Motivational Speaking: Main Traits of Successful Motivational Speakers

This article will do 2 things for you:

1. Talk briefly about some common (but quite funny) stereotypes of motivational speakers. We will take a look at some real life examples of the enormous variety of motivational speakers on the circuit today.

2. Give a little excellent tips on giving your own motivational speeches exploring the top 6 key ingredients successful motivational speakers have in common.

The ultimate goal of this article is to help you empower yourself to create and deliver your own inspiring pep talks so that you can go ahead and help others make positive changes in their own lives.

SPEAK IT OUT LOUD

When someone starts talking about motivational speakers, most people:

1. Mention your own favorite speakers and share how those speakers changed your life, or

2. Roll your eyes and grow.

… Most of the time, people do the latter.

When it comes to stereotypes, motivational speakers seem to get the blunt end of the stick. Often perceived as frantic, loud and direct, this type of public speaking is commonly dismissed as being, well, everyone talks.

However, there is a very definite (and growing) fan base for motivational presentations. After all, the words of inspiration and insight shared by a really good motivational speaker can create the kind of “aha” moments that really resonate.

By inciting positive change for everything from kicking bad habits to pursuing your dreams and living the life you’ve envisioned, quality speakers can motivate their audiences to realize the inner potential for success that lives within all of us.

The fact is that a strong motivational speaker can be a real force to be reckoned with, regardless of what your own personal opinion of them is.

DIFFERENT SPEAKERS. DIFFERENT APPROACHES. SAME POINT.

Really good, established motivational speakers have some pretty decent coin: Tony Robbins, for example, charges at least $100,000 per commitment.

The reason for this is that good motivators can impact the lives of thousands in a single presentation, creating a literally exponential return on investment.

But the tactics they use to inspire are often drastically different, so how do they all end up making the same impact?

Let’s take a look at the very different styles of the top 3 motivational speakers to figure this out.

– Tony Robbins: Energetic Motivation

Tony Robbins’ high-energy, high-volume, high-audience-engagement performances have inspired millions of people to pursue their dreams. He literally knocks attendees out of their seats, hypes them up, and boldly yells affirmative success mantras together.

The end result is a multitude of inspired entrepreneurs who are ready to “ask better questions and get better answers as a result”—answers that will (hopefully) help them walk the path to success and happiness.

– Dr. Roberta Bondar: Intelligent Inspiration

Other speakers, like the amazing and super-intelligent astronaut Dr. Roberta Bondar, choose to share their motivational public speaking with more intimate audiences in specific niches and settings.

Dr. Bondar’s approach is remarkably very different from Tony Robbins; his presence and his words are significantly quieter and his conversations tend to keep the decibels at levels more pleasing to the ear. But his message consistently inspires people to seek their “peak performance potential” while shedding pearls of wisdom and offering food for thought.

– Steve Rizzo: Hilariously helpful

However, other speakers rely on comedy to get their message across, like the hilarious Steve Rizzo. Having stepped away from his career as a comedian who shared the stage with greats like Jerry Seinfeld and Rodney Dangerfield, Steve uses his keen sense of comedy to deliver messages of perseverance through adversity that inspire crowds to “live the dream.” “. For Steve, laughter is the best motivation.

When you sum it all up, successful motivational speakers come in all shapes and styles, but they all manage to inspire their audiences to make impactful, positive changes in their lives.

They do this by finding their own presentation style and playing with it. By figuring out what works best for them and using it to their advantage, they successfully add an air of authenticity to their talks. And this authenticity is crucial.

After all, no one wants to listen to someone who doesn’t sincerely believe 1000% in what they are preaching!

As Rich Libner of MCP Speakers, the top motivational speaker booking agent, says when discussing his own list of speakers on the circuit:

“It’s important to remember that motivational speakers like Tony Robbins, Roberta Bondar, or Steve Rizzo aren’t that much different from the rest of us. They all have fears, failures, difficulties, and dirty dishes.”

So if they can speak to and inspire crowds of people, then so can you!

WHAT TO SAY AND HOW TO SAY IT

Believe it or not, there is a basic recipe for creating and delivering a successful motivational speech.

Whether you decide to use Mr. Robbins’ over-the-top energetic approach or Steve Rizzo’s comedic delivery, following these key ingredients will help you on your path to motivational speaking success.

1. Tell a good story, and tell it well.

Our evolutionary history has predisposed us to love a good story.

Consider this: every known culture in human history has stories. From sitting by the fire and listening to the old men tell tales of gods and monsters to buying a movie ticket and immersing ourselves in an epic cinematic experience – we as a species, absolutely love a good story. We always have.

Take advantage of this love to get and keep your audience’s attention. A good story uses a recognizable pattern to convey meaning, the most common pattern being the classic failure-epiphany-struggle-success plot…

I know. I love it. use it

2. Be clear what you are talking about.

No one likes to hear someone blabber away without an easy point to spot. Like Charlie Brown’s teacher, public speakers who speak without clear intent or purpose quickly lose audience attention and become background noise.

Keep it nimble and on point. Let your audience know within the first 2 minutes why you are talking to them and what you are talking about. After that, make sure that every anecdote, story, and piece of advice you tell ties directly to your purpose for being there.

In other words, give them a road map of what to expect from your presentation, and stick with it!

3. Create your own entry.

Returning to point number 2, a good way to create your own post is to let your audience know what to expect from the start. Tony Robbins is a master at this, often beginning his oral presentations with the following formula:

Today I will talk about _______. I’m talking about it because ________. My ultimate goal is to motivate you to ________ so you can ________. [-> Enter engaging but simple question to cap your intro and spur audience participation here.]

You don’t have to copy that exact formula, but I hope you get the idea.

After establishing your roadmap, one of the best ways to further encourage audience buy-in is to encourage engagement. There are more ways to encourage audience engagement than this article can list, but a key point is to make sure engagement is guided and relevant (and safe!).

For ideas on ways to encourage positive audience engagement, just Google “audience engagement.”

4. Stay positive.

The #1 best way to alienate your audience is to be depressing. This includes pointing fingers at someone to annoy throughout your presentation, recounting horrible things that happened to people without providing a positive twist or ending, and generally being a low-energy depressing Debbie.

The key to motivation, especially motivational speaking, is to stay positive. People pay attention to you because they are looking for some kind of positive change, so stay positive with your motivational messages!

5. Offer a different way of seeing things.

A fundamental ingredient in creating positive change is to alter the way you see things.

As the famous motivational speaker Wayne Dyer once said, “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”

…Pretty deep, right?

It is also 100% true. Psychologists and marketers alike have known for decades that the most important way to bring about positive change is to foster a positive outlook. From addiction treatment to brand loyalty, the power to alter a person’s perspective is undeniable.

Inspire your audience to see things differently by sharing a different (and positive) lens through which to view life’s challenges and difficulties.

6. Practice. Practice. Practice.

…Then practice some more.

Polished motivational speaking doesn’t happen overnight and even top-notch motivational professionals still fail from time to time. However, practice makes perfect, so practice for perfection!

MOTIVATION SUSTAINED MOTIVATION

In the end, the most motivating part of any inspirational speech is what the audience chooses to do with what they just heard. So help them make the right decision by using the 6 tips above the next time you decide to get up and say sweet words of inspiration!