Brad Montgomery, Motivational Speaker

I had a very bright high school student call me recently.  She kindly asked if she could interview me about my job as a motivational speaker for a paper she wrote.  She was a great kid on the phone, and as you can see by her email (and paper) below you’ll see that her teacher agreed.  

Emily:   you’re  a rock star!  Keep it up girl and let me know if I may be of further service.

Here’s her email

Dear Brad,

I am writing to you both, as you requested, to let you know about the outcome of my senior project about motivational speaking.  I wrote and presented a speech about technology to a retired men’s group, which went really well.  I wrote a paper about my research, and I mentioned both of you.  An attachment of the paper is included in this email.

The most nerve-wracking part of this entire experience was presenting my topic to my panel of judges.  I had to speak to them about more than the material included in my research paper, because they read my paper prior to my presentation.  After a recap of what I learned in my research for my paper, I talked to them

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Do you have a presentation, speech, business meeting or other type of talk to give to a group? After speaking are you often left with the feeling that most of the audience was busy thinking about what they were going to have for lunch instead a paying full attention to what you were saying? When confronted with interviews, presentations, or public speeches, too many members of today’s business world are ill-equipped to speak their minds and engage an audience. Here are some tips to help today’s business person at any level speak better, perform better, and leave the audience remarking on the quality of the presentation rather than whether to have their bologna sandwich or go out for a cheese steak.

Preparation

Research The research tip can be summed up in three simple words: KNOW YOUR STUFF! “Stuff” should be replaced by whatever is appropriate to the occasion. For instance, for an interview, know your resume. For a presentation before your colleagues and associates, know your material. For a keynote address before a national convention of stockholders, know your audience. The more research you do, the more you’ll know, and the more confident you’ll be (Continue Reading…)