Motivate

**Motivate** is a challenge of social intelligence on *Canada's Smartest Person*.

## Description

*Retrieved from CBC.ca*

The competitors are the “coaches” of a peewee soccer team that has fallen on hard times. The team’s star player is out with a broken ankle and they’re in the midst of a terrible losing streak. Using their Social Intelligence the competitors need to coach the team back into its winning ways with a 30 second half-time speech.

As with any real-world situation, our competitors need to be able to read the verbal and non-verbal cues of their team and adapt their message on the fly for maximum motivational impact.

Motivation isn’t only about encouragement. It is also about understanding others’ needs, conveying emotion, and uniting disparate people under a common goal.

## Episode 103

Motivate was the sole challenge of social intelligence and the second challenge overall. Jeff Douglas explained to the viewers the instructions and how they could participate in the challenge, by predicting the guest judge's rankings, on the Canada's Smartest Person app. Jessi Cruickshank explained to the contestants that the contestant in 1st place would earn 5 overall points, the contestant in 2nd place would earn 3, the contestant in 3rd place would earn 2, and the contestant in last place would earn 1. John Herdman served as the guest judge for this challenge.

The contestants had to take on the role of a coach of a peewee female soccer team, the Mustang Kicks, whose morale has gone down after their star player was forced to sit out due to an injury. Through this role, the contestants had to give a 30-second half-time speech to the team in order to boost their morale for the rest of their game.

Lisa Preston was the first contestant up and she said, "Okay, ladies, I know we're down, I know you're feeling it, but I need you guys to lift up. Shake off that first half; it's nothing. You guys, each and every one of you, are a star and, combined, we can do amazing things. So, I want you to shed all that stuff in the first half; it's nothing, ladies. It's nothing. We've got this, okay? They're weak, we're strong. We're going to take our weaknesses and we're going to make them strengths and we are going to rock that field." John noted that she delivered her speech with a smile and felt that that was crucial.

Norm Odjick was the second contestant up and he said, "Mustang Kicks, I know things are looking tough, but don't be discouraged. Umm, your star is hurt, and that's fine, you're a team. It's not just one player. Who's ready to step in? Who's ready to raise their game to make up for this? You are? Okay, good, and you. Everybody has to be ready. Let me tell you a story. It was about a young, Native guy who was on a TV show and he bombed his first challenge in front of everybody, but he came back. All we've got to do is get one win and that's today. I don't want you to think–" John commented that he thinks it is always good when one makes fun of themselves and acknowledged Norm for that.

Melanie Martin was the third contestant up and she said, "Hello, Mustangs. It's half-time! We've got a game to finish. Remember at the beginning of the season when you guys were winning all those games? You've got to do it again. We can do it. I've seen every single one of you play so well this year. You can do it. You just have to kick that ball, get it in the net. Each and every one of you, I've seen do so well. I've seen you all do it before. Remember back to the beginning of the year when you–" John felt that all he had to say was that it was one of the more positive speeches.

Mith Das was the last contestant up and he said, "So, ladies, I know our star player has broken her ankle, but our team will not be broken. You've got the passion, you've got the talent, and you've got what it takes to win. I don't want you to just go out there and kick some ball. I want you to go out there and kick some butt! We'll show them who's got the horsepower. We do! Go... Mustangs!" John compared him to Jerry Maguire and felt that his speech was outstanding.

After Mith's turn, Jessi called the other three contestants back onto the stage and revealed that John would rank each of their speeches from weakest to strongest. John gave his final comments to the contestants and ranked Mith in 1st place, Lisa in 2nd place, Norm in 3rd place, and Melanie in last place. Therefore, Mith was awarded 5 overall points for finishing in 1st place, Lisa was awarded 3 for finishing in 2nd place, Norm was awarded 2 for finishing in 3rd place, and Melanie was awarded 1 for finishing in last place.

As for the public, it was revealed that Jeff himself had received a percentage score of 75%. However, the scores for the public are calculated differently than the scores for the contestants.

### Summary of Results

 **1st** | **Mith Das** | 1st
 **2nd** | **Lisa Preston** | 2nd
 **3rd** | **Norm Odjick** | 3rd
 **4th** | **Melanie Martin** | 4th
 Maximum Possible

## References

1. ↑ https://www.cbc.ca/smartestperson/blog/testing-intelligences-episode-3
2. ↑ https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2553849234 (12:51)