A motivational speech is a talk that aims to inspire and motivate its audience to take action or improve their personal development. It engages the minds and hearts of people in such a way that motivates them to think more clearly, see opportunities, and move forward with action. A good motivational speech is like a planting of seeds that creates a human experience that awakens the audience and shines a light on the path ahead.

There are three mandatory elements of a truly motivational speech that a speaker must weave into every motivational speech they deliver:

1. Trust: The speaker must be believable. The audience must feel that they can trust the speaker. The speaker can build trust by being knowledgeable, sharing similarities, and showing empathy.

2. Desire: The audience must desire a future that the speaker has helped them envision. The speaker can create this desire by meeting a need the audience has, using both logic and emotion to make their case, and pledging to provide plenty of help along the way.

3. Clarity: The audience must have absolute clarity about their next step forward. The speaker can make the audiences role and next step absolutely clear by avoiding abstract ideas and instead being concrete in every way.

Motivational speeches can come from anywhere or anyone, but they usually have a specific audience in mind. They can be delivered in various settings, such as graduations, all-company meetings, championship sporting events, or conference keynotes. The best motivational speeches engage the minds and hearts of people and cause each member in the audience to respond by compelling words into action.