Inspire, Achieve, Repeat: A Grab Bag of Killer Motivational Speakers

Motivational speakers started really gaining popularity in the 70s and 80s, the golden age of “self-help.” And in recent years, they’ve been even more in-demand, especially in the business world. You can’t swing a dead cat these days without hitting some self-proclaimed entrepreneurial guru who claims to have the formula for success and would be happy to share it with you, if you sign up for their seminar for the low-low price of thousands of dollars. Or buy their TikTok course. But you don’t have to get certified or trained to be a motivational speaker, and their industry is almost totally unregulated—meaning, anybody with a megawatt smile and a catchphrase can do it. And according to a Harvard study, most of these guys focus more on entertaining you than teaching you the way to win. It all makes you wonder—are the ones who claim to have all the answers really so enlightened? Well, today we’re gonna tell you about two who most definitely weren’t.

Join Katie and Whitney, plus the hosts of Last Podcast on the Left, Sinisterhood, and Scared to Death, on the very first CRIMEWAVE true crime cruise! Get your fan code now--tickets go on sale February 7: CrimeWaveatSea.com/CAMPFIRE

Sources: True Crime with Aphrodite Jones, S3E4, “Chosen to Kill” https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/25/nyregion/25speaker.html https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/19/nyregion/man-seeks-plea-deal-at-retrial-in-assisted-suicide-of-long-island-counselor.html?searchResultPosition=2 https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/04/nyregion/new-trial-for-man-who-helped-motivational-speaker-kill-himself.html?searchResultPosition=3 https://archive.nytimes.com/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/killer-of-l-i-motivational-speaker-is-sentenced/?searchResultPosition=6 CNBC's American Greed, Episode "Making a Killing" Court papers: https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5914e231add7b049348ef740/amp https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/national/2009/08/02/several-questions-remain-in-investors-disappearance/2a3002f5-3c83-4c8d-8e1a-c0f115273394/ https://patch.com/california/sanclemente/shawkey-admits-his-stories-sound-unbelievable

Follow us, campers! Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an extra episode a month, and a free sticker!): https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/ Facebook: True Crime Campfire Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimecampfire/?hl=en Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfire Email: truecrimecampfirepod@gmail.com MERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support.