The goal for any mental health public speaker or suicide awareness speaker should be to:
- educate
- eradicate myths and de-stigmatize
- inspire hope and healing
- help people with tools to find emotional balance and stability
Inspiring doesn’t mean pouring content over people, hoping it gets absorbed like you would pour water over a garden of daisies.
It doesn’t mean presenting multiple dour statistics that can suck the life out of the audience leaving everyone feeling hopeless.
It doesn’t mean pasteurizing a presentation in the name of “standardizing the message” to the point your audience reaches for their phones to blunt the boredom.
The stories are crucial for cultivating inspiration
Mental health topics need moments of reflection, acceptance of sadness, and even dashes of humor. But what it needs most of all are authentic and vulnerable stories.
It’s those real and emotionally naked stories that a speaker shares that inspire and motivate.
Those times when someone is down and thinks they can’t move forward but somehow they do. It’s that episode in their life when they moved from the darkness to being able to find joy, and the hard work and tools they used to get there.
It’s that moment when the audience members are listening and think, “I can do this. And to help me find that path forward, I’m going to do such and such.” That’s where the inspiration lies. Those are the takeaways your audience will value.
Putting together a mental health or suicide prevention presentation is a careful balance of both storytelling and genuine takeaways that are helpful, evidence-informed, and don’t perpetuate myths that further stigmatize the subject. This is an art that takes a while to perfect.
I have been able to do this through the feedback I get from the audience in the form of index cards in which I ask the audience to “share one thing they learned,” and leave that as their gift to me. That way I have something to grab onto when I hit that emotional letdown after a speech. And besides that, it helps me focus on the messages that resonate with the audience and build on those key concepts.
Before Choosing a Mental Health Speaker, Consider These Tips
Selecting the right mental health speaker can make all the difference in how your message is received and the conference is remembered. It’s essential to choose someone who not only understands the topic but also connects authentically with your audience.
From assessing the speaker’s background and communication style to ensuring they align with your event goals and budget, here are a few key tips to guide your decision-making process:
- Consider your audience and choose a speaker who fits the needs and interests of the group you’re trying to reach.
- Review the speaker’s experience and expertise. Lived experience is powerful, but your speaker should also be trained in how to motivate and engage attendees without harming or retraumatizing them. So, ask the candidate about mental health training and following guidelines because both are important.
- Ask about the speaker’s availability and fees to ensure they align with your budget. Then, schedule a phone call to explore their interest in your event and gauge the fit.
- For more specific tips on what to look for in a mental health speaker, see “What to look for in a mental health speaker.”
See AnneMoss’s TEDx, “Can a blog save lives?”
AnneMoss Rogers is a leading wellness and suicide education expert and one of the top mental health speakers and suicide prevention speakers. Known for her powerful, motivational keynotes, AnneMoss combines her personal story of loss with proven strategies to help organizations build a wellness culture that drives results and saves lives. She speaks at conferences, workplaces, K-12 schools, and universities, delivering impactful presentations that inspire change and promote mental health awareness.
AnneMoss does this work in memory of her son, Charles, who struggled with anxiety, depression, and addiction, and died by suicide at age 20 in 2015.