Why Inspirational Talks Don't Work

Have you ever eaten a cheeseburger? How do you feel after? Well, full, right? What a great feeling! You're well-nourished and ready to take on the world. You're brimming with confidence. Your eye is on the prize and, by gosh, that prize is yours!

Then something rather deflating happens. You wake up the next morning and the cheeseburger is gone. You're still the same old you. And you may even feel worse because, after the previous day's delicious cheeseburger, your hunger is all the more glaring.

By the time I graduated, I went from being a top 10 student to being in the bottom quartile. I didn't get dumber, or party or do drugs, I just kind of stopped caring and lost complete interest.

I was even going to skip my graduation, when one of my friends convinced me to just go. There, we had an honorary speaker, the CEO of some gold company. And although I thought I wouldn't be interested, he was an eloquent speaker, and he changed my life. He talked about his struggles, and how he eventually overcame them all and became very, very successful, and he said something to the effect of "being successful is fun."

I'm not sure what exactly about his speech motivated me, but after that speech, I felt the urge to be successful, so I got my shit together. I basically taught myself everything about programming, computers, hardware, networking, etc. I persevered until I got a job in Silicon Valley, one of my goals. And although I'm not fabulously wealthy, I'm doing better than my classmates and peers back home, and I'm doing what I love. More importantly, I still have more motivation to do better.

So, from personal experience I would have to disagree, but I guess peoples' mileages may vary.

Huge difference between the title of the article and the title of the post. I'd argue that inspiration comes from outside, and motivation comes from within. Inspirational events can motivate you, but only motivation is going to actually help you accomplish anything.

"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily." - Jim Rohn

I don't understand the point of this article. "Looking deep within yourself" is one way to find inspiration/motivation. To write off an entire library of books/tapes/speeches/programs as manufactured and ineffective is absurd. Personal change is extremely hard - ask a smoker/obese person who's tried to turn things around - and everyone finds strength in different things. If that means listening to a compelling personal story expertly delivered on stage - who are we to judge?

Well, its a question audiences ask after a motivational speech directly to the speaker in the Q&A session. I tend to agree with the article and finally have an explanation to give to the audience when they ask....

They work for some people. Not for others. News at 11.

Nice description: synthetic inspiration.