Inspirational Speakers

The goal of inspirational speakers is to inspire audiences with tales of personal achievement. Often, these speakers have overcome crippling diseases, abuse, or other obstacles that strike many as insurmountable. In doing this, inspirational speakers are able to impart valuable lessons about the need for courage, persistence, and strength in everyday life.

Examples of inspirational speakers include war heroes, many of whom have lost limbs in combat. Others have more mundane (but equally difficult) histories that may include life in inner-city ghettos infested with drugs, gangs, and crime. If a determined youth can escape such oppressive surroundings and go on to achieve personal and professional success, there's no limit to what audience members, who didn't face such dire circumstances, can do in their lives.

Famous Inspirational Speakers

Jack Lalanne, often referred to as 'The Godfather of Fitness,' is one of the best inspirational speakers on the topic of limitations, for he seems to have none of his own. Even at 89, Lalanne can do more pushups and pullups than 99 percent of men half (or even a quarter of) his age. Lalanne is frequently hired by corporations to deliver a particular message: believe in yourself, and there's nothing you can't achieve. Such a message may now be considered standard by some, but Lalanne was one of the first to popularize it on the public speaking circuit.

Another speaker with a similar message is the mountain-climber John Amatt, renowned for scaling 'The Vertical Mile,' one of the most imposing rock formations in the world. Amatt has also scaled Mt. Everest, the world's tallest peak, a feat that qualifies just about anyone for the inspirational speaking tour. Again, compared with summiting a 30,000-foot peak, the task of selling real estate or insurance should seem like a cakewalk. At least, this is what employers hope.