The motivational Industry is on the rise due to increase in the demand of personal development. People are also searching for motivational content for problems related to their career and relationships. This insane demand and ease of Internet access has led to a barge of motivational speakers and related content.
To say that people today are hooked to motivational content would be an understatement. While many speakers are authentic who look to help more and more people, there are many opportunists who are only looking to extract time, attention and money and their selective words can persuade your mind to believe them.
Identifying Genuine Motivational Speakers from the fake ones is crucial to safeguard against financial implications, to get quality advice that can have a positive Emotional and Psychological Impact.
Facts that you should know about Motivational Industry
- This industry is not regulated. There are no qualifications, skills accreditations, licenses or certificates required in order to become a motivational speaker or lifecoach.
- The Motivational Industry, due to its global nature was valued at nearly $43.7 billion market in 2022 for personal and self-improvement growth and is expected to grow at 5.5% CAGR from 2023 to 2030.
- Many motivational Speakers are entering the territory of “Influencers” and are also looked on as celebrity.
- There are no shortages of books and seminars happening today that gives over-promises. The grandiosity of some claims are packaged in a way that that’s too good to resist.
- According to Gitnux market data report, the majority consumers of self-help content are women accounting to nearly 70%.
How to Identify Motivational Speakers who only intent to loot your time and money without offering genuine service?
Lack of Verifiable Credentials or Experience: – A new trend has emerged on social media where people are imparting motivation without a relevant background. They rely more on their carefully crafted words including but not limited to “Enterpreneurship”, “Millionaire”, “Dream Lifestyle” and etc.
However, digging information on their previous experience can be extremely challenging. In fact, you may not find anything substantial that demonstrates their experience in a said field.
Too Much PR : – Word of Mouth is often the most organic and authentic review that you can find for product or service. But when advertisements on digital platform exceed word of mouth significantly, then it becomes even more important to cross-check the background of the motivational speaker. A product or service that is beneficial to people often gets word of mouth recognition without any paid marketing.
Surface Level Knowledge without Expertise And Promises of Quick Fixes: – Fake Motivational speakers often lack in-depth expertise that can only be acquired with time, hardwork and patience. Their quick fixes can appear like magical wands that is one size fit for every solution to your problems in both personal and professional life.
Real personal growth and development are far from an easy process and genuine speakers understand and communicate this complexity to their followers that gives them a positive yet realistic expectation that eventually leads to sustainable positive outcomes.
Testimonials that are hard to verify: – Reviews that are hard to verify should raise your eyebrows. In today’s era of easy Internet access, it is not difficult to acquire reviews through paid systems. Just check out Google reviews and you will find how easy it is to buy paid ones. If you are unable to find the testimonial givers and cross-check their claims, then you need to have a really solid reason to buy services of that particular motivational speaker.
Anecdotal Data vs. Empirical Evidence : – It is not uncommon for motivational speakers to highlight their successful followers on stage. Those stories are anecdotal which by definition is neither reliable nor is observed frequently unlike empirical evidence where the data is sampled on many people. Motivational speakers who are not genuine do not reveal about the median progress that their followers (including the paid ones) have achieved after participating in their courses.
Becoming a millionaire by teaching “How to become a millionaire”
One of the key sign of a fake motivational guru is that their acquired fame and wealth is directly proportional to the number of courses they have sold. It is a likelihood that they may have become a millionaire by teaching others on how to become a millionaire for a hefty fee. This kind of wealth acquisition usually follows a pyramid scheme or affliate model.
When a motivational speaker promises to teach you “How to become a millionaire” by selling you a course that essentially teaches the same, it is imperative to do your due diligence and approach with skepticism.
| 3 Signs of Genuine Motivational Speakers |
| They have a clear track record of their journey, claims and rags to riches story that can be verified and cross-checked through independent sources. |
| They do not rely on Looks, Charm and Charisma but intends to have substance in their messages that is not easy to find at other places. |
| Their main focus is on giving quality advice that is evidence-based, backed by research or data rather than anecdotal evidences. |
| They do not put over-emphasis on selling their products and services. Instead, they are always looking to provide relevant and credible expertise that compels the consumer to buy their service. |
| They refrain from promising quick fixes and they definitely do not offer one size fit solution. |
| Their followers or consumers demonstrate progress or success in their respective fields by applying evidence-based advices given from the speaker. |
| Genuine Speaker | Fake Motivational Speaker |
| Their stories are authentic and backed by their own real-life events which can be cross-verified by independent sources. They have specialization in atleast one field and stay up to date in it. | Their stories might be more appealing but they are often made up. Their anecdotes may be exaggerated or entirely fabricated. |
| They refrain from speaking about different business niches and stick to the ones where they have demonstrated history of success, authoratative opinion, expertise and trustworthiness. | They tend to claim expertise in areas where they have little to no actual knowledge or experience |
| They often give practical, workable advice that may seems a little out of the comfort zone but starts to pay dividend after some time. | They reply on Charm and Charisma to engage with the audience. The audience may feel pumped up but the effect is short-lived. |
| Their followers often achieve success or progress in their respective fields. | Their followers become channel partners of the motivational speakers and starts to earn fame and money by doing the same thing as their motivational speaker i.e. teaching success principles. |
Conclusion
In the era of high-speed Internet and content creation, it is hard to come across a topic which is difficult to find on the web. With more ease to transparency than ever, it is imperative to cross-check the claims that influencers are throwing in the public domain, especially when their real motive is to sell their high-priced courses with surface level knowledge.
