Pity the motivational speaker, the HR person, the life coach, the CEO or anybody who is tasked with cheering the troops on through these recessionary times. Standing before any kind of audience these days is definitely not for the faint of heart.
No need to go back to Toastmasters, by the way. Many of us who have honed both our public speaking and interpersonal communications skills are finding ourselves at an uncharacteristic loss for words because we are playing before the toughest audiences ever: people whose beliefs about the way things work have been fundamentally challenged.
In better times, leaders could get away with a well-delivered mélange of pop psychology, inspiration and motivation. Ever since Napoleon Hill published the American classic “Think and Grow Rich” in the 1930s, the dominant stream of popular American spirituality could be summarized with the catch phrase: “I am strong and focused on achieving my goals regardless of the obstacles in my way.” The motor driving this unstoppable engine was no less than positive thinking: the belief that you can create your reality and if you think positively enough, you will get what you’re asking for.
I thought about this yesterday while on the phone with one of the internal communications experts charged with keeping the employees motivated at a leading global technology company. Dealing with downsizing and promotion freezes for the first time in the company’s history, she whispered to me that thinking positive thoughts and overcoming all obstacles to achieve one’s goals was a harder message to sell “when unaccompanied by the promise of pay raises, bonuses, pensions or even the guarantee of continued employment.”
More than a hint — in fact, a seismic indicator of a shift in popular American spirituality – has been captured by our recent survey of the Vibrant Nation community in our recent Resilience Survey. The majority of our community have taken a decided turn towards such spiritually nuanced stances as humility and acceptance. There is increased recognition of human limitation and the placing of ultimate outcomes in God’s hands. Those of us who fit this profile no longer want cheerleaders to pump us up for one more round. We hunger for truth, facts and honesty and worry less that our optimism be eroded than that we confuse our ability to cope with reality and our faith in God with wishful thinking.
But here’s the rub. The majority is neither unanimous nor necessarily the most vocal in any given gathering. In fact, as social scientists teach, in times of change and challenge, people tend to go to extreme positions, especially when there’s fear lurking in the wings. Depending on their life and developmental stage, factoring in internal as well as external influences, individuals can either enter into a dynamic period of personal growth calling previous beliefs into question, or become more deeply entrenched in their beliefs.
In short, people who work together, who worship together, who go to coliseums or board rooms to be shown a guiding light into the darkness — who otherwise would previously have either been on the same motivational page or at least would have looked the other way while others cheered — will suddenly not only have strong opinions, but will be sharing them. Positive thinkers in the crowd call out realists as being weak; realists accuse positive thinkers of having their heads in the sand; individuals who believe in pushing through the obstacles no matter what are called rigid by some while those who believe in adapting to the changing times are called fickle.
And so it is that the motivational speaker approaches the podium, still taking pencil to script, rewriting as we go. This is one tough crowd.
Agreed. I never thought I was vain until I had a mastectomy at age 39. I was devastated and told the doc I wanted to wake up with implants. Now at age 60, I am lopsided and wondering if I was just avoiding the inevitable. You get what you get and you
Sounds very interesting.
Spike, you are awesome! Love your perspective, thanks for sharing.
This will probably sound defensive, coming from a paid speaker (audiences must find you valuable and like you expect a meeting planner to pay you, thus you might get labeled “motivational”) yet what constitutes “popular” in the world of speakers is usually a litmus of what most matters to audiences. In economic language, speakers/topics/formats are not lagging indicators of the cultural zeitgeist. If anything, they are sometimes pulling people to a new way of thinking/feeling.
And a spiritual slant to a message has always been a part of some speakers’ message. Like audiences, the range of speakers is rather diverse. There are several speakers i admire, for example, who combine the insights from positive psychology, economists and their own experience.
if a speaker appears to be a cheerleader to an audience then their energy is probably too different from the audience and they will not connect with attendees. What’s inspired me is the ever wider range of people invited to speak by savvy meeting planners – people are are not traditionally charismatic yet who are authentic and clearly experts whose insights are valuable for that audience. To see thee diversity, visit some of the speaker bureau sites and that of National Speakers Asn.
And the formats of meetings are changing (some not fast enough for my preference) to provide more opportunities for people to interact, share, collaborate, and learn from each other - as well as from the paid speakers. I’m a longtime advocate of storyboarding meetings (as directors storyboard films), for example, to multiply the multi-sensory cues to connect and involve attendees.
Now I’ll step down from my soapbox and thank Carol, someone I deeply admire and the thoughtful folks at VibrantNation for providing this platform for our growing community, with disparate views. I truly believe that, with the right collaboration here, we can accomplish greater things than we can on our own – and discover more ways to savor our lives with each other.
What a thoughtful response, Kare. I love the notion of the speaker leading the audience, which is the point–but of course, not always the case. Of course, there are exceptions–people who take risks, and come to stand for something far greater than cheerleading. I’m curious as to whether you feel a sea change in your audiences of any kind, needing to recalibrate in any way?
There have been different sea changes, in part depending on the kind of audience and how the economy is affecting their kind of work – a major sense is that their world world and the whole world is in flux. One positive side is that more people seem open to new ideas from more diverse places and people, more bold about doing a “first ever” - which suits my message
Also, relative to the interests of us at VibrantNation, the boomer and older generation seems to be placing a higher value on “meaningfulness”, “contribution” and “legacy.” Each younger generation has a distinctly different approach to gatherings, including meetings, and is more accustomed to group work and other collaboration than older people.
Conferences of peers could be a more vital place for diverse people to have deeper, richer opportunities to learn from each other than most meeting formats today provide….
There are still inspirational speakers and authors who get to the heart of helping their audiences develop personal strengths and life skills, which can help in the face of adversity and with this life in general. I just finished reading “be yourself: everyone else is already taken,” by Mike Robbins. What an amazing book! I shall be working with the exercises for some time to come.
Am now reading “The Dark Side of the Light Chasers” by Debbie Ford and am finding it extremely helpful. Both Mike and Debbie have something worthwhile to say to today’s crowd.
These books sound great…worth taking a look at. Thanks!
Since there is a strong interest in our community for life-affirming and practical books, some of the ones I’ve discussed at Moving From Me to We (how we can accomplish greater things together than alone) may be of interest:
http://www.movingfrommetowe.com/category/book/
This is fascinating. I listened to an interview yesterday on NPR (couldn’t find it on the website) from an author who has written a book about how “positive thinking” may have sold us out. I’ve been thinking about it, and haven’t reached my own conclusion (of course, nor have I read the book), but it was a different viewpoint from the “cheerleader” stance which I have experienced at some motivational meetings. As a historian, I like having at least the differing perspective about this.
Authenticity is the key. Not being a motivational speaker, I enjoy your back and forth perspectives on this.
Marty Seligman’s Positive Psychology movement has spawned a slew of books including his – my favs of his are Learned Optimism and Authentic Happiness….. many authors are better at writing that conveying their ideas from the stage – for those I’ve recommended that they be “in conversation” with an adept interviewer and then both they and they audience seems to come alive from their ideas.
Industry and profession-specific topics are still vital for most meetings none the less – and may “inspirational” speakers are unwilling to customize for audiences…. many others are.
Barbara E’s book… some research shows optimistic people see situations in a rosy hue and pessimists see the situation more clearly & make better choices… other research shows that optimism, in some, leads to a happier, healthier life
I am reading Bright-Sided by Barbara E. now. I am have never been positive thinker!1
Lucy -
That would’ve been Barbara Ehrenreich in NPR:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113758696
I was never a fan of motivational speakers. Then I wrote a book and started speaking – and realized I had become one. There’s a bit of self-hatred going on – but I think I can live with it …
I think I need to go see a motivational speaker who talks about how it’s OK to be a motivational speaker.
I’ver heard you speak many times, and I would have to say that you are more in the prophetic than motivational mode, as am I. i.e. we question the status quo and motivate towards change, while many motivational speakers help you to play better within the current prevailing paradigm. Both have their place but I’d say prophetic speakers get beat up more!
That’s another good point. A lot of speakers who used to get paid well for their speeches have really had to come down in price and/or give it away.
I find that most motivational speakers just do not do it for me. However I did go see Clinton speak once, because I got in for free.
I do not like the way they lump several speakers together because you have to pay to hear people that do not particularly inspire you.. I think it would be great if they put like people on the same bill, I would probably go if I liked at least two or three of the speakers.