Think you have what it takes to be the next Tony Robbins, Oprah, or Les Brown?
If you know how to motivate others and you love teaching others and getting your voice heard, motivational speaking is an incredibly rewarding job that allows you to change people’s lives with just your voice. Being a motivational speaker is not only a fulfilling job; it allows you to work for yourself, travel, and potentially earn a high income on top!
Ready to learn how to become a motivational speaker? Let’s go through the steps you need to take to get started!
What Exactly is a Motivational Speaker?
So before we dive into how to become a motivational speaker, let’s define exactly what it is.
A motivational or inspirational speaker delivers speeches and talks that aim to change people’s lives in some way by motivating and inspiring them.
Speakers often have multiple revenue streams on top of public speaking gigs, including book sales, online courses or sessions, and platforms like Youtube. Speakers like Jackie Summers demonstrate this.
Skills Required to be a Motivational Speaker
If you know how to be motivational and you find yourself inspiring and helping the people in your life with your passion, that’s half the battle.
But part of how to become a public speaker is in your other skills. It’s not just speaking, you need to be able to engage an audience and tell stories in a clear, confident, and articulate way, and this can take some practice and training.
The career also requires entrepreneurship and strong work ethics, as you would be working for yourself, sourcing your own work, and marketing yourself as an individual and a business.
Communication skills are key, but writing a speech requires writing skills and speaking skills. If you are a confident person, a strong writer, and speaker, and you have an entrepreneurial spirit, this could be the perfect job for you.
How to Become a Motivational Speaker: Getting Started
To understand how to become a professional speaker, let’s take a look at the steps you need to take.
Start by understanding your niche. What do you want to speak about and why? Discover which topics inspire you to speak and write, as this will be your key selling point.
Once you’ve discovered that, work on developing unique content and your online presence to sell yourself. Consider creating a website and social media profiles. Learn to understand your target audience, and use what you learn to start gauging interest in your services.
The best way to get started with paid public speaking professions is to offer your speaking services for free to local organizations to raise awareness. With this combined with your online marketing strategy, you should start to see paid opportunities coming in.
Motivational Speaking: Things to Know
If you want to learn how to become a motivational speaker, there are a few things you need to know.
It can be a tough industry to break into and gain popularity in, so it requires patience and dedication to become successful. Continue to market yourself and your niche, and maintain your presence online and offline.
Having the skills of a motivational speaker doesn’t necessarily mean that the career is right for you. There are other similar industries such as life coaching, politics, or being a spokesperson that might be a good fit for you too. Discover more career tips and advice on our blog.
