Presenting and public speaking inspiration from Hollywood

Presenting and public speaking inspiration from Hollywood:

Nine People Wounded in Tel Aviv Bus Attack, IS Demands $200m Ransom For Japan Hostages, Shanghai Officials Feasted As Stampede Killed 36, Charlie Hebdo attack: Three days of terror

These are just some of the world news headlines as I write this article from my office in London where it’s freezing cold, pouring with rain and the sky is as grey as smoke.  My train was delayed by 20 minutes this morning and I had to then stand like a sardine packed in a carriage with hundreds of other equally depressed commuters as we all cheered ourselves up looking at Facebook on our phones.  Oh the joy!

On top of it all we are 22 days into the New Year and my promise to myself to shed a few pounds and live a little healthier in 2015 isn’t going quite as well as I had planned.

It’s no wonder so many of us turn to Hollywood for inspiration to help us feel good and lift our spirits when some days don’t look quite as promising as others.

Here is a selection of some of my all-time favourite inspirational speeches from arguably some of the best movies ever made.

If 2015 isn’t yet proving to be quite as hopeful as you expected then you absolutely must watch these. If on the other hand you are on top of the world and already fired up for February then you have my word that they will take you to the next level of self-motivation.

Network- I’m Mad as Hell

This may have been released almost 40 years ago but from the sound of it you wouldn’t be ridiculed for thinking it was about today.

“I don’t have to tell you things are bad.  Everybody knows things are bad.  It’s a depression. Everybody’s out of work or scared of losing their job.  We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat.  And we sit watching our TVs while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that’s the way it’s supposed to be!

I want all of you to get up out of your chairs.  I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell,

“I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!!”

What a great idea, imagine if all 7 billion of us did that on the same day, opened the window and shouted.

“I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!!”

Rocky Balboa – How Hard You Can Get Hit

Sometimes when the sky is a little too grey and the train a little too late we can forget who we are.  It’s helpful to have a touching reminder.

“Until you start believing in yourself, you ain’t gonna have a life.”

Remember the Titans – Coach Boone Speech

“You listen.  And you take a lesson from the dead.  If we don’t come together, right now, on this hallowed ground, we too will be destroyed – just like they were.  I don’t care if you like each other or not.  But you will respect each other.”

What would the world be like if we just respected each other?

Robin Williams – Dead Poets Society

“They’re not that different from you, are they?  Same haircuts.  Full of hormones, just like you.  Invincible, just like you feel.  The world is their oyster.  They believe they’re destined for great things, just like many of you; their eyes are full of hope, just like you.  Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable?

A timely reminder as we begin another year.

Charlie Chaplin – final speech in The Great Dictator

This film is 75 years old but once again the message is equally, if not even more, pertinent to today.

“Greed has poisoned men’s souls; has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed.  We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in.  Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want.  Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind.”

A Christmas Miracle – Scrooged

This may be a Christmas film but I’m sure you’ll agree from watching the video that it’s really a lesson for every day.

Lean On Me – Morgan Freeman

“We sink.  We swim.  We rise.  We fall.  We meet our fate together!”

Isn’t that a message for all of us?

Armageddon – 14 Brave Souls Speech

“Through all the chaos that is our history, through all of the wrongs and the discord, through all of the pain and suffering, through all of our times, there is one thing that has nourished our souls and elevated our species above its origin.  And that is our courage.”

I really believe that it is the courage of the human spirit that has brought us this far and will help us to act on some of the inspirational messages in these movies.

Good Will Hunting – “The Best Part of My Day”

“In twenty years, if you’re still livin’ here, comin’ over to my house to watch the Patriots games, still workin’ construction, I’ll f…..n’ kill you.  That’s not a threat.  Now, that’s a fact. I’ll f….n’ kill you”

What will you still be doing in 20 years?

Coach Carter – Our Deepest Fear

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

Your playing small does not serve the world.”

Our playing small really doesn’t serve the world, don’t play small.

Sam’s Speech from The Two Towers: There’s some good in this world, Mr Frodo

When you think you can’t do something just remember all of the good there is in the world.

Ed Murrow Speech from:  Good Night, and Good Luck

Here is yet another speech from close to 60 years ago that could very easily and again perhaps even more so apply to today.  If you watch too much television or know someone who does then you must watch this.

Rocky IV speech

“If I can change, and you can change, then everybody can change!”

What would it take for us all to change?

There is always a powerful message in a great movie and that’s why we love them.  When you’re having a bad day or the headlines are getting you down, always remember Sam’s speech from The Two Towers:

“There’s some good in this world”

If you need help presenting:

– Book yourself onto a powerful public speaking course.

– Invest in some really good one to one public speaking coaching.

– Get yourself some excellent presentation training

If you need help presenting:

– Book yourself onto a powerful public speaking course.

– Invest in some really good one to one public speaking coaching.

– Get yourself some excellent presentation training

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