The late comedian Chris Farley had a Saturday Night Live routine in which he declaimed, "I'm a motivational speaker—I live in a trailer down by the river." The skit was a hit with the SNL audience, which sees itself as hip, skeptical, and not totally pro-Big Business, because it tapped into their condescension about a certain approach to sales.

I once had a client who asked if I was a motivational speaker. I'd never heard that one before and said, "Well, I hope what I have to say is motivating to people, but that's not what I'm setting out to do." That client heard nothing after my first clause and I lost the job on the spot—probably an SNL fan.

Yet, at the same time, there are hundreds of motivational speakers out there who are proud of that term, and there are plenty of clients who are proud to hire them. And many of those clients are sales organizations.

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