Motivational Speech
The purpose of any oratorical speech is to motivate other people. But motivational speeches don't just motivate – they evoke emotions and inspire.
If we're talking about business communication, then during negotiations or presentations, professional evidence related to the company or product is used. The goal of the presentation is to motivate the audience through rational perception to analyze information and make decisions.
If the speech uses exclusively personal emotional experience or other emotional examples, then perception is not rational, but emotional. This inspires and motivates the audience faster, provided there is empathy and trust in the author. At the center of a business presentation is the product or company, while at the center of a motivational speech is the author, that is, the speaker, their experience, their point of view, their worldview.
Due to this difference in speech construction, motivational speeches stand out as a separate genre.
What is a motivational speech?
A motivational speech is a presentation that is based, as a rule, on the personal experience, position, and views of the speaker. The speech can also be supplemented with the experiences of other people that evoked a strong emotional reaction from the author, with the aim of motivating the addressee to emotional or physical action.
Emotional speech is a distinct type of speech. They should not be confused. The main difference is that emotional speeches are aimed at evoking emotions through strong experiences to immediately prompt action. Meanwhile, motivational speech refers to past experience to motivate action in the future.
Examples of classic motivational speeches
The most famous example of a motivational speech is Steve Jobs's speech to Stanford University students. In this speech, Steve Jobs describes three periods of his life that changed his fate in clear sequence.
The periods are complex and emotionally built in ascending order. First, Steve Jobs makes us worry about a young man who dropped out of college. Then he enables us to empathize with a talented adult from whom his own company was taken away. At the very end, Jobs makes us sympathize with him when he became seriously ill. But all these stories led us to the finale – a happy and successful person who never gave up.
Another famous motivational speech was also delivered to students, but at a different university – Harvard. This is J.K. Rowling's speech "On the Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination." The title itself speaks to the construction of the speech – it's divided into two parts: first about failures, then about imagination.
The most successful contemporary writer told about several failures that contributed to strengthening her motivation and ultimately her success. She mentioned how she was left alone with a child. There was a real dark period in J.K. Rowling's life. This forced her to direct all her energy toward one thing that aroused passion in her – writing. And so she wrote the first book as if it might be her last. Such trials through hardships and devotion to one cause created the most successful book series of our time.
After this, Rowling talked about imagination. Here she mentioned that she worked in the investigative department of Amnesty International, where she read countless letters from victims of totalitarian regimes. In addition, she studied stories of martyrs, saw photographs with traces of torture – that is, stories of other people that evoke emotions. J.K. Rowling told about a boy from Africa who impressed her most. This is exactly the case when a motivational speech includes the experiences of other people that emotionally moved the author.
J.K. Rowling spoke about a boy who went mad from what the local authorities did to them. These emotional experiences and shocks evoked pain, compassion, and understanding of human nature, which are so necessary for a writer. Rowling also said that her contribution to the work of this organization became the most inspiring experience of her life.
Thus, J.K. Rowling built the structure of her motivational speech based on two key concepts that determined her success – failure and imagination. She did this to give young people guidance to believe in themselves, motivate them to love what they do, and remain children. Essentially, both speeches by Jobs and Rowling are so different, but absolutely about the same thing.
Universal formula for motivational speeches
This is because motivational speeches come down to truth. To true values. The formula for success is love what you do. This is exactly what you do best despite everything, despite any hardships and problems. The result of this work will be your success.
Motivational speeches can only be delivered by people who are in a constant flow of development and gaining unique experience. So, develop yourself and motivate other people with your experience.
