If you’re planning a conference or another kind of corporate event, then you may have thought about booking an inspirational speaker to address your audience. Good motivational speakers can really help to lift the mood of delegates, ensuring your event is one to remember. For all the right reasons, of course!
When you want to find the best motivational speakers, this article is here to help. In fact it was inspired by seeing one of the top motivational speakers perform. What he had to say has stayed with us, making us understand the real value of booking male or female motivational speakers for an event.
Whether you’re interested in famous motivational speakers, women motivational speakers, black motivational speakers or a motivational speaker without limbs, this guide will help you focus on what to look for.
Read on to find out all about what business motivational speakers have to offer. Let’s get started by taking a look at what types of great motivational speakers there are to choose from.
10 Types of Inspirational Speaker
Motivational Speakers
Key takeaway – Let’s do this!
Motivational speakers can have a real impact on a room. Their aim is to uplift their audience, inspiring them. If you’d like your workforce, for example, to want to achieve bigger and better things, booking a speaker who is motivational could be the way to go.
The motivational speaker category can cover various kinds of speakers, including business motivational speakers. They may also be referred to as a high performance speaker.
Business Speakers
Key takeaway – Anyone can do it
A business inspirational speaker is someone who’s successful in business. The fact that they’ve already achieved great things makes the audience want to hang on their every word. Sharing the secrets of their success can really inspire people, so they want to do exactly the same.
Seeing a business speaker on stage really shows an audience that successful business men and women are human beings just like them. It demonstrates that with some self belief and good old-fashioned hard work, anyone can achieve big things.
Sporting Speakers
Key takeaway – Hard work pays off
Rather than being successful in business (though this may also sometimes be the case), a sports speaker has achieved on the pitch, in the gym, on the field, in the pool or even on the track. The motivational speaker we alluded to in the intro has done precisely that, by becoming a successful para athlete.
A sporting speaker can really highlight to an audience how hard work and discipline pays off. With so much competition, it’s so hard to become the best in your county, country, continent or even the world. But these guys have done just that.
Celebrity Speakers
Key takeaway – The Wow factor
If you really want to wow your audience, then a celebrity speaker could be the way to go. You could book a sporting personality, a comedian, a prominent business person, an actor or a TV presenter, for example. If it’s someone everyone knows, then the audience will be very eager to hear what they have to say!
Clearly a celebrity motivational speaker has been very successful at what they do. Which is something most motivational speakers have in common. This can inspire delegates to want to reach for the sky, which of course can benefit any organisation or business.
After Dinner Speakers
Key takeaway – Entertainment
So you’ve treated your employees or attendees to a slap-up meal in a posh hotel, all washed down with some fine wine, a G&T or their favourite craft beer. What next? While everyone sits back and relaxes (perhaps nursing their distended bellies), what could be better than some post-dinner entertainment?
Which is exactly where the after dinner speaker comes in. This type of speaker is there to amuse or entertain their audience. Or even, in some cases, dazzle them with their wit, intelligence and repartee. Booking one of these is a sure-fire way to ensure your event is the most memorable one possible.
Female Motivational Speakers
Key takeaway – Women can do it too
Even in the 2020s, women can still feel sidelined when it comes to business success. Booking a female motivational speaker can thus be a powerful way to ensure inclusivity. This is big news in the workplace right now, and not only when it comes to the gender divide.
Seeing a real life woman on stage who has broken through that glass ceiling can be very empowering for everyone. Not only the female members of the audience.
Black Motivational Speakers
Key takeaway – Skin colour should be no barrier to success
A black inspirational speaker can work in a similar way to a female one. Hiring them clearly shows your audience that gender, skin colour or any other factor need not be a barrier to success.
Think about it. If the list of motivational speakers you’ve booked or seen before have all been white men, isn’t it time to consider someone different? Perhaps consider booking a Pakistani motivational speaker, or look up black female motivational speakers, for instance.
LGBTIQA+ Speakers
Key takeaway – Inclusion
If you want to make sure everyone in your organisation feels valued and included, then booking a LGBTIQA+ speaker could be the way to go. Their mere presence sends a powerful and positive message – and that’s before they even begin to speak.
There are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex and asexual in all walks of life. And a LGBTIQA+ motivational speaker may also offer some practical advice about making sure everyone feels equally valued and included.
- Mental Health Speakers
Key takeaway – Mental health matters
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, mental health has become more important than ever before. Caring for your colleagues’ mental health should now be a key focus in any workplace – or indeed any other setting.
A mental health speaker may share their own experiences with their audience. Or they may focus on how a team can care for the mental health of one another. Again, booking a mental health motivational speaker sends a powerful message to your audience about inclusivity.
Future Speakers
Key takeaway – Look to the future
So that’s the present taken care of. But what about the future? A future speaker can ensure everyone’s eyes are on what happens next. This can help people to focus on how to achieve their longer term aims.
Whether your organisation is concerned with technology, creativity, innovation or communication, a great future motivational speaker can help to make sure you’re always moving forward.