Motivational speaking is a unique career opportunity for individuals who enjoy inspiring others to succeed. To become a motivational speaker, it is necessary to be confident making speeches in public, to find your niche and to market yourself. There are no set educational requirements for this career path, but a certain skill set is needed to get people to hire you, and having a mentor can help you succeed. You have to be able to bring something to members of the audience that they would otherwise not have, which is a tricky but doable task if you are interested in this line of work.
If you are interested in motivational speaking, one of the first steps that you should take is to find a mentor. Being able to talk to a person who has accomplished what you want to accomplish can be extremely helpful. You can find a mentor by attending motivational speaking sessions and talking to the speakers or writing letters to speakers that you admire. When you start by explaining how much you admire him or her and talk about your desire for a mentor, he or she is likely to help you. Another good part about finding a mentor is that he or she might be able to act as a reference for you after you get to know each other.
The next part of entering into motivational speaking is finding your niche, which is the area in which you excel and can help others. Certain motivational speakers focus on procrastination, for example, which is an important area of motivation. Find something that you feel comfortable talking about, and do it better than others who focus on the same general subject.
Education is not a requirement to be a motivational speaker, but it can help lend you credibility. You need to be able to market yourself as having knowledge of a certain area of motivational speaking, and being able to put college credentials on your marketing materials helps you look more professional. Marketing materials include brochures, business cards, compact discs and anything else that will help you to attract speaking sessions in your area.
After you have your marketing materials, it is time to start distributing them to find speaking engagements. You can take the materials to local organizations, businesses and corporations to see whether they are interested in motivational training for their employees. There are associations that focus on motivational speaking that also might be able to help you find jobs.