First, let me preface this with a disclaimer. The following essay is meant to be satirically humorous, not malicious or derogatory. Not critical or judgmental, just funny. I know many good motivational speakers who do a great job.
To me, Jesus Christ was the first motivational speaker. He was good. I know there were many more biblical stars and well known ancient personalities, like Nostradamus, who proffered their thoughts and expressed their opinions for the betterment of mankind, some even claiming to have been receiving divine inspiration with a direct line to God. They were sometimes referred to as prophets.
Today, the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, for example, formerly known as ‘The Mormons‘, is believed to be a prophet having a direct communication with God, of which the translated wisdom he imparts to his followers is consumed, believed and executed. He is not as much a motivational speaker, however, as he is a denominational leader and seer. This wisdom comes in many forms and measures regarding various contemporary issues like drugs, alcohol, premarital sex, compassion, civil behavior, etc. The most recent divine message from the Prophet is truly an inspiration and motivational catalyst toward good works. The Lord told him to tell the faithful to cut back on iPhone and social media usage. I totally agree. Good work!
Aside from purveying good thoughts and good works, motivational speaking is a booming business. People like Tony Robins, Zig Ziglar, Les Brown, Eric Thomas, etc., make tens of thousands of dollars per appearance and have become international millionaire celebrities. Jim and Tammy Bakker and their like combined religion and show business with motivational speaking, employing God as their main attraction, and became fabulously wealthy in the process as well. I’ll take Mr. Rogers over them any day ...and he was free!
Apparently, there is a booming market out there of unaware, uninformed and unobservant people who otherwise cannot find it within themselves to be self-motivated. They seek processed inspirational words from others to map their lives’ course toward self-fulfillment. The danger is that within this canned process they could accidentally become self-righteous. Well, I guess it’s better than resorting to drugs, alcohol and premarital sex and becoming self-addicted.
Many motivational speakers have earned their stripes going in. Former presidents and cabinet members, movie stars, military heros, sports legends, authors, are all earning fat paychecks on the speaking circuit. Their inspirational stories of hard work, dedication, discipline, success and failure give both comfort and hope to the otherwise uninspired, or the un-entertained, who pay good money to hear them speak.
And then there are the motivational speakers who seem to just come out of the woodwork. They are always well groomed, or stylized to fit the venue, sure of themselves, and seem to know a lot about whatever it is they’re pontificating about. I’ve seen some that were nothing but charlatans. Their starry-eyed psychobabble and tough love inspirational messages are not as uplifting as they are confounding. I’m not sure who they are, what their qualifications are or how they’re hired, but they are more than willing to tell us how to do it and to “go for it” as they pick up their paycheck after class.
Of course there are the many large group awareness training programs and personal development seminars and self-help training venues like Erhard Seminars Training (EST), Landmark, etc. that claim to bring ideas of transformation, personal responsibility, accountability and possibility to one’s life. Again, In my opinion, these are programs designed to make money off the weak and uninformed among us. No offense. I’m sure there is a need for this, certainly a market, and they probably do more good than harm.
I worked for a company once that hired a motivational speaker to talk with the middle-managers of which I was one. She was boring me to death and it was apparent she was in way over her head and way under the IQ and general understanding of her audience. I actually felt sorry for her, but was appreciative of the coffee break her talking time afforded. Ours was an international company that dealt with critical response technology. We were a fairly intense group of technical sales types. She asked the group what was the prime motivator for doing a good job. I knew she was looking for answers like team spirit, camaraderie, remuneration, etc. I raised my hand and said, “fear” just to give her a rise, fear of not doing a good job, implying that a job was always at risk. It was a very competitive atmosphere. She reacted as if I said a dirty word. She disagreed and told me why I was wrong. In the hallway later everyone told me they agreed that fear was even a better motivator than money. Meanwhile, Ms. Warm & Fuzzy went on her dizzy way with a pretty good payday herself. We didn’t need the pep talk.
“A motivational speaker or inspirational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audience. The speech itself is popularly known as a ‘pep talk’.”
There have been many hilarious parodies about motivational speakers. Former senator and SNL legend Al Fraken’s Stuart Smalley character’s ‘Daily Affirmations’ was one of the best. His skit with basketball star Michael Jordan is a classic. Google it, you’ll laugh out loud.
But I’ve chosen one here that is my all-time favorite. Another SNL (Saturday Night Live) legend, the late Chris Farley, portrayed the motivational speaker, Matt Foley. Take a look at the link below. Watch the other cast members try to keep a straight face during Foley’s hyper-intensive, hilarious performance. (There may be an ad first, sorry).
Chris Farley (Matt Foley) is the last motivational speaker.
https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/matt-foley-van-down-by-the-river/3505931
John Kushma is a communication consultant and lives in Logan, Utah.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-george-kushma-379a5762
http://newsbout.com/a/John+Kushma
Bonus video: Stuart Smalley & Michael Jordan ‘Daily Affirmation’
