January may be the beginning of the calendar year but for teachers and students everywhere their real year starts in the fall. Whether they are elementary school pupils or University students when summer ends studying begins. Just now classrooms are being cleaned and decorated, blackboards are being wiped and teachers and tutors are getting ready the work they will be doing during the forthcoming term. They might be thinking of inspirational speeches that will encourage their students to make more of the forthcoming year. They may, for instance, suggest that students should Think outside the box and be an original, It could be that they may be more practical and  advise students “Breakfast is the best way to kick-start your day”. They might even say “Improve your concentration” and suggest ways of doing this.
It’s much more likely, however, that they will concentrate on the generalities. Year after year they will ask students to do their best and to try harder. This is a pity because there are so many more interesting ways of captivating their audience and getting them to focus on the important things of life and to say never give up on your dreams.

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An inspirational speech is difficult to define. It gets across the message to the audience that they need to change something in their lives and that if they do those lives will better and happier. A motivational speech will motivate them to do something new or different but an inspirational speech will tell them to be someone new or different before they do it. It may inspire them to be more successful, more generous or even kinder. It’s the kind of speech that should make them sit up and take notice and say to themselves “I can be like that” or “I’d like to do that.” It should arouse strong emotions by being stimulating so that your audience feels that they have it in them to be more creative for instance. They may inspire people to help the third world, work for world peace or change the world they live. Everyone can respond to words such as President Kennedy’s ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country. Inspirational speeches by their very nature are thought provoking and conscience poking.

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Illiteracy is not just a personal problem. A parent who cannot read or write cannot help his or her child to do homework. He or she cannot discuss a document with colleagues.
Such people cannot read diversion signs on the road and are thus more liable to have accidents. Every day in a million ways we read instructions or signs or newspapers. Every day we write notes, letters or send texts. All these ordinary pursuits are out of reach of someone who is illiterate.
Worse than that though is the damage that is done to their own personal esteem. They spend their lifetime covering up and some of them do it quite cleverly. They conveniently forget their glasses or have an eye infection and have to ask someone else to read what it says on the packet of pills. They worry constantly about the time when they won’t have any excuse and others will find out the shameful truth.
Life is a challenge.  Illiteracy is only one such challenge and a lot depends on our attitude towards it. Will we meet it head on and overcome it or will we slink away from it and wish it would disappear? That surely won’t happen.  We have to play our part. We have to focus on the important things in life. Surely reading and writing rank very highly on that particular list?
There is plenty of help out therefore those who have literacy problems… There are classes where pupils will be treated in the utmost confidence. So take a night class and find out how much richer the world is for those who overcome literacy problems. Won’t it be great to be able to read the certificate saying you had passed your English test?

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This is the time of the year that teachers or guest speakers often address students. They may be giving graduation speeches but they may also be speaking to students who are not graduating. Such a speech should be motivational, inspirational or persuasive in tone. They might speak to them about how to challenge themselves and reap the rewards or something more practical such as suggesting that they plant a tree and help reforest the earth. You might tell them to live each day as if it were their last or persuade them to be blood donors. You might explain the joys of volunteering or the enjoyment to be got by learning to swim. For older students how to be successful is a very relevant topic. Whatever the topic give them something to remember, discuss and hopefully they may even act upon your suggestions.

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The chairman of the amateur football club wanted me to write a few words for his annual general meeting. Obviously he wanted to praise the work done by his coaches. He wanted to talk about the success of the various teams during the year. He also wanted to point out that some teams were not doing as well as could be expected and he wanted to suggest, tactfully, ways they could improve. He needed to address the general membership about the support they could give the club and about the urgent need for fundraising. He said that, overall, he’d like to speak about the whole ethos of the club, how it had enriched many lives and to lay out the challenges it faced. He wanted to end on a positive note so that everyone would go home proud to be a member of the club and willing to volunteer their services in some way. My challenge was to see that the speech coaxed busy people into believing that they could spare the time to become involved in such a worthwhile organisation. He had sold it to me, now it was my job to sell it to others. I hope I can score with this one.

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Actions and the words that inpsire them. If actions speak louder than words, then how come Marcel Marceau is not fondly remembered as a wonderful public speaker?
The truth is we need words, directions, ideas and inspiration to spur us onto action. This is why a good speech is so important. You really have to use words and good words to motivate people to do things. Indeed it is the ‘doing’ that counts, but it is your words that start the ball rolling. Inspire, inspire, inspire! Go set the world on fire.

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I don’t know if celebrated Irish author James Joyce was ever in demand as inspirational or motivational speaker. His famous twentieth century introspective masterpiece OR the most famous book that no one has read, ULYSEES recently topped another poll for the greatest book ever written. I can’t even begin to imagine what an after dinner speech by Joyce would sound like. Surely it would last for days and be miserable and utterly interminable.

How gratifying then that Brazillian author Paulo Cohelo’s THE ALCHEMIST comes in at number two. This simple, down to earth tale of fate, faith and chance is the most motivational and inspring book I have ever read. No doubt its author is much in demand as a speech giver. You would expect to come away feeling inspired, moved, motivated and even happy to be alive. I know which book, I’d rather read and who I would rather listen to speak.

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