Edu21- The 21st Century School
Cambridge IGCSE
Read Text A, and then answer Questions 1(a)–(e) on the question paper.
Text A: What is a motivational speaker?
This text is one person’s explanation of what being a motivational speaker involves.
A motivational speaker, also known as an inspirational speaker, is someone who delivers
speeches with the intention of motivating or inspiring the people in the audience. Typically, a
motivational speaker has a reputation as an expert on the subject being discussed and will
encourage the audience to look at things from a different perspective and to make the most of
their own talents and abilities.
The ultimate goal of a motivational speaker is to affect people profoundly on an emotional or
mental level to help them make some kind of significant personal change in their lives. People
naturally tend to focus on all their problems, and the motivational speaker will help an
audience to focus on the many opportunities instead, by using any number of persuasive
speech tactics.
Some motivational speakers may be hired to speak as special guests or to present online to
an invited audience with particular interests. Others perform a planned programme of live or
virtual talks for the wider public, selling tickets for each event.
Highly successful speakers are in demand and present at important conferences, often
travelling to events all over the world, resulting in irregular working hours. Popular and famous
motivational speakers become celebrities: writing books, recording videos or podcasts and
appearing on television.
There is a huge demand for motivational speakers. I’ve resisted the attempts to cash into this
‘lucrative’ industry, though I’m often asked whether I know of any ‘good’ motivational speaker
I could recommend. Many motivational stories that are clustered out there follow the same
predictable storylines – the rags-to-riches story along the lines of: ‘I was poor; I came from
nothing, and here I am, outrageously successful.’
Question 1
(a) What is an alternative name for a motivational speaker, according to the text?
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(b) Using your own words, explain what the text means by:
1
(i) ‘reputation as an expert’ (line 3):
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[2]
(ii) ‘different perspective’ (line 4):
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[2]
(c) Re-read paragraph 2 (‘The ultimate … tactics.’).
Identify two ways that a motivational speaker might have an emotional or mental effect on
a person’s life.
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[2]
(d) Re-read paragraphs 3 and 4 (‘Some motivational … television.’).
(i) Identify two different types of online or live audience that motivational speaker might
talk to, according to the text.
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(ii) Explain why the job of a motivational speaker might appeal to some people.
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(e) Re-read paragraph 5 (‘There is … successful.’’’).
Using your own words, explain why this expert does not consider that the speakers
they have met are motivational.
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2
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[4]
