Next week, the most popular 
Major League Baseball players will line up for the All-Star Game in Minneapolis. We’re all familiar with the all-star designation. It’s the mark of a special person who has risen above the regular talent pool to the extraordinary. Who doesn’t want to be an all-star?
Your next leadership motivational speaker should be an all-star too. Let me share a secret for knowing if a speaker will truly connect with your audience and spark momentum and energy moving forward.
The best people in this line of work know the secret behind successful leadership motivational speaking: aspiration.
Aspiration is the foundation for inspiration
Aspiration is knowing that people generally are not satisfied what they have; they seek to be more than they are at present. Aspiration is the urge to fill what is missing. It’s the drive to be complete.
Advertising, for example, feeds on this need. We see images of things and experiences, with the promise of feeling complete. The top leadership motivational speakers understand it’s not what you have that makes you happy; what you want to achieve will provide the fuel to get you where you need to go. A great leadership motivational speaker will tap that fuel source and turn desire into action.
Leadership motivational speakers show, don’t tell
Aspiration is demonstrated whenever someone with great potential looks up to, or learns from, a high achiever. At next week’s All-Star Game, two Little League players will walk up to the pitcher’s mound before the first pitch. The tension between where those kids are now and where they would like to ultimately be is their aspiration.
One reason for the kids’ participation is Little League’s 75th anniversary this summer. Little League says it’s the world’s largest youth sports organization, so it’s a smart move for Major League Baseball to spotlight the kids at the All-Star Game. MLB aspires to remain America’s national pastime, and must nurture the next generation of sports fans.
When those kids head to the mound, they will send a message to every kid and parent in the audience that a baseball park welcomes you to participate and have fun. The Little Leaguers won’t need to say anything. Aspiration is stoked more by images and nonverbal communication.
A leadership motivational speaker shows the audience what is possible—and reveals concrete steps to get to the next level of achievement.
Key takeaways
A great leadership motivational speaker will understand the aspirations of the audience and seek to demonstrate (through words and images) concrete ways of turning desire into success.
A great leadership motivational speaker knows that showing, even more than telling, creates and feeds the sense of aspiration.
A speaker like this knows how to tap into an audience’s present gaps and future goals, and to turn that tension into positive energy. Without aspiration, there’s little chance of inspiration.
Molly Fletcher is an experienced leadership motivational speaker who aspires to partner with your executive team to achieve its best work. Book Molly Fletcher for your leadership conference today.
