In times like these, people need motivation

News
Hamilton Spectator, Febraury 14, 2009
Meredith MacLeod


Motivational speakers are in demand more than ever and they're up to the task to encourage people to share their optimistic outlook and to provide the spark that gives them the courage in hard times to pursue their goals and dreams.

George Torok

George Torok initially rejected the title 'motivational speaker.'

"I thought no, I have content. That term is associated with fluff and nothing being real."
But after 12 years of speaking to entrepreneurs, executives and employees about marketing and presentation skills, Torok realized that's exactly what he was.

"I have content packaged with entertainment and motivation. Content without motivation is useless because nothing happens without motivation."

He finally started calling himself a motivational speaker.

"In times like these, people need motivation more than any other time. But people don't always buy what they need, they buy what they want."

And in times like this, it's a tough sell to encourage people, who are watching their co-workers get laid off, to work harder, increase sales, cut costs, do things differently.

"There is definitely resistance but people eventually come around."

Calls are up for speeches and for one-on-one coaching in presentation skills. Torok typically does close to 100 speaking or training engagements in North America each year.

He says people see the thousands he gets paid for a speech and think it's a glamorous life. Torok says they don't see the hours going into writing and rewriting material, researching a company, making calls, writing articles.

"It's constant learning. If I'm going to teach people, I have to know 10 times what they know or it's not useful to them.

"Then it's about what you can say that will help the company make that money back."

Read the rest of this article at the Hamilton Spectator.

View the video. (George Torok is fourth on the video and worth waiting for.)

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George Torok
Motivational Business Speaker
Canadian Motivational Speaker