Darren is a phenomenal speaker. He breaks down the strategy to very simple but powerful steps. I met him and I have bought all his products.

I got my CTM last year and I am the past president of my Toastmasters club. I have tried to incorporate Darren’s suggestions to my speaking and the results have been phenomenal!

You are doing an awesome job through your blogs. Your tip about how to wake up early in the morning was very effective for me and I have been doing it for a week now. I am trying the second goal about leaving caffeine. It is tough but I think it would be worth it.

Thanks a lot,
Raj

Quote:
Darren asked us why people now pay him thousands of dollars to give a one-hour talk. He said what they’re paying for is his talent, the talent that allows him to change the way people think in just one hour. The way he sees it, he’s finally getting paid for all those lean years when he was working so hard to reach this point.

What they are paying for is mainly his skills, not his talent. Getting paid for your talent is not a big accomplishment. Improving on a natural talent until you’ve mastered it is more admirable.

We can be good at anything at all, if we are passionate about it, we learn the proper skills required, and put in the effort to excel.

@Trevor: One of the advantages of getting lots of stage time is that it can help you become more resilient (if it doesn’t make you quit). I know several local comedians who started out doing open mic nights, and they’ve often encountered rudeness and poor treatment. Some turned to professional speaking and use their humor talents for motivational purposes because the audiences are much more agreeable, and the pay is better too.

“Darren explained how his transformation wasn’t accidental but intentional. His talent was certainly not inborn. He built it himself brick by brick. … year after year, he got better.”

This especially:

“… his transformation was not accidental, but intentional.”

Be it working on our nutrition and fitness, be it bettering our professional careers or creating a new product, be it becoming a better parent or student, etc … patience, hard work and persistence — eventually pay off in all areas of our lives — without fail.

~Shannon Collins

“Fast and easy” success is tempting marketing but incongruent with reality for most people. You can shave some time by learning from mentors, but this approach still requires a lot of hard work.

If it takes 6-12 months to develop a product, then not much is likely to change over the course of a single year in that area. You have to think in longer time spans like 5, 10, or 20 years.

I grow impatient with long dev cycles too. I’d love to instantly have 5-10 products to sell right now. But if I rush them out, the quality will be lousy, and I won’t be contributing much real value. So instead I take a deep breath and think 5 years ahead, a time span in which it’s possible to achieve this goal at a high level of quality. It’s hard to be patient, but I know that if I just keep at it, I’ll end up where my goals take me.

I have developed a software product which is very successful. In addition to improving and marketing this product, I want to create other successful software products.

However, until now I failed.

Practice makes perfect, you will say.

But how can I practice and gain experience rapidly in a business field, when it takes my team 6-12 months to develop a product?

Highly recommended as a speaker for almost any organization.