Eric Thomas, known as ET for short, is a very successful motivational speaker, preacher, author, educator, and activist. Quite the resume! But he had to overcome a lot of adversity first. A tumultuous upbringing was capped off by his dropping out of school and spending several years homeless on the mean streets of Detroit. Fortunately, he met a preacher who convinced him to go back to school and turn his life around. This he did, eventually earning a doctoral degree in Education! He makes big money working with clients like corporate CEOs and sports teams but he also sets aside plenty of time for volunteering, including making motivational speeches for free.
On a swing through St. Louis, ET visited a juvenile detention center where he spoke to the young men and women incarcerated there and then held a motivational-speaking conference in the afternoon. The next day, he appeared at Vashon High School, one of the city’s low-performing schools. He tells the student audience his own story and how he’s now doing everything he can so they don’t have to go through the kinds of things he did growing up.
Most of the students in the audience are paying close attention to what ET has to say but there’s a small group who insist on talking and joking. They keep at it even after being told to knock it off. This finally sends ET off-script and he delivers an incredibly powerful and emotionally charged message. Were it not for his voice, you could hear a pin drop in the auditorium.
We’ve posted the video below. ET’s prepared speech was really good, but his impromptu remarks really pack a punch.
What did you think of the way Eric Thomas laid it on the line for his audience? Let us know in the Facebook comments. Don’t forget to like and share!
