Tweet

Business Speaker is a Thief

Guest post by: George Torok

Article Overview: How would you like that to be the news headline after your next business speech? Business speakers and companies need to be more aware of what intellectual property they might be stealing.

Business Speaker is a Thief

How would you like that to be the news headline after your next business speech? Business speakers and companies need to be more aware of what intellectual property they might be stealing. Sometimes good people steal without realizing it - especially intellectual property. However ignorance has never been a valid legal nor ethical defense. Of course stupidity and arrogance are not acceptable arguments either.

At a public conference I witnessed a corporate business speaker as she clearly used copywrited music and video in her presentation (popular music, TV theme song, video commercials, main stream movies). She used so many clips from so many sources that I cannot imagine how she obtained permission. And at no time did she allay the concerns of her audience by stating that she had obtained permission to use this copywrited material in her presentation. At no time did she state, "Used with the permission of ..."

I can only assume that this business speaker was a thief. She took something that wasn't hers, didn't get permission, didn't pay for it, and didn't acknowledge the source. On top of that she did it with that haughty corporate executive superior 'can't touch this' attitude. Have you noticed how some corporate executives act as if they are above the law?

Some might suggest that the theft of intellectual property doesn't hurt anyone. Tell that to authors. Tell that to patent holders. Tell that to artists. Tell that to inventors.

Yes, I know that in corporate meetings managers and executives get away with pirating cartoons and images in their PowerPoint presentations. It's still theft. I wonder how those corporate executives would feel about entrepreneurs stealing their intellectual property.

The irony about this speaker was that she was speaking to a public meeting of entrepreneurs. She warned entrepreneurs that corporate purchasing departments would steal their designs if they could. She warned the entrepreneurs to protect their Intellectual Property.

Yet while warning about the illegal and unethical behavior of her corporate colleagues, she was demonstrating her own blatant theft in her presentation. I don't believe this speaker was stupid. She appeared intelligent and educated. She expressed an understanding of the value of Intellectual Property; therefore she could not profess ignorance. Her manner conveyed arrogance - in that Conrad Black divine entitlement way. So I can only conclude that she was a thief - a blatant and arrogant thief.

Curious that this business speaker had told me how excited she was that she was now writing and speaking for a professional association. Most professional associations claim a code of ethics. I wonder if that association was aware of the unethical practice of one of its newest writers and speakers. I wonder if this business speaker would recognize herself when reading this article.

Don't let this be the headline after your next presentation. "Business Speaker is a Thief."

Don't be an intellectual property thief.

PS: No I will not tell you who this speaker is. PPS: Yes, if you are this speaker and you call me to ask if I mean you - I will tell you.

Related Articles
  ID Theft - Fastest growing financial crime in America
  Connecting With Speakers
  How to Give Outstanding Speaker Introductions in Five Easy Steps
  Always on (everybody markets)
  Top Ten Listening Techniques
  New Rules for Listening
  Into the Mind of a Shoplifter
  Didn’t I park my car here?
  How To Create Believability in a Keynote Speech
  Speaking Can Increase Sales If You are A Business Coach or Business Consultant
  3 Time Tested Useful Tips For Effective Listening
  The Art of Effective Listening
  Choosing the Perfect Opening Convention Speaker
  3rd TIDE Innovation Series
  Home-based Business: Resource Speaker
  Workplace Heists
  The 7 Secrets To The Best Home Business
  Top Must Have Assets to be a Sought-After Leadership Speaker
  Exceptional Listening Skills
  The Lazarus Philosophy: The Danger of Expectations and The Beauty of Duty

Article Tags: coaching, presentation skills, presenting, public speaking



Related Forum Posts
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Exclusive: Interview with Results - Hi Forum Members, I'm helping start up a Business Coaching and Consulting company here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (a Subsidiary of RSC Business in Los Angeles). As a Research and Development Intern I am required to practice my listening and interview skills by surveying Small and Medium Businesses on thier Business. This Survey is designed by RSC Business to also assist the Business being interviewed more insight into their own business. I am looking to interview about 30 businesses across North America over the span of 3 months. At the end of these interviews I will be publishing a report of the results and they will be made available for free to the Interviewees. The Report data will include responses from a minimum of 100 interviews. I would like to extend this opportunity to members of the Forum. If you would like to have this short 20-30 minute interview conducted on your Business and you reside in North America please send me an email or PM. Please contact me at andy[at]jvprosperity[dot]com to arrange our interview and to get free access to the results when they are published.
Re: HOw to market a B2B consulting company - [quote="zohahunt77":428owzbi]Hi, I was wondering if anyone can tell me the difference between B2B and B2C. I don’t know about b2b marketing but I have done marketing so know things about it. I will suggest you to take online services which will spread your business all over web network. Online marketing is the best way to market any business.[/quote:428owzbi] B2B = Business to Business - You are marketing to other businesses. B2C = Business to Consumer - You are marketing to consumers.
English teachers learn Japanese as Interns - Yasunori, what about the many students that leave N. America to teach English in Japan. They may want to learn Japanese (maybe Business Japanese is a bit different) and the Japanese Business Culture.
New Study - Women prepare better business plans - I found an article in Business Week and I found this quite interesting. [quote:ka7lg35i]Who Prepares Better Business Plans, Men or Women? A new study based on four years of data from men and women in a training program for microenterprises finds that they come out the same in quality scores. "However, women scored significantly better on the presentation of their plan to judges," conclude the study's authors, Ronald G. Cook, Paul Belliveau, and Christine Lentz of Rider University, in a paper presented at a recent meeting of the Small Business Institute. [/quote:ka7lg35i] What do you guys think?


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Effective Leadership

Executives and Elevators Perfecting That Pitch

How To Be Happy at Work? Acknowledge Yourself

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.