Professional speakers who preach text book theory are a waste of time and money, in my humble opinion. They can motivate exceptionally well in many cases, yet deep down, they do not have a clean conscious.
When I’m listening to a presenter, I ask…
How often has this instructor been on the front line? A lifetime? How many days in a row have they lived what they preach? A decade, two, or three?
Are they the same person at home, as they preach on the stage?
Perhaps I should apologize for the high expectations.
When we hear that Walt Disney had secretly wished he never dreamt so big, then I’ll concede.
Next Blog
Jeff,
Spot on! I am with you.
I liken your topic to how Christian music has changed over the past 3 decades. Prior to that time, most of the radio-released Christian music coming out mirrored the notion of “Life is great – just follow God” mindset or something to that degree. People finally started going, “Life is tough – where is the real application? I can’t live by sweet platitudes – how do I apply this to my life?” With that, music started becoming introspective – application-of-life oriented. The biggest change hit (in my mind) when Pam Thum released a song in the early 1990s, called, “Life is Hard (but God is Good).” People so embraced it, saying, “She gets it – and I needed to know I wasn’t by myself in thinking that.” Christian music was changed at that point, and Christian songwriters turned their words into their day-to-day struggles of life and how God is there for us through it all.
Textbook motivational speakers are the same – the platitudes are great, but people are asking, “How does that apply in my day-to-day functions? How does that work for me?”
Spot on, Jeff!
Bob
Bob, humbled by your generously positive comments about the tough love I dished out to my (our) profession.