Motivational Speakers - Knights of the Modern Age?
Career Success - 1998

 Most of us have come in contact with a motivational speaker in South Africa at one stage or another. Sometimes we come away inspired, ready to take on the world. And sometimes we come away more than a little disappointed.

Who are these new-age evangelists that promise self-fulfilments and happiness after spending time and money on them? Are they preying on a society desperate for answers of do they serve a meaningful purpose?

Speakers that inspire their audiences to positive and healthy action are fulfilling a vital role in the world, in my opinion. There are currently some truly great motivators dragging delegates kicking and screaming from the womb of indolence to the path of positive action.

By the same token, there are those speakers that have the motivational skills of Charlie Brown, leaving their audiences with a gut-full of clich�s and an impending sense of doom.

Motivators are like Knights: fighting darkness and depression through a message of self-reliance and positivism.

Typically, motivational speakers fall into three categories:

I�ve lived to Tell the Tale

People whose live have been shaped and changed through seemingly insurmountable adversity interest us greatly. There are a handful of these truly inspirational individuals in South Africa � Alison, Victor Vermeulen, Monique Strydom, Gaynor Young and Mike Lipkin � who have had their �Road to Damascus� experience and like Paul are now preaching the gospel. The gospel that allows us to put our challenges in perspective and ignite a spark in us that empowers us to overcome out personal hurdles.

I�m full of Principles (and I am an expert on my subject too)

These motivators walk their talk and use common-sense principles of success to achieve everything they desire. They may not have undergone an attitude adjustment as a result of a tragedy but they are in demand.

They are everyman/woman and give us hope that if we practice the fundamental principles of success, we will achieve our dreams. You�ll hear the bandying about concepts like purpose, values, vision, mission, goal setting, EQ, financial fitness, NLP, quantum mechanics etc. Some speakers that shine in this arena are Paul Naidoo, Grant Driver, Iona Munton, Gavin Sharples, Quinton Coetzee, Barry Hilton, Wolfgang Riebe, Rory Steyn, David Fabricius, David Molapo, Vanessa Bluen, Chata Romano, Niel Malan, Beth Galvin, Helen Nicolsen,  Stephanie Vermeulin, Michal Jackson, Tony Manning, Clem Sunter, etc (sidebar � if you are not included in this list, please don�t get offended as I�m sure you are also a wonderful beam of light and a brilliant speaker. These are just some speakers I�ve personally seen and can speak with some authority on)

I�m a celebrity

Celebrities are in demand because they�re famous and they�re our hero figures. You�ll find them excelling on the sports fields, on radio and television. They�re particularly used as after dinner speakers and Masters of Ceremony. There�s too many to mention here, but I�m sure we all know one.

Confident, quirky and arrogant � humble I am not �.

Motivators are confident, self-assured and dare I say it, arrogant bunch. They need to be. Like in any other field it is tough out there � with more than 200 motivators and celebrities competing for their 15 minutes of fame. They have this confidence because they walk their talk. Or like Mike Lipkin used to say �I�m so confident because I always attend my own talks.�

Motivators are also a quirky bunch, each with his or her foibles. Some pitch up to the presentation in a Rolls Royce, some (only one that I know of) in his peak cap, t-shirt, takkies and shorts, some dressed better than Armani himself, some use a baboon, eagle, lion, bushman or some other living creature to get their message across (I�m still waiting for someone to use a cockroach analogy � that will really crack me up J. �Like man, a cockroach will survive after a nuclear blast. Follow the way of the cockroach and you to will be a success.� I can�t wait for that one.)

Seriously, though, in this competitive environment motivators have to differentiate themselves. If they do it with integrity and a genuine belief that they are helping their clients, then all the power to them. Or as Anthony Robbins, the worldwide master at motivation, put it: It has to be a Class 1 experience � this means it has to be good for you, good for your client and good for everyone else. Ok, I�m going to have to quote Stephen Covey here: It has to be a �win-win� situation for all involved.

However, there seems to be enough business to go around without anyone having to stand on anyone�s toes or having to compete for turf like the knights of old. One speaker told me that in his worst month he does 16 talks (I�d love to be his bank manager).

Ag man, they all say the same thing

Speakers can choose to specialise in the arena where they want to do battle � image management, presentation skills, motivation, change management, scenario planning, communication, health, lifestyle, strategic planning, marketing, humour and so on.

Many local motivators have learned their trade from the teachings of Anthony Robbins, Stephen Covey, Deepak Chopra, Scott Peck, Jack Canfield, Dale Carnegie, John Kehoe, Norman Vincent Peale, Og Mandino, Victor Frankl, Jay Arahams, Jay Levinson, Charles Schultz (yes, Charlie Brown and Peanuts is a psychological series), The Bible, etc. They�ve adapted this knowledge and tempered it with their own personal experience to develop riveting and inspiring talks.

Motivators use a vast arsenal of terminology to hold our attention. They thrust with vision, block with values, move forward with goals, walk on coals and pin us down with principles. They�ll pep us up with attitude adjustment, Pavlov, Maslow, re-engineering, emotional quotient, empowerment, mind power, affirmations, alpha and action. All of this aimed at getting us to fulfil our true potential.

If you�re someone like me who�s job it is to attend motivational talks and training on a regular basis, you may from time to time be disappointed. Not because the speakers are unskilled or uninspiring (this does happen, though), but because they seem to be saying the same things.

And to be frank, they are.

It stands to reason that if they are studying the same material, they will be communicating it as well. All they do is package it differently. My take on it is that if we hear the same message from a number of different people we may eventually start getting the plot and actually start changing our habits, behaviours, attitudes and actions for the better. It is common knowledge in the advertising industry that it takes us six times before we actually start associating a certain product with a certain advert. That is why adverts are repeated so often. (Ok, Sanlam, I�ve got the plot � I really, really know what you do). Put another way, repetition is the mother of skill.

The real value of a motivator is to reach out to the human being or human becoming in all of us and ignite a spark that can grow into a raging fire of passion, commitment, and purpose. They plant a seed so that we can benefit from the shade of the tree in years to come. If we have the right attitude, we can at least get one concept out of a motivational talk that we can use. And if that one empowering concept can change our lives for the better, then I believe the experience was worth it.

I�m already a big success. Why must I listen to this drivel?

Of course, there are those that deride the efforts of motivational speakers. These are the �been there, done that� brigade. In their opinion, nobody can teach them anything. In fact, if they want your opinion, they�ll give it to you. Unfortunately, some of these people who have no time for motivation or inspiration, are sometimes extremely successful. They are people that we look up to. So, if they don�t believe in motivational speakers or anything uplifting, why should we?

Before we make our decision we should re-look at the way we view success. Let�s be brutally honest, most of us judge success by the amount of money a person earns, the car that person drives or that house/area that person stays in.

Understand, that this is only one part of success (albeit a rather important part). If we are to judge someone�s success, let�s look at the whole picture. Are we in our third marriage; do we spend enough time with our kids to teach them the correct values; whom did we step on to get to where we are; are our bad habits shortening our lives so that we wont be able to spend the millions of Rands we make; do we have any spiritual connection with anything; are we doing anything to help our communities and are we educating ourselves through reading empowering literature? So, how balanced are we and how successful are we really?

Yslike, but you okes are expensive

Many companies baulk at the seemingly astronomical prices that motivational speakers charge. A local speaker can make anywhere from R5 000 to R20 000 for a one-hour talk. Some celebrities can charge anywhere from R40 000 upwards for an appearance. I have placed a speaker overseas for GBP4000 (or at the rate then around R58 000 for an hour talk). I have heard that a top overseas speaker like Stephen Covey can charge anywhere in the region of $72 000 for a talk (I hope that�s a joke).

Are we talking price or cost?

To put it into perspective when a company has a conference sometimes the alcohol bill is more expensive than the speaker. We must ask ourselves which one will have a longer-term impact in terms of motivation, attitude adjustment, productivity and putting profits into the company. So, if only one sales person takes away a gem that helps sell product to the value of R2 million, is it not worth it? (This is a real-life success story). What will it cost our company in the long run if we don�t pay a small price now?

Want to know the real reason why speakers are so expensive?

However, there are a couple of scenarios that play out when we hire a speaker.

Generally, if we use a speakers� agency (someone that represents speakers) we will in many cases pay more for that speaker than in we went directly to the speaker. The reason for this is that the speakers� agency puts its 20% commission on top of the speaker�s fee. So if the speaker costs us R10 000, we will get him/her for R12 000 from the speakers� agency. This is excluding VAT, travel and accommodation expenses.

Unfortunately, some agencies charge way more than the 20% fee. Some speakers are up in arms about this practice, as it not only rips off the client; it sometimes pegs them too high so that they don�t get the engagement.

My take on the situation is that the 20% commission fee should be included in the speaker�s fee. So whether we get a quote from the speaker or from the agency, it is the same price. I believe this keeps all parties honest. So in other words, if the speaker charges out at R10 000, the speaker gets R8 000, the agent R2 000 and the client saves himself R2 000 (assuming he went with an agency that marked up the fee by 20%).

This practice of adding 20%+ on actually puts agents and speakers into competition. Obviously a client would rather go direct to a speaker to get a cheaper rate.

Agencies aren�t only to blame

But agencies also sit with a dilemma. Some speakers (the one�s that are a legend in their own lunchtime) refuse to negotiate on the rate and insist that the agency charges commission over and above the fee. There contention is that that is what they are worth and if companies don�t like it, they can get another speaker.

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