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Can you recall a seminar, book, or online class where the guest speaker or presenter completely blew you away with their words? Good motivational speakers like them possess the ability to inspire, transform or challenge their audience through powerful speeches. Ever wondered who are the best motivational speakers who can help you whenever you feel down? Let’s find out!
One of the best-known motivational speakers are Gary Vaynerchuk, Jordan Peterson, Tony Robbins. But they are just a handful to the numerous motivation speakers out there inspiring people to become the better version of themselves.
All of them have their unique body language, sense of humor, eye contact, and way of speaking to resonate deeply within their audience. If you want to know more about them, I will be talking all about the best motivational speakers in the rest of the article.
The World’s Top 10 Motivational Speakers
A motivational speaker is someone who gives powerful speeches to inspire, challenge and transform their audiences. All of us are no strangers to days when we fall into a slump and everything seems too difficult to pursue. On those days, it can be helpful to tune in to a motivational speaker’s seminar, online classes, or read their books.
With powerful and captivating messages, they pull you out of a world full of negativity, grief, and broken dreams. In the current world, you will find many motivational speakers who come from all walks of life. Let’s check out the top 10 motivational speakers among them:
1. Gary Vaynerchuk
When we talk about motivational speakers, Gary Vaynerchuk is among the most passionate ones out there. If you are in dire need of some inspiration, you will need to look no further than Vaynerchuk. The founder, speaker, author, investor, and internet personality have many words of wisdom that can be helpful to you.
Vaynerchuk’s speeches are built around a simple but solid concept – you need to work hard and be patient. He has been a guest motivational speaker for numerous stages all over the world. However, Gary would not introduce himself as an exclusive motivational speaker and wants others to build their bridges.
Even so, there are millions of people out there who love to hear his voice and seek help from his speeches. He mainly touches on topics concerning business philosophy, personal branding, marketing, and utilizing one’s strengths to find their road to success.
Vaynerchuck is the author of several New York Times bestselling books including Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, Crushing It, and The Thank You Economy among many others.
2. Jordan Peterson
Dr. Jordan Peterson is a professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto, the author of the best-selling non-fiction book “12 Rules for Life”, a clinical psychologist, and an outstanding motivational speaker to many. If you get the chance to attend any of his public speaking events, I guarantee you, you do not want to miss it.
As a motivational speaker, Peterson has the unique spark to engage with his entire audience, be it hundreds or even thousands of people. When delivering his speeches, he takes his time to relax and think. So they are perfectly paced and concise. He is an amazing storyteller as well so his speeches have the ability to draw in almost anyone.
Peterson’s insights can help you get to know yourself and those around you with different personalities better. You can also improve your practical and psychological functioning.
3. Eric Thomas
Born on 3rd September 1970 in Illinois, Eric Thomas is a famous American educator, author, minister, and of course, a motivational speaker. What sets him apart from others is his high-energy presentation and unique style when delivering a speech. For such energizing qualities, he is famously known as the “hip-hop preacher”.
Thomas’s childhood wasn’t exactly a happy one but that could hardly bring him down. Despite many adversities in life, he is a positive man who strives to share the same bright energy with others. A big turning point in his life was when his motivational videos got viral over the internet and he managed to millions of people with his speech.
Now Thomas aspires to inspire and motivate everyone to stay focused on their goal as if it were the air they would need to survive. His speeches focus on teaching the importance of education, unlocking one’s hidden potentials, being a good leader, and achieving success. According to him, the secret to cherishing the taste of success is determination and never giving up.
If you wish to draw some inspiration from Thomas’s life, you can check out his autobiography “The Secret to Success”. Another one of his books that you may want to add to your reading list is “Greatness is Upon You”.
4. Arianna Huffington
Born on 15th July 1950 in Athens, Greece, Arianna Huffington is famously known as the founder and CEO of Thrive Global, and co-founder and chief editor of Huffington Post. However, even before becoming the co-founder of the Huffington Post, she was an influential and prominent feminist. In addition to all these, she is also now one of the best motivational speakers out there.
Huffington’s topics of interest mostly cover business leadership, the importance of health, and science-based methods to help increase productivity. If you want to check out some of her best-selling books, make sure to look into “Thrive”, and “The Sleep Revolution”.
5. Tony Robbins
Even in the world of motivational speakers, Tony Robbins is a force to be reckoned with. For over 40 years, Robbins has delivered motivational speeches, hosted seminars and coaching for millions of business owners. His words of wisdom have helped them face and overcome the personal and professional obstacles they were facing in their lives.
Born on 29th February 1960 in Los Angeles, Robbins’s childhood is described as chaotic and abusive by him. At the age of 17, he left his home to set out to the world of motivational speaking.
A commanding presence and passion to help others reach their goals are some traits unique to this motivational speaker. Usually, Robbins touches on topics such as strengthening your communication, overcoming your inner fears, improving and maintaining relationships with others, attaining wealth, and staying healthy.
Through his seminars, inspirational quotes, motivational speeches, and books, Robbins has inspired and transformed the lives of many people for the better. He is the author of many self-help books such as “Awaken the Giant Within” and “Unlimited Powers”.
6. Les Brown
Les Brown was born on 17th February 1945 to a family adorned with poverty and was later given up for adoption. In his life, Brown has faced many adversities when growing up. He was even called a “slow learner” and got held back a year in the school. But he eventually overcame all these challenges and more to reach where he is.
Now, he has achieved success in a huge variety of fields such as community activist, community leader, political commentator, broadcast manager, and others. He is one of the most well-known and highest known motivational speakers in all of America. Brown has the power to motivate others to help them risk making new challenges and face them.
In his speeches, Brown mainly focuses on the importance of believing in yourself and teaches how you can be bold and acquire self-confidence. According to Brown, most people fail in life not because they aim too high and miss. But because they set their bar too low and hit. Brown also has many best-selling books including Laws of Success”, and “Live Your Dreams”.
7. Nick Vujicic
If you have never listened to any of Nick Vujicic’s pep talks or don’t even know him, you are certainly missing out on a lot. Vujicic was born on 4th December 1982 in Melbourne, Australia. Due to being born with a rare disorder named Tetra-Amelia syndrome, he was born with no hands or legs.
Being born without any limbs may seem unimaginable to us, but it was the reality to Vujicic. No doubt, he had to face a lot of hardships both mentally and physically when growing up. Even so, Vujicic is not someone who would let his situation control his life.
He successfully overcame all the challenges that came with his disability. Now, he is one of the best motivational speakers in the world. Not only is Vujicic a positive and happy man, but he also makes sure to live his life to the fullest. He also has an outstanding sense of humor to tell jokes during his speeches and help others have a great time.
The main theme of Vujicic’s speeches is teaching others the importance of being determined for their goal and never giving up. According to him, quitting is never an option. Vujicic also stresses people to not focus on what they can’t do but focus on what they can control and can do without fail.
8. Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is one of the most well-known female motivational speakers of our time. Thanks to her famous talk show “The Oprah Winfrey Show”, there’s hardly anyone who doesn’t know her. She was also one of the most powerful women of our time for being a leading media executive and a philanthropist.
Although Winfrey is not exactly a motivational speaker by profession, she has still delivered many keynote speeches in different settings. Her speeches are extremely inspirational, empowering, and thought-provoking for her audience. Oprah is the author of books like “The Wisdom of Sundays” that help the readers to connect with themselves and the world around them.
9. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Born on 30th July 1947 in Austria, Arnold Schwarzenegger is known as the world-renowned professional bodybuilding champion to most of us. However, behind his remarkable bodybuilding success lies an inspirational story. Just like all the other motivational speakers included here, Schwarzenegger’s success was also attained after a lot of struggles.
Schwarzenegger’s story tells us about a man who discovered his true purpose in life and stayed consistent with it. He is someone who would do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. He does not care about what others are saying behind his back.
All Schwarzenegger focuses on is believing in himself, staying true to his self-discipline, immense work ethic, and determination to reach all his goals. Through his speeches, Schwarzenegger wishes to relay the lessons he has learned from his life to his audience.
His speeches focus on how difficult it can be to gain success but it is up to you to be stubborn enough to conquer any obstacles you face. It is also important to follow your heart and what it wants to accomplish in life. Schwarzenegger’s powerful speeches help you look deep into yourself to find the answers to who you wish to be.
10. Mel Robbins
Born on 6th October 1968, Mel Robbins is famously known as a motivational speaker, TV host, and author. Thanks to her amazing energy and remarkable sense of humor, it’s easy to get absorbed in her words of wisdom. Just like any other motivational speaker, he has experienced her fair share of difficult challenges.
However, as she faced and overcame all the challenges and obstacles in life, she could build up the courage to go on the stage. Now she stands on the stage among thousands to spread her words of wisdom to inspire and challenge them.
One of Robbins’s prominent topics her speeches and writings are centered around is “The 5 Second Rules”. The 5-second rule is a theory to help people achieve something great in their lives, become a leader, and take control of communication and interpersonal relationships.
Mel Robbins is the author of many best-selling books. You can check out her “The 5 Second Rule”, “Stop Saying You’re Fine” among many others. If you don’t know how to make the right decisions at the right time, Mel Robbins is the best person that can help you deal with it.
Top 7 Qualities of a Great Motivational Speaker
Some significant qualities set apart great motivational speakers from average ones. When you seek the help of a motivational speaker, no doubt you only want someone who can help you become your best version. Let’s look at the qualities that make someone a great motivational speaker:
1. A Passionate Speaker: A great motivational speaker must have enough passion to deliver speeches to their audience. To inspire others, a motivational speaker must exude passion for their work. If the speaker is not passionate about their own words, the audience cannot pick it up or feel any respect for it.
2. Captivating Story-telling: People like to hear fresh and relevant stories from different speakers. So a motivational speaker will need to deliver a story that can catch the attention of their audience and help them relate to it at the same time. The best motivational speakers around the world often share their life stories to inspire others.
3. Confident During Speeches: Confidence is a must-have trait for a motivational speaker. Public speaking is more or less terrifying for most of us. A great motivational speaker will need to muster their courage to deliver their speech to the audience. If the audience can sense their nervousness, they cannot properly deliver their messages.
4. Empathic and Dynamic: Obviously, the audience is going to be different every time. A great motivational speaker can engage with their audience and match up to the needs of each audience. When in need, the speaker should have enough passion, knowledge, and empathy to change up their script to deliver a refreshing and relatable speech every time.
5. Engaging with the Audience: Of course, public speaking is not talking to oneself. An excellent motivational speaker wants to engage their audience with their speech as much as possible. Engaging in conversations with the audience can make the event fun and get them off their phones.
6. Great Sense of Humor: There’s hardly anyone who doesn’t like someone with a good sense of humor. A motivational speaker with such a trait is also better than others. They know how to add humor to their speeches to keep their audience engaged and keep enthralled.
7. Knowledge and Expertise: A good motivational speaker should be properly knowledgeable about whatever topic they talk about. If the speaker is an expert in a specific topic, they can draw the audience in who really needs their help. This way, the audience can get valuable information from the speaker that they can then apply in real life as well.
Conclusion
Sometimes, our lives can get too hectic and everything can feel too challenging to keep up with. During such moments, it can feel reassuring if there’s someone we can look up to for inspiration. Motivational speakers help us pick ourselves back up.
If you were looking for the best motivational speakers around the world to seek some inspiration, I introduced the top 10 among them in this article. I hope it has proved to be helpful to you. Thank you for reading till the end. Have a great day.