Internationally recognized motivational speaker Mark Scharenbroich visited on Wednesday, Feb. 23 to speak to students during seminar.

Scharenbroich is an Emmy award winner, has been inducted into the National Speakers’ Association Hall of Fame and has been featured in many films including the award winning “The Greatest Days of Your Life…(So Far),” released in 1981.

His website, www.nicebike.com, gained it’s name from the 100th anniversary of Harley-Davidson, where Scharenbroich noticed the one phrase that seemed to bring the tough bikers together was “nice bike.”

“I believe that it’s very important to be connected,” Scharenbroich said. “This means we need to leave the campsite better than we found it.”

Scharenbroich emphasized this point during his presentation, which was received well by students.

Sophomore Kristen Blair liked that he was casual and kept students laughing the whole time.

“I thought it was fun,” Blair said. “I think people respond more when they think it’s funny and not serious.”

Using laughter to bring the students together, Scharenbroich demonstrated his signature “boomba hey” chant, which could be heard between both students and teachers even after the presentation was over.

His simple reminders to “live freely” and “love a lot” also exemplify how he used short phrases that stick in people’s memories to get a point across.

However, because of Scharenbroich’s simplicity and casualty, math teacher Alex Houlton thought that the speaker may have failed to completely get his message across.

“I think his message may have been a little lost in his presentation,” Houlton said. “He didn’t really emphasize his message.”

Even though the speech was funny and at times even seemed a little off topic, Scharenbroich seemed to tie in subjects such as elementary romance and “The Exorcist” into his ideas of responsibility and respect.

After his presentation, junior Hannah Brinker felt like she gained something from hearing Scharenbroich speak.

“He’s been the best [motivational speaker] we’ve had because he made me feel happier,” Brinker said. “I don’t feel I’ve really gotten that before.”

During his speech Scharenbroich challenged students to motivate themselves.

“I’m not really a motivational speaker,” Scharenbroich said. “If you can’t motivate yourself, what makes you think that I can?”

Houlton hopes that Scharenbroich’s words of wisdom will stick with the students for a while.

“Hopefully this is something small that will turn into something larger,” Houlton said. “It’s a good reminder of the things we should be doing.”

Blair agrees that it would be great if students took the presentation to heart, but she doesn’t think that it will stay with students for long.

“I think most people agreed with what he said,” Blair said. “But I don’t think that people will actually follow his advice after the day is over.”

Even though he hopes that he can make a difference at every school he visits, Scharenbroich recognizes that one speech can’t be the only change.

“One speech won’t turn a school or a person around,” Scharenbroich said. “One assembly is just part of the experience.”

Although Scharenbroich has spoken to students in more than 3,000 school districts, he especially enjoyed the experience here.

“This audience was a 10,” Scharenbroich said. “They were just outstanding. It’s still a relatively new school that has a really good heart.”