Zig Ziglar, the iconic motivational speaker of our time, passed away Nov. 28. In his honor, I am updating and annotating an article I wrote in 1992 after I had the privilege to meet him for the first time, and to interview him.

“I almost failed as a salesman,” said Zig as he stood beside me an hour before delivering his motivational message to 2,700 Ziglar disciples.

“I had struggled for 2 ½ years. I was on a losing streak, but I never saw myself as a loser.” What verbal poetry. I was standing with the best motivational speaker of our time.

“I still had the fear of rejection,” Zig said. “I didn’t understand that prospects weren’t rejecting me; they were only rejecting the offer I was making them.”

Sales wisdom of the first order.

If every salesperson could grasp that philosophy, problems like cold call reluctance and fear of closing would evaporate.

“If it wasn’t for some words of encouragement from my company president, P.C. Merrell, I would have probably found another job,” said Zig. “Merrell said, ‘Ziglar, you have real ability; you’re champion caliber, I’m looking at you as a future officer of this company.’ Those words inspired me to become the No. 2 salesman in a company of 7,000 in one year,” said Zig with an intense yet peaceful look on his face. He says of his mentors, “Bill Cranford (the man credited with training Ziglar) got the salesman ready. P.C. Merrell got the man ready.”

That was a long time ago. It’s hard to count the years or the millions of dollars earned since then by this legendary salesman and speaker.

It’s a Tuesday, and Zigler is about to deliver an inspirational message to a Charlotte, N.C., audience he has delivered 300 times before. He told me he had rehearsed in his room last night for three hours. Talk about practice what you preach!

NOTE WELL: Zig Ziglar is a classic example of focus, dedication, and self-discipline.

Ziglar has been a sales and speaking inspiration to me for two decades. Now I’m standing next to him as he greets every one of the 125 VIP breakfast attendees as though he or she were a long-lost relative.

“Hi, I’m Zig Ziglar. Glad you could join us this morning,” he said to each person as he shook his or her hand. People brought books to autograph, had cameras to take photos, and all had something nice to say about this man who walks and talks with grace.

Now we’re live on stage. Zig has the entire audience in the palm of his hand. Bouncing across the stage, down on one knee, arms expressing the words he wants to punch, all in total control. A master of the spoken word.

There were close to 100 ideas I took away from Zig’s presentation – wisdom like …

• You can get whatever you want, if you help enough people get whatever they want.

• You were born to win, but you must plan to win, prepare to win, then you can expect to win.

• We hear or say the word “no” more than 116,000 times in our lifetime.

I left the hall feeling inspired, motivated and ready to conquer the world. So did everyone.

The passing of a giant. When someone who you admire dies, you immediately recall what they did for you, or how they affected you, or both.

I was fortunate to have met with Zig many times, see him speak many times, and got to talk with him “off the record.” Like Napoleon Hill and Dale Carnegie, Zig Ziglar’s message of hope, faith, and encouragement will live on for generations.