The purpose of an inspirational speech is to inspire and uplift your audience. It is very similar to the motivational speech, which I covered earlier in this series, but has a slightly different intent.
An inspirational speech doesn’t need the audience to take action. Its intention is to create an uplifting emotional experience that leaves the audience feeling inspired. The goal of a motivational speech is to motivate an audience to take a specific action, usually in regard to personal or professional growth.
How to inspire
There are several techniques you can use to inspire your audience. Here are just a few. You don’t necessarily want to use all of them at once, just keep them in mind as you develop your inspirational speech.
- Give them hope
Hope is a very powerful emotion … one that can keep people going even during the darkest of times. If you can evoke this emotion with your stories or information, you can inspire an audience to “hang in there.” - Stand in your power
You cannot inspire your audience if you don’t come across as confident. People are inspired by leaders and leaders are confident. Be aware of the subtle messages your body is sending … work on maintaining a confident, self-assured posture and use gestures that show authority, while still conveying compassion. - Believe in your message
Audiences can tell a fraud when they hear one. Your inspirational message must come from your heart and be fueled by your passion. If your message does not inspire you, how can you expect it to inspire your audience?
Resources for developing your inspirational speech:
- How to Inspire People Like Obama Does by Carmine Gallo
- 8 Ways to Inspire Others by Mike King
- Top Ten Ways to Inspire Others to Be Their Best by Michael Angier
Did you miss these?
Here are the previous posts in this “Type of Speeches” series:
- The Keynote Address
- The Training Session
- The Motivational Speech
- The Entertaining Speech
- The Demonstration
- The Information Dump
The next post in this series is The Q & A.