Becoming A Motivational Speaker

What Is A Motivational Speaker?

"When Cicero spoke the people said "What a clever man he is." When Demosthenes spoke they said "Let's march!""

Demosthenes was a motivational speaker. He started off with a speech impediment which he corrected by putting marbles in his mouth. He also imposed an intense regimen of practice and public speaking exercises as a sort of self imposed motivational speaker training. He was motivating people to take up arms against tyranny, and that's why the French Resistance in World War 2 used him as their inspiration against their Phillip of Macedonia, Hitler.

A motivational speaker is simply a speaker who causes someone to do something.

It's important to be very clear about this and it can help to keep you focussed on your overall purpose when speaking. You are becoming a motivational speaker to the degree that you are giving people a reason to act, and then they are actually taking action.

In that case it's obvious that you need to be quite clear about exactly what it is you'd like them to do. It could be to sign a petition, vote for you, buy your book, sign up for your seminar or just run from the room and tell everyone they see what a brilliant motivational speaker you are!

Just as long as they do what you want.

When you're putting your talk together here's a good structure to follow to become a motivational speaker.

Monroe's Motivated Sequence

1. Attention - Hey you need to pay attention to this! - story, shocking statistics
2. Need - there's a problem, it's a big deal & it won't solve itself. And here's the proof.
3. Satisfaction - Here's what we can do to solve the problem.
4. Visualization - Here's what will happen if we do/don't solve this
5. Action - Here's what you can do

An Example Of A Motivational Speech Outline

1. Attention - Begin by telling a graphic, harrowing personal story of an incident when an alcoholic man beats his wife and kids. The man was my grandfather and one of the kids was my Dad. He was regarded as a good bloke by the society, which tolerated this type of abuse and readily excused it.
2. Need - This case is all too common in my country. Statistics on the dollar cost to the economy caused by alcohol abuse which is by far the most damaging drug in this society.
3. Satisfaction - Outline the steps both physical and most importantly to the prevailing mindset that need to be taken. Illustrate their effectiveness with overseas examples of success.
4. Visualization - Describe from both a single family perspective and a society perspective what happens is the status quo persists. Then describe your vision for a society where alcohol abuse is abhorrent and no longer treated as a bit of a laugh. Make it personal for all the parents in the room.
5. Action - Lay out with great care and clarity what you want the audience to do and close by suggesting that the time for the abuse to stop in families all over the country is not 5 years from now when x number of women have been killed by drunken partners. Nor is it y years from now when y number of kids will be beaten. The time for them to act is now.

Now if you were a concerned parent listening to such a speech can you envisage being motivated to take some action as a result of hearing it? Perhaps you have been concerned about the issue for some time but until now you were either not sufficiently moved, or perhaps too unsure about what to do. Maybe like most people today you were just too 'busy'.

As you can see from this example, becoming a motivational speaker can do a lot of good in society. Perhaps becoming a motivational speaker is what we all need to give some attention to?

One final thought. Demosthenes was a good example of something that all motivational speakers need to keep in mind. If you are serious about becoming a motivational speaker, then first be a motivated person. A huge part of your Ethos, your character or virtue in the eyes of your audience, is that you are motivated and taking action yourself.

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