Gala co-chair Anna Brown and her husband, Greg Brown, chairman and CEO of Motorola Solutions Inc., held the silver Labrador puppy that, five minutes and $35,000 later, would be hers.

Not many men bring gym bags to black-tie galas. But Greg Dellinger does.

By day Mr. Dellinger, 47, is a recruiter for Chicago-based AAR Corp. On 15 or 20 evenings a year, he moonlights as an auctioneer, mostly for charities, and mostly as a volunteer. That’s why he was at the American Cancer Society Illinois Division’s Discovery Ball Saturday night, gym bag in tow.

For the last six years Mr. Dellinger has volunteered to run the Discovery Ball’s 10-item live auction. What happens during the fast-paced, 45-minute auction can mean the difference between a successful gala and a wildly successful gala. Previous auctions have accounted for as much as 10 percent of its $2 million or more net proceeds.

(Read Crain’s feature about CEOs Against Cancer, the group of executives that launched Discovery Ball, here.)

The black pleather satchel is a bag of tricks the Naperville father of four assembles to inspire himself, and bidders during the live auction. Over a quick cup of coffee at the Radisson Blu Aqua hotel, site of the gala and the auction, Mr. Dellinger revealed some of his auctioneer’s secrets.

The gym bag holds bottles of cold water (he doesn’t want to bother volunteers), a black binder filled with 30 pages of notes on the auction, and a big plastic sword. The sword, the symbol of the American Cancer Society, keeps Mr. Dellinger “grounded in the mission,” he says. Other knickknacks - a foam Chicago Bears finger, red-glitter “Faith” and “Hope signs” - help him whip the crowd into what he hopes will be a buying frenzy.

The bidders have had the catalog, a selection of items (a car, a ring), experiences (dinner for 14 cooked by “Iron Chef” Bobby Flay) and vacations (one to Portugal, another to Australia), for several months.

Mr. Dellinger arrived at the gala dressed for his quest: Cotton undershirt under his white dress shirt; white cotton handkerchief to mop the sweat that will appear not five minutes into the auction; clip-on tie that he’ll clip off within those five minutes. He scripts his own patter - it’s meant to excite, but never offend. “Don’t worry, it’s only money, it’ll grow back tomorrow” is a line he uses to great effect.

Saturday evening, he pleased to see the Radisson’s ballroom was on the small side - better to rev up the crowd of 850. He was unhappy that the room was a little stuffy; experience tells him that chill, not warmth, raises dough.

At 9:30 p.m., gala emcee Maria Bartiromo, host of CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” welcomed Mr. Dellinger to the stage. “Heynowheynowheynow,” he called, and with that the auction began. The first item, a luxury trip to Portugal valued at $8,400, sold for $12,000. The next, a trip to Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans, sold for $15,000, far less than its stated $22,600 value.

Not acceptable, he said. “You’re a cheerleader more than anything else,” Mr. Dellinger said. His jacket, velvet vest and tie came off. He walked deeper into the sea of tables.

It worked. He hit a live-auction “triple down,” the first in Discovery Ball’s history, with a dinner for 14 cooked by “Iron Chef” Bobby Flay, who was on hand to tout his gift. The first dinner sold for $74,000. Mr. Flay was so moved that he donated two more on the spot. Each sold for $72,000.

“That rarely happens,” an incredulous Mr. Dellinger said after the auction.

The live auction raised $418,000, almost double last year’s. Still, Mr. Dellinger never walks away without some regret. “When I drive home, I think about the money left in the room” - the guest who was willing to spend $34,000 on a puppy, but lost it to the guy who bid $35,000. “There were people in that group who wanted to spend money, but I couldn’t get it,” he says. “That gets me geared up for the next event.”

The ball netted $2.7 million to fund American Cancer Society Illinois Division’s cancer education and prevention programs.