Hiring A Motivational Speaker | Don't Be Fooled By an Edited Video

Hiring A Motivational Speaker | Don’t Be Fooled By an Edited Video

Given a good enough editor, I could make my grandmother look like a brilliant and funny motivational speaker. Let’s face it, if Hollywood can make it look like movie stars are falling off buildings, a video editor can certainly make it look like an audience is really laughing, there are 100s of people in a hotel banquet room (instead of a single family in the living room) and that any given speaker can hold an audience for more than a sound bite.

Selected Posts from Brad’s Past

We found a few posts, videos and stories from Brad’s past, and thought it would be fun to re-publish them here. So pour yourself a cup of coffee, put on some classic rock, and check out this classic blog post from a decade (ish) ago.

When you are considering which motivational speaker to hire, look closely at the video. Does it look like there is an actual audience, or was that edited in later? Does the audience look match the look of the stage? Is it real?

Are there long enough clips for you to tell whether your motivational speaker can hold an audience — and a thought — longer than for just a few seconds? You should be able to see full unedited clips if you ask for them.

Also, check to make sure there are MANY videos available of your prospective motivational speaker. In these days of $100 cameras and YouTube there ought to be several, if not hundreds of videos for you to preview.

So what’s my advice?

• Watch many videos. Not just one. Look for consistency.
• Look for unedited clips. I’m for editing quick and breezy videos too… but I also know that savvy buyers will want to see unedited clips of me before a real crowd. So I have a whole variety of videos. Does your speaker?
• Watch with a bit of skepticism. Ask yourself if the audience you are seeing matches the stage and venue you are seeing.
• Avoid hiring from a “speaker video showcase.” Inexperienced speakers will put together a video showcase. This means that a bunch of novice motivational speakers will rent a room, rent a cameraman, and then fill the room with…. themselves! Then they take turns on stage. And of course while in the audience they act very interested and very amused. But it’s totally fake. These videos are easy to spot…just look close and you’ll see them.

Are you looking for a motivational speaker for your meeting or your convention? I’d love to be considered. Contact us here, tell us what you need and what you’re trying to accomplish, and we’ll help make your event a huge success.

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Star of Many YouTube Videos, Expert in Speaker Preview Videos

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