, “I think it came because I was the baby of six boys in
Claysville, Pennsylvania. You take one step and you fall off the face
of the earth. The town population was 500 and we lived in the
suburbs. I was by myself a lot. All my brothers were grown up
and gone so I had to amuse myself out in the middle of nowhere.
We didn’t even have any good farm animals to talk to. I got a
vivid imagination. It eventually led to the profession I had for six
years with an entertainment company. We custom designed
practical jokes like Candid Camera. I’m pretty sure that stemmed
from the fact that I spent a lot of time alone.”

A Hero’s Heroes

For someone so comfortable and impactful on the stage, who are
Tom’s Speaking Heroes? “I’m pretty hard to impress,” Tom says,
“but when I first broke into speaking, a couple stood out.
David Ring. I think he was a preacher. David had cerebral palsy.
He limped out on stage, looked at the 2,000 people in the
audience and said, ‘I have cerebral palsy. What’s your problem?’
It immediately broke the ice. During his speech David took us on
the most beautiful up and down ride. He had us laughing and crying.
He was a true master of the stage.”

“The other was Florence Littauer. She came from some pretty
extreme circumstances and crafted a speech called, “The Silver Box.”
It was about creating a gift for people with the words you use that
build them up. She was a master of the platform.”

Tom loves the speaking profession. “There are tremendous
benefits,” he says. “The financial rewards are pretty obvious.
You can look at speaker’s bureaus and see the amount of money
they’re charging for people you’ve probably never heard of. Your
social life will probably improve. People see you on stage and
they’ll want to take you to dinner. People will want to invite you
to their homes. Pretty much because of my enormous ezine, I can
go to just about any country in this world and somebody will invite
me to stay in their home because they’ve heard of me and know me.
So there’s a tremendous increase in your social life.”

“The emotional benefits are priceless. I had a lady in seminar on
“How to use humor in speeches.” She’s the only one not laughing
the whole day. You can’t miss this. I figured I must’ve said something
wrong. The whole day I’m thinking that this lady’s going to unload on
me. At the end of the day, everybody left. My assistants all packed up
but she’s hanging around. I’m thinking ‘Oh my God. I’m going to get
an ear beating today.’ I don’t know what I did but I’m just going to
take it. I don’t want to ruin this whole day by this lady being mad at me.’
She came up to me and said. ‘You know Tom, when I was a child, my
parents would tell me to sit down, shut up, and wipe that stupid smile
off that face. I never thought I could have humor in my life…until today.’
She’s in tears and I start crying too. We’re blubbering all over the place.
The whole day I’d been thinking I did something wrong
when I actually did something really, really right.”

“Luckily she talked to me about it. I’d have gone the rest of my life
thinking this lady was mad at me. A lot of people out there will never
come up to you even if you’ve touched their lives. That’s why you have
to be very careful what you say up there because somebody could be
hanging on a thread and you’re their last hope. There are speakers
I know that have gotten letters that people didn’t commit suicide
because of what they said. These emotional benefits of how you can
help people are priceless.”

The Number One Thing a Speaker Should Do

With all that experience and knowledge inside Tom, what advice
would he give to speakers out there? Tom says to focus first on
making enough money. “Because if you can’t stay in the business,
no one’s going to hear your great message.” Tom says that a lot of
great speakers are lousy marketers.

“One of the saddest things is when somebody who has a
tremendous message that could help hundreds of thousands of
people, can’t stay in the speaking business long enough to be
able to get that message out to the people that need it. They
must spend a portion of their time marketing themselves.
The way I do it is a little different. What I do is “media market.”
I’d make sure people heard about me on the radio, or read about
me in magazines and newspapers, or on TV. Whatever I could do
to make them hear about me.”

“One way that’s very effective is to attract the trade journals of
an industry. Those are the industry magazines that people read.
They’re a lot easier to get into than the mainstream media. Every
industry has one or more trade magazines. Of course, the bio line
would say that Tom Antion is an expert on so-and-so and speaks
on so-and-so. They’d call me. When someone calls you, the whole
power struggle of the call changes. Instead of you calling them and
saying ‘Oh, do you book speakers? Do you have a budget?’ they’re
calling you and saying, ‘Can we afford you?’ and ‘Are you available?’
That’s a whole different animal there.”

Master of the Internet

Tom is a master of the internet. Maybe even an internet hero too.
“Once the internet came along, I said, ‘Wow this is great! Not only
can I be in the mainstream media but also I can have an enormous
web presence. That’s when I started really learning the Internet.
I realized all these people could see me right in front of their computer.
I jumped on the internet bandwagon with both feet. The internet is the
first place somebody’s going to check you out. They’re going to go see
if they like you or what your presence is before they call you.
Another key point is once you reach your fee level, the only way to get
ahead is to get better known. If you’re more well known, you can
exceed the average, or even the top fee range for an industry if
you’re a celebrity in that industry. That’s the way I do it.” Tom now
has a massive Internet presence. “That’s by design and it’s much
cheaper to do,” he says.

Speakers Must Be Entrepreneurs

Tom has some observations about entrepreneurs. He says many small
business owners are told to delegate but Tom says that this is a sure
way to the poor house. “Some things need to be delegated but by
learning how to do certain things yourself, it frees you from enormous
expense and gives you the knowledge you need so that you don’t
get taken for a ride by your designers and the other people you hire.”
Although Tom could well afford now to hire any web designer,
he says he has probably created 10,000 web pages while he’s watched TV.

Yes, Tom Antion is a Speaking Hero. And he has created many other
heroes. One of his success stories is Joan Stewart, “The Publicity
Hound.” Joan wanted to work from her home in rural Wisconsin.
Tom loves to tell about Joan’s deer mural on her basement wall.
Tom has helped Joan create about 60 products and make a very
nice five-figure income – per month! “She took my Butt Camp,
(Tom’s humorous take on creating money while you sit at your
computer). I’m really proud of her. I’ve had 600 students and
many of them now make, $5,000, $10,000 or $20,000 a month.”

No one standing on the platform has got there without making a
mistake or two– even a Speaking Hero. So to prevent any of you out
there from making this same faux pas, Tom shares it. “ The biggest
mistake I’ve ever made speaking was when I was telling an audience
how they should create a nice work space and surround themselves
with photos of their family, their pets, their children, and
grandchildren.

I had the crowd laughing and having a great time. I went up to this
woman and said, ‘Don’t you agree? Don’t you think you should have
photos of your grandchildren on your desk?’ She didn't answer.
The room went instantly silent. They’d been laughing just
a moment before. I pushed it and asked her again. More silence.
Luckily it was near the end of my presentation. I found out
afterwards that she was only 36 years old!” Tom and I concurred.
Never “suggest” a woman’s age, nor presume a pregnancy.

The Hero Behind The Hero

What would Tom say his best trait is? Probably “tenacity,” he says.
Tom learned it from his father. “My dad only went through the
second grade. He came over on a cattle boat from Syria when he
was a little child. He grew up with nothing, educated himself,
and shined shoes. When he had me I think he was in his fifties.
I was the baby of six boys. Dad told me that even when I was just
crawling, he’d throw pillows in front of me and put my toys on the
others side of them to teach me to overcome obstacles. He thought
he might not be around when this child grew up so he had to make
him tough. To this day, I’m totally unstoppable. I won’t cheat, or steal,
or step on people, but I’m going to get there - if there’s a goal worth
going after. I’d probably say “tenacity” and
it was all because of my dad.”

Is video on the internet going to explode? Here’s Tom’s take. “That’s
an understatement,” Tom said. “I’ve created 200 videos last month.
As we’re recording this, there’s a big thing going on with google
called “google universal search’ where they’re now putting video
responses in with the main search results. I’ve been jumping on this
like crazy. I shot ten maybe fifteen this morning before I came into
work. It’s based on keywords that people are searching for. I make
the video match the keywords. Then I load them up to youtube.com
and about thirty-five other sites. I’ve been doing this since 1994.
I’ve never seen a place where you could dominate the search engines.
I never believed this would ever come about again but because they’re
starting to put videos in, it’s like the Wild West out there. Back in the
old days (1994) I was able to dominate the search engines with maybe
4 or 5 out of the top 10. Now on many of my keywords, I’m getting 20 or
30 results because of all these video sites that are getting a lot of
credence in the search engines.”

“Today is the time to jump on this. You can set up a little place in
your house with a video camera, some lights and just knock out
videos like crazy. Little short ones, just two minutes or so. You can
just go to Youtube, type in “antion.” As soon as you find one of my
videos, you can click on the little link that says “antion” and it takes
you to all of them. Today there’s about 210 videos up right now.
It’s increasing all the time. Yes, I’m definitely going crazy on video.”

“Anybody can do it. One of my students shot a little video of a product
that she liked, put it up there and got $407 in commissions in the
first hour. She was an affiliate of some other company. She didn’t
even have her own product. So it’s really a time to jump on.”

The Future For Speakers?

“I can picture myself on stage somewhere as a hologram,” said Tom.
“People will think it’s me. You’ll think I’m up there giving my message
but I’ll actually be at home eating a pizza.” Seriously Tom says he feels
that “From now till eternity, there will always be the value of a live
person in front of you, inspiring you.” I agree. Especially if it’s Tom Antion.

“The Speaking Business is one of the most rewarding, financially,
emotionally and in helping people and beings who are helpless,” says
Tom. “To do it – you must be serious. There are challenges but if
you stick with it, the rewards far outweigh the tough stuff.”

Tom’s “Speaking Hero” Tips

* Follow The Leader
“Others can be heroes of the stage if they can use that privilege that
they have up there to do tremendous good for people,” says Tom.
“When you’re onstage and you do a great job, people revere you.
People will follow you. People listen to you. It’s your choice if you
want them to follow you and do good things, or follow you and do
bad things. I say do good things. Find some charities you can tie
yourself to.” For Tom it was the Bichon animal rescue and the
children he wanted to help. People are happy to help, given the
opportunity pointed out by a hero. “If you’d just be the leader and
help them and make it easy for them to help others,” Tom says,
“you can do a tremendous amount of good. Although you might
not be heroes to the people in the audience, you’re heroes to all
those helpless beings and souls in the world that can’t stand up
for themselves.”

* Use Technology and Keep Your Education Current
Use mobile universities, the latest in computers and Ipods, “I have
an ipod on my desk I can hardly find it’s so small,” said Tom.
“Give teleseminars.“ Tom uses all the tools available now to help
him stay at the top.

* Listen
While the other speakers were talking, Tom seemed to be sitting
over on the side working. He was actually taking notes quietly
in the background. At the end of the seminar. Tom was able to
deliver an outstandingly funny list of the many things they’d said.
It made Tom an even bigger Speaking Hero. Tom follows his own
advice: “Listen to other speakers and write down things
that will be funny later.”

* Become a Product Machine
By continually sharing his knowledge and expertise Tom has created
an empire which he shows people how to emulate. Tom imparts very
beneficial information from his years of experience. “I love to create
things that never existed before.” Tom created his retreat center at
his own “home” where clients come and actually live with him, eat
with him, and work in his TV studio.”

* Communicate and Have Fun
Watch Tom and that will be obvious!

* Look for Media Opportunities to Influence More People
Use the media so that people hear about you. “Cold calling? said Tom.
“I did that for maybe ten minutes fifteen years ago. When I first started
out, the goal was to do everything you could to get your name seen at
every possible place on earth. Use the internet to full advantage”

To find out more about Tom go to www.amazingpublicspeakers.com.
There are over 250 videos there. You can join for a $5 trial. Tom says,
“This site is a reflection of what my dad taught me years ago.
‘Be really good at something and people will notice and ask you
to help them learn how to do it too.’ It’s a membership site
that teaches you all the stuff I’ve learned in the speaking business
via video, audio, and written articles. We have over 250 videos there.
Teaching you the things that I’ve been learning over the past years.”

Tom got so good selling on the Internet, people started begging him
to teach them. That’s how www.greatinternetmarketingtraining.com was spawned. “This big mansion I live in where people come in and study with
me which is the only place in the world you can do this.
They can watch a video there.”

www.kickstartvideos.com is where you can
see a half hour television show where Tom talks about the nine different
revenue streams he has.

“www.antion.com is my first site.
I don’t solicit speaking engagements anymore. It’s just there and it gets
enormous traffic. Most of the time, it’s by people that want to learn to be a speaker.”

“I also have www.public-speaking.org.
Now this is a lousy domain name by present day standards but it’s a
“Best of the Web” in Inc. Magazine. The panel of CEO’s said ‘Hey it was
easy to get around and we found what we wanted fast.’
So it beat out three other million-dollar websites.

Tom Antion is a true Speaking Hero. Watch him when you can.
And if you are ready, Tom can guide you to become a hero in your niche too.

Terri Marie is an award winning author, producer and composer.
You can sign up for The Spiritual Arena News at
www.spiritualarena.com and get a “Year of Cheer.”