Zig Ziglar

The speaking business has lost one of its best and biggest talents. Tweet this

Zig Ziglar was the best.  He recently passed away at the age of 86.

There are very few “originals” in my business, so the passing of The Master is a big deal.

An acquired taste for some people, Hillary Hinton “Zig” Ziglar used his southern charm on millions of people through his live events and information products.  He specialized in the topics of motivation, leadership, and selling. 

He and Brian Tracy were the people who inspired me to get into the speaking business.

Zig was one of my role models

Ziglar was a master storyteller.  He would drop to one knee as he began to tell a tale. There would be sub-plots and asides, but Zig would sometimes be on his knee for ten or fifteen minutes. 

The stories were always interesting, but you would sometimes hang on every word just waiting for the man to stand up again.  Great speakers always incorporate verbal messages with non-verbal signals. 

Zig had vibrant enthusiasm.  When he got excited, he would sometimes speak around 200 words a minute, then slow down just when he wanted you to focus on a particular message.

The pace of his speech slowed when he was driving home a point as he over pronounced key words in the manner of a Baptist preacher.  Zig’s comedic timing was quite sharp and his lessons were always delivered with humor and a “see you at the top” theme. 

Here’s a video featuring a classic Zig theme:  If you work hard, good things will happen for you.  Watch:

Wisdom from Zig

Very few speakers produced the type of brilliant content that Zig Ziglar did.  Of course, his delivery is what made the messages special, but here are some of my favorite “Zigisms”:

On selling:

People don’t buy for logical reasons.  They buy for emotional reasons.

Money isn’t the most important thing in life, but it’s reasonably close to oxygen on the “gotta have it” scale.

On leadership:

You cannot perform in a manner inconsistent with the way you see yourself.

Remember that failure is an event, not a person.

On attitude (which can be applied to both leadership and selling):

People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.

Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.

A lot of people quit looking for work as soon as they find a job.

If God would have wanted us to live in a permissive society He would have given us Ten Suggestions and not Ten Commandments.

You can’t make it as a wandering generality. You must become a meaningful specific.

You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.

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