What Makes a Motivational Speaker?

This is the age of corporate training and motivational speaking. You find motivational speakers everywhere – in corporate circles, educational institutions, social awareness campaigns, and even in religious settings.

More than a speaker, a motivational speaker is identified as a performer – one who inspires people by what they say, and the manner in which they say it. They stand on the stage and address large audiences. So they must impress people by their speech. People should not want to leave when they hear him or her speak. The speech should connect to their emotional and mental levels. There must be something in the speech that makes people think differently to how they have been thinking till then.

And that should result in them performing better at work or living better in a more pleasing and productive manner, depending on the purpose for which the motivational speaker was called. The speaker must therefore be an expert in the whole purpose behind the whole speech. By their speech, motivational speakers should enable people to understand their abilities and talents better.       

So what does a motivational speaker need?  Basically, an eye to see things differently or at least present them differently. It helps to be well read and know quite a lot of stuff since you’ll be presented as an expert. Make sure you have many anecdotes and motivational stories to engage the audience.  Importantly, you must have a clear picture as to why you have been called – what are the expectations of the organizers? If corporate organizations have called you to speak, it could be to make their staff perform better or make them more innovative in their thinking and approach. If it is a meeting for social causes or a family gathering, the speech could be to make the people live more productive lives.

Whatever be the ultimate goal, motivational speakers must use their amazing oratory and out-of-the-box thinking to transform the audience. One such person who has had a good deal of experience in motivational speech, and is a frequently invited speaker at various events, is Peter Theodorou. His experience in India has helped him to realize how people can beat the odds to reach the higher rungs of the corporate ladder.

He says, “Motivational speakers too need motivation!” Make sure you have that in good measure when you’re on the stage.

Fight for Your Dreams – Don’t Let Fear of Failure Stop You, says Peter Theodorou

Paulo Coelho said, “Remember your dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want from life. There is just one thing that makes your dream become impossible: the fear of failure.”

Unfortunately, many people do give up on their dreams because they fear failure. As a motivational speaker who has traveled widely across the world, Peter Theodorou says he has come across many people who have done so. According to him, if you have a dream, the first thing you should do is overcome any fear of failure. Allowing fear to take precedence will prevent you from moving forward to achieve your goals and lead you to miss many great opportunities in life.

Many successful people admit that they experienced fear of failure when they started out, but that this didn’t hold them back because of the way they decided how to look at it. This simply means that proactive people see failure as a stepping stone to success and not the “end of the world”. Every time they fail, they analyze the experience and learn from it. These lessons keep them from making the same mistake again and encourage them to persevere until they succeed. 

There are several reasons why you should follow your dreams and fight for them. For one thing, dreams make life worth living. They are the reason to keep you going, and even if you fail, you should get up and try again. 

Don’t let negative self-talk get in the way. Believe in yourself and take that risk with the confidence that you will eventually succeed, says Theodorou. Most people are afraid of what will happen if they fail. What you should realize is that the effects won’t be that bad and won’t kill you. So debunk all your fear of failure and chase your goals enthusiastically. 

Time will pass and if you follow your dreams and are successful you will experience a great sense of achievement. Imagine how things would be if you hadn’t make the effort. Even if you don’t make it, you will have the satisfaction that you tried. As someone said, it’s so much better to be at the bottom of the right ladder than the top of the wrong ladder!

Theodorou concluded one of his motivational speeches on the subject of fighting for one’s dreams with a quote from Winston Churchill: “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”