• 2005 charity event “Five and a half go MAD up North” doing our impression of Queen. Front row left to right Paul McGee, 12 year old Finlay McDermott and myself. Second row Phil Hesketh and John Hotowka. And one of the few times he could be found at the back the much missed Clive Gott

So mate it’s exactly a year since you left us but I just wanted to take a moment to remind people of your legacy. You were known for your brilliant comic delivery and myself and the speaker friends above did get to wondering if you’d faked your own death just to see our faces when you returned! You were so outrageous I wouldn’t have put it passed you. But sadly I guess I won’t be seeing you today. But me and the lads will be having a drink in your honour tonight. I know you’d agree that humour if one way of helping deal with loss and what a loss. But I can hear you saying “Bloody Hell Steve stop talking bollocks and let’s get to the legacy stuff and will you put a smile on your face whilst you are at it”. By the way Clive our beloved Rhinos are still doing pretty good – World Champions no less. You’d be chuffed.

• 2004 poster for McDermott & Gott Unplanned

So what has Clive left us to ponder? I was privileged to share the stage with him on many occasions and here are my personal favourites. Feel free to add your own.

Speak your truth

Clive believed deeply that as individuals we should always speak our own truth. This was one of the traits that made him such a great speaker. What he meant was that we shouldn’t change our convictions or hide from saying what we really thought even it might not be what the other person wanted to hear. Those people who knew Clive can all recite examples of how he lived this both from the stage and in person. If you asked Clive at  Professional Speakers Association (PSA) meeting for feedback on your speech boy did you get it! (Just ask my mate The Bulletman - Paul Kerfoot). I personally nominated Clive to be a Fellow of the PSA and I know he was very proud when he became one. This honour didn’t stop him resigning when, a few years later, as he saw it the PSA took a route he didn’t agree with.

He was also brutally honest about his own struggles. I well remember him telling everyone in the clearest possible terms about his own acute bout of depression and in so doing he inspired and freed others to share their problems as well as share their achievements.

An ordinary person can do extraordinary things

Clive often said, unlike many other speakers, he had absolutely zero qualifications. But he did know how to set goals and achieve them including running in the “Marathon de Sables” – a six day race across the Sahara desert and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. His work with young people in particular showed them that to be successful in life wasn’t only about academic qualifications but more about having a real sense of purpose and a system to set big, stretching goals.

His old school report which he use to read out on stage said “What Gott has got to realise is that he won’t get very far in life if he keeps talking in class all the time”. Clearly his teacher hadn’t heard of a career as a professional speaker.

Well Clive didn’t let teachers or anyone else steal his dreams. He’d tell kids, and adults alike, don’t be jealous of other people but instead play the cards life has dealt you (in his case being ginger and having to wear his sister’s hand me down jumpers to school). One of my favourite presentations Clive gave was where he talked about looking up in the sky and seeing all the vapour trails being left from planes jetting off to various destinations. He said we might be tempted to be jealous of the “Lucky” passengers on board and wish we were them. Instead he said we should get busy making some vapour trails of our own for others to follow.

Play it forward

Clive really lived his life with abundance. He was a big fan of doing something for someone else without ever expecting anything in return. Watch one of his favourite films “Play it Forward” for inspiration on this principle. Better still buy some flowers today for someone you love not because it’s their birthday but just because you love them. Or just buy some for yourself – Oh and one final thing can you tell them the flowers are from Clive Gott. Thanks.

See the man doing his stuff here Clive in action

“Read how Steve McDermott’s savagely funny self-help book got me writing novels…” – Ben Wright (AKA @kjerros)
• Wow!! That sparked off some creative McThinking!

It’s amazing what you can discover about yourself on Twitter. (Thank you Ben for a great quote.) Following on, this ‘savagely funny’ line was a real unexpected bonus for motivational speaker and inspirational humorist Steve McDermott, soon to make its way onto all of Steve’s new marketing materials. Looking back this online success and offline transformation was achieved through choice not chance…

The power of reflection
The Confident Club Conference – January 14th 2011: @TheBulletman issued Steve McDermott a challenge. The goal was to get x500 Twitter followers within a year.

McThought: So HOW am I going to do that then? (Steve is McThinking here).

Well tweeps, by January 13th 2012 @SteveMcThinking had 517 followers on the Twitterverse. Result! Not bad for someone born in 1950′s who didn’t even know what a blog was or how to do a ‘Tweet’ twelve months ago. This goal also coincided with the official launch of Steve McDermott’s new image and website at the Confident Club conference – The Ladder of Success.

So how did he do all this? Initially Steve asked for HELP, made a commitment and then stepped up to the challenge. Then when he got stuck (only 133 Twitter followers in October 2011) he got some more help and advice! All hands to do the deck…

Tweetabix
Twelve months on Steve has an online presence he is really happy with. (Sharper, slicker and dare I say inspiring even more confidence in Steve?) One unexpected bonus (with an accompanying Twitter strategy) is the discovery of online content about yours truly, such as that very Tweet Steve found which was posted on November 29th 2011 by Ben Wright…

RT @kjerros: Read how @stevemcthinking Steve McDermott’s savagely funny self-help book got me writing novels… click here.

McThought: Like it… Take online content and milk it – Tweetabix!

Credits and links:
Article and blog post, image makeover and branding by The Bulletman.
Thanks to Liz Cable and Reach Further (Leeds) for their help and support on Twitter.

Follow Steve on Twitter - click here.
To read the article about Steve’s book on Ben Wright’s blog click here.
Steve’s book – How to be a Complete and Utter Failure in Life, Work and Everything.
For more quotes and Steve’s testimonials please click here.

Not one to make an entrance (!) Thursday 3rd November 2011 was a memorable day for motivational speaker Steve McDermott: One happy client (Republic), one of his favourite speaking venues (Athena Theatre), some great photos and one terrific audience…

‘Recognition Rocks!’

For a change, and instead of some words, here’s some pictures (including the Ladder of Success) from the Republic event…

McThought: They do say a picture speaks a thousand words, so here’s another 12,000!

Special thanks to:
The client: Republic.
One amazing venue: Athena Theatre, Leicester.
A super photo shoot: John Steel Photography.

By the way, that’s my designer and brand guardian, Paul Kerfoot (Bulletpoint Design) art directing in that last shot. What FUN we had!

Did you once believe in Father Christmas? Have you noticed how, when children believe in Father Christmas, it affects their behavior? Beliefs make you behave in a certain way and how you behave over time determines your results. When people believed the world was flat it didn’t half limited travel. Successful people share a set of helpful beliefs that enable them to achieve outstanding results. For example imagine you knew the beliefs of outstanding speakers and acted like those beliefs were also yours, and true for you, what would that do to the standard of your next presentation?

My son Finlay, when aged nine, confronted me with the big question: ‘Does Father Christmas exist?’ Parents be warned, this was in the middle of Spring, and completely out of the blue. So me and my wife told him, ‘Well Finlay, you are a big boy now, so no he doesn’t, it’s just something parents made up.’ Well, immediately the tears began to flow. And that was just me. Of course, we explained that our intentions in joining this worldwide conspiracy were honourable, but to not much avail. Then straight on the back of this, Finlay puts two and two together and, between gulps for air, looks me straight in the eye and asks: ‘So how about the tooth fairies, they are real, aren’t they?’ ‘Er, no,’ I confess. Anyway, Finlay is tearful most of the night and several hours later when I go to tuck him in bed he says, ‘Dad, I’ve been thinking, no Father Christmas, no Tooth Fairy . . . surely the Easter Bunny is real, isn’t he?’ More explaining, more tears. Here’s the thing. Within moments Finlay had completely reconstructed his belief system and adjusted to a new reality. Next morning when he got up, he was perfectly fine about it all. The exciting news is that you too could totally reconstruct your entire belief system in moments just like Finlay.

Your beliefs act as a filter to how you experience the whole world

Your whole view is determined by what you believe, in fact you don’t believe what you see, you see what you believe! This is why my kid’s references about tooth Fairies were the hardest to shake. Myself and my wife had got into the habit of not only leaving money but also post-it notes covered in tiny spidery writing that the kids thought were from a whole family of tooth fairies. We created a complete world. My notes were always from Billy One Leg who had lost a leg to a cat but had had a wheel fitted so he could still dash around at high speed. Whereas the ones my wife wrote were from a posh fairy called Princess Crystal. My favorite from the Princess was when she wrote, “Dear Megan, I have to do night shift yet again because Billy One Leg is off sick with sticky wings.” The point is it’s easy to change your beliefs about anything just by changing your references. Just like kids do. And by changing your beliefs you will immediately change your behaviour and therefore the results you enjoy.

McTip: Use the master beliefs of outstanding speakers below. Just act as if they are true and see what it does for the standard of your next presentation.

• I can’t fail – just learn something from the feedback.
• I don’t have to be perfect. I don’t have to be a “Presenter” just a person.
• Whilst presenting I have the ability to use anything that happens in a heartbeat
• They don’t know what I’m going to say – so they won’t know if I said it.

• Finlay McDermott (in braces) keeping the faith

Amid all the recent media attention on the public sector strikes and pensions there has been no mention of the other “P” word – PASSION.

The fact is most people hate their jobs, endlessly moan about the fact and can’t wait for retirement. What if you could be one of those rare individuals who are passionate about what you do? What difference would that make not just to you but to your colleagues, customers, family and friends?

3000 people rammed into the famous Blackpool Tower Ballroom for the Northern Soul Weekender 2011 including me and my 18 year old son Finlay. What a fantastic time we had. Now in the world of Northern Soul we have this saying “Keep the faith” and never have I seen it more in evidence than over that weekend…

Keep the faith

Everyone at the Northern Soul Weekender shares an absolute passion for the music and dancing. Some, like me, have had that passion burning for nearly 40 years others like Finlay for just a few. I saw several people who were still so passionate about the music that they got up to dance with the aid of a walking stick. Now just imagine if you could feel that passionate about your job? So here are some McThoughts to get you started…

Think about what job would make you leap out of bed in a morning.

Think about how you can turn your hobby into your job.

Think about what you would work at if you didn’t have to work.

Think about what really absorbs you. Ask yourself, ‘What am I doing when I feel most alive?’

Think about the question, ‘what do you feel is your greatest natural ability?’

Think about who you have been and who you would like to become rather than just
what you have done.

Think back to what you loved doing at seven years of age. Recent research indicates that successful adults often do something as a living that they enjoyed doing, and were good at, as a kid. So perhaps the Jesuits were right after all – give me the boy until he is seven and I’ll give you the man.

Think what you would dare do if you knew you couldn’t fail.

Think about the legacy you want to leave. Think about what you would want a letter to your grandchildren to say about the life you’ve led.

Think about not leaving your song unsung.

Think about the advice of the painter Ashley Jackson: ‘Years go by fast as Cats eyes on a motorway. The art of living is to make use of what you’ve got and use it to the full. Most people do not know what they are living for. But once you have found out, you have the jewel of life.’

For more testimonials please click here.

Want to know what it takes to succeed at the highest level? What if you knew how to turn your dreams into reality? Imagine smashing sales figures, losing weight, going further, faster, successfully completing your goals big or small. How about even winning a medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games? If you knew the one thing all peak performers do than all this and more might be a lot easier than you might McThink.

Europe’s No1 Motivational speaker, Steve McDermott – a fellow of the PSA (Professional Speakers Association) and founder of The Confident Club – shares his McThoughts and McTips on the secrets of successful people. This one is all about the power of imagination…

I’ve two posters on the wall of my office that I can see as I write this. One is a photograph of Albert Einstein that says “Imagination is more important than knowledge”. Did you know it’s a scientific fact that your brain and body can’t tell the difference between something you vividly imagine and reality. All world-class sportsmen and women are visualizers. As are other peak performers in just about any other field you care to mention. All these people see it, they feel it, and they experience it, before they actually do it. As a formula this would be:

I x V = R (Imagination x Vividness = Reality)

The secret is the symbol in the middle, repetition.

Of course, apart from positive visualization there is another name for this. It’s called worry. What failures do is vividly imagine things going terribly wrong in full technicolor with quadraphonic sound, over and over and over again. The point is, in life you always get what you focus on. So be aware that it is actually entirely up to you whether you use this special gift to generate good or bad results.

Now maybe you are thinking, surely what I vividly imagine can’t allow me to do something I’ve never done before or create physical results. Well, yes it can. You see, by constant repetition, running what I call mind movies; you coat the neural pathways in the brain. This effectively creates fake but totally believable memories. Specialists in brain research give the following explanation: ‘When you learn anything, a pattern of neurons is set up in your brain tissue. The chain, or electrical pattern, is your brain’s method of remembering, so since the subconscious cannot distinguish a real from an imagined experience, perfect mental practice can create new patterns or correct imperfect patterns grooved here.’

Ali and the power of the mind

One of the greatest exponents of visualization, who coincidentally was known as The Greatest, was Muhammad Ali, the former World Heavyweight Boxing champion. Ali (originally known as Cassius Clay) also won a Light Heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, before changing his name after converting to Islam in 1975. Ali called this visualization ‘future history’. He said: ‘The man with no imagination has no wings.’ He always rehearsed the fight in his head, over and over, before he ever stepped into the ring. That’s one of the reasons why out of the 19 fights in which he predicted the outcome (when he’d say things like ‘Archie Moore, you’re going in round four’), 17 happened exactly the way Ali said they would with him winning.

This is all backed up by my good friend Leon Taylor the retired 10M platform diver (mentor to young diver Tom Daley – one of our best prospects at the 2012 London Olympic Games). Leon told me he kept coming forth in major events (The worst place of all to finish). So at the Olympic Games in Athens he changed his plan for running mind movies. Instead of just visualizing the dive he also visualized the seven days leading up to the final and “saw” what he would be doing in vivid detail every day and more importantly how brilliant he would be feeling. Before doing this because of nerves he had never slept the night before a major competition. But in Athens it was different, not only did he sleep like a baby, but when he woke up on the day of the final it was as he described it “like putting in a DVD and pressing play”. As he sat on the bus on the way to the diving arena Leon looked around and he was the only competitor smiling. That day he was the first British diver to win a medal for 47 Years – Olympic Silver. So metaphorically speaking will you be smiling on the bus on the way to your Olympic final? – Like for example your next major business presentation – well only if you’ve run positive mind movies in advance.

So what’s the second poster on the wall of my office? Of course it’s of my all-time hero Muhammad Ali who said many brilliant things but none better than what’s on this poster “Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something deep inside them: a desire, a dream, a vision.”

End.

Half business guru, half stand-up comedian, Steve McDermott shares more McThoughts in his International best-selling book “How to be a Complete and Utter Failure in Life, Work and Everything.” As a coach, of thirty years standing, Steve’s also helped train hundreds of people increase their confidence and master the art of delivering a brilliant presentation.

Email Steve at steve@stevemcdermott.com or call The Confident Club on 0845 270 2323. And remember with a vivid imagination your dreams can become reality.