pep-talk

Kazuo Ishiguroの "The Remains of the Day" を読んでいます。
DAY TWO - MORNINGから引用します。
It was clear then that the staff would not only have to work extremely hard, and be at their most alert, they would also have to be, unusually flexible. In fact, I was for some time of the opinion that this huge challenge ahead of us could not be surmounted without my bringing in additional staff from outside. However, this option, quite aside from the misgivings his lordship was bound to have as regards gossip travelling, entailed my having to rely on unknown quantities just when a mistake could prove most costly. I thus set about preparing for the days ahead as, I imagine, a general might prepare for a battle: I devised with utmost care a special staff plan anticipating all sorts of eventualities; I analysed where our weakest points lay and set about making contingency plans to fall back upon in the event of these points giving way; I even gave the staff a military-style ‘pep-talk’, impressing upon them that, for all their having to work at an exhausting rate, they could feel great pride in discharging their duties over the days that lay ahead. ‘History could well be made under this roof,’ I told them. And they, knowing me to be one not prone to exaggerated statements, well understood that something of an extraordinary nature was impending.

‘pep-talk’は見覚えのある言葉ですが、意味を思い出せません。　辞書を見ます。"pep-talk" の見出しはありませんでしたが "pep talk" ならありました。
・Oxford English Dictionary: A talk intended to make someone feel more courageous or enthusiastic.: After the service, he rose to give the soldiers a pep talk and discuss the next morning's mission.
・Collins Dictionary: A pep talk is a speech which is intended to encourage someone to make more effort or feel more confident.: [informal] Powell spent the day giving pep talks to the troops.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: a short speech intended to encourage people to work harder or try to win a game or competition: The boss gave the staff a pep talk this morning in an attempt to boost sales.