Giving a Motivational Speech

Definition: A motivational speech is a highly emotional speech that serves to urge and stimulate a group to pursue significant goals, choose proper strategy, correct mistakes, etc. Additionally, a motivational speech arms the audience with tools and awareness they should possess to succeed in their personal lives and in the modern world.

Characteristics A motivational speech can combine components such as real life situations and memorable stories. A motivational speech is a variety of a persuasive speech and it is pragmatically oriented: a recipient of a motivational speech should experience a certain impact, i.e. change his/her behavior, act in a certain way, or agree with something. To this end, an imperative mood should be used in motivational speeches. Energetic phrases starting with "do", "donate", "join", "create", "buy" are most likely to reinforce the effect of a motivational speech.

Preparatory Research A motivational speaker should realize what positions or actions he or she is going to popularize. Thorough preparatory research is required to take into account numerous factors that can influence the process of listening and further decision-making. Social factors: status, education, values of the audience Pragmatic factors: requirements, needs and interests of the audience.

Organizing A standard motivational speech can be based upon several patterns. These are: Monroe's motivational sequence Comparative advantages pattern

Monroe’s Motivational Sequence Monroe's motivational sequence is a five-stage scheme of proving the necessity of some changes, actions, etc. Many students use this outline for motivational speech topics since Alan Monroe invented it 70 years ago.

Stage One - Attention Get the attention of your public. State the importance of your specific angle of approach. List the main benefits to arouse interest.

Stage Two - Need State the need for change. Show why it should concern them. Relate the issue or problem to the values, attitudes, interests and needs of the listeners.

Stage Three - Satisfaction Satisfy their needs. Provide the details and interesting facts of your plan. Show how your solution works.

Stage Four - Visualization Visualize the benefits. That is the heart of your motivational speech topic. Illustrate them with examples, anecdotes, comparisons, statistics, definitions and visual aids. This is where your visual aid should come in. Tell your public what's in it for them!

Stage Five – Action! This is your call to action. Show them what to do to implement your plan.

Comparative Advantage Pattern A comparative advantage pattern is closely related to the Monroe's motivational sequence, but is mainly used when there are several alternatives from which to choose. This pattern looks like the one for motivated sequence speech topics and is often used for business presentations. The big difference occurs in the satisfy and visualization steps. In those steps you have to compare and contrast two or more plans, solutions or alternatives. Show your listeners which one is the best.

Comparative Advantage Pattern Example Example motivational speech topic: Compare and contrast two cell phones and tell which one is the best one for your job or personal life and why.

Topics Below you'll see a list of general categories that can be narrowed to a topic for a motivational speech. Use your imagination and elaborate on these topics. These examples are meant to motivate you to create motivational speech topics yourself! To help you in the right direction: What do you want to achieve? What behavior are you trying to change? What is your argument? What level of agreement do you at least want to accomplish?

Consider these openings for motivational topics Pay ... Quit ... Sell ... Sign ... Study ... Support ... Take ... Volunteer ... Vote ...

Or these . . . Become involved in ... Buy ... Change ... Choose ... Do ... Donate ... Establish ... Join ... Make ...

General Themes For Motivational Speech Topics An other way to create motivational speech topics is to relate these general themes below to personal, educational or professional activities, issues or problems.

Consider these . . . Breakthroughs - Career Development - Challenge - Change - Coaching - Commitment - Communication - Competence - Competitiveness - Confidence - Decision Making - Discipline - Effective Meetings - Ensure Safety - Ergonomics - Focused Thinking - Future - Involvement - Inspiration - Integrity - Interpersonal Skills - Leadership - Negotiation Tactics - Personal Effectiveness - Personal Growth - Personal Improvement - Personal Productivity - Personal Wellness - Responsibility - Self Respect - Set Realistic Goals - Stress - Teambuilding - Teamwork - Trends - Values - Work Ethics