Motivational/Inspirational speakers - what do they do?
Discussion
I've recently been contacted by 2 former school friends on LinkedIn & Facebook who have a profile full of inspirational quotes, invites to seminars & networking events etc. They both have similar generic websites with photos of them smiling and giving presentations in hotels to a crowd of smart-casuals, and full of corporate buzzwords and how they can improve profitability, calling themselves "entrepreneurial experts" or "motivational queen" etc.
In my 20+ corporate years, I've never been to one of these networking events, and besides seeing these websites and profiles, I tend to just think "spam" and move on.
They both come across to me like Apprentice candidates - lots of ambition and self-belief, but neither seem to have much in the way of the conventional trappings of success or much in the way of any tangible experience of running a business, besides charging people a lot of money to talk in corporate-speak. Neither of them were particularly stand-out at school, one was even considered a bully.
Both also have written books, or at least got their name on a white label, and offer one to one coaching courses, but despite lots of words on their websites, I'm still not actually sure "what they do"?
In my 20+ corporate years, I've never been to one of these networking events, and besides seeing these websites and profiles, I tend to just think "spam" and move on.
They both come across to me like Apprentice candidates - lots of ambition and self-belief, but neither seem to have much in the way of the conventional trappings of success or much in the way of any tangible experience of running a business, besides charging people a lot of money to talk in corporate-speak. Neither of them were particularly stand-out at school, one was even considered a bully.
Both also have written books, or at least got their name on a white label, and offer one to one coaching courses, but despite lots of words on their websites, I'm still not actually sure "what they do"?
Edited by S11Steve on Wednesday 18th January 11:20
iphonedyou said:
All of the above is what they do.
Agreed. If they were good at what they talk about, they would be doing it rather than talking about it in the conference room of a local hotel.The best motivational speakers are those that have real experience of coming through a tough challenge. My company hired this to give us a motivational talk. That was about 10 years ago and ever time I feel under pressure or having a tough day I think of this guy.
https://www.chrismoon.co.uk/
Chris Moon Website said:
Chris Moon is a motivational speaker who walks the talk. He was blown up in Africa clearing landmines and lost his lower arm and leg. Less than a year after leaving hospital he completed the London Marathon and now runs the world's toughest ultra-marathons. He’s one of the few Westerners to have survived being taken prisoner by Khmer Rouge guerrillas.
98elise said:
Not sure what these "nobodys" can really bring to the party with their sessions, but good luck to them if people buy into it.
This thread has reminded me of Richard Denny, who passed away last year. Experienced several of his motivational speeches when I worked for a bank and the outcome was always the same. Leave conference all fired-up and thinking you are the top dog, only to sink back down to pre-conference levels of motivation within a matter of days.
I've had the pleasure of listening to some after dinner speakers at various management events - Dame Ellen MacArthur was the one that really impressed me, and I can see that these people have got a place to speak. After all, they have reached the top of their game and have some good experiences and entertaining stories to share.
But some dude who has worked in a shop for a couple of years, done some admin work, maybe sold a few bits on ebay, suddenly becomes a business guru, I don't get it. I can't see how any self-respecting MD would hire one to try to shake up a business. It reminds me far too much of the e-book businesses that were around 10 years ago - set yourself up as a "multi-revenue-stream" entrepreneur and tell people they can buy your e-book, put their name on it and emulate your (perceived) success...
I've looked at these FB profiles again of my former school mates, and both are connected to hundreds of people all doing the same thing, and using the same buzzwords.
But some dude who has worked in a shop for a couple of years, done some admin work, maybe sold a few bits on ebay, suddenly becomes a business guru, I don't get it. I can't see how any self-respecting MD would hire one to try to shake up a business. It reminds me far too much of the e-book businesses that were around 10 years ago - set yourself up as a "multi-revenue-stream" entrepreneur and tell people they can buy your e-book, put their name on it and emulate your (perceived) success...
I've looked at these FB profiles again of my former school mates, and both are connected to hundreds of people all doing the same thing, and using the same buzzwords.
A lot of these sorts of people fall into the category of "Life Coach" which is the biggest load of old b
ks a going. There are some very few exceptions in highly specialised fields.
I personally know a few 'Life Coaches" and think its some form of self-therapy as they are all in more need of some life coaching than those they coach. Many of them lack any form or proper cognitive training and I have one friend who used a Life Coach when she should have used a Physciatrist and the experience did her a lot of harm.
But there's a market for it, that's for sure
There are some very very good speakers out there. There are the after dinner, sporting achiever types from which you can draw great inspiration. And there are industry / sector specialist speakers who can be exceptionally engaging and entertaining and very rarely will you have to pay anything to listen to them.
If you need inspiration from someone speaking, spend an evening or two trawling TED talks - some brilliant stuff on there!
ks a going. There are some very few exceptions in highly specialised fields. I personally know a few 'Life Coaches" and think its some form of self-therapy as they are all in more need of some life coaching than those they coach. Many of them lack any form or proper cognitive training and I have one friend who used a Life Coach when she should have used a Physciatrist and the experience did her a lot of harm.
But there's a market for it, that's for sure
There are some very very good speakers out there. There are the after dinner, sporting achiever types from which you can draw great inspiration. And there are industry / sector specialist speakers who can be exceptionally engaging and entertaining and very rarely will you have to pay anything to listen to them.
If you need inspiration from someone speaking, spend an evening or two trawling TED talks - some brilliant stuff on there!
98elise said:
iphonedyou said:
All of the above is what they do.
Agreed. If they were good at what they talk about, they would be doing it rather than talking about it in the conference room of a local hotel.The best motivational speakers are those that have real experience of coming through a tough challenge. My company hired this to give us a motivational talk. That was about 10 years ago and ever time I feel under pressure or having a tough day I think of this guy.
https://www.chrismoon.co.uk/
Chris Moon Website said:
Chris Moon is a motivational speaker who walks the talk. He was blown up in Africa clearing landmines and lost his lower arm and leg. Less than a year after leaving hospital he completed the London Marathon and now runs the world's toughest ultra-marathons. He’s one of the few Westerners to have survived being taken prisoner by Khmer Rouge guerrillas.
From his website:
"On a cold and misty morning in October 1975, Richard McCann woke to discover his mother was missing. He was just five years old. She was the first victim of the notorious Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe.
Despite other tragic losses, and a period of dabbling with drugs and prison, Richard decided to turn his life around"
Genuinely inspiring guy.
Notice a lot of this stuff myself. It seems to attract a lot of people who want to label themselves an entrepreneur, wear a shiny suit and post BS quotes. I guess real business people are busier just getting on with running a business tbh. Or posting on PH forum when they should be running a business.
Mr Overheads said:
In a similar vein, look up http://www.richardmccann.co.uk/1975-to-today/
From his website:
"On a cold and misty morning in October 1975, Richard McCann woke to discover his mother was missing. He was just five years old. She was the first victim of the notorious Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe.
Despite other tragic losses, and a period of dabbling with drugs and prison, Richard decided to turn his life around"
Genuinely inspiring guy.
I have sympathy with his story. He also seems to be successful and happy. But I tend to agree with a few of the posters above that in business there is much greater impact from someone who has achieved what you are trying to achieve. From his website:
"On a cold and misty morning in October 1975, Richard McCann woke to discover his mother was missing. He was just five years old. She was the first victim of the notorious Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe.
Despite other tragic losses, and a period of dabbling with drugs and prison, Richard decided to turn his life around"
Genuinely inspiring guy.
I've seen a couple of these 'personal adversity' speakers and I tend to spot the dimming of the lights and the soft fade in of the piano backing track as my cue to open my mouth for a quick dose of carefully stage managed emotion. Gets me every time even though I know it is coming so perhaps the biggest learning is that you can use deep emotional positioning time after time!
I married into a semi-religious family, ie regular church goers and a little more committed than my own. I found that a decent sermon can be as motivational and an effective re-calibrating experience as business snake oil at a conference. I also quite enjoyed the sing song. This comes from a cynic leaning towards agnosticism.
JimmyConwayNW said:
Notice a lot of this stuff myself. It seems to attract a lot of people who want to label themselves an entrepreneur, wear a shiny suit and post BS quotes. I guess real business people are busier just getting on with running a business tbh. Or posting on PH forum when they should be running a business.
This is so true. I have an old associate who won business of the year but, he is actually clueless. He would rather been seen as successful and poor than actually sucessful and not known. I realised that people like me, would never enter a competition like that because I am too busy growing a business to care about that nonsense. I don't even have a FB. The only status I want is that my bank manager visits me rather than me having to visit him.prand said:
I've seen Kris Akabusi twice give his corporate motivational speech, based on the World Champ 4x4 relay race. Was pretty good, quite inspirational and he's a great character. Worth every penny I reckon to entertain and inspire the attendees.
I listened to his mate Phil Brown who is now running the Duke of Edinburgh award for the central region. I believe he ran the last lap for them, he let us all hold his silver medal. That was cool. They are probably good at what they do, and leave you walking out the door with all the right thoughts at least for a short while.
Kind of like watching die hard or similar and when you get up to grab something from the fridge you push your chest out and creep round door frames like a cop being all badass with your finger gun.
Then the day dream of being NYPD's top dog ends when you catch your gut silhouette in the hallway mirror and your wife tells you to stop being a tt and put the kettle on.
Kind of like watching die hard or similar and when you get up to grab something from the fridge you push your chest out and creep round door frames like a cop being all badass with your finger gun.
Then the day dream of being NYPD's top dog ends when you catch your gut silhouette in the hallway mirror and your wife tells you to stop being a t
t and put the kettle on.Edited by dazwalsh on Tuesday 24th January 22:54
This instantly sprung into my mind.
http://thumbsnap.com/4yo0zdOI
On the other hand, we had Sir Clive Woodward as an after-dinner motivational speaker at a business conference. He was very good - told the story of turning the England rugby union team into Rugby World Cup winners. Everything from changing the way people thought about the kit (keep it tight, less for the opposition to grab hold of) through his philosophy of 'thinking correctly under pressure' (TCUP). He was very good.
http://thumbsnap.com/4yo0zdOI
On the other hand, we had Sir Clive Woodward as an after-dinner motivational speaker at a business conference. He was very good - told the story of turning the England rugby union team into Rugby World Cup winners. Everything from changing the way people thought about the kit (keep it tight, less for the opposition to grab hold of) through his philosophy of 'thinking correctly under pressure' (TCUP). He was very good.
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