Return to Up Your Fee centerstage

From here, you can discover the three sides of Jim Barber —

the good (what an absolutely incredible human being I am)

the bad (the other side of the coin)

or the ugly (snapshots that are definitely not Glamour Photo material)

Just Who Is
Jim Barber?

One of the bad things about NSA events is the throngs of "successful" speakers. When you ask "What's new?" (and even if you don't ask), you will likely be inundated with stories of incredible successes, standing ovations, and worshiping customers.

It sounds good, but I don't believe it.

Mind you, I'm not accusing these people of lying. But I recognize that it's the nature of professional speakers to be inspiring, motivating and uplifting. And that oftentimes requires the ability to see only the silver lining, and to ignore the dark cloud of doom completely.

It's understandable. But I still get tired of it.

While I'm on the subject, have you ever noticed how many speakers' photos bear no resemblance whatsoever to the speaker in real life? What must meeting planners think when they hire a speaker whose photo makes them look like a dead ringer for a J.C. Penney catalog model, and then the "real thing" shows up for their event? Talk about sticker shock!

So for my obligatory "about jim barber" entry in my Up Your Fee web site, I'm taking a different approach. I'm providing both the "good" description of Jim Barber — so absolutely uplifting that I impress myself — and the "bad" description — the trials and tribulations that, to hear speakers at NSA events talk, I apparently am the only speaker to suffer.

I'm also providing a series of pictures of me. I definitely do not resemble a J.C. Penney model. But the pictures, as distateful as they appear to be, are reasonably accurate. (However, I do not understand why so many of them show me holding an alcoholic drink. Bad timing, I guess.)

For convenience, I've labeled these the good, the bad, and the ugly....

• The good is a the description of what an incredible speaker — not to mention an all-around terrific human being — I am,
• the bad is a description of what has been happening in the other parts of my life, and
• the ugly is my previously-mentioned photo album.

Which of these descriptions is true? Each one of them is true. Which of these descriptions is "the truth"? The truth is composed of the total of each of them — and more.

I am good. I am bad. And I am not-so-handsome. What you see (or read about) is what you get....

  Jim Barber