Matt Foley is the King of Motivational Speakers
Here’s why.
Having spent a lot of my working life in sales, I’ve been subjected to various motivational speakers over the years. To me, the quality of their presentation was largely dependent on whether doughnuts were available or not. Generally, my first thought when forced by my company to listen to a motivational speaker was why didn’t the company just pay me more money instead of hiring this clown?
I’ve found I’m more motivated by financial opportunity than a pep talk from a huckster who’s been hired to inspire the woebegone sales troops. The only thing as bad as a motivational speaker is one of the salestroops who acts like that appreciate the colossal waste of time the sales force has just experienced. That just encourages more of the same from management. Some even go so far as to raise their hands and ask questions!
I’ve mentioned that the quality of a motivational speech was if doughnuts were available or not. There is a second factor. The length of the presentation. As you might expect, to me, the shorter the better.
A prerequisite for a motivational speaker seems to be that they be better than the people they are addressing. The message I get from a motivational speaker is, I’m better than you. But, if you try to be more like me, you’ll be better.
