Tag Archive for: motivational speeches

A motivational speech will persuade audiences to take particular course of action or adopt a behaviour, usually in the area of personal development and performance. When creating an inspirational motivational speech, stories can be powerful tools that make your message more credible and memorable for several reasons. Even if you’re not experienced at public speaking, telling stories will help you connect and make an impact.

 

 

 

Why use stories in motivational speeches?

Stories are an indirect way to show your audience that taking action is the right thing to do. People love to listen to a good story. By using relevant stories in your motivational speeches and presentations, you bring your message into reality and give it an emotional element. If you simply tell your listeners to take an action without a good story to support it, you won’t be as effective in motivating them. The best motivational speeches include stories of how people have overcome challenges or changed in some way. Other types of speeches might include cautionary tales of what not to do.

How professional motivational speakers use stories and quotations in their motivational speeches

Here’s an example of how one author used stories and quotations to motivate their audience.

In ‘Destiny in Balance’ from Lead the Field, Earl Nightingale uses stories to support his message.

One morning, I was having breakfast in a restaurant in Monterey, California–one of the most naturally beautiful places in the world. Suddenly, I was aware of the young couple sitting in the booth next to mine—they couldn’t have been more than 25 years old. It was obvious that they were very unhappy. The young man was saying: “Well, I’ve tried everywhere, but nobody wants to give me a job. I guess we’ll have to go back home.”

It was apparent from their attitudes that they wanted to live on the Monterey Peninsula, but they were almost out of money and unable to find work. But he had said, “Nobody wants to give me a job.” He wanted someone to give him something—in this case a job.

What might have happened if he had turned the whole idea around? What if he said, instead, “What do I know how to do that will serve some of the people of this beautiful part of the world?” Or, “How can I, or we, be of value to this community?

“The people here will be happy to supply us with the living we need if we can think of some way to serve them.” If we can think of some way to serve them. “What do they want or need or want that we can supply. Do they need a handyman, a first-class housekeeper, or both? Can we wash and wax cars right in their driveways? Can we detail their cars so they look like showroom display models? Let’s buy a pad of paper and a ballpoint pen and start making a list of all the things we can do to earn a living here. It will give us time to of other ways, more profitable ways. But that wash-and-wax idea might grow into quite a service for the community. And let’s not stop there. Let’s think of some more ways we can start right here to be of service to the people who live here.”

Right then and there in the restaurant, instead of being depressed and considering themselves failures, they could have come up with a dozen or so ways in which they could have remained on the Monterey Peninsula and built a fine business for themselves. They didn’t need a job: they needed to think. But they had never thought before. It was as foreign to them as speaking Urdu.

There they were: two fine, bright, good-looking young people with two fine minds. A world of opportunity was beckoning to them, and they were going to go back home. No one had ever told them about the gold mines they carried between their ears.

Do you know how many people would have reacted in the same way these young people reacted? Most of the people in the United States—or any other country, for that matter. People will do anything in the world—even turn to crime—before they will think.

The motivational talk is about the importance of service and thinking of ways to serve others. The story, which makes up a small part of the talk, reinforces this key point by bringing it into reality.  (You can listen to audio samples from this excellent motivational program here).

Where do you get stories for your motivational speeches?

In the example, Earl Nightingale overheard the couple complaining that they had failed in their goal to live in Monterey, California.  The key is to pay attention what’s going on around you and to look for the lessons in these events. Some writers keep a story file of the interesting things they see or hear.

Besides the stories we hear about and experience, we can search for stories that support our motivational message. Reading regularly in the subject that you wish to speak about will help you find stories for your motivational speeches.  You can also look for relevant stories when watching films and television programs. Searching on the internet using the right keywords will help you find stories for your motivational speech. The time-consuming part is finding the story that best fits your motivational speech message. It’s also a good idea to do some fact checking to make sure the story is true because many hoaxes and urban legends are found on the internet.

Avoid overused stories in your motivational speeches. For example, one popular story explains how Thomas Edison tried 10,000 ways to create a light bulb before succeeding. It’s a great example of persistence but it has been used too many times in motivational speeches. Other examples include the stories in Chicken Soup for the Soul . When the book was a best-seller its stories were often used in motivational and inspirational speeches.  If you use a story that has been heard many times before, you risk losing the attention of your audience and your credibility as a motivational speaker.

As an experienced motivational speech writer, I help speakers perfect their messages, whether for a TED Talks, inspirational commencement speeches or other special occasions. If you need to deliver an inspirational motivational speech, contact me on 1300 731 955 or use the contact form to get in touch.

Michael Gladkoff