I’ve listened to over 100,000 motivational speeches… These are three of the very best!

When I started Motiversity back in 2016, I was an avid listener of motivational speeches.

I would listen to them ALL the time, and as I listened I found they had an incredible number of unexpected benefits (more on this later!). 

I began compiling my favorite speeches into video compilations that I called the “best motivational speeches of all time”, and they started going viral. One of the first videos, called “Best Motivational Speech Compilation EVER #3,” got 1 million views in its first month! At that moment, after reading the thousands of comments that were pouring in on how others were also being positively impacted by the speeches, I knew I needed to dedicate myself fully to discovering and sharing the most inspiring speeches in the world.

Fast forward eight years, and these are three of the speeches that I still go back to the most.

Similar to an all-time favorite song that you listen to repeatedly, I have probably listened to each of these well over 100 times over the past decade.

Of course, there are many more speeches that I listen to often, plenty by Motiversity and our channels, but these stand out as speeches that never get old for me.

I highly recommend you take a moment to listen to these speeches. You don’t need to listen to the full-length versions, but for me, they are simply amazing.

One of the greatest speeches ever, Eric Thomas’ Secret to Success speech

But first, before we get into the speeches, I want to explain WHY I listen to them so often. 

Why I Listen to Motivational Speeches Often:

• To get through the hard days. We all have tough times, and these speeches can really help.
• To learn something new and be inspired. The best motivational speeches I’ve ever heard are full of stories and advice from some of the greatest minds in history.
• To see a different perspective on life. On both hard and easy days, hearing the perspective of someone who has made it through difficult times helps me focus on the present and be grateful for what I have.
• To realize your true potential. We all grow up with different beliefs and ideas instilled in us from a young age. Often, they are self-limiting. Hearing someone tell you that your potential is limitless, no matter what others have told you or what you believe, can be truly eye-opening.
• To understand that failure, rejection, and difficult times are all part of the journey to success. It’s natural to be discouraged by failure and even feel like giving up. But when you hear stories of others failing again and again, yet continuing to try and eventually succeeding, it’s truly inspiring.
• As an alternative to music and audiobooks. I love listening to music, from hip hop to country, but sometimes my library gets old. When I’m looking to crush my workout, audiobooks can slow me down. Motivational speeches are the perfect middle ground for me, where I can keep the momentum going AND learn something new.

These speeches can help you to get through the hard days.

If you aren’t familiar with motivational speeches, it also helps to know WHEN to listen to them. Similar to turning on a song, most times of the day are good, but here are a few of my personal recommendations:

When I Listen To Motivational Speeches The Most:

• When I’m feeling tired and trying to get work done: Often early in the morning or late at night.
• When I’m looking for an extra push to get through a workout: Sometimes they can give me a massive boost.
• When I’m feeling unmotivated or unsure of which direction to go next
• When I’m looking to learn from someone I find inspiring
• When I’m feeling hopeless or down
• When I’m having a hard day and need to get back on track
• When I’m tired of my music and looking for something new

A great time to listen is when you are looking for an extra push for your workout, work or studying

Okay let’s dive into the speeches.

These are 3 of the Best Motivational Speeches I have ever heard:

Below, I break down in detail what makes each of them so incredible:

1. Les Brown – It’s Not Over Until You Win

• The full speech is 35 minutes and linked above.
• Here is a Shorter version on Spotify that I highly recommend you listen if you’re short on time.

Why this video? 

Les Brown has a way of working magic with his words. And when he had the opportunity to speak in front of 80,000 people at the Georgia Dome in 1993, his speech was masterfully executed. Mr. Brown commanded the stage and delivered a powerful speech which now goes by multiple names including “Your Dream is Possible”, “I’m Going To Make It”, “It’s Not Over Until You Win”, or the iconic “Georgia Dome Speech”. 

Motivational speakers often face criticism for being too general and too focused on simply “motivating” the audience. However, Les Brown’s speech goes far beyond basic motivation.

Here’s why I think this speech is one of the greatest:

• He teaches powerful lessons through his personal experiences and the toughest moments of his life.

• • These lessons can resonate deeply with the audience. Here are a few examples from the speech of Mr. Brown’s struggles:

• • • “I had people laughing at me. They said you have no college training. You were labeled mentally retarded. You failed twice and still they put you back from the fifth grade to the fourth grade, and you failed in the 8th grade. And you want to become independently wealthy? They laughed. They will laugh at you.”

• • • “When I was homeless I had to bathe in a bathroom sink, and I wrote on the mirror “no matter how bad it is or how bad it gets, I’m going to make it.”

• He gives actionable advice, often with multiple steps that the listener can take

• • Actionable advice and steps to improve are essential to personal development. It’s rare that true change is a one step process, usually it’s more complex than that and breaking it down into small steps is helpful. It also shows that the advice has been well thought through and at times even researched.
  • As a great example from the speech, Les asks himself: “Now what do you do during the hard times Les? Here is what you must do. Number one, you must have faith.” And then he tells a story of a time he had faith. And “Number two you must have patience and engage in consistent action.” And again he goes into an explanation of how you can achieve this. 

• He teaches through story

• • Stories are a fundamental part of being human. They make people care, they create an emotional connection and they help people remember.
  • Nearly every time Mr. Brown gives advice, he tells a story to go along with it. For example, to explain the importance of patience he tells the story of “The Chinese Bamboo Tree”. And he always brings the story and the lessons full circle back to YOU the audience.

• He engages the audience and has them focus on self belief and positive affirmations

• • He’s often saying things to keep the audience closely engaged such as “Repeat after me” and “Repeat this please: No matter how bad it is, or how bad it gets, I’m going to make it. Say that to yourself every day.”

• He relates with the audience

• • He recognizes that we’re all human and we’re all going through different difficulties. Instead of brushing off the difficulties and saying something like “work harder”, he instead acknowledges the difficulties and relates with the audience by saying things like “It’s hard. I know it’s hard.” and “It’s a long shot.”

My favorite quotes from the speech:

• “No matter how bad it is, or how bad it gets, I’m going to make it. Say that to yourself every day. I’m going to make it.”
• “You must have patience and engage in consistent action.”
• “What you’re going through with you going through some hard times. It has not come to stay. It has come to pass.”
• “I said, ‘Because I am educable mentally retarded. And he came from behind his desk and he looked at me, he said, ‘Don’t ever say that again. Someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality.”
• “Repeat after me please. It’s possible. I can live my dream. It’s necessary I work on myself, and surround myself with winners. It’s me, I’ve got to make it happen. It’s not over until I win.”
• “It’s a longshot but I kept running toward my dream. Don’t stop. Don’t stop. Don’t stop running toward your dream.”
• “The people that are living their dreams, are the people that know that, if it’s going to happen, it’s up to them and they are resolving within themselves it’s not over until I win.”
• “I’m saying to you: your dream is possible. Your dream is possible. But not only is it important that you believe and begin to know that it’s possible for you to live your dream as you run toward it.

2. Eric Thomas – The Secret to Success (How Bad Do You Want It?)

• The full speech is linked above
• Here is a Shorter Version with 50 million views that I highly recommend
  

Why this video? 

Eric Thomas (“ET”) is one of the most world-renowned motivational speakers alive today. This speech, “The Secret to Success” also known as the “Guru story”, “How bad do you want it” and “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe” has reached hundreds of millions of people across the internet since it was first shared with the world and went viral in 2008.

While at first the speech seems completely different, it’s interesting how many similarities there are to Les Brown’s speech when you break it down. Here are some of the key reasons this speech is amazing:

• Similar to Les Brown, Eric Thomas also gives powerful pre-written actionable advice:
  • He has points down on paper that he refers back to such as: 
    • If you do the 3 things I tell you tonight, I guarantee you will be able to accomplish whatever you want in life.
      • #1 It’s not about where you come from, it’s about heart. You have to have heart.
      • #2: “To be able at any moment to sacrifice what you are, for what you will become.”

• He also teaches through story
  • The famous “Guru story” is a key piece of this speech
  • ET masterfully tells the story of the boy who wants to make a lot of money who goes to the Guru for advice.
    • “There was a young man who, you know, He wanted to make a lot of money. And so he went to this Guru, and he told the guru you know I wanna be on the same level as you…”

• He’s not afraid to go deep and dark with his advice to make an impact
  • For example he compares how the slaves didn’t give up and yet the classroom is thinking of giving up on studying because of the difficulty. He gives specific examples like Harriet Tubman.

• He talks from the heart and relates with the audience
  • He relates with the audience and says things like “but listen to me it’s going to be hard” and “Will the real Eric Thomas please stand up. Stop being a high school drop out. Stop being afraid to take a test.”
  • Even though he has some points down on a paper in his hand, his devliery is so sincere I never even realized he was reading these points until recently.

• He continually keeps the rooms attention by asking questions
  • Does anyone here like football? 
  • If you want to make 6 figures, listen closely
  • When he was underwater what did he want to do?

• He teaches powerful lessons through his personal experiences and the toughest moments of his life.
  • For example, he’s not afraid to talk about being homeless and how he got through it:
  • My greatest asset is that I was homeless. I don’t feel a lot of pain anymore. At the end of pain is success.

My favorite quotes from the speech:

• “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful.”― Eric Thomas, The Secret to Success
• “Pain is temporary. It may last for a minute, or an hour or a day, or even a year. But eventually, it will subside. And something else take its place. If I quit, however, it will last forever.”― Eric Thomas’
• “Don’t cry to give up, cry to keep going.”
• “You will never be successful until I don’t have to give you a dime to do what you do.”
• “All men are created equal, some work harder in preseason.”
• “To be able at any moment to sacrifice what you are, for what you will become.”
• “Most of you won’t be successful because when you’re tired you quit. I dare you to fail for a full year.”
• “I was homeless for 2 and a half years. And the problem with most of you is you are spoiled. You don’t know real pain.”
• “At the end of pain is success. You aren’t going to die because you feel a little pain. My greatest asset is that I was homeless. I don’t feel a lot of pain anymore.”

3. Walter Bond – Shark Mindset

Walter Bond is a former NBA player turned motivational speaker, author and business coach. I’m proud to say that he’s also a Motiversity speaker. We’ve had the privilege of collaborating with him for over 5 years, aiming to inspire audiences and transform lives. One of our early projects together was ‘Shark Mindset,’ launched in 2018, and its original YouTube video has amassed over 4 million views to date.

So what makes this video amazing? Here are a few key reasons why:

• He gives everything he has on stage and puts his whole self into the speech
  • It’s rare to find a speaker so willing to give everything they have on stage. Walter does this incredibly well. By half way through the speech, he’s working so hard that he’s sweating, but he doesn’t slow down, instead he keeps delivering an amazing performance.
• He’s mastered having a full vocal and emotional range in his speeches
  • Walter goes from whispering, to talking, yelling, laughing, and practically crying at one moment. He knows how to keep an audience hanging on his every word, and knows how to create change through emotional moments. He also knows he doesn’t need to shout the whole time.
  • During some of the most emotional moments, Walter is practically whispering and the crowd is hanging onto every moment. 
    • “I thought you were a mama’s boy. But you’re just like your daddy…”
  • He then pauses, allows the crowd to clap, and slowly builds up to a full yell 
    • “…and if you stop swimming you will die!”
• He often includes humor in his speeches
  • We cut out most of the funny parts in the final Shark Mindset speech, but in the full keynote he has audiences laughing throughout the full 1 hour speech. He knows that to create change in people’s lives, it doesn’t just have to be a serious talk. One of the best ways to engage an audience is through humour.
• Similar to both ET and Les, Walter shares real life experiences in the struggles of becoming an NBA player and he does this through storytelling
  • I can’t emphasize this point enough! Teaching through story is just so important. And Shark Mindset delivers well on this through a series of stories of Walter’s journey in becoming an NBA player. 

My favorite quotes from the speech:

• “If a shark stops swimming, it will DIE! If a shark goes backwards, it will DIE! Think like a shark, act like a shark and behave like a SHARK!”
• Do you brighten up a room when you enter or when you leave?”
• Do you believe, son?
• “I’m gonna think, I’m gonna execute and I’m gonna win!”

After listening to over 100,000 motivational speeches, I’ve found these three to be the most impactful. They are more than just speeches; they are transformative experiences that can inspire you to push through challenges, embrace your true potential, and stay motivated even in the toughest times.

Whether you’re new to motivational speeches or a seasoned listener, I highly recommend taking the time to absorb the wisdom these speakers have to offer. They can help you see things differently, fuel your determination, and keep you moving toward your goals. 

Stay motivated, stay inspired, and remember—it’s not over until you win!

Sources:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=2sko3bhW0es
• https://thatonerule.com/rule/eric-thomas-quotes-inspiration-for-success-and-motivation/
• https://www.facebook.com/WalterBondMotivationalSpeaker/posts/overthinking-hurts-a-lot-of-people-under-thinking-can-too-lol-how-do-you-know-ho/3133848379994116/