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.

	Founder of a preeminent training company, Wilson Learning Corporation, Larry Wilson created programs that helped Fortune 500 companies worldwide achieve higher levels of performance through people. In 1982 he sold his share of Minnesota-based WLC in order to pursue an emerging vision of change management and leadership development, and he founded Pecos River Learning Center in 1985, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pecos River itself became a human resource brand signifying growth, leadership, and change management for thousands of employees, managers, and top leaders from some of the largest companies in the world. Thirteen years later, Larry sold his ownership in Pecos River to Aon Consultingand he is again free to pursue a solo career dedicated to the joy of helping people in organizations release their spirits by releasing their courage and creativity.
GS:	How did you get started in your current line of work?
LW:	I was a speech major in college, and I taught drama for a year after I got out of college. I went into the insurance business and became the youngest member of the million-dollar roundtable, and with that I started getting calls to give speeches. I wasn't that good, but I didn't know it at the time. Then I met Bill Gove, and he took me under his wing. Bill was a superstar, and he spoke at lots of Sales and Marketing Executives meetings across the country. From 1960-1965, Bill would get invitations to speak and he would say, "I've got a partner, and he speaks with me." It was like stepping into the NFL as a rookie. The key was I had Bill Gove as my coach. That's how I got started.
GS:	What were the 3 biggest obstacles you had to overcome?
LW:	There was really only one obstacle I had to overcome and that was believing in lack & limitation. We must understand that there is an infinite supply. All you have to do is ask. Remember that givers always gain.
GS:	What 2 books have influenced you the most? Why?
LW:	Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl. I read it when I was 23, and it taught me that we all have the final freedom, which is the ability to choose the attitude we have in any situation, no matter how grave. The second book was called People in Quandaries by Wendell Johnson. It was my first behavioral science book. I read it before I met Abraham Maslow. I think Bill Gove was the one who told me to read it. It had a major impact on me.
GS:	What is your greatest Bill Gove story you could share with our readers?
LW:	I had a friend in Minneapolis named Jay Beecroft, who was the head of training at 3M, and he said he knew a guy who got paid to make speeches. So I called Bill and said, "I understand that you get paid to make speeches," and Bill said "Yes, I do." Bill didn't know me, but he was good friends with Jay Beecroft, so that connection got me in the door. I said, "I'd like to talk to you about it." Bill said "Come on down to Miami." I told him I was going to fly my plane down, so he got me a room at the Fountainbleu Hotel that cost $300 a night. Remember, this was in 1960! That would be like $3,000 a night now! Bill was under the impression that I had a lot of money because I had a plane, but I owned the plane with three other people, and I didn't have the $300 for the room. So I called Bill from the hotel and said, "I can probably afford about 30 minutes in this room," and he said, "Cancel the reservation and you can stay at my house." I was supposed to be there for a day, and I think I ended up being there for three days with Bill and his family. I think it says an awful lot about the guy. He didn't need me. He could have talked to me for an hour and I would have been delighted. There was something that clicked between us, and I think it was because he probably thought I was going to be some smart ass trying to impress him by flying my own plane; and when he saw I was vulnerable by telling him I couldn't afford the hotel room, we began to connect. That's what Bill Gove relates to. He's got a nose for phoniness. By being myself, we started to relate. As I said before, I had a major in speech, and I had never heard the things Bill talked about during those three days. I realized that my college professors had no idea what they were talking about compared to this guy.
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?
LW:	I think you need to see yourself as being worthy of making a certain amount of money. You need to BE a million dollar person and the money will follow.
GS:	How importantly would you rank mental toughness and the ability to communicate as it relates to your success and why?
LW:	Mental Toughness is critical. As a matter of fact, if I were hiring people again, I think I would go to Utah and hire young adults out of the Mormon Church. They invest two years of their lives knocking on doors and getting rejected. They define what mental toughness is. They have a sense of mission. Fear is the problem, and mental toughness is the cure. How importantly would you rank the ability to communicate? Unless you live in a cave, obviously it's critical. Communicating from the heart. Communicating your intentions is the key.
GS:	If you had to start over again.what would you NOT do again?
LW:	That's a tough one, because I've been very lucky. My wife says to me, "Why didn't you just buy a Lexus dealership instead of going through all this?" The answer is it wouldn't have been as fulfilling to me. I was lucky. I met Bill Gove, and he got me started, and then in 1965 I started Wilson Learning, and at our peak we had over 650 employees. We employed 30 Ph.D's. People were lined up to work for us. I've had some failures, but most of them taught me lessons that helped me later on, so it's hard to say I wouldn't want to make them.
	If you had to do it over again, would you want to start and operate a big company like Wilson Learning again?
	That's a great question. Timing is everything, and there's a part of me that says if I had done what Bob Proctor has done, worked on low overhead and big product development, I think my life would have been simpler. My life was complicated because I had all of those employees to think about. I could have stayed small and marketed myself better. I never really marketed myself; I was too busy selling Wilson Learning as a company. I don't think you can do it yourself. I think you have to have a good marketer out there promoting you. I always felt like I was one level below the major leagues, because I wasn't marketed properly, compared to some of the other authors out there. I don't want to overplay this, because I've obviously done very well financially, but some of the stuff out there is not that good. I don't know if it's jealousy or not, but I feel that I should have had someone focus more on marketing. I don't know what would have happened, but since you asked the question, that's what comes to my mind. I was always a better sales guy than a marketing guy, and marketing creates perception in the marketplace. It's all about perception, isn't it? I think perception is 90% of it. If you can create a niche, and become a big frog in a little pond, I think that's good advice. If you're lucky enough to hit it big with a book or something, that's great! I remember Steve Covey from years ago. His book made a big difference. If I were to give anyone advice, I would suggest avoiding the trappings of success - the big office, fancy things, etc. You don't need to SHOW successyou need to BE success. There's a big difference between the two.
GS:	What is the reason most people don't achieve their major goals and dreams?
LW:	I think it's fear. It's not the feeling of fear; it's the avoidance of fear. They avoid fear, which is playing not to lose. People are great learners when they are kids, but we lose our power when we stop taking risks. People get too comfortable. We tie ourselves up in imaginary ropes. We hold ourselves hostage. It's ego, ego, ego. Our ego is our false self that keeps us in a state of fear in its intention to protect us and keep us alive. The ego takes over, and once you get used to it, you don't even know its happening.
GS:	Who were your role models/mentors, and what is it that you saw in them?
LW:	Bill Gove was definitely one of my role models. Before Bill was Victor Frankl, who I met in 1953. I was on the faculty with him at the Young Presidents Organization. He kept me in the insurance business. Abraham Maslow was so important to me. He asked me what I think the world would be like if everyone were self-actualized, and I said I didn't know. He said, "Why don't you go find out?" And that's when I started Wilson Learning. Carl Rodgers was another big influence. George Land was very important to me. Maxie Maultsby taught me everything I know about psychology. So many people have helped me. When I was a freshman in high school, I had a sophomore come to me one day; his name was Bobby Welch, and he said, "Wilson, you're a smart ass, and no one is going to like you if you keep acting like that. The reason I know is that I was just like you when I was a freshman, and nobody likes me. Now I'm a sophomore and I don't have any friends." What a conversation! This happened 55 years ago, and about 10 years ago I called Bobby Welch and thanked him. He said "What?" He didn't rememberbut I did. Another big influence was Alvin Toffler, who wrote the book Future Shock. He was a consultant to Wilson Learning. We're living in the times that he predicted. He said the future is going to start coming at us, by us, and around us, and a lot of people are going to go into shock. Here we are in the best of times and we have the highest level of anxiety. Toffler said the way you get past all this is to learn how to learn, learn how to choose, and learn how to relate. I mean, that's GOLDEN! And he wrote that in the early 70's. I still use it today. Judy Garland was a big influence. When I wrote my first program, I used to listen to her album "Judy Garland Live at Carnegie Hall". Since I have always been motivated by applause, I would sit in the dark, play that album, and imagine the applause were for my speeches. I would visualize standing on stage and hearing that applause. I can't tell you how much that helped me.
GS:	If Abraham Maslow were still alive, what would you want to ask him now?
LW:	Lots of things, but mostly about the spiritual. Beyond the pyramid. Actually he gave me an article he had written in the 60's with that exact title. He told me, "You'll probably make a million dollars if you follow this." I wish I still had the article. If Maslow were living today, I think he would have gone past self-actualization and into the spiritual. As you grow, I think you end up looking at the spiritual side of things. I find people are really interested in the spiritual, as opposed to just positive thinking. It's about being inspired, which means being in your spirit. So I think there's a natural progression from getting yourself out of survival and into spiritual connectedness.

		Contact Info.: Larry Wilson & Associates 2750 Woolsey Lane Wayzata, MN 55391-2751 Phone: (612) 473-0793 or (612) 473-0703 Fax: (612) 475-2339 E-mail: wilsonlarry@earthlink.net