Motivational Speakers

To get a sense of what this career is like, you should take advantage of public speaking opportunities while in school. Participate in school plays to gain experience and skills performing in front of an audience. If your school has a speech or debate team, join and work on your speaking and debate skills. You will have to prepare your own argument and deliver it in front of people, including judges that are evaluating your delivery, use of eye contact, and overall performance.

Consider joining SkillsUSA, a national membership organization for middle school, high school, and college students who are interested in pursuing careers in technical, trade, and skilled service occupations. It offers the following competitions that will be of interest to aspiring motivational speakers: Entrepreneurship, Extemporaneous Speaking, and Prepared Speech.

The National Speaker Association offers a blog and the Speakernomics podcast (https://nsaspeaker.org/benefit/speakernomics), as well as hosts an annual Youth Leadership Conference (https://nsaspeaker.org/attend/youth-leadership-conference) for students ages 10 to 17.

Talk with n motivational speaker about his or her career. Ask your school counselor or speech teacher to help arrange an interview. Suggested interview questions include: What made you want to enter this career? What do you like most and least about your job? How did you train for this field? What are some key skills for success? What advice would you give to young people about preparing for the field and being successful on the job?