I'm sitting in the public speaking course audience of about sixty. The public speaking course speaker is announced, and confidently makes his way onto the stage. He shakes the announcer's hand and proceeds to look at the eager crowd.

He is poised and ready. He is all jazzed up. He is dressed quite appropriately. He beams a huge smile. He inhales a deep breath. He is revving up to speak. His voice is strong. His message is bold. His style is powerful. He moves across the stage like an experienced pro. This guy has all the goods of a great motivational speaker for a public speaking course.

But after studying him for about thirty seconds, I thought, "Oh, no. Not another Zig Ziglar."

Don't get me wrong. He was good. Quite good. The public speaking course audience was rather engaged. If you're not familiar with Zig, he's a dynamo speaker and public speaking course trainer. At times he can be clocked speaking at gusts of 100 miles per hour. He is well known in corporate circles and headlines at numerous speaking events and public speaking courses. In fact, I own one of his earlier tape albums.

There are many self-development students, sales experts, and big-name consultants who have benefited from his public speaking course programs. He is a big influence on many motivational speakers. There are many newbie speakers who adopt his speaking style following his public speaking course.

Some become his copycats. They copy his delivery, gestures and even his content. They mirror him in every way, shape and form. They may even duplicate some of his humor with a twist. It's a form of hero worship. I've seen one fellow from India do this on the same public speaking course program with Zig. He probably promotes himself as the Indian version of Zig.

But to me, they're nothing more than a bunch of lost actors. They imitate someone else's voice, lines and stage presence. There's very little new material. Most of their content has been reworked and reworded, but it did not originate from them.

If a public speaking course audience member tells you, "He sounds just like so-and-so," she's probably right. Then she begins comparing him to so-and-so. Then she thinks, "If I wanted to see so-and-so, I would have. But I came to see this guy, and I didn't get anything new to take home with me. I've heard this stuff before."

That's the problem of being labeled a copycat. People become aware of the differences right up front. Later in the program, for various reasons, some begin to discount the copycat. With this in mind, why would any public speaking course speaker want to begin their career on the coattails of another? As a speaker, you have an authentic voice of your own. You are unique, and so are your personal stories. You don't sell more books, get more notoriety or grab more public speaking course bookings by being a clone, unless you're a celebrity imitator. Imitators offer some value, but you offer a distinct value no one on the planet can duplicate.

Be your unique self, and the world will know who you are according to your own distinct value. Make your value count even more by being authentic.