Let’s look at the list of India’s best female motivational speakers.
‘Motivation is the process that initiates and maintains certain behaviors needed to achieve goals,’ as per psychology. It can be either internal or external. One factor of external motivation is the motivation that comes from listening to a speaker, their life stories, and struggles that ignite passion and willingness within you to achieve your goals.
Sadhguru, Vivek Bindra, and Sandeep Maheshwari are some accomplished motivational speakers that usually always top the list of motivational speakers.
Do you often wonder why such lists are generally dominated by men? And wonder who the top female motivational speakers of our times are? Well, we are here with answers; below is a list of 10 phenomenal women whose life is enough to motivate you to get your life together and go after your goals, let alone their words.
Dr. Sudha Murthy
Graduate in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Chairman of Infosys Foundation in India, received Padma Shri from the Government of India and seven other doctorates from colleges in India.
Dr. Sudha Murthy began her career as a development engineer with TELCO, now Tata Motors, becoming the first female engineer in India to head a company like Infosys. Dressed in Indian attire and extremely down to earth, Sudha Murthy is the epitome of simplicity.
Her beliefs about money are Nobel, she believes that money isn’t loyal to one hand, it keeps on changing hands, and giving back to society fosters significant goodwill. The way she leads her life with simplicity, and prioritizes philanthropy is enough motivation, her words are just the cherry on top.
She speaks about the simplicity of life, the importance of discipline, parenting, the importance of being focused in life, and how with sheer dedication and hard work, one can achieve their goals.
Dr. Kiran Bedi
India’s first female to join Indian Police Service in 1972, Dr. Kiran Bedi is a social activist and former tennis player. She is the founder of two NGOs, namely, ‘Navjyoti’ and ‘India Vision Foundation’ which reach out to innumerable children, women, and men to facilitate their growth in areas of education, vocational skills, environment, counseling, and health care.
Community colleges registered with Indira Gandhi National Open University, providing vocational and soft skills to youth, are being run by her NGOs.
Dr. Kiran Bedi, a fearless woman in every right, ignites the fire of passion and hard work in her listeners whenever she speaks. Bravery, integrity, perseverance, resilience, and honesty are the qualities she leads her life with, and she motivates her listeners to instill these in themselves as well by citing the importance of leading life on one’s terms while being true to one’s moral code.
Arunima Sinha
Hers is a story of resilience, courage, determination, and dedication. In 2011, at the age of twenty-four, when she refused thieves to hand over her gold chain, she was thrown off a moving train.
Laying on the hospital bed with one amputated leg, at a time when chances of her walking on both of her legs were very slim, she took a vow to not just become proficient at walking with a prosthetic leg but at climbing the highest point in the world, Mount Everest.
Indian mountaineer and sportsperson went on to do exactly that, and two years later, in 2013, she became the first Indian female amputee to do something that was once deemed impossible. In 2015, Arunima was awarded, Padma Shri.
With her story of ‘the triumph of will,’ she continues to motivate the youth to overcome every obstacle standing in between their goal fearlessly while keeping faith in themselves. Her words and story continue to fuel the never give up attitude in anyone who listens to her, even after ten years.
Diana Hayden
An actress, television host, international model, grooming expert, motivational speaker, philanthropist, former Miss World, and Author are some of the feathers in her cap. She has modeled for several International brands, including L’Oreal, Colgate, and Chopard.
She has been socially active and has lent her voice to various social issues with a special focus on issues affecting women and children. ‘A Beautiful Truth ‘ The Art of Grooming for Women’ as the name suggests, is an encyclopedic grooming guide for women, it is her first book, released in June 2013.
She conducts lectures on grooming, motivation, communication, overcoming obstacles, and confidence building, using her life experiences, struggles, determination, growth, and success to prove the possibility of overcoming every obstacle that life throws at us and emerging victorious. Diana is an extraordinary role model for young women in India and around the world.
Priya Kumar
Internationally acclaimed motivational speaker, author of 15 books including novels and self-help books, screenwriter, and recipient of 44 international awards, Priya Kumar is ‘A creative soul with a spiritual bent, according to her Instagram bio. She is India’s first certified firewalk instructor and has conducted over 2000 firewalks around the world.
She speaks on various topics like ‘letting go,’ ‘grace & gratitude’, ‘long lasting relationships’, ‘handling negativity’, ‘how to stay happy’, ‘life hacks’, ‘problems are progress’, ‘the key to success,’ and the list goes on.
Laxmi Agarwal
Laxmi Agarwal is a symbol of courage, hope, strength, and women empowerment. At the tender age of 15, she was attacked by acid by a 32-year-old man named Naeem Khan. Breaking beauty norms and beauty stereotypes, Laxmi didn’t lose to life; she fought for rights and dignity, not just for herself but for fellow acid attack survivors.
‘Acid attack couldn’t shake my dreams and willpower, ‘Laxmi stated in an interview. Her inspiring story gives hope to people to be strong and brave when faced with adversities. Laxmi further initiated conversations regarding crime against women in India and ignited a fire within the hearts of people to bring about change.
BK Shivani
Shivani Verma, popularly known as BK Shivani, is a teacher in Brahma Kumaris, a spiritual movement in India. She speaks about self-management, inner powers, the law of karma, respecting oneself, creating heaven at home, simple habits for a calm mind, healing, self-empowerment, harmony in relationships, and self-discipline, among others.
She has authored various books, ‘Being Love’, and ‘Happiness Unlimited’ being her best-selling work. She is awarded the highest civilian honor for women in India, ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar’.
Her words have empowered people from all walks of life around the world by taking responsibility for their emotions and helping them overcome their stress, mental despair, addictions, low self-esteem, and bad relationships.
Shalini Saraswathi
“My life, my decisions, my dreams; limbs or no limbs”, said Shalini Saraswathi in an interview. Hers is a journey of defying all odds and emerging victorious; losing both her legs and hands to a rare bacterial infection, she went on to become a phenomenal blade runner.
Additionally, she is a motivational speaker and a quad amputee. She persevered in the face of challenges thrown at her by life and turned obstacles into opportunities with her exceptional willpower and unmatched energy.
Even after going through so much in life without any fault of hers, her never die spirit and zest for life is extremely commendable. She has inspired lakhs of people through her speeches with purpose, hope, and strength to overcome each and every challenge in their lives.
Deeya Bajaj
The girl who conquered Mount Everest and became part of the first father-daughter duo to climb Mount at a very early age. Ajeet Bajaj, Deeya’s father, recalls, “Both of us were teary-eyed when we reached the summit. That’s when we realized that we had made it, and all that training and preparation culminated in such a beautiful and emotional moment. Then, we proudly placed the national flag at the summit.”
Apart from being a mountaineer, Diya is a speaker, business leader, founder of the non-profit ‘Ganga Vatika Home for girls’, President of India’s national ambassador for the ‘Save the daughter, Educate the daughter campaign, and MBA candidate at the Wharton School, class of 2023. She has reached over ten million people in India and around the world through her videos, media appearances, and talks, advocating women’s rights.
Gul Panag
Gul Panag is an Indian actress, voice actress, model, and former beauty queen, alongside being a half marathon runner, a biker, and a certified pilot. She is a front-line advocate of gender equality, justice, environmental issues, fundamental rights, secularism, corruption, and political accountability, by facilitating dialogues and debates.
She is highly regarded as an actress and a producer as well, beginning her career in 2003 with a film named ‘Dhoop’; she has been critically acclaimed for her roles over the years. Gul dons several hats, adding another feather to her fitness startup ‘MobieFit’ that she co-founded in 2017.
Her journey of determination, passion, and striving for excellence in building her career made her succeed in the competitive world of TV, Bollywood, and modeling. Her multifaceted brand of being an actor, fitness expert, marathon runner, and thinker is a mark of her excellence and success in life.
