The Power and Peril of Motivational Speeches

“We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” — Winston Churchill, 1940

“I have never lost an American in space, sure as hell aren’t going to lose one now. This crew is coming home. You got to believe it. Your team must believe it. And we must make it happen”. — NASA Flight Director Gene Kranz, 1970

“Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” — Ronald Reagan, 1987 

Three classic examples of oratory that make you want to run through a wall for the speaker.

In a mission-driven, intense profession such as security, when, where, and how should a security professional rally the troops with a hortatory speech — without it coming off as performative, bombastic, mistimed, or rote? I asked several security professionals, who have been on the giving and receiving end of many inspirational speeches, for their input. Collectively they provided the following eight considerations for delivering an effective motivational speech.

Use Speeches Sparingly and Strategically

Motivational speeches shouldn’t be routine, lest they become trite. “They lose impact if they are overused,” explains Farah Benis, managing director of FFA Security Group in London, UK. “A good pep talk is best when it’s actually needed, like at the start of a new project or when the team is facing a challenge.” Adds Rich Widup, a consultant and former senior security executive for several pharmaceutical companies: “You can overdo motivational speech to the point they don’t resonate anymore.”

Grandiloquent speeches shouldn’t come out of nowhere. They should emerge from a regular drumbeat of coaching and communicating with staff — as well as a routine presence. “I’m always motivating and praising their work,” says Cadisha Miceli, a senior security coordinator with the city of Toronto who oversees teams of both contract and proprietary security staff.

And Miceli doesn’t just parachute into the office on occasion. “I hardly ever work from home. I’m with them day to day on site and communicate with them regularly,” she says. If a member of the public praises one of the guards, she makes sure to share it with that person, the team, and leadership.

Be Authentic

Inspirational calls to action or motivational appeals to pull together have to reflect who you are. Asked how to not to lapse into the hokey or maudlin, Benis says it’s critical that leaders believe what they are saying. “If you’re just trying to manufacture a ‘motivational moment,’ people will see right through it. But if you’re speaking with genuine conviction and backing it up with action and support, that’s what resonates.”

“The key is it has to come from an authentic place. If you don’t mean it, don’t say it,” sums up Chis Anquist, a Western Canada-based regional manager at GardaWorld.

Be Open and Honest

Authenticity must be based on candor and transparency. Speeches should provide key information and facts, not rhetorical flourishes — or at least not only rhetorical flourishes. Communications have to be “realistic and grounded in truth,” Widup says. “People often skew speeches to cover up ugliness lurking in the background. If a speech is about a negative thing, you have to acknowledge the negative.”

Leverage Your “Leadership Capital”

As Miceli’s example shows, effective leaders will have amassed good will and loyalty by connecting with staff individually and collectively, showing empathy, and operating fairly. Dr. Gavriel Schneider, CEO of Brisbane, Australia-based Risk 2 Solution, recounts an experience toward the end of the COVID-19 pandemic when his company won a contract that would require staff to work particularly hard to execute the job. Though staff were worn down, his pep talk worked due to the “leadership capital” he had built by treating them compassionately during the pandemic.

Prepare, But Don’t Over-Rehearse

When giving inspirational speeches, find the sweet spot between being prepared and over-rehearsed. “You have to script yourself and have bullet points for complicated speeches,” offers Anquist. “You have to be disciplined. Never improvise.”

Oratory isn’t a lost art. Words — combined with gestures, tone, feeling, passion—drive action. Good oration skills and the ability to tell a compelling story are critical, Schneider says. If you have that natural gift, leverage it, as does Miceli. In fact, her gift of commanding an audience, combined with her deep sense of mission and purpose, are driving toward a calling in pastoral services.

Oratory has a limit, though. You don’t want to come off as stilted or glib. There may be value to some extemporaneous speaking from the heart, though you should never promise what you can’t deliver. “Personally, I don’t over-plan these moments.” Says Benis. If you know your team and understand what drives them, you can speak to what actually matters.”

Know Your Team/Consider the Audience

Benis’s advice rests on understanding the roles, behaviors, personalities and mindsets of the people you will be addressing. Addressing a guard force differs from urging the board of directors to take a new direction.

Context also matters. Widup has addressed many teams as a pharmaceutical executive as well as a high-level volunteer for ASIS International. Each group has required a different touch. For example, “In nonprofits, a speech has to address what inspires them to be a volunteer in the first place,” he says.

Referencing the concept of Tribal Leadership formulated by Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright, Schneider says that inspirational speeches best resonate with staff at levels 4 (“we’re great”) and 5 (“life is great”) — the stages where they have collective pride in the team over individualistic motivations. “At stage 4, it’s easy,” he says. “We trust each other and know what we are doing. Let’s create energy.” At levels 1 (“life stinks”), 2 (“My life stinks”), and 3 (“I’m great, everyone else stinks”), it’s more nuanced. For example, it’s useless to give a motivational talk to level 2 employees — mired in apathetic victimhood — because they “will be grumpy and moan,” Schneider says. This type of staff requires an intrinsic or extrinsic motivator, often an award or recognition.

Inhabit and Project Your Mission

Speeches, pep talks, and words of encouragement should support the organization’s, team’s, and individuals’ mission and vision. Anquist has identified three key elements of such communications: (a) what’s the main problem? (b) what do you need to do about it? and (c) why is this important? The last element comes down to mission. “Whys, mission statements, and vision statements — these are the hills you should die on,” he emphasizes. Mission effects change and accomplishes results.

Acknowledge Their Efforts and the Struggle Ahead

People like to be credited for their hard work. They don’t like to be spoken at or pontificated to. Praising team efforts to date, and/or acknowledging the difficulty and importance of the work ahead, yields respect and loyalty.

“The best way to inspire people is to connect with them — remind them of the bigger picture, acknowledge their efforts, and be honest about what’s ahead,” urges Benis. “It’s not about sugarcoating things but giving people confidence that they have what it takes to get the job done.”

And me? I’ve given several motivational speeches, particularly in times of crisis or peril. But I’m still waiting for the golden moment to close an impassioned talk with the following words:

“And the last thing he said to me — ‘Rock,’ he said — ‘sometime, when the team is up against it — and the breaks are beating the boys — tell them to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper….’” — Knute Rockne, 1928