With Brian Tracy, motivational speaker, business trainer and writer
I started following Brian about 15 years ago. Back then I was living in London and training sales people. Ever since I began learning Brian’s techniques it became my dream to meet him.
When I moved to Moscow I was invited to teach at Skolkovo business school.
One day Skolkovo’s management mentioned that they were looking for a new speaker for a big event. The idea was to find a big speaker who would agree to perform free of charge since there was no budget. I found out that Brian Tracy was going to be in Moscow that week also speaking at a very big event. So I made it my personal objective to get Brian to speak at Skolkovo even though usually he is very expensive to get.
I started to work with my local contacts to see who can connect us with him. And we did find one person who was managing Brian’s events. We reached out to him and we managed to get Brian to come to Skolkovo and speak free of charge in front of 700 people. That day in October 2013 was the first time when I was lucky to sit down with Brian Tracy and have a one-on-one chat.
“The way to get Brian to give a free speech at Skolkovo was through understanding his motivation”.
The way to get Brian to give a free speech at Skolkovo was through understanding his motivation. Naturally, he wanted to get more PR in Russia and to meet a lot of high-level customers who could afford to pay for his events. So, when I reached out to his manager, this was exactly what I said: “We have a very special event at Skolkovo where Brian will be able to speak in front of extremely high-level people and a lot of press will be present”. It was amazing that very quickly his manager confirmed to us that they were interested and that they would come.
The next time Brian came to Moscow, the organizers of his event asked me if I could come and speak about networking. Of course I agreed since I was very excited to be sharing stage with Brian Tracy. After the event I was invited to the VIP lunch where I was seated next to Brian. I asked him a couple of questions about his life and complimented him on the incredible things that he’s doing. I told him how he influenced my life and affected my work. I also asked Brian if I could follow up with him and meet with him again in the near future. He gave me his card and I sent him a follow-up email.
Аbout 2 weeks later I found out that we would be sharing stage again at a large-scale event. I remember that day very carefully because when I walked into the room full of all the speakers, Brian was the only one that I had actually met before. When we shook hands he said: “Hi Gil, good to see you again”. I was really honored that he remembered my name and also glad that I had managed to prepare the ground for our future connection.
Watch this great video where Brian Tracy reveals 7 keys to a positive personality: