Motivational speaker Allen Fishman spoke to around 120 business school students, faculty, alumni and local business owners about his new book “The Seven Secrets of Great Entrepreneurial Masters.”He also talked about his company The Alternative Board, the largest franchise system in the world, which provides coaches for small business owners.

“Move a business to the next level,” he said “and also your personal life to the next level.”

Fishman gave a PowerPoint presentation summarizing key parts of his book, explaining briefly what the seven secrets are. He said great entrepreneurial masters have high levels of accountability, optimism and most of all passion.

“An important part of it is soul searching what is really right for you,” he said.

An open question and answer forum was allowed after the presentation.

Masters of Business Administration Melissa Rawlins, said she liked the way Fishman answered the questions.

“What I really liked about him, is which I think is his secret, is that he looked people in the eye and answered their questions with great sincerity and appreciation for them and for what their question was,” she said.

After the event, selected MBA students went to a private dinner with the speaker. They were selected by short essays they submitted on why they would benefit from the dinner, said Ed Riefenstahl, director of experiential learning.

“It’s a little less intimidating than standing in front of 120 people to ask a question,” said Bill Cron, associate dean of graduate programs.

The event is part of the Neeley Speaker Series funded externally this year by PricewaterhouseCoopers, said Riefenstahl.

The company funded the series to increase visibility of their brand in the School of Business, said PricewaterhouseCoopers partner William Leonard.

“Our firm is one of the largest recruiters of college graduates,” he said. “We identify schools that we want to use as our recruiting source.”

Alex Rodriguez, an MBA student, said he really liked the speaker.

“I got to hear what goes on to forming and creating and being successful in entrepreneurial business,” he said. “I hope that the future speakers are as good as this one was.