But what about motivational speakers?

Let me add to my post on motivation by addressing a topic that comes up as a "what about?"response to my thinking about motivation in general. The topic is the motivational speaker.

This has become an actual category in public speaking, and for some time now. But shouldn't every speaker be a "motivational speaker" regardless of the topic? Whether I listen to a speech on leadership or a sermon at church I want to come away with a new motivation (or inspiration) to take some positive action. "Motivational speakers" tend to give advice on personal development and how to change one's life. That's great. I do that too when asked. But if I give a speech on developing lasting customer relationships or a workshop on team building, I want to be a "motivational speaker" there, too! I want to inspire people to do something different and better in whatever I present.

I need to reiterate the difference between motivation and inspiration. Motivation is internal and intrinsic, and a motivational speaker cannot motivate me; I can only motivate myself as inspired to do by the speaker. Or not. Consider this very common phenomenon: a person who listens diligently to motivational speakers, both in person and on CDs, but nothing changes in his or her life. This happens all the time. A person comes away feeling wonderfully inspired to do whatever motivated her to listen in the first place. See the difference? Her motivation, her decision to listen, was internal. It came from within. What she hears is inspiring and she wants to implement the plan, the suggestions, the "10 Steps" or whatever it was. But something prevents her from getting started. And so she listens to a different speaker or buys a new set of CDs, and around it goes.

Is it the fault of the motivational speaker that this woman stays the same and doesn't significantly improve her life? Was the speaker not motivational enough? Maybe he's just not a good motivational speaker. Maybe, in one sense. There are plenty of mediocre speakers out there! But the speaker's role is to inspire, to plant the seeds of motivation that must develop within the listener. What happens after that is up to the listener. As a side note, if motivation is there, but follow-through is not, the answer is usually found either in a lack of accountability for taking the steps, a seeming inability to even begin, or a lack of confidence in ones's ability to do so. That's where a coach can help, and in fact that's where coaches are most helpful. I have addressed each one of those issues with my own coaching clients.

I like to listen to "motivational speakers," most of them, anyway, and I like the message they bring. It's inspiring and I hope I'm motivated enough to take action. But I want all the speakers I listen to to be motivational, that is, again, that through their message and delivery they inspire me to do things differently and make the improvements I need to make.