I showed up last week, all eyes and ears, scanned their street-smarts, compared their stuff with my front-line findings, captured some correlations. Here they are:

1. Love your clients:

Nothing beats this. Love them, care about them, empathize with them -- all in addition to serving them superbly. Help them feel better. Give them hope.

People today, regardless of their station in life, are inundated with negativity from special interests, from society's underbelly, from wild-eyed radicals with nothing to lose, from downsizings and mergers, from inhumane unprincipled acts in defiance of decency -- and callous disregard for valid interests.

Through your understanding, your presence and your positive ideas, you have a chance to affect attitudes and self-sense of everybody you contact.

This, in turn, impacts productivity, sales and profits. That's one way you make a difference -- difference your clients yearn for.

2. Deliver extra value:

Sweeten deal with unexpected extras. Go extra mile every which way. Do more than is expected, more than is required, more than anyone in their right mind would do!

Dazzle decision-makers with surprising extras. Make yourself absolutely unforgettable. Here's how you do this: Pay resolute attention to every possible detail. Amaze them with extras. Extra thoughtfulness. Extra concern for their interests. Extra care.

3. Build long-term relationships:

master n. (1.) a revered leader, (2.) an artist or performer of consummate skill (3.) One whose work serves as a model or ideal.

speaker n. (1.) one who speaks, educates, or trains.

Many people stand before audiences and speak, educate, or train. What qualities set master speaker apart? What aspects of character, what business practices, what habits, what attitudes, what stance, cause a speaker to be recognized as a master?

This pastiche is keyed in with no notes, no references. Just my gut. That's where my views are born. That's where your views are born. From your core, from your essence, from your deepest feelings. Let's see if you're able to agree with my gut convictions. The qualities and aspects of a master speaker are these:

1. Integrity: Without this sterling quality, nothing else matters. I mean being more than as good as your word. I mean living and breathing with bone-deep resolve that if you say it, you live it-regardless of cost.

This includes your accountabilities to each of your constituencies: decision-maker who hires you, client paying your fee, audience before which you're privileged to stand. Each expects value in return for their investment of faith or money or time in you.

2. In-depth research: Do you show up and deliver a standard shtick...the same piece you rolled out last week? The same piece you'll present next week somewhere else? If so, you're an actor, a performer, yes. Well and good. world needs you. And you're not a master speaker! The master speaker does adequate research. Every time.