I'd been dying to see Jordan Belfort live after I'd read his book over the Summer, so when I got accepted as a volunteer for the show, meaning I got to see it in it's entirety while saving myself the €50 student ticket, I was f*king delighted.
The RDS was at full capacity with a crowd of just under 3,000, mostly filled with eager Irish salespeople and entrepreneurs looking to digest Belfort's unmatched sales techniques, public speaking ability and entrepreneurial attributes, despite his overt wrongdoing during his time on Wall Street. I was put in charge on a section and despite the unreserved seating, everyone seemed happy to sit where they could. The screens in the RDS were massive so there was no chance you'd miss him, even in the last row.
Belfort took to the stage and thanked co-founder Jamie White and the College Times team for organising the event in a mere matter of weeks, which generally takes four or five months to sell out.
"I think that this is probably the greatest time for people to make changes and become successful in Ireland." stated the former Wall Street stockbroker. His Straight Line sales enablement methodology requires participants to honestly grade themselves from 1 to 10 on their various sales attributes and skills, and their final mark determines what milieu of salesperson they are categorised under.
Advertisement
The energy in the room was electric as Belfort managed to keep the crowd alive for 3 solid hours, encouraging them to shout 'YES!', 'I AM AN ASSET' and 'I LOVE MONEY' amongst other things. I was almost surprised to see a crowd of Irish surrendering to the oh-so-American way of motivation. As a nation renowned for it's modesty, it was fascinating as an onlooker to see three thousand people smack their chest and then high five each other, finishing with hugs all round.
There was a real sense of empowerment as I guided people out of the RDS last night, a definite feeling of hope, confidence and s sh*t load of people thinking, 'if he can do it, then so can I'
I'm not a fan of the mistakes he made in his personal life, but last night Jordan Belfort inspired me in a way that shocked me. He's a 51 year old American who's got a lot of making up to do, but I won't be forgetting his words any time soon.
