Are You a Good Tipper?

Dinner.

You're out with your significant other.  Your breathe in the smell of your favorite dish. Letting out a long sigh afterwards, briefly closing your eyes in anticipation of that first, savory bite.

You open them again and look across the table.  You smile, as the love of your life sits in front of you.  You're celebrating something that happened at work today - a promotion, closing a deal, or just the fact that you can sneak away for this impromptu date.  Life is good.

Enjoying every bit of the meal; cherishing the laughs and every piece of conversation, you reluctantly turn to the waiter and ask, "Barry, could we have the check please?"  Now, I don't know why the waiter's name is Barry, but just go with it.  You're reluctant not because you're afraid of the series of numbers and dots that will inevitably appear on the receipt, signifying a depressing drop in your bank account, but because you don't want dinner to end. 

You give your card to the waiter...er...Barry and he promptly comes back quicker than usual and, with a reserved frown you do something, noting that the evening was so good and the service exceptional.

What do you do?

You leave a tip.

I travel a lot and have a long drive to and from work. So, I listen to audio books via Audible (or podcasts) constantly.  Most of the time they are work related in nature - sales, NLP, leadership development - those sorts of things.  But, on occasion, I get a little burnt out and add something that makes me laugh.  Recently, I was listening to Billy Crystal's book Still Foolin' Them.  It's a great listen and at one point he's running through impression after impression while attending a dinner for Muhammad Ali - impressions like his Brando, "I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse."  He finishes his set and later has dinner with his agent.  He's expecting thanks, the seas to part, and to be greeted as the next comic savior.

Only he wasn't.

His agent tells him, "You did a great job and you were funny.  But all you did were bits.  You didn't leave a tip."

"A tip?"  Billy's confused at this point.

His agent then explains, "You didn't leave them with that special something that when they leave they'll remember you by.  It could be something personal: what you think about something - You're opinion and a slice of your life, perhaps.  Leave a tip."

Now, Billy went on to take this to heart - bombed at first, but then it became a staple of his routine and his career.

Which brings us to today's challenge.  Whenever you present, coach, train or just participate in a discussion - make sure you leave something special for your audience.  Something they can use, remember, or even just identify with.  Make sure your tip has something to do with you.  If you are successful, like the waiter (Barry), your audience will be grateful and walk away with something special.