Top 10 Motivational Speeches - Sophie Cornish - Stylist Magazine

Top 10 motivational speeches

Sophie Cornish shares the internet’s best motivational talks

I’m addicted to business-and-general wisdom videos. Hit on a good one, and you’ll come out a far more knowledgeable and motivated person in the 20 minutes it takes to watch. What’s more, all the presenters are masters of public speaking so you’ll pick up some great techniques too.

1. Steve Jobs, Stanford University Commencement Address, 2005

The definitive ‘how to live before you die’ speech from the late Apple founder. Highly inspiring and prophetic.

2. Sara Blakely, The story of Spanx at The Edge Connection

A fun, down-to-earth story about one woman breaking with convention to get her brilliant business off the ground.

3. Sheryl Sandberg, Why we have too few women leaders

Sandberg’s theory that women miss out because they don’t negotiate their own success – but that’s not to say they can’t.

4. Jason Fried, Why work doesn’t happen at work

Fried helps you get the most out of your time at your job.

5. Scott Belsky, Making ideas happen

Belsky shares his secrets behind bringing good ideas to life.

6. Johanna Blakley, Lessons from fashion’s free culture

Bringing alive the fashion industry and the principles of IP protection, including copyright.

7. Seth Godin, Godin challenges you to fail

The master of internet marketing talks about having the courage to explore and learning (and sometimes failing) by leaping into the unknown.

Watch on Mashable.com

8. Sir Ken Robinson, Do schools kill creativity?

Sir Ken demands that schools put creativity on a par with literacy in this witty and sometimes controversial speech.

9. Shawn Achor, The happy secret to better work

Hilarious and fast, Achor asks to flip our brains into positive and reverse the formula so that happiness equals success, and not vice versa.

10. Baz Luhrmann, Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

Definitive wisdom on life, youth, ageing, success and more. This musical adaptation of a 2007 Chicago Tribune article written by Mary Schmich still rings true to this day.