To Inspire Someone Is To Make Him Think, Not Feel Good

Planning to inspire? Its showtime!

ASKSonnie in one of his talks for the youth

The world of public speaking is almost like an entertainment industry. At the end of the day, the audience who spent moolah to hear you, must go home satisfied. Otherwise, there will be no repeat business. Unfortunately, the barometer of an inspire centric talk has been focused on making people laugh and  jump up and down.

Learning events organizers say without entertainment, there will be no business, not unless, a speaker got something that you need, like unit credit for license renewal.

I happen to notice in the learning events organizing biz that they are particular with the first and last speaker. At first, I don’t understand because as an work place learning practitioner, I am more concerned with the order of topics to ensure maximum learning. I figured out later that the funniest, liveliest, and most entertaining speakers are placed on the 1st and last slot to leave a sweet taste to the audience. It’s not a bad strategy, but a few used this as template of an inspire centric learning event.

Likewise, I followed with interest other players on the public speaking field, specially on how they position their brand in the market. Most, if not all, have this common denominator- to entertain the audience and make them feel good about themselves. The belief is that to inspire a person, laughter can bring out the positive emotion. And this, in turn  will fuel change.

Is this bad? Not really..

A good speaker is an engaging speaker, he can adjust his style depending on the audience to get his message across. I believe, further, that the role of motivational speakers is to offer an alternate solution, so people can make an intelligent choice. An inspire centric speaker should understand that they are not in the  business of making people laugh (alone), but to provide an alternative path, create a compelling desire to change, so the audience will pursue a new behavior.

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person – Colossians 4:6 ESV

Entertaining the audience is good, but this should lead the audience to take concrete actions to change their mindset, habit or way of doing things

Sonnie

Founder of LODI Inc. (Learning and Organization Development Institute, Inc.) and Co-Founder of Blogwatch. Mentor and Dad of 2 Gen Z Professionals.
 
 
 
Advocate of #HRinHR (Human Rights in Human Resources) and #DigitalCitizenship
Strategist for  Talent, Culture & Content Development, and Cyber Wellness Initiatives
Keynoter and Facilitator of Workplace and Life Learning
 
 
Blogging since 2004.