The Bill Gove Speech Workshop/Public Speaking Coaching Welcome! You've just found gold. If you're into networking, speaking, network marketing or public speaking.

	Recognized as one who can educate, motivate and entertain, Jim Tunney has worked with many Fortune 500 companies, from Apple to Xerox, All-State to State Farm, Cadillac to Toyota, Frito-Lay to Nabisco, Arco to Unocal, teaching the skills needed to set S.M.A.R.T. goals and produce effective action. Drawing from 28 years' experience as an educator and 31 years as an NFL referee, Jim emphasizes ways to develop and monitor accountability and builds teams that work with synergy and organizational responsiveness. His essays on motivation, productivity and self-management appear in business and trade magazines. In his book, Impartial Judgment, "the Dean of NFL referees" calls pro football the way he sees it. The book chronicles his career in the NFL. Jim Tunney, Ed.D., is a CSP and CPAE and has received both of the National Speakers Association's highest awards for professional excellence.
GS:	How did you happen to get into the speaking business?
JT:	Well, I started in the business in the early 60s as a high school principal. During that time, I was asked to give talks on education to several of the local community groups. Around that time was when I joined the NFL. So those service clubs wanted to know what was said in the huddles. They wanted NFL stories, which used to be called Jock Strap stories. I did those for a while then I thought - There has got to be more to this. See, early on I wrote a speech called The Game Is People. I talked about the people in the game like George Halas and Vince Lombardi, the people who were ball stars. These people were well known in the 60s and I really enjoyed that. That went along for several years until the early to mid-70s when someone came along and said, Why dont you join NSA? Id never heard of it, so I went to the second convention ever held by the NSA. I joined NSA while being a high school principal and Superintendent and I never looked back. In 1978, I left that business to do speaking full-time. The speaking had me working with companies. I helped organize and turn them into positive motivational ideals.
GS:	Okay, what were the two biggest obstacles you had to overcome?
JT:	Moving from the education market to the business market was one of the first obstacles I had to confront. I could talk to school people, teachers, and peer groups that were contingent on educational issues. The business market was totally different and I had no credibility in business. I was never in sales, nor was I the owner of a company; so I had to translate the kinds of things I saw from education and the NFL to the business world. It wasnt a hard translation to do. It just frightened me because then I began to question, Do they really want to hear about football? I figured most wanted to hear about war stories or things that they could apply to their jobs. Today, like over the last twenty years of doing this professionally, I have realized that all people can relate to sports and sports oriented stories. I could tell any one of my athletic stories and transition it to show a relation to business, and people could really begin to connect. I saw this through many personal responses after the speeches. In my first book, Impartial Judgment, I touch base with the idea Can I hit the Pitching; am I good enough to do this full-time? As living proof, I left a ten-year Superintendent job in the school system that offered benefits and a pension. I dropped it all to become an entrepreneur, a national speaker, without any guarantees. Most of my friends, other educators, questioned if I could really make it as a full-time speaker - I have never looked back. This career has been wonderful for me. Transitioning from an education field to the business industry and gaining the level of confidence I had to possess to succeed were the two hardest obstacles for me to overcome.
GS:	The famous book As a Man Thinketh by James Allen tells us when we "Conquer doubt and fear.we conquer failure." Let me ask you.What is the biggest thing you do to help you conquer doubt and fear?
JT:	I dedicated my book, Impartial Justice, to my father, who taught me to believe in myself. I do believe that that is the key to all the good fortune or success that I have had. Believing I could do anything has always enabled me to face problems head on. My positive affirmation comes from not being afraid of a problem, facing it, and knowing I can handle it. Have the knowledge and understanding that you may not win all of them, you may not be successful every time, but you did your best. I also believe you can do good for people by doing your best. See, that will help others do their best. I know I will make it! Just like writing the Chicken Soup for the Sports Fans Soul. Many people wonder will it be successful? I know it will be successful. I will make sure of it. With sports athletes like Joe Montana, many outside people questioned him in the beginning because he was not a very secure player. Being at the bottom of the draft choice list, there was doubt. Any of the other players would tell you there was no fear, because when Joe got in the huddle and called a play, they knew it would work. Why? - because Joe could make it work. Its the same situation. I know it will work because I believe it will.
GS:	What 2 books have influenced you the most? Why?
JT:	So many have been great for me. The first one would have to be Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill. It really proclaims self-affirmation and growth - just believing in yourself. In 1975, I went into a used bookstore to find it, after hearing many people discuss it. Not ever seeing it before, I was able to find it and bought it for thirty-five cents. That book has been around for a long time, but after reading it, I found that the philosophy there was something I could really work with for myself. I wasnt interested in becoming rich financially; I was looking to find my own enrichment. I wanted to find my own ability to survive, achieve and move forward. The second book that really influenced me would have to be Viktor Frankl's book, Man's Search for Meaning. Frankl mastered for me what life is all about. He expressed that out of all of the freedoms you have, and out of all the freedoms that can be taken away from you, the only one that cannot really be taken is the freedom to choose your attitude. Your attitude with which you approach any problem or opportunity is your conscious choice. Whenever I hear someone say, Well, Im just a negative person," or "Im just that way, I say, No, thats how you choose to be. If you dont want to be negative, then you dont have to be negative. You choose your own future and attitude in that way. Thats what I learned from Viktor Frankl.
GS:	What is your greatest Bill Gove story you could share with our readers?
JT:	After I joined the National Speakers Association in 1975, I attended my first convention in which two hundred and nineteen people came, and maybe one hundred and fifty others stayed for the luncheon. That was the first I had ever seen Bill Gove. He was the speaker on that day. I watched as Bill took that microphone with the hard wire cord and walked through that audience. I studied him as he worked that crowd and talked with people; he made them laugh, listen and learn with ease. I thought if I ever grow up, I want to be like Bill Gove. I watched him mesmerize the crowd. It wasnt until two years later when I went to a convention in Arizona with Mark Victor Hansen that I said Id like to meet Bill Gove. After several years of going to these conventions, Id finally mustered up the courage to introduce myself after Mark Victor said, I know Bill. Come on. Ill introduce you. He did and Bill sat down with us for over an hour and a half just talking. We had a wonderful visit and at the end of our conversation Bill said, Next year well meet in Louisville - Lets have lunch together. Little things like that made me realize what kind of man Bill Gove really is. He was willing to take time with a very new, unknown speaker. Yeah, Id been a referee in the Super Bowl, but I didnt have the level of confidence and assurance of guys like Bill Gove, Don Hutson, Mike Frank, Dave Yoho or Ty Boyd. I just didnt have that. I was a low level speaker trying to make a business out of this. Bill took the time and interest in me to be my mentor. He helped me with ideas and led me to discover what it was going to take for me to rise to the top.
GS:	You have already made your first million. What advice can you give the rest of us who may still be looking to make our first million?
JT:	First of all, dont focus on making your first million. Focus on doing things for other people. My new book, Chicken Soup for the Sports Fans Soul tells a story written by Jeff Sloanman. He is a great golfer and has made several millions. He often stays with a friend in Pebble Beach when he plays in the AT & T Pro Am Tour. His story explains his defeat one year when he lost the finals to Mark Omara. At the end of his visit his friends son, Derrick, about sixteen years old had asked Jeff to teach him a thing or two. After the tournament, Jeff decided to find Derrick and his dad. They were out on the course hitting golf balls when he found them. He decided maybe he could help Derrick and continued to play three holes with them before leaving that Sunday. The friend thanked Jeff for spending the time with his son and explained that they would have understood if he wasnt able to show up. Jeff replied, There is no better cure for disappointment than going out and helping somebody else. I think if you go out and help someone the millions will come. NSA has been a great thing for me; it has helped me help others. If you are looking to improve your business NSA is the place to be. I think of it like a health club, you can join a health club; but if you dont go and participate it doesnt have any value. Like Ziglar said years ago, You can get all you want out of life just by helping others get what they want out of life. Thats what NSA is all about, thats what Bill Gove is about, and thats what making your first million or second million is all about. Doing or performing your passion is the goal. If speaking is your passion, than do it. Go do it and the rest will come.
GS:	How importantly would you rank mental toughness and the ability to communicate as it relates to your success and why?
JT:	Im not really sure you can ever really define mental toughness so everyone can understand it. Mental toughness for me is the fourth in one on the goal line, score tied. Its you at the free zone line and youve got two shots to win the game; or three in two with the bases loaded and youre the batter - youve got to break through fear. In the Chicken Soup for the Sports Fans Soul; Sammy Lee says, You can be a diving champion if you can break through your fear. That is if the focus of winning is stronger than your focus on failure. Joe Montana said the same thing when asked by Bill Crisman, Are you ever afraid when you go into a game? He said, Yes, Im always afraid. If youre not afraid of losing than winning really isnt that important. That is mental toughness. Focusing on winning breaking through the fear of losing and thinking you can win, you can achieve it if you would just focus on where you are going. Mental toughness applies to even that six-year old playing soccer on the field, just the fact that you are willing to try something and not being afraid to fail. If you fail it is okay. You didnt invent failure its been around all the time. You are going to have set backs. Break through the failure, know you can accomplish it and believe you can accomplish it.
GS:	If you had to start over again.what would you NOT do again?
JT:	There are a lot of things. I think I have been very fortunate over the years in building the speaking business that I have. Ive listened and learned from a lot of people. Ive been in the business for twenty-five years and Im still seeking advice from people. Things I would do, would be to network with people like is done in NSA. Being a part of a group helps you to relate and allows you to share stories back and forth. You cant live long enough to experience everything, so we can all learn like Pat Roberts. That is from OPE - other people's experiences. If I had to do it over again, I would make it more of a point to learn all I could from other people and their experiences.
GS:	What is the reason most people don't achieve their major goals and dreams?
JT:	I think most people become non-achievers because of many reasons, but the most dominant has to be their lack of courage to make it through and keep it going. Thats like when I was ten and I had a basketball. We would play down at the corner lot of the basketball playground. Everyday I had to be in for dinner. Well, one day these other kids didnt want to go home; they wanted to stay longer and play. I said, No, I have to go home. I need my basketball. They wouldnt give me back my basketball. I went home and told my mom and dad they wouldnt give back my basketball. I was really upset and crying. Thats when my dad said, Come on. Well go get it. We walked down there, then my dad said, Okay, pick out which one you want to fight. I didnt want to fight anybody, but he showed me I had to have the courage to fight to get my ball back from them. I didnt want to fight, but after a few blows and my dad supervising, it was over. Dad made sure no one was hurt then said, Come on thats enough. Lets get out of here. That day I earned a lot of respect for myself being able to face an aggressor. Thats a major thing people have to be able to do - face the aggressor. Having courage today brings confidence that I know I can do it and then work at it. The thing that happens to a lot of speakers is theyre ready to go in the beginning, and then one thing sets them back. All of a sudden, theyre ready to give up. Instead of quitting, you should work harder. Prepare and work at it - I learned that from ballgames. Id watch people walk on the field in the Super Bowl, hustle around, and if I wasnt prepared as an official, I could have been really scared. Being prepared made it so that I wasnt afraid to take my place in the arena.
GS:	Who were your role models/mentors, and what is it that you saw in them?
JT:	Overall, my father. He died when I was thirty-five years old, but in that short time I had a good chance to watch him operate as a great father and teacher. He was an administrator who refereed football and basketball, so I got to go to a lot of games with him. What I admired was that he wasnt afraid to take his place, even in the arena. He always put his name and reputation on the line - every time. My dad also had a lot of friends who were also educators and administrators, so I watched them. Even as a kid on the playground, I sought people older than myself. The older people knew more than I did, they had more experiences, and have all been able to teach me something. I learned several things simply by losing. Years later as a principal, I would call my dads friends and others older than me and ask, Do you mind if I call or ask questions? I did the same thing when I began officiating. I knew that was how I was going to learn more. I would say my dad and his friends, along with my uncle, were a great influence on me; so were the school administrators, and other officials who were over me. Ive just tried to learn from the people who have already been there and done that.
GS:	Can you tell us about your new book?
JT:	My newest book is Chicken Soup for the Sports Fan's Soul. Its one hundred and one stories of inspiration, insight and humor. It has a lot of funny stories of athletes and a lot of heartwarming things. One of the Globe Trotters for instance, shares the fact that many people and children dont see color. Kids just befriend one another and play; they dont see that skin type as a difference. Thats how I was raised. There is a story in there by Jack Kemp, former presidential nominee. He wrote a story, The Inspiration of a Football Huddle, where the team stuck together in a situation and proved to be much stronger. I use the analogy your hand is important and all its five members. When you bring them together it makes a fist. A fist is always stronger than an open hand. Lesley Visser, the first woman sports reporter for the Boston Globe said, Sports is the ultimate passport. Sports is that ultimate passport of common ground. It holds no barriers for race, religion, color, or creed because you are all talking of sports. There are great stories of little league coaches and parents. Many lessons can be learned by being in sport. Sports are competitive and fun. They teach discipline, how to bounce back, working with others and reaching goals. Its a great metaphor for life. In fact, the first quote from our book was written by a fellow named Barry Mano. He stated, Sports is life with the volume turned up. That is what this book is about - life with the volume turned up. Everything you do regularly in life, you now see in the sports pages of Chicken Soup for the Sports Fan. It gives you a lot of belief in the things that you're doing well. It also gives you some ideas of how you can do things better.
GS:	How can our readers get this new book?
JT:	You can get this book in any local or hometown bookstore or you can e-mail orders through jim@jimtunney.com.
GS:	Out of all the NFL coaches youve seen in the past forty years, who would you say is the greatest coach, and why did you have so much respect for him?
JT:	Thats a hard question because every time they fire a coach in the NFL, another one comes along and does a great job, so its hard to say. If I had to pick just one and only one, it would probably Vincent Thomas Lombardi. In my first book, Impartial Justice, I wrote an entire chapter on Lombardi called Strong Understandings. It was very enlightening to me in 1960 when I met Lombardi, to see how similar he and my father were personality-wise. Their discipline, ideas, personal drive, want for achievement, just the overall interior that was my father was also in Vince Lombardi. He was a great disciplinarian and very driven with focus. I always arrive to a meeting on Lombardi time - that means you are fifteen minutes early. Thats what was expected. So, if I chose just one as the leading authority coach - it would be Vincent Lombardi.

		Contact Info.: Jim Tunney Associates, Inc. P.O. Box 1500 Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921 Phone: 831-649-3200 Fax: 831-649-3210 E-mail: info@jimtunney.com