Yes You Can!: Behind the Hype and Hustle of the Motivation Biz

The title of Yes You Can suggests a hard-hitting exposure of the motivation biz, but in fact Black delivers a well-researched description of a number of players in the motivation game. What amazed me was Black's detailed history of the way Thomas Leonard, founder of CoachU and the coaching revolution that followed, came directly from Landmark. Few people (and fewer authors) recognize that coaching transformed group programs to one-to-one, in the process creating a marketing bonanza. Black stops short of articulating how coaches work to transform lives - mostly by creating "accountability" and encouraging clients to lose self-limiting beliefs. Some find the system amazingly helpful for productivity; others come to resent the coach as an intrusive nanny. In his last chapters, Black questions how motivational speakers get booked, going down a depressing trail of audition tapes and rejections. Speaking, he is told, starts with Toastmasters. Frankly, I think professional speakers send everyone to Toastmasters just to get them out of their way. It is important to emphasize that chapters vary enormously and your own chapter may differ greatly from the one Black joined. My chapter holds several experienced speakers, including professional speakers. I do share some of Black's frustrations. It's fun to create and deliver a 7-minute speech, but this experience doesn't really prepare you for delivering a half-hour dinner talk or a 90-minute workshop. And there's no natural progression from Toastmasters to professional speaking. The happiest Toastmasters are those who seek nothing more than a pleasant meeting experience and those who begin with fear of speaking and enjoy their new-found confidence. I'm definitely recommending this book to anyone who seeks a deeper understanding of the group of phenomena loosely classified as the motivation biz. I'm especially impressed by the way Black unifies a group of seemingly diverse phenomena: coaching, motivational speaking, even the popular TV show Wife Swap. My only suggestion would be to contrast these motivation hustlers to the mainstream therapy field. Legally and socially, we give preference to "licensed therapists." But should we? Dr. Ruth (the sex therapist) used to acknowledge her lack of credentials, saying clients tended to overrate the advice received from licensed, white-coated "professionals." They'd be more likely to question an unlicensed source and therefore less likely to trust someone who turned out to be incompetent. She had a point. In her book, Cult of Personality, Annie Paul demonstrates that tests administered by licensed mental health professionals have no basis in science. Myers Briggs has gained widespread mainstream acceptance. Rorschach tests can be used by the courts to make life-changing decisions. Accredited universities often include these tests in the counseling curriculum prescribed for students who want to be licensed. A number of models held by mental health prof

Jonathan Black managed to draw me into a world that prior to this did not pique my curiousity. The world of motivational speakers and their drive to feed the need for self improvement was entirely unknown territory, and territory of which I thought best to steer cleer. However, Black's considerable and subtle skills as storyteller, and his growing tone of honest and sincere inquiry, respectful inquiry, into our all too human need to "be ourselves" made this book captiviating, amusing, moving, a great read. It ranks up there with some of the great early Tom Wolfe writing on America's off the beaten track sub-cultures, those milieus with their own rules, superstars and markers of success. Terrific stuff.

Jonathan Black has delivered a home run: he has not only researched the topic, met the motivational speakers and commented on their lives, he has experienced what it would be like to become a speaker. I LOVED this book: funny, insightful, informative. In addition, Mr. Black appeared on my talk radio show, where he was a wonderful guest: to other talk show hosts -- this guy can create a winning program. Norman Mark, KNWZ Palm Springs & nationally syndicated.

When I learned about the topic of this book my first thought was, Why hasn't this been done before? With all the self-help books spilling off the book shelves and tons more queued up for publication at a staggering pace, surely someone would have already stepped up to ride the speaker circuit to decode and demystify the motivators' motivation for being and to reassure and reaffirm for us that our appetite to triumph and transcend our circumstances is, if wrong-headed, than at least totally human. I'm glad it was Jonathan Black who finally wrote it. Black not only introduces us to some of the giants on the speaker circuit, he even takes us back in time for some informative context and perspective. And he does so with an inquisitive journalistic eye and a lot of heart. No doubt this journalistic background gives the book balance (no mudslinging here). It also makes him a worthy guide -- our sort of universal proxy who hits all the right notes and doesn't miss a detail. At moments I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So will this book help you next time you find yourself in a bookstore staring bug-eyed at a new self-help book and claiming to be THE book that, unlike all those other books, will finally make your star rise, think of Yes You Can! It'll remind you that, thanks to Black, you now know more than you think you do.

Like most people, I've always wondered whether there's some way of looking at problems - maybe just a catch phrase - that would cut through emotional tangles and make life easier. In Yes You Can!, I learned of Jonathan Black's search for the ultimate "open sesame," and I found his journey surprising, amusing, and also remarkably thought-provoking. There are no final answers here (and how could there be for what is ultimately a personal matter), but for anyone interested in the subject, this is an extremely useful guide. Gwenda Blair New York, NY