How can you use personal experiences to motivate stakeholders?

1 Identify your purpose

Before you share your personal experiences, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your speech. What is the main message you want to convey? What is the desired outcome you want to generate? How do you want your audience to feel, think, and act after hearing your story? Having a clear purpose will help you select and structure your experiences in a way that supports your goal and connects with your audience.

2 Choose relevant experiences

Not all personal experiences are suitable for motivational speaking. You need to choose those that are relevant to your topic, your audience, and your purpose. For example, if you are speaking about overcoming challenges, you might share a personal experience that demonstrates how you faced and overcame a difficult situation. If you are speaking about innovation, you might share a personal experience that shows how you came up with a creative solution to a problem. The key is to select experiences that illustrate your point, provide evidence, and create emotional impact.

4 Relate to your audience

One of the most important aspects of motivational speaking is to relate to your audience. You need to show them that you understand their needs, challenges, desires, and goals. You also need to show them how your personal experiences can help them achieve their own objectives. To do this, you need to use words and phrases that resonate with them, such as "you", "we", "us", and "our". You also need to use examples, analogies, and metaphors that they can relate to and learn from.

5 Call to action

Finally, you need to end your speech with a clear and compelling call to action. This is where you tell your audience what you want them to do next, whether it is to buy your product, sign up for your service, join your cause, or implement your advice. You need to make your call to action specific, actionable, and urgent. You also need to remind them of the benefits they will get if they follow your suggestions and the risks they will face if they don't. By doing this, you will motivate your audience to take action and achieve their goals.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?