Inspirational words have been powerful motivators and have led countries to victory or revolution.
Inspiration from history
Alexander the Great’s men had been involved in 10 years of fighting and they lacked the will to take part in another battle. Influencing the soldiers to fight yet again to conquer India was possible through a powerful speech which cleared all doubts and made them ready to fight yet again.
“Stand firm; for well you know that hardship and danger are the price of glory, and that sweet is the savor of a life of courage and of deathless renown beyond the grave. “
It was and is never easy to influence men that victory can be achieved through non-violence. But Mahatma Gandhi was able to convince the diverse millions in India during the Quit India movement.
“Ours is not a drive for power, but purely a non-violent fight for India’s independence. ….I believe that in the history of the world, there has not been a more genuinely democratic struggle for freedom than ours. I read Carlyle’s French Resolution while I was in prison, and Pandit Jawaharlal has told me something about the Russian revolution. But it is my conviction that in as much as these struggles were fought with the weapon of violence they failed to realize the democratic ideal. In the democracy which I have envisaged, a democracy established by non-violence, there will be equal freedom for all. Everybody will be his own master. It is to join a struggle for such a democracy that I invite you today…”
How a start-up can benefit from an oratorical adrenaline shot
In a start-up environment – there are quite a few goals to be met and milestones to be reached. Employees might be putting in more hours than they are paid for and the stress is high. To reach your goals you must inspire the team to perform to their best. Here’s what you must do now:
- Keep your team informed on all aspects of product development, delivery deadlines and customer feedback. A team performs best when they can see that they are part of the whole process of product development and company vision. Transparency and communication is the key.
- And some oratorical adrenaline shot! Take a few hours to write even a few sentences where you can inspire the team to rise up on their feet and in unison say, “ Yes, we’re with you, we’ll make it happen!” Leaders can be powerful influencers when skilled at effective public speaking.
Perhaps we need to incorporate such training for managers to lead their teams to success.
Take inspiration from Hunter Pence’s pregame speech (before the Giants went on to topple the Cardinals in the National League Championship Series):
“get in here, everyone get in here..look into each other eyes..now! Look into each others eyes, I want one more day with you, it’s the most fun, the best team I have ever been on and no matter what happens we must not give in, we owe it to each other, play for each other, I need one more day with you guys,…….play for each other not yourself, win each moment, win each inning, it’s all we have left.”
This post is inspired by an article I read today “Giants Pence is the point man when it some to inspiration” by Daniel Brown in SJ Mercury News.
My personal experience
Over the last 6 years, teaching public speaking to kids has been a passion with me and as far as I recall I have used the oratorical adrenaline shot to gets kids deliver their best speeches ever. Usually after half an hour there is a slump in energy and we often do a quick exercise, roll your hands, jog at your place and end with a loud an energetic “yes we can do it” with a pumped up hand gesture. Then each kid comes up with their prepared speech and I’ve always seen a spike in their speech delivery once they feel energized from within powered by a positive affirmation.
What do you say? How can teams benefit from powerful inspiration speeches that drives them to action and success?
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