Malaysian shares negative experience with school motivational speakers, sparking debate over relevance, respect and alternatives
MOTIVATIONAL speakers have long been a presence in Malaysian schools, often intended to inspire students and boost their confidence. However, not everyone believes these sessions achieve their intended purpose.
One Malaysian recently expressed their dislike for motivational speakers in schools, claiming that such talks bring little to no benefit to students.
“I hate it when speakers come to schools, pretending to motivate students but secretly undermining their dignity,” the individual claimed in a Threads post.
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The individual then recounted a past experience in which a motivational speaker visited their school and asked during the programme, “Which speaker is the best?”
Unfortunately, the individual gave the same answer as another student, which resulted in them being asked to remain standing in front of their schoolmates in the hall.
“He then kept me standing in front of everyone for almost an hour, making a fool of me,” the post alleged.
Many commenters agreed with the individual’s views, calling for schools to engage better-qualified speakers, while others shared their own negative experiences attending such talks.
“It’s even more annoying when they tell us to ‘close our eyes and imagine our parents,’ like there’s no other topic they can talk about,” one user commented.
“I think instead of motivational talks, it’s better to invite police officers or speakers to talk about careers, IT, and similar topics — something that actually helps us focus,” suggested another.
“It would also be better to invite successful alumni from different streams in the school, rather than hiring external motivational speakers. Imagine inviting an architect who once studied design at our school. That would be far more motivating, because students can see the results of studying hard,” another user advised.
