| der is invited to enjoy the following seven | | | | The audience is made up of people who want to |
| assumptions regarding motivational speakers. | | | | be there. (5) However, even if the audience is |
| These assumptions are provided for your | | | | made up of reluctant attendees who were |
| amusement as well as your edification. | | | | required to participate, they will be won over by |
| Assumption #1 | | | | the speaker, who, by definition, motivates. (6) |
| Motivational speakers can, in fact, motivate. That | | | | The point is there are people who are receiving |
| is, they can: inspire, energize, rekindle, excite, | | | | your message. Some actively listening, some |
| engender, psych, move, challenge, influence, | | | | passively listening. Some resonating to your |
| invigorate, enlighten, encourage and captivate. | | | | insights, some questioning, perhaps rethinking, long |
| Assumption #2 | | | | held patterns of thought and behavior. Some |
| Motivational speakers can, in fact, speak. That is, | | | | moved to laughter, some moved to tears. Some |
| they can: talk, break silence, open their mouths, | | | | identifying, some examining, some weighing. Each |
| emit, utter, articulate, communicate, pipe up, | | | | making sense of the words, the message, the |
| speak up, speak out, hold forth, orate, be | | | | speaker in his/her own way. |
| eloquent, spell binding and silver-tongued. | | | | Assumption #7 |
| Assumption #3 | | | | Motivational speakers are themselves motivated |
| Motivational speakers are the medium and "the | | | | by the people they are motivating. That is to say |
| medium is the message." (Marshall McLuhan) That | | | | that the response, both verbal and nonverbal, |
| means the message is the sender. Motivational | | | | from people in the audience renews and |
| speakers, then, deliver themselves as content. It | | | | refreshes the speaker who is sharing his/her |
| is their take on something, their spin, their | | | | message and therefore him or herself with the |
| observations, their hypotheses, their slant, their | | | | audience. This then forms the symbiotic |
| histories, their experiences, their insights, their | | | | relationship between speaker and listener. |
| stories, their challenges, their successes, their | | | | The next time the reader has an opportunity to |
| failures, their understandings, their sense making, | | | | hear a motivational speaker, think about these |
| their hopes, their fears, their adversities, their | | | | assumptions and see if they bear out. And finally, |
| knowledge, their humor. In short, their lives. | | | | a good writer, like a good speaker, should be |
| Assumptions #4 & #5 & #6 | | | | clear, direct and concise. Thus, the end. |
| Motivational speakers speak to an audience. (4) | | | | |