By Jim Cathcart
The Next Generation of Motivational Training has arrived!
My First Generation: In 1974 I sold motivational messages on cassette tapes in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The tapes were recordings made by Earl Nightingale, "the dean of personal motivation". Each was about 20 minutes long and very inspiring. I sold them as a system of self-training that could be used to transform your life.
It wasn't just hype, I had done it and others were too. The "Human Potential Movement" was in full swing!
People nationwide were flocking to Motivational Rallies and buying self-improvement books by the truckloads. If you were a professional speaker then your calendar was full of bookings. I was doing about 120 speeches a year in the late 1970s. It seemed that folks just couldn't get enough of the knowledge and skill that came from these sources.
One problem was, I had to sell people on the concept of listening to tape recordings as a form of learning and then I had to sell them the tape player and batteries so they could listen to them. Most people still had 8-tracks in their cars!
My Second Generation: (The reason I say "My" is because much came before me but, for me, this was all new.)
During the 1980s everyone got on board the audio learning bandwagon. Instead of just a few gurus like Earl Nightingale, Paul J. Meyer, and W. Clement Stone, we now had dozens of new personalities bringing exciting messages. Tony Alessandra and I created a six tape audio album with Nightingale-Conant Corporation (the dominant audio publisher at the time) and so did: Denis Waitley, Zig Ziglar, Norman Vincent Peale, Tom Hopkins, Nido Qubein, Cavett Robert, Don Hutson, Ty Boyd, Ken Blanchard, Charlie "Tremendous" Jones and even Tom Peters. New personalities were emerging almost weekly: Brian Tracy, Mark Victor Hansen, Steve Brown, Robert Henry, Patricia Fripp, Danny Cox, and I could go on and on. The National Speakers Association (NSA) had become a breeding ground for people with something to say and the ability to say it powerfully. If you had a cassette album in the 80's you had a following.
My Third Generation: In the 1990s books came to the forefront. The concept of self-improvement was now mainstream. People expected to be "life-long learners." Books exploded into the marketplace bringing even more new authors and experts. What was rare in the 80s was now commonplace: Business and Self Help books were on top of the bestseller lists.
The Walkman started the decade as the consumer's preferred audio resource but the CD closed the era. Digital communication had hit its stride. I was learning to do web conferencing and refining my website while collecting email addresses instead of street addresses. We created online universities and all sorts of new digital products. Video emerged as the hottest new medium but people were still bound to their video players and later DVD players. Blockbuster and others made home movies a strong alternative to theaters as the preferred venue. The People's Network brought us The Success Channel on Dish Network.
My Fourth Generation: As the century changed so did the learning styles. Mpeg and iPods began to show up in the fitness centers and cars. People started wearing headsets everywhere. The desktop computers of the 90s were quickly replaced en masse by laptops. Portable computers made Starbucks the office of choice. Then Blackberrys and now iPhones kept us even closer to our resources. iTunes and its offspring made music omnipresent: in cell phones, nanos, laptops and more. Tivo gave us the power to control how and when we watched our favorite TV shows. Our world was transformed! And so was how we learn. Websites gave way to Blogs as the dominant delivery mode for business information. Online shopping edged out brick and mortar shops. TSTN.com brought us motivational programming through our laptops.
And now...The NEXT Generation!
What used to live in the public library now lives in your pocket. What used to be hidden in books awaiting your gaze now lives in e-books with links, photos, video clips and more through your notebook computer or cell phone. What was once happily condensed into 30 and 40 minute presentations is now coming to you in 6 minute lessons. And it is still inspiring and fresh information delivered by experts and gurus in their various fields. Podcasts have evolved into bite sized lessons that we can select. No more streaming linear programming where you have to wait for your favorite to come up in the queue. Now you get to select the expert and the topic you want and voila! it is there in your digital device with both video and audio at your command. iLearningGlobal.tv has taken the next logical step in delivering information and motivation.
This is the closest thing to having the experts waiting nearby and walking along with you while sharing their messages.
You are now the driver and you select and control the information flow.
I'm proud to be a new faculty member of iLearningGlobal.tv along with my famous friends and colleagues. Come visit us and view programs from: Tony Alessandra, Brian Tracy, Don Hutson, Scott McKain, Shep Hyken, Al Walker, Dr. Paul Green, Karyn Buxman, Patricia Fripp and many more.
Check out the programs on your preferred digital device today: http://www.ilearningglobal.tv
and, if you want to grow a business around self-development check their marketing system:
http://www.ilearningglobal.biz/jimcathcart.
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