The term motivational speaker is an illusive one. It implies a call to action and an ability to change behaviour.
Importantly though, there should be mechanisms provided by the motivational speaker to sustain these changes.
The last generation of motivators were adept at getting an audience to believe that "they can do it"; but they failed to provide the tools and skills to implement their new-found aspirations.
Sustainable motivation is now the key and is facilitated by modern speakers in, broadly speaking, two ways:
The Metaphoric Style of Motivational Speaker
We cite Graeme Joy, the first Australian to the North Pole, as a classic example. As he speaks he takes your team on a trip to the North Pole with him. Your target may be business or personal achievements but Graeme Joy's description of the definition of success, the personality types, leader selection, conflict resolution and change management, bear striking parallels to the challenges you face with your team.
The Specifically Tailored Motivational Speaker
For this area, we cite Ian Stephens. Like Graeme Joy, Ian Stephens will go through a very thorough briefing with you. Ian, however, targets a specific problem in your company and sets about not only motivating you to do something about it, but also providing the tools to show you how to carry out the appropriate changes. He will then go on to show you how to measure the changes. As another excellent motivational speaker, Bob Miller, often comments, "If you can't measure it, don't do it".
What Makes a Great Motivational Speaker?
While sustainability is certainly a critical factor, a speaker's skills as a communicator are fundamental. A guest speaker must also be possessed of outstanding communication skills, structured contact and an ability to entertain. There must also be an ability to create a bond with an audience - interestingly something that does not translate well to video technology. In short, motivational speaking requires extensive preparation and good, old fashioned hard work, but importantly the possession of a rare gift for communication.
The Benefit of the Motivational Speaker
The professional motivational speaker comes into their own at important events – delivering a message, announcing a new initiative or launching a new sales campaign.
If you consider for one moment the launch of a new sales campaign with, for instance, 800 sales people in the audience. This engagement includes a featured 1 hour speech. The time involved here is effectively 800 hours. This translates to 100 working days, and over 13 weeks.
There is unquestionably a lot a stake and a compelling argument to invest in a quality motivational speaker.
A selection of quality motivational speakers is included below…
Allana Corbin (nee Arnot)
Stella Axarlis
Tony Bullimore
Tony Christiansen
Herb Elliott
Michael Carr-Gregg
Terri Hawkins
Bryce Courtenay
Michael Coyne
Li Cunxin
John Lees
Mark Bouris
Yossi Ghinsberg
Martin Grunstein
Peter Hillary
Chris Helder
Graeme Joy
Rod McGeoch
Brigitte Muir
Mike Munro
Gregory David Roberts
Ian Stephens
Robert Swan
Follow this link for an extensive list of motivational speakers.
