Inspirational Presentations | Presentation Course

Inspirational presentations are all around you. The CEO of a company may deliver an inspirational presentation to motivate her sales staff. A preacher may deliver a religious sermon to motivate the congregation to increase their charitable giving. A politician may try to rally the constituents around a specific cause.

An inspirational presentation often involves personal goals or the goals of an organization. The leader who is giving the presentation is trying to motivate the audience to reach for these lofty goals.

Sometimes the goals are personal. For example, a psychologist might be trying to inspire a group of husbands to better show their affection to their spouses.

Other times, the expressed goals are team goals. Politicians will often give presentations about the goals of their political party.

Inspirational presentations are geared towards the emotion of the audience rather than their logical side. This is not to say that inspirational presentations are fluff without any evidence or supporting material. It is simply that the presentations have a tendency to have an esoteric nature. Think of a university commencement presentation as an example. Rarely does this type of presentation focus on evidence or statistics. Rather, it is a presentation about how to make a difference in the world using your degree.

You must first connect with the emotions of your audience. What are their fears? What are their desires? Their desires can range from basic needs such as job security all the way to higher spiritual needs. You need to dig deeper into the backgrounds of your audience for this type of presentation. Try to find things that are unique to your audience in order to fine tune or tailor a presentation for their ears. Like any marketer you will want to segment your audience based on metrics such as age, ethnic background, occupation etc. You want to make them feel as though the presentation was custom designed especially for them.

Inspirational Presentations Are About Change

At the core, an inspirational presentation is about change. This change may be behavioral or a change of actions. Nonetheless, you are trying to inspire change. You will need to explain the details of this upcoming change. However, you must connect with the audience prior to bringing up the change.

For an example of a motivational presentation you can watch Barrack Obama’s presentation entitled “Yes We Can.”

Inspirational presentations will require the use of some advanced techniques in public speaking.

For example, you will want to use personal stories and anecdotes. Usually, these stories are about “beating the odds” on a path to success. Why were the odds stacked against you and what exactly did you do to persevere?

Another characteristic of an inspirational presentation is vivid imagery. You want to paint an image of what this newfound change will feel like for the audience. For example, if you were talking about a new waterfront cleanup initiative for your town, you might paint a picture of children and grandchildren for generations to come, paddling along the lake as they splash each other with crystal-clear water.

Use Connector Words

When you are connecting with the audience you should use words of unity. The most important word of unity is “we.” This conveys a message that you and the audience are part of the same group or cause. You are not merely a preacher trying to get them to change; rather you are a foot soldier in the trenches with them. Another connecting word would be “us.” For example, notice how George Bush used the phrase “you are either with us or against us” when he rallied the nation after the attacks of September 11. Another example would be “my friends.” Abraham Lincoln used this phrase in the following presentation:

Barrack Obama’s Presentation “Yes, We Can”

A recent example of an inspirational presentation was given by Barrack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign. This rallying presentation was so inspirational that the Black Eyed Peas’ Will.I.Am created a Bob Marley-esque musical version that has been downloaded millions of times. You can watch the musical version here.

To gain an appreciation for the techniques used in the presentation first read the prepared presentation in its entirety and then examine the analysis of the presentation.

Analysis of Obama’s Inspirational Speech

From the introduction of the speech one can clearly see that the tone of the speech is inspirational. The speech is about change, reaching for a higher purpose and uniting to solve the problems in America. Obama sums up his introduction when he states: “We are hungry for change and we are ready to believe again.” The listener is curious to find out what exactly needs to be changed?

Obama uses several anecdotes to describe the problems facing America. He does not describe the problem but rather uses anecdotes from the trenches which add to the appeal of the speech. He uses these stories to expose the problems of healthcare, education, the economy and the war in Iraq. He mentions the Dunkin’ Donuts employee. When he slams outsourcing to foreign countries he does so with a vivid anecdote: “the laid off Maytag factory employee who now competes with his teenager for a $7/hr job at Wal-Mart.” When he talks about the special interest campaign contributions he mentions a $3.01 contribution he received from a lady who tucked it inside a verse of scripture. These stories make the presentation sound more personal and reinforce the conversational nature of the speech. It is almost as if your uncle has visited for Sunday dinner and is telling you about the struggles facing some of your old friends in your old neighborhood.

Obama uses the unity word “we” repeatedly throughout the speech. This presentation is intended to show that Obama is the leader of the team yet more importantly he is still part of the team. The tone of the presentation is that the voters and Obama are the underdogs, and they must stick together to defeat Goliath.

The speech is not laced with many examples of vivid language yet there is a wonderful example in the line where he states “It’s the politics that uses religion as a wedge and patriotism as a bludgeon.”

Obama uses the two worlds approach when comparing the current situation in America with the future potential prosperity that is possible if he is elected. He describes the crumbling schools, the unaffordable healthcare and the poor economy where people can’t pay their mortgages. He then essentially asks “do you want to continue living in this world?” He does this when he proclaims “This election is about the past vs. the future.” Obama then goes on to describe positive elements of his world. He describes the political inclusion of even a $3.01 donor, a far contrast to the multimillion dollar lobbyists in Washington. He also talks about the racial unity that brought change in Chicago. Finally, he talks about the woman who is now devoted to working with inner city-children. Obama describes the new world and he makes you want to be a part of it.

Obama also makes frequent use of the rhetorical devices of anaphora and epiphora. This is where a speaker repeats only one part of a phrase several times. Anaphora is repetition at the start of a sentence and epiphora is repetition at the end of a sentence. You can see the use of this device highlighted in bold.

The message of the speech is “yes we can change, if you elect me.” Obama continually repeats this message as he wanted to drive it home to the audience. If there was one thing that they would remember from the presentation it is that catch phrase or sound bite. Obama uses this catch phrase six times in the last three paragraphs! This repetition is used to ingrain the takeaway message.