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As a business motivational speaker and consultant, I have seen the power of a well-told story many times. Virtually everyone reading this article (at least in the USA) will be familiar with the following story. After weighing in a 425 pounds, Jared Fogle decided to go on a ‘Subway Diet’. And, over a period of time, dropped to 180 pounds. An amazing feat!

And just as amazing was the response by Subway’s market. On January 1st 2000, Subway introduced Jared in a regional advertising campaign. On January 3rd, the chat-show superstar Opera Winfrey telephoned, wanting to interview Jared. And, over the next two years, Subway profits leapt 34 percent! Staggering!

As all business motivational speakers know – like in the legendary Subway campaign – the right story can bring outstanding results. And that’s why it’s worth telling stories in your business presentations. And so, as you look for suitable stories to tell your business colleagues and/or prospects, here are a few thoughts to bear in mind.

Get Clarity Around The Goal Of Your Presentation

Has your speech been written to inspire your team to greater effort? Or is your presentation focused on persuading a prospect to buy your product? Top business motivational speakers completely understand their topic and what their speech is designed to accomplish.

In truth, industry educators rarely have this kind of clarity around their business speeches. And one of the ways an inexperienced speaker can tell that he or she lacks clarity around a topic is that relevant stories are tough to find. However, once you’re totally clear on the point you want to make, you’ll find stories pop-up everywhere you look. Very Important Point: Don’t forget to write down the story as soon as you find it. Otherwise, I promise you, you’ll forget it.

The Best Motivational Business Speakers Make Someone Else The Star

Fact: Your average corporate audience doesn’t care about you at all. And so, if all your stories revolve around how clever you are, don’t expect your audience to be inspired and motivated. However, make it about them and they will love you for it.

One final (and important) point: inspirational stories don’t have to be long. A brief story is often more than enough to present your argument. When you have complete clarity around the goal of your speech, a short (less than ten sentences) story is often more than enough to get your point across.

If you follow these simple pieces of advice your stories will make you sound like a true business motivational speaker. The best of luck for your next speech.

As an author and business motivational speaker, I have seen the effect on an audience of a well-told story many times. Here’s a short story which, if you live in the US, you will already know. After weighing in a 425 pounds, Jared Fogle decided to go on a ‘Subway Diet’. And, over a period of time, dropped to 180 pounds. An amazing feat!

And an equally amazing response by Subway’s marketplace. On January 1st 2000, Subway introduced Jared in a regional ad campaign. On January 3rd, the chat-show superstar Opera Winfrey called, wanting to interview Jared. And, over the next two years, Subway profits leapt a whopping 34 percent! Wow!

As all business motivational speakers know – like in the impressive Subway ad – the right story can bring outstanding results. And that’s why it’s worth telling stories in a corporate presentation. And so, as you look for suitable stories to tell your business colleagues and/or prospects, here are a couple of pieces of advice to bear in mind.

Get Clear About The Aim Of Your Presentation

Has your speech been written to inspire your team to greater effort? Or is your presentation focused on persuading a prospect to buy your product? A business motivational speaker knows the objective of her speech. As a result, suitable stories readily come to mind.

Fact is, industry speakers rarely have this kind of clarity around their business speeches. And one of the ways an inexperienced speaker can tell that he or she lacks clarity around a topic is that relevant stories are tough to find. However, once you’re  really clear on the point you want to make, you’ll find stories pop-up everywhere you look. Key Point: Don’t forget to write down the story immediately. Otherwise, I swear, you’ll forget it.

The Best Motivational Business Speakers Make Someone Else The Rock Star

Fact: In a business setting, most audiences don’t care about you at all. And so, if all your stories revolve around how clever you are, don’t expect your audience to be impressed. However, make it about them and they will love you for it.

One final (and important) point: inspirational stories don’t need to be long. A brief story is often more than enough to achieve your objective. When you have complete clarity around the goal of your speech, a short (less than ten sentences) story is often more than enough to get your point across.

If you follow these simple pieces of advice your stories will make you sound like a true business motivational speaker. The best of luck for your next speech.

As a Texas motivational speaker, I regularly have the chance to observe business trainers give PowerPoint presentations. From what I’ve observed, many business educators have absolutely no idea how to utilize this potent visual tool. Rather than using PowerPoint to support their keynote speeches, they allow it to become a distraction. As a business speaker pointed out, in many organizations, using PowerPoint is considered a best practice. Nonetheless, you need to reassess the place PowerPoint has in your presentations.

Here are some motivational speaker tips for putting power into the way you use PowerPoint…

Tip 1: If you’re in control of how the room is laid out, ensure the PowerPoint screen is located off to the side. This makes it easier for you stand “center-stage,” the most powerfully persuasive position.
Tip 2: Here’s a tip I learned from another motivational speaker. Talk to your audience, never the projector screen. Make a special effort to keep eye contact with the audience. (Keep in mind you have the task of convincing the audience, not the slides.) FYI: Eye contact is one of the central tactics motivational and keynote speakers use to “wow” an audience.
Tip 3: While it’s true that you wll have to dim the lighting a small amount so the audience can read your slides, don’t let the meeting organizers turn off the lighting completely. You become a less effective speaker when the group can’t observe your body language. Also attendees will be tempted to doze off…Never good!
Tip 4: Have specific strategies for drawing the audience’s focus away from the PowerPoint slides. For instance, you could recount a tale that particularly relates to one of the ideas you’re communicating.
Tip 5: Don’t mess about with with the projector remote, it’s much more distracting than you appreciate.
Tip 6: Always turn off the projection (not the projector) when you’re not actually referring to a slide. This is so attendees can refocus on you and your body language.
Tip 7: Practice with your PowerPoint slides beforehand. Always know what your next slide is going to be so switching slides doesn’t break your rhythm.

One final point…

The most frequent time for a salesperson (or even a motivational speaker) to forget their place in a speech occurs as they transition between one subject block and the next.

The great thing with PowerPoint slides is that your sub-topics are prearranged. And so you can be confident that you won’t “forget your place”. (If required, sneak a peek at your next slide to get your head back in the game.) This leaves you free to focus on being your persuasive best so you can sell your product or motivate your team…