A speaker who addresses everyone from high school students to military generals says challenging audiences on tough topics provokes pushback. That resistance means they're actually engaged, unlike motivational speakers who avoid controversy and get no pushback at all.
I speak with middle schools and high schools, and I speak with corporate executive leaders. So I have a wide spectrum of audiences. So I'll give you an example. Just yesterday, I was speaking at a private boarding school here in Miami. I don't live in Miami. They flew me down here to speak. Tomorrow, I'm speaking at another private boarding school here in Miami. But I just came from a university, and 2 weeks ago, I was at a military installation, and the week before that, I was with middle schools and high schools again. So I I am constantly with different groups. The reason I bring that up is there is no kind of audience I haven't dealt with, because if you can imagine just the military alone, I can have a 17-year-old in the audience, I can have a 60-year-old general or admiral, and I'm challenging their entire system that they've been taught before I walk in the room. So I get people who challenge me, who get upset with what I'm saying. Most speakers don't deal with that. They're inspirational, they're motivational, and they've never dealt with that. But if you have a topic that's tough and you really open the conversation, it's gonna welcome that.
