Recently I came across an article in Psychology Today called How to Be a Motivational Speaker. The author was Chris Guillebeau and he makes a very interesting point:

But the thing is….how should I put it…the whole motivational speaker branding doesn’t give a good first impression. It’s old-school at the best of times, and just plain awkward the rest of the time.

He goes on to say that we all enjoy motivation and inspiration. He reads Runner’s World every month not because I need any help running but because of the inspiring profiles they print! Excellent point!!

He interviewed a motivational speaker who told him:

You can’t just be a motivational speaker. No one likes that crap. What you should do is be passionate about something. Show up and talk about something you give a damn about. Your passion will be motivation in itself.

I couldn’t agree more. Many meeting planners hire me as a humorous motivational speaker. They are looking for a motivational speaker but they also want a humorous motivational speaker. Meeting planners and audiences today want humor as part of a presentation. You can deliver some pretty serious messages of change when delivered with a good dose of humor! It’s very important when using humor to be certain that it’s pertinent to your audience. This requires a good deal of background work on the organization but it is time very well spent.

It’s a privilege to give presentations and workshops as a humorous motivational speaker but that comes with a good deal of responsibility to the company and the audiences. Humor must be in good taste and facilitate the message of change. Good luck to all of you aspiring motivational speakers!