Self-motivation, overcoming obstacles, and becoming a better leader are crucial for public speakers.

They directly influence your ability to engage audiences, inspire action, and maintain effectiveness over time.

Read on to discover why each of these areas is vital to you as a speaker:

Self-Motivation

Public speakers often face challenges such as nervousness, burnout, or fatigue. Self-motivation allows them to keep going despite these obstacles.

A strong motivation helps speakers stay committed to their craft, practice their speeches, and continuously improve their content and delivery.

Motivated speakers often serve as role models for their audience. Expressing their drive can inspire others to be motivated in their own lives.

This sense of inspiration is key to why many people seek out motivational speakers.

Speakers set personal and professional goals, such as delivering impactful presentations, growing their audience, or establishing themselves as thought leaders.

Self-motivation helps you stay focused and take consistent steps toward achieving your goals, even when faced with setbacks.

Follow these steps, and you will achieve more than you thought possible while inspiring others to do the same.

Make your goals SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bounded.

If you don’t, you don’t have a goal. You have a dream. Almost everyone has dreams. A tiny percentage of the population has set SMART goals. You want to be in this minority.

So, you need to practice self-motivation to be a successful speaker.

Practicing overcoming obstacles will add significantly to your speaking success.

Overcoming Obstacles

Public speaking can come with various obstacles, such as nervousness, technical issues, or challenging audiences.

Learning how to overcome these barriers is essential for delivering a successful message.

Speakers face rejection, criticism, and career failures. The ability to bounce back from these experiences is key to long-term success.

Resilience allows a speaker to remain composed under pressure and to adapt to unexpected situations without losing credibility or impact.

A good rule of thumb is not to expect to please everyone. If you try to please everyone, you will always be disappointed. Trying to please everyone dilutes your message, which can result in not pleasing anyone.

There will always be someone in your audience who doesn’t want to be there. Probably, their boss told them to be there. Ignore them and concentrate on delivering a valuable message to those who want to be there.

Public speakers who have overcome personal challenges often share their stories, creating a deep emotional connection with their audience.

This vulnerability can be a powerful way to inspire others to tackle obstacles.

Real examples from your life of overcoming a difficult obstacle can inspire audience members. The tricky part is that you may never know who you inspired. Try to be satisfied with the high probability that you inspired someone.

So, self-motivation and overcoming obstacles are two traits speakers need.

Another is becoming a better leader.

Becoming a Better Leader

Public speakers are often seen as leaders in their fields. Honing leadership qualities is vital for maintaining your credibility and effectiveness.

Speakers who are strong leaders can inspire action and foster change within their communities or industries.

They often assume a leadership role by giving speeches and guiding people toward better decision-making, personal growth, and action.

People yearn for leaders who can show them the way. Today, more than ever, people who advocate solutions instead of worrying about what will happen are needed.

As the old saying goes, “The only thing that doesn’t change is change.” Be a change agent in your speaking.

A good leader listens and understands their audience’s needs.

Public speakers who develop leadership skills are better equipped to read the room, adjust their message based on the audience, and create an impactful experience.

Leading everyone in the same way is a myth. Nothing could be further from the truth.

You could say a leader who doesn’t understand the people’s intrinsic motivations cannot lead.

Often, leaders are managers. Managers manage things, while leaders inspire people to intrinsically want to accomplish tasks that lead to the leader’s goal for the organization.

A “leader” who is not empathetic is not a leader.

Being an effective leader allows a speaker to build trust.

Leaders are expected to show integrity, communicate clearly, and stand by their message, all of which are important for engaging an audience.

The audience’s trust in you and whether you are credible will determine their engagement with you.

A presentation that fails to engage the audience will not convey the message.

Self-motivation, overcoming obstacles, and leadership are interconnected and vital for you as a speaker.

These qualities enable you to stay focused on your goals, persevere through challenges, and lead by example—ultimately making your presentations more impactful.

You improve your effectiveness and inspire and empower others by mastering these areas.

Call to Action

• Be your cheerleader. Nothing will happen to improve your situation until you make it happen.

• Look for solutions when you encounter obstacles. This will help you overcome obstacles when you experience the same situation again.

• As a speaker, you are a leader. Embrace this and be worthy of the name.

References

• In his book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel H. Pink discusses how intrinsic motivation, as opposed to extrinsic rewards, leads to higher performance and satisfaction—key qualities for a public speaker.

• In Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, Angela Duckworth emphasizes how grit—the combination of passion and perseverance—is essential for overcoming challenges and achieving success. Public speakers often exhibit this trait to push through difficult moments and improve their craft.

• Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek focuses on the idea that effective leaders create an environment where people feel safe, valued, and motivated to contribute. Public speakers who embrace leadership principles can foster a similar environment in their talks.

Being a confident, engaging, and effective technical speaker is a vital personal and professional asset. With more than 40 years of engineering experience and more than 30 years of award-winning public speaking experience, Frank DiBartolomeo can help you reduce your presentation preparatory time by 50%, overcome your fear of public speaking and be completely at ease, deliver your presentations effectively, develop your personal presence with your audience; and apply an innovative way to handle audience questions deftly.

Working closely with you, Frank provides a customized protocol employing the critical skills and tools you need to create, practice, and deliver excellent technical speeches and presentations. Connect with Frank and explore how he can help you become the exceptional speaker you were meant to be. Please reach out to him at frank@speakleadandsucceed.com or 703-509-4424 for a complimentary consultation. Schedule a meeting with him at calendly.com/frankdibartolomeospeaks. Listen to his Successful Speaking for Technical Professionals podcast