Larsen Post

I chose to analyze a public motivational speech by Justin Su'a, a well known mental skills coach and author currently working for the Boston Red Sox. The goal of the speech is help athletes master their craft by strengthening their mental game.



The most noticeable of Larsen's Cultural Images and myths would be Possibility of Success and The Value of Challenge. The whole speech is centered around increasing the possibility of success in times of extreme pressure whether on the field, court, or in real life by stepping back and slowing things down. He gives a personal experience of a time when he was a boy pitching in a high pressured situation and his coach, who was his dad, helps him calm himself by calling a timeout and diverting his attention to food. The result he is able to keep his composure and close the game out. Then towards the end of his speech on of the tips to success that gives is learning to accept failure as a good thing. To illustrate this he gives several examples of famous people such as Micheal Jordan and others who attribute their personal successes to all the times that they failed. He emphasizes the point that failure is an event on the path way to success and is not something to be feared.



Emotion is the most obvious process premise that is used in this speech. Justin's audiences is full feelings of joy and happiness because they are excited at the possibilities of success once they apply the tips that were presented to them. He speaks of fear as being one of the number causes of prevention for athletes and instills a sense of pride and  in the audience that they are more than capable of the same successes as other athletes before them. Even with Maslow's Hiearchy throughout the speech Justin takes the audience on a journey to build feelings of Safety in times of stress, Belonging to the world of sports, Esteem in their selves, and ultimately the Self-actualization that they are good enough and worthy of success,