Firewalking? There are other ways to motivate your audience.

The news recently reported that motivational speaker Tony Robbins encouraged his audience to walk across hot coals. Some of them were injured.

Tony Robbins may be the most successful professional public speaker ever. All the same, public speaking textbooks do not discuss firewalking as a way to motivate one's audience.

On a more general note, I tell my students that visual aids should be big, simple, and safe. I, for one, am against silly, dangerous stunts.

Dramatic events do not necessarily produce long-term motivation. If a speaker wants to motivate an audience, the time-tested methods are to relate personal experiences, cite evidence, and relate the speaker's topic to the audience's needs. People are attracted to flashy stunts--thus Robbins' prominence--but real change often requires more thoughtful methods.

On a broader note, the most famous professional speakers may not always be the best.