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Jeffrey, I’m a reporter with the Peoria Journal Star in Peoria, Ill. I’m working on a story on how the down economy is affecting motivational speakers. More business? Less? Do the times dictate a change in tone or approach?

Here is my response.

Many of my speaker friends tell me their business has never been better, and many of my speaker friends tell me their business has never been worse. It’s a tale of two speakers. Charles Dickens said it best in 1859: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

My business is brisk, even though several of my customers have canceled their meetings or events. The reason my business is doing well is because I customize and personalize every talk I give, and because my platform, marketing, e-mail magazine, books and promotions continue to make my phone ring.

Prospects will call and whine, “Jeffrey, my people need to be motivated.” In a way, they’re correct, but it’s in a bad way.

In a down economy, personal motivation is something everyone needs, but few people are aware of how to discover it for themselves. They focus on negative news, the state of the economy, business worries, job security and in many cases even personal financial security.

Meanwhile, corporate leaders are slashing budgets, cutting meetings they deem unnecessary and doing their best to communicate as little as possible to their people, until the other shoe drops. And these leaders wonder why morale is down.

In these times, people don’t just want motivation; they also want answers, truth and communication from leaders that all will be well.

ONE MAJOR ANSWER: Leaders must be the truthful, trustworthy, positive example of what they expect their people to do, and they must be willing to take action.

ANOTHER MAJOR ANSWER: They should employ expert communicators with personalized, meaningful, real-world, impactful messages to help them.

Many experts bill themselves as “motivational speakers.” I do not. I’m an inspirational speaker and an informational speaker. Addressing more than 120 audiences a year for the past 15 years, I provide my audiences with the two things they need the most: new information and hope. I do it with a method called “transferable concepts.” The audience members say, “I get it. I think I can do it. I’m willing to try it.” Thereby motivating themselves to think positively and take action.

The idea of a motivational speaker getting in front of an audience in these times and telling how he climbed Mount Everest, or how she overcame adversity, poverty or illness, is not acceptable.

Every person in every audience I have ever spoken to asks the same question: “What’s in it for me, now?” If the presenter cannot convert his or her story to real-world actions that each audience member can perceive themselves realistically taking, and improving their lot, the message will fall on deaf ears.

There’s no simple answer. There’s no simple solution. There is, however, preparation and hard work, a customized message, relatable content, real-world answers and a passionate presentation, in order to be able to provide new actions and better, positive thoughts.

If you’re a leader or a speaker, renew yourself if you hope to renew an audience. It’s the difference between the audience getting the message and taking action, or walking out of the room shrugging their shoulders.

Jeffrey Gitomer can be reached by phone at (704) 333-1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com. © 2009 Jeffrey H. Gitomer