The best motivational speakers frequently feature on the stages of corporate events. Their show-stopper speeches have innovative themes, new angles, remarkable insights and fresh perspectives.  #bestmotivationalspeakers  #bestmotivationalspeaker

In a hurry? Consider this motivational speaker. 

Top motivational speakers quickly capture a high-performing organisation’s ideal attitudes, behaviours and mindsets. Their invigorating one-hour keynote talks inevitably ignite a series of teachable moments. They are dealers in inspiration and lifting spirits.

Conferences offer brief respite in the choppy waters of the modern workplace.

1. Rejuvenate Employee Morale
2. Share Best Practices
3. Inject Much-Needed Humor
4. Demolish Toxic Outlooks
5. Tell Inspirational Stories
6. Stimulate a Thirst for Learning
7. Promote Unequalled Teamwork
8. Boost Action Mindsets
9. Trigger Creative Lightbulbs

The number one reason for inviting top motivational speakers to a company’s event is the morale of the staff. Not that this implies organisational dejection – in most cases, morale is good, but the intention is to get it soaring.

An invited motivational speaker would typically deliver the keynote address at corporate events, annual conferences, and award ceremonies. It provides an energetic spark to keep the audience spellbound and can significantly impact the levels of inspiration.

Winning attitudes and performance behaviours are more desired than ever in the marketplace. Employees invest the most significant time of their lives at work, and feeling valued contributes towards their wellness.

John Schaefer’s caution regarding employee morale is very applicable, though: “When employees feel that you are using recognition to ‘get more out of them’ rather than to show that you value them personally, they begin to emotionally disengage and morale suffers.” ^[1]

Often, leaders don’t realise how easy it is for discouragement to spread like the flu within a company.  

Being aware is already half the battle won. Build a fulfilling workplace and deliver a knock-out to potential pessimism by keeping tabs on the following:

• Businesses should not drive results at the expense of staff wellness.
• Ensure that the home-work balance is a core organisational value.
• Everyone knows who are the bad bosses. Act on it.
• Earn trust through employee climate surveys that lead to positive change.
• Remember that high staff morale consistently propels high performance.

Top motivational speakers convey the concept of “best practices” every so often in simplified terms. Best practices are successful activities put into practice in an organisation.

It is modelled chiefly and modified on what the industry recommends or what’s happening in other companies. Here are two inventive examples, especially applicable to more prominent companies: Putting flexi-time into effect for the staff or starting a kindergarten on the business premises to assist working mothers.

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It’s about measurable yardsticks for business excellence. Best practices are ideal ways of achieving results through specific activities. It can be widely recognised strategies or even little-known tactics to be learnt and administered in one’s territory. These recognised procedures or processes deliver better-quality outcomes, and organisations embrace these increasingly.

One can easily observe best practices inside small start-ups or innovative non-profit entities.

The secret is constantly looking for stories of achievement and how they can be adapted and repeated within one’s organisation or team.

In a more technical sense, it measures quality standards against fact-based criteria.

Without going into the nuts and bolts, here are some best practices as it relates to employee motivation:

• Designing incentive-based initiatives.
• Recognising staff members publicly.
• Creating a workplace where employees want to be.
• Investing in a learning culture and keeping people stimulated and challenged.
• Maintaining career plans and/or succession planning.
• Facilitating a climate of conversation and feedback.

Illuminating achievement concepts are the forte of the best motivational speakers, and they often present it with delightful humour. Audiences roaring with laughter never cease to be impactful.

“Laughter is the best medicine” is probably one of the most boring clichés ever. Its application remains powerful, however. So here is the “logic” in some companies. Humour and light-heartedness distract from the business at hand, and therefore no need to have it around. It cannot be further from the truth.

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It is one of the ingredients of a favourable environment. The advocates for seriousness-only will be surprised to learn that laughter brings people together as a common denominator.

Discussing humour at work, Jenna Goudreau confirms: “Research shows that successful humor boosts both personal productivity and group effectiveness.” ^[3]

Timely humour is not something to be frowned upon but a morale booster. A self-deprecating chuckle does wonders for your credibility. If your mouth has difficulty bending into the shape of a smile, it’s time to get hold of some comedies.

One can never go wrong with “clean” humour. Don’t mess up the lively sway of mood by degrading spirituality, joking about the appearance of others, swearing like a sailor, demeaning ethnicity and other sensitivities.

Use it as a booster, not a breaker. As joking around, appeals to our common humanity, be well-informed on how these notions differ between cultures and countries. The sensitivity should be the rudder of humour.

In some shape or form, the topic of negativity will feature in the speeches of top motivational speakers. The goal is to challenge dodgy mindsets, lazy comfort zones and loser attitudes.

And usually, at this time, the face of a trouble-making colleague will pop up in your mind. “Every business seems to have at least one negative employee”, says Tim Parker in an article about managing an opposing staff member. He continues with a funny sentence: “The highlight of his day is the lunch break, during which he recounts and analyses all of the burdens you’ve put on him.” ^[4]

In this case, we are referring to someone that can be called a negativist. The bad behaviour is not once-off. It’s persistent and non-stop over a long period, and the leaders or group has made all efforts to resolve it.

More verbs which characterise these toxic attitudes would be “gossiping”; “undercutting”; “whining”, and “exaggerating”. As Benjamin Franklin said: “Any fool can criticise, condemn and complain – and most fools do.”

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Often it is challenging to confront negativity as it simmers beneath the surface. Like a poisonous stream, it channels the focus away from quality towards mediocrity. Failure to act against it will result in the stream becoming a river with waterfalls of waste.

Many teams battle with a toxic atmosphere. Realigning bad attitudes with remedial interventions is commendable, but it doesn’t always work out. When handling a negative employee, libraries are full of journals, articles, HR policies and guidelines.

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Although the book often follows procedures, it’s the result that matters. Let’s say all the restorative criteria have been fulfilled, and the individual still needs to respond, then the next step would be telling.

Some managers conveniently and shamelessly transfer trouble-makers to other departments to eliminate the problem. But it is only passing the headache on, which is the epiphany of lousy leadership. They must show backbone and make tough calls.

It doesn’t mean we all have to be always happy, but that is not what is at stake here. The occasional “bad hair day” is in order, but consistent lousy behaviour and attitudes are not.

An inspirational story is a muscle behind top motivational speakers’ excellent presentation and communication strength. It keeps audiences on the edge of their seats, especially those who might be dispirited.

Stories have thousands of angles, like sharing real-life experiences, paraphrasing metaphors, unpacking business practices that went right or wrong, etc. The list is never-ending, and the upshot is inspiring. Tales of old is another case in point.

Gripping stories are carriers of emotion, rational thought, common sense and learning. The package gets carefully unwrapped to reveal that profound lesson, heart-warming touch or wow experience at the end.

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Storytelling is not limited to the speech of a motivational speaker at events and conferences. There is a great demand for it at work.

Master this skill, and your reputation will grow favourably – guaranteed. The level of engagement with colleagues, direct reports or others, in general, will be sky-high.

Referring to a fascinating study, Dianna Booher emphasises the incredible influence of storytelling to be “persuasive to experienced lawyers and judges because they evoke emotional responses that make legal claims of the parties more credible and elicit empathy in their judicial thinking.” ^[5]

Think for a moment about why everyone loves movies. It is because they are stories. Intertwined with a healthy blend between intensity, rationale and emotion, something like a parable can lead to magnificent insight. It can and should be used to paint the desired organisational state and highlight core values.

When you tell your stories, remember the force of self-deprecating humour and that no one can always be the hero. Provide a solution. Refine the conclusion, ponder the application and practice the punchline.

And lastly, a story must have a happy ending, but that is just a personal opinion. That will prove the point. If you need to become more familiar with Ted Talks, check it out.

A one-hour keynote address to employees at an event is enough for top motivational speakers to enable a yearning for learning. Discernibly, it’s not a once-off moment at a conference, but cranking up the thirst can be.

Establishing a “learning organisation” is non-negotiable if the goal is a constant accomplishment. The most admired corporations depend on continuous learning for favourable results and avoid work surroundings that impede new knowledge.

Sayings like “been there done that” has no place, as no one is too young or old to learn or beyond getting egg on the face.

Research after research and survey after survey show that, in general, employees rate learning opportunities higher than salary. Ignore this, and retaining a talented workforce will be an ever-present challenge.

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Ensure that knowledge opportunities, new information and the latest technology are actively available within the company or team. If not, budget, prioritise, and arrange for more resources. One illustration can be the use of innovative mobile apps.

Whether gratis or purposefully designed, it can be a game-changer. Unceasing learning turns into increased productivity and better results.

“Training” is very much organizationally driven, while “learning” puts the onus on the employee to embrace a life-long thirst for self-improvement. The following remains perfectly valid, even putting aside what can be considered semantics or disagreeing definitions.

Self-directed learning and formal training are vital and complement each other perfectly.

Britt Andreatta summarises learning organisations accurately as those “that create transformative learning cultures not only succeed but thrive. They know that learning is as natural and biologically driven as breathing—and they cultivate people’s potential through learning opportunities.” ^[6]

Cultivating an atmosphere of learning is a foremost leadership responsibility. The presence of a formal coaching system run by managers is proof that it is happening.

Leadership and institutional wisdom are apparent in the following two-sentence conversation. It’s by Peter Baeklund and recently making the rounds on Linked-In:

The Chief Financial Officer: What happens if we invest in developing our people and then they leave us?

CEO: What happens if we don’t, and they stay?

The flow process starts with pursuing knowledge, then sharing it with others and, in due course, putting it into practice. How many workplaces have personal development plans for their workforces? One institution took it one simple but profound way further.

It is called a PDAP – A personal development ACTION Plan.

The prominence is on adopting learning and applying the resulting knowledge. Comprehension should lead to movement. Some make use of a central Learning Management System (LMS).

Simply speaking, it tracks learning across the group, where individual employees are on the pathway and supply an accessible repository (a library of learning resources).

Adults marvel at the ability of children to master programs on a computer or mobile phone. The reason for their skills is more straightforward than one would think.

They don’t fear failure as much as grown-ups. Neither have they developed the sophisticated self-defence mechanisms of adults, which ultimately hamper learning.

Something that gets overlooked is that a learning milieu should cater to people to make mistakes. The resulting individual growth is part of the upwards trajectory.

The best motivational speakers receive invites with the exclusive purpose of team building and underlining that “We’re in this together.”

Whether this is the formal objective, an inspirational keynote address purposefully influences teamwork. No motivational speech or story will ever be without some or other collaboration between people. Teamwork is always an inclusive thread, even if subtle.

The workplace should never be about the domain of one individual.

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Occasionally, friction will occur but is overcome with face-to-face communication or, in the case of a virtual team, eye-to-eye via technology. Simultaneously, there is no appetite for petty politics and other counter-productive dynamics.

In building an impressive team, the “overarching theme”, according to Adam Bryant is that “most problems on teams can be solved by colleagues being up front with each other, and having respectful, frank conversations face-to-face.” ^[7]

Over a reasonable period, a team is a reflection of its leader.

Leaders must be more active in nurturing and coaching their teams with inspiration and solid business principles. It raises the level of commitment and builds a reservoir of combined knowledge.

Over a reasonable period, a team is a reflection of its leader.

This principle has a legion of implications, one being that those bad bosses have a destructive effect on a group. Some companies need to be faster to act on this glaring elephant in the room.

Without refuelling, there is no need to drain the last little drop of energy from the staff. Consider the benefits of occasional team building, including a reduced pace. It’s worth putting some thought into it beforehand.

Not to minimise the positive effect that non-work-related fun can have on a team, but it continues beyond there. Driving go-karts together every three months have its limits. Team building involves much more than just hanging out together. Indeed it should reflect a more real-world intervention with a related substance.

Finally, a quick word on virtual teams deserves an article. Fostering a sense of togetherness means that much more creative ways have to be examined than in the case of a team, seeing one another every day.

Good relationships remain the golden key and can be nurtured innovatively through the same medium that makes virtual teams possible: technology.

Platforms like Skype have endless possibilities in this regard.

• A dynamic leader
• Productive working relationships
• Well-defined and aligned objectives
• Shared values and respect
• Candid communication
• Group ownership and autonomy
• Clear roles
• Joint problem-solving

One quote perfectly describes the message the best motivational speakers want to convey to their audiences. It’s about having a shared “getting it done” conscience. It’s indeed the words of the late American businessman Harold “Hal” Geneen: “It is an immutable law in business that words are words, explanations are explanations, promises are promises – but only performance is reality.”

Cut through the noise pollution and advance a craving for doing.

Any business serious about achieving results should make the article “The Smart-Talk Trap” compulsory reading for all its employees. “Business-people love to talk, which is fine when it leads to action”, said Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton, but when it “becomes a substitute for getting things done, shareholders, customers, and employees pay a price … the willingness to let talk substitute for action.” ^[7]

A mentality of doing generates moving momentum. It produces laser-like energy, mustering a workforce.

If speed is not part of the formula, it will cancel some gains. Be slow, and take advantage of the opportunities. There is no Star-Trek “warp speed”, but quick steps are still one of the ever-present hallmarks of an accomplished team.

The “now” factor, a sense of urgency and getting priorities done will always feature in some or other fashion in a speech or management talk by top motivational speakers. “Speed to the market” has become a non-negotiable factor in an ever-changing business environment.

Uncomplicatedness is king. If something is too complicated to understand, one cannot implement it. High-level strategies require brainpower, but the idea is to work through the complexity and to arrive at simplicity of doing.

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The 80/20 Rule (also known as the Pareto Principle) is a practical tool for prioritisation – which 20% of the tasks will produce 80% of the results? Once the answer is determined, specific points of execution will enjoy precedence and urgency over others.

A leader is responsible for motivating the team, removing stumbling blocks and ensuring that objectives are achieved. Showcase the “doers”.

Celebrate the implementers in a group instead of all those with golden tongues who get nothing done.

Watch out not to unintentionally create a “Talker of the Year” award without even knowing it.

After reading this heading, you should be able to see a little yellow lightbulb flickering above your head.

When it’s conference time, top motivational speakers are great to spark the imagination again – those typical lightbulb “aha” moments. The breathing space offered by events is best for generating new insights and getting the creative juices flowing again.

Someone said that “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.” Creativity transforms “how things stand now” into a conveyor belt of inventive solutions to roll out.

Imaginativeness is often subdued in the marketplace because some regard it as “airy-fairy”. That is nonsense. Maybe Stanislaw Jerzy Lec’s words illustrate the point: “Thoughts, like fleas, jump from man to man, but they don’t bite everybody.” People must be taught and allowed to be bitten by creativity.

Moving employees towards out-of-the-box approaches is the responsibility of managers. They should also create a conducive atmosphere for inventiveness.

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Erik Wahl hits the workplace creativity nail right on the head: “… once you learn to embrace the fear of failure and the joy of stepping out of your tried-and-true methods, you’ll find that a whole avenue of creative ideas and solutions will become open to you.” ^[9]

Due to constant pressure, employees are bent out of shape at times. The vibrancy is gone, and the “that will never work” tendency has taken over. Creativity will now be in short supply and must be mined like gold.

Fortunately, given the opportunity, these miners are already on the team.

Innovative people don’t resist problems but lean into them to gain more insight.

It provides the right conditions for innovation to flourish. Creative thinking and problem-solving go hand in hand.

Meetings are the dread of most people because they are sometimes dull and useless.

Why not spice things up by allocating a creativity slot? The benefits are twofold. Team members can, for example, troubleshoot issues for resourceful solutions. It produces mammoth engagement.

Immediately meetings are more exciting, and the team’s originality brings innovation. It’s like Kramer’s coffee table book about coffee tables in the TV comedy series Seinfeld.

Managers should be less critical and more tolerant of unusual thinking from team members. “A closed mind is like a closed book”, states a Chinese Proverb. It is “just a block of wood.” Reward people for churning out creative results.

Creativity is more often than not disconnected from the work. It is an isolated and individual concept which feeds on uncritical and abstract thinking. It has led to the creative design needing a connection to the management process.

Managers must provide an environment that promotes creativity.

There is a common misconception that creativity doesn’t happen at work.

It is invalid, as all aspects of doing business need creativity.

In today’s business world, creative thinking is necessary, and employers should highly regard it. Still, managers feel the same way about creatives as they do about the disorder.

Creatives are often considered withdrawn people who need to be more focused to integrate well into teams or who always come up with impractical ideas without any near-term value. Despite this, companies should go out of their way to create an environment where gifted people can think outside the box.

Consider a few things to find the best motivational speaking for your corporate event. But before taking action, we should ask one question: what is the purpose?

It is imperative to determine what you want out of the event and also identify the type of vibe you want to achieve.

Organised events mean accomplishing specific goals for the attendees. One can achieve this if all participants are fully involved. Generally, such conferences and seminars aim to lift employee morale and nurture camaraderie to make employees more committed to their work.

Having inspirational figures on these occasions will help illustrate that commitment, investment, and determination are necessary to solve serious business problems and issues.

The best motivational speakers are like a spice – they can bring many flavours to help give life to your event.

Yet, despite the importance attached to them, finding the ideal motivational speaker can be a challenging task. It is why you must be prepared and know where to begin.

The answer is having a motivational speaker that rocks your world. No pressure, right? But don’t fret. As long as you can effectively communicate with your potential speaker, you can make the most of this experience.

Remember to contact them weeks before your event, as they are typically on a strict schedule.

There is a lot in the lives of successful people that can inspire us. The best motivational speakers are among the few whose tales can guide us to achieve our aspirations.

You can make your events entertaining in several ways. For one, give them memorable food, drinks, and entertainment. If you organise a corporate event (a product launch or a full-blown convention for several days), you will want to entertain your attendees.

But you can also keep them motivated by inviting the best motivational speakers to talk about various aspects of business and life – from self-confidence and leadership skills to overcoming fear and obstacles.

Motivational speakers have the potential to engage and captivate audiences. However, it would help if you kept a close eye on the event’s purpose.

The best motivational speakers can add tremendous value to a corporate event, but the operation starts elsewhere. Before contacting them, be prudent about your event’s purpose and reach out to potential speakers.

Once you’ve figured out your event goal, it’s time to choose the right speaker for the job.

1. The Root Causes of Low Employee Morale / auth. Schaefer John. – [s.l.] : AMAnet.org.
2. Best Practices / auth. Investopedia. – [s.l.] : Investopedia.com.
3. Are Funny People More Successful in Business? / auth. Goudreau Jenna. – [s.l.] : Forbes.com.
4. How to Manage a Negative Employee / auth. Parker Tim. – [s.l.] : Quickbooks.intuit.com.
5. 7 Tips for Great Storytelling as A Leader / auth. Booher Dianna. – [s.l.] : Fastcompany.com.
6. 6 Steps to Creating a Learning Culture – and Why You Should / auth. Andreatta Britt. – [s.l.] : Learning.linkedin.com.
7. How to Build a Successful Team / auth. Bryant Adam. – [s.l.] : Nytimes.com.
8. The Smart-Talk Trap [Journal] / auth. Jeffrey Pfeffer & Robert I. Sutton // Harvard Business Review. – Boston : Harvard Business Publishing (HBP), 1990. – May – June 1999 Issue.

9. The Importance of Creativity in the Workplace / auth. Wahl Erik. – [s.l.] : Allbusiness.com