10 Top Motivational Speakers for Success in Life

Are you looking for some sort of inspiration, or inspired thinking, that can help you get recharged about your life or career? If so, it is to the world's many motivational speakers for success that you should turn. After all, there are some famous and renowned speakers and writers who are able to spur you to take action, even in the face of great obstacles, just through their words.

Before we dive into a list of the top motivational speakers for success and why they might be a good source of inspiration or guidance for you, let's consider a few things about choosing from the top speakers in the world. After all, not everyone who has something inspiring or inspired to say is a good fit for you and your goals or needs; they may even be fictional speeches that are so potent, you cannot help but buy into them. Take some time to ask yourself a few questions, including:

• What is my personal definition of success?
• Do I need a great motivator, or am I seeking someone with information that can help me achieve success? After all, you might be totally motivated, but confused about the steps to take to reach your version of success.
• Am I looking to meet my full potential or do I just want to hear and/or read motivational speeches to get me reenergized about the things I am already doing?
• Is my interest in motivational speakers for success about being more effective in non- or for-profit organizations? Is it more about using things like social media to spread my business or personal message in order to succeed?

Before even the world's best motivational speakers for success can help you out, you must do that preliminary leg work and figure out, pretty specifically, what it is you wish to do with your personal idea of success. Once you know what your ultimate goal is, then a professional speaker, whether doing motivational speaking or writing, will be of tremendous value to you.

Les Brown

Easily one of the most recognizable motivational speakers for success, Brown is like others in his field, having had an entirely separate career apart from motivational speaking. A politician in Ohio, he is noted for working within the business world, including Fortune 500 leadership. Yet, he is also noted for his ability to "speak to your soul and encourage audiences to ask themselves the tough [questions] about life and where they’re going."

Tony Robbins

Perhaps one of the most famous (if not the most famous) of motivational speakers for success and personal happiness, he is a top-selling author, coveted speaker and consultant. He works for individuals and corporations alike and is one who emphasizes the need to clarify before looking for success (as we advised you do before choosing your preferred motivational speakers). He is noted for saying, "One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular."

So, just as Eric Thomas (below) advises us to prepare and plan if we are to succeed, Tony Robbins says the same!

Eric Thomas

Unique among the world's most noted motivational speakers for success, Thomas comes from a background of homelessness and immense personal struggles. From family-related hardships and a lack of education, he has become one of the world's most noted authors and speakers. One of his most famous quotes reads, "The will to success is important but the will to prepare is just as important," and his popular with all ages and groups, speaking at high school events or enormous audience-based venues.

Napoleon Hill

Napoleon Hill is an American-born self-help author, composing one of the top 10 best selling self-help books, titled Think and Grow Rich. The overarching success of his self-help books, thematically, emulated the virtues of fervid expectations, a constant striving toward obtaining the goals you set out for yourself.

Brian Tracy

Those who are eager to get inspired through self-improvement will want to read and listen to Tracy's work. Another "rags to riches" sort of person, he was born very poor and lacked an early education. Yet, he was able to break free of the cycle of poverty and teach himself the secrets to success in the world of sales and business management. He has stated that one of his major goals is to "help individuals and companies achieve their personal and business goals faster." He focuses on professional and personal development, speaking to hundreds of thousands of listeners every year.

Nick Vujicic

A remarkable story is connected to Vujicic, who was born without any limbs. Starting life at such a physical disadvantage, and being kept from traditional schooling, he has overcome an immense number of personal and physical challenges. From high school and onward he has worked to inspire, writing bestselling self-help books, speaking to groups of all kinds and constantly shining a light on the value of even small personal achievements, he is one of the most inspiring voices in the world of motivational speakers.

Robin Sharma

Robin Sharma is one of the world's most prominent influential speakers. Having audience with organizations such as Microsoft, GE, Nike, Yale University, and many others, Sharma has consistently motivated individuals to be the best versions of themselves possible, teams to function like a well-oiled machine, and organizations be the top of their class in industry and performance. His six-time international best seller The Leader Who Had No Title is a modern-day fable designed for readers to apply certain skills and attitudes that will, invariably, raise them to greatness.

Martin Luther King Jr.

The face of the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr. is a household name when it comes to motivational speakers. Well known for non-violent protests, King was beaten, abused, and incarcerated, all in an effort to put civil rights' reformation at the top of the United States's legislative agenda. One of the most highly regarded speeches in oratory history, I Have a Dream was largely responsible for inspiring a group of people to achieve this goal. It seems that, even today, his words still ring loudly in the ears of those who recognize we need it.

Winston Churchill

British army officer, politician, writer, and politician, Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during a large part of World War II, and for a time after it as well. Actively considered one of the strongest speech writers and speakers in recent history, his speech, Their Finest Hour, has been made into a feature film due to its sheer potency in his efforts to inspire Britain during a time of war.

Zig Ziglar

The late Zig Ziglar (who died in 2012) still ranks as one of the finest motivational speakers for success the world has yet seen. Eight of his ten books were bestsellers and he was a speaker in constant demand throughout his career. He was noted more as a storyteller who inspired and entertained, but even through his amusing anecdotes and humor, he was known to provide potent encouragement and inspiration, saying "You are the only person on earth who can use your ability. It’s an awesome responsibility."