I recently gave a TEDx talk titled The Renaissance of Capitalism. Today, however, I’m writing not about capitalism, but about the inside track on giving a TEDx talk.
I’ll tell my story below through a series of ten questions. It was a crazy yet rewarding rollercoaster, going from rewriting my speech, to calling 911, to troubles with a hot iron, to email signatures.
Table of Contents:
1] How did you get the opportunity to give a TEDx talk?
2] How did you choose a topic?
3] Did you memorize your entire speech?
4] What was the buildup to the event like?
5] How was your experience on the day of the event?
6] What’s your craziest story from the TEDx experience?
7] What’s your single best piece of advice for giving a TEDx talk?
8] How would you recommend promoting a TEDx talk?
9] If you could go back in time, what would you do differently?
10] Do you think it was worth it, and why?
1] How did you get the opportunity to give a TEDx talk?
About a year prior to the event, I reached out to Alex, a friend of mine who I knew was involved in the TEDx circuit. I asked if he knew how I could give a TEDx talk. He informed me that he was setting up an event and would love to have me speak at it. Six months later, I got a text asking if I was still interested in presenting at the event. I said yes in a heartbeat, and the rollercoaster ride began.
Your network truly is your net worth. I wouldn’t have had the opportunity without the amazing efforts of the organizers Alex Usher and Derek Montgomery. A huge thank you is in order to everyone involved behind-the-scenes in making the TEDxClassicalAcademyHS event happen!
2] How did you choose a topic?
I knew immediately that I would speak about my passion, why businesses should make the world a better place. I brainstormed, outlined, and wrote word-for-word a 12 minute speech on the topic. I wasn’t in love with it, but I didn’t want to walk away after all the effort I put in. I read it aloud and tried editing it every which way to make it work.
I realized that it didn’t feel right because, as written, it wasn’t a groundbreaking concept that was truly an “idea worth sharing.” Because this was such a fundamental issue, my only option was to start over. I decided to throw it almost entirely in the garbage (the only example I kept from the original speech was about the major American retailer that is greening their stores).
The result was a speech that took a broader perspective on the same issue by considering the entire system of shareholder capitalism. The reason I didn’t start with this is that I was concerned with being too abstract during the speech. I addressed this by using tons of examples and giving specific suggestions to the audience near the end.
This drastic change was well worth it. Looking back at the previous speech, it had nowhere near the same impact as the speech I delivered. Make sure to choose a powerful topic that will enrich the audience’s lives and make their time worth it. That’s the starting point for any great talk.
3] Did you memorize your entire speech?
Yes, I did indeed. At our event, there was the option to use a teleprompter. Some people effectively used the teleprompter and you could not tell that they were reading the speech, while others’ eye contact and enthusiasm suffered.
I decided to memorize the 13-minute speech to be on the safe side. I started by writing out the entire speech like an essay, editing it, and only starting memorizing it once I was 95% happy with the content. I then went one paragraph at a time: memorizing the first paragraph, then the second, then repeating the first and second together, then memorizing the third, repeating all three paragraphs together, then continuing. I practiced like this just before going to sleep and just after waking up for about ten days (doing it at those times helps with memory), after which I could confidently deliver the speech without notes.
One thing I quickly noticed is that my “essay writing” style was written in a different way than the way I naturally speak. I rewrote some overly-formal sentences into the way I might actually say it in a conversation. This helped memorization tremendously, as the speech truly felt like I was portraying my own thoughts and ideas, not reading aloud someone’s essay.
4] What was the buildup to the event like?
The organizers hosted three rehearsals before the event. I took full advantage of these, using them as personal milestones to reach different levels of comfort with my speech. I received some great advice from the other speakers at these rehearsals which helped perfect the final talk. It was valuable for me to see the other speeches evolve as well; some speakers completely overhauled their talks between the first rehearsal and the last.
I advise using your rehearsal time to mimic the event as closely as possible. A last-minute change I made after the final dress rehearsal was switching the background color of the slides from blue to black, because the screen it was being projected on was black. This made the slides less distracting and kept the audience’s focus on what I was saying. This may seem like a small change, but changes like these add up – and the only place to catch them is rehearsals!
5] How was your experience on the day of the event?
I wasn’t too nervous when I was driving to the venue. However, when I arrived, saw the setup, and noticed my fellow speakers anxiously pacing and mumbling their speeches, my own nerves started kicking in. It finally sunk in – I was about to give a real TEDx talk!
I stepped outside of the venue and rehearsed my talk twice in front of a brick wall just before delivering it live. The first of these run-throughs was atrocious; halfway through I completely lost my place. That certainly didn’t help my nerves. I did some deep breathing exercises, gave myself a pep talk, and had a great (much calmer) second run-through. I strongly advise practicing any major speech just before delivering it in order to warm up your voice, jog your memory, and rebuild your confidence.
After this, I re-entered the backstage area, relaxed during the speech prior to mine, and poured my heart out about capitalism. The only thing that I remember during the talk was that the lights were surprisingly blinding. They were coming from all directions, and I could barely see even the front row of the audience. These intense lights felt like staring into the sun when taking a 13-minute long photo.
After I said the first words, whatever nerves remained started to dissipate. I had practiced enough that the words flowed effortlessly from my mouth. I was relieved to be finished and enjoyed the remaining speeches after mine. I joined some of the speakers after the event for Blaze Pizza and was overall very happy with the day.
6] What’s your craziest story from the TEDx experience?
We’re all human, including TEDx speakers. Life still happens when you’re preparing for a speech, and I had a particularly crazy buildup to the event.
I was driving on the one-lane road to the final rehearsal (T-minus 24 hours to the event), fervently practicing my speech under my breath. That’s when the car in front of me sent a cyclist flying into the mountainside at 50mph. Panic set in. I slammed the brakes, barely stopping in time. Someone ran to the cyclist’s side as I called 911. I’ll never forget the image of the man lying barely conscious on the side of the road, blood gushing and legs disjointed. The ambulances took centuries to arrive.
And then… I still had to give a TEDx talk! The rest of the final rehearsal was honestly a blur. What I do remember is that I came in about thirty minutes late, and my hands were noticeably shaking for a while. I believe I gave an alright speech with minor stumbles, but my practice paid off and I was able to give the speech on autopilot.
I got home that night and mentally recuperated. It took some serious effort, but I managed to fall asleep and refocus on the talk the next morning. I woke up at 4AM (I’m an early riser), ran the speech a few times, and prepared the finishing touches on my outfit.
That’s when, at T-minus 12 hours, I burned my hand with a blazing hot iron. It hurt for a bit, but after the pain subsided, I noticed that the skin was starting to blister and puff up. As the day progressed, it got puffier and puffier. I don’t have any photos of it from during the talk, and I didn’t mention it to anyone (except the hair and makeup person; I asked her to put makeup on to try and conceal it, which didn’t help much). Here’s a photo of the scar 4 months later:
So, while you watch the recording of my TEDx talk, what you don’t hear is my brain bouncing around between “does the camera pick up the huge burn on my hand?” “I hope the biker is okay,” and “oh yeah, where was I? Stakeholder capitalism is great!”
7] What’s your single best piece of advice for giving a TEDx talk?
Don’t procrastinate. TEDx talks are a massive undertaking, and I personally overhauled the entire speech and memorized the whole thing. I ultimately was not too anxious as the date approached, because despite the drastic changes and wild circumstances, I still had enough time to get comfortable with the speech before delivering it. Your TEDx talk is important and it will stay on the internet forever, so start early and give yourself time to sit with it and perfect it.
8] How would you recommend promoting a TEDx talk?
I’ve tried various things to promote my TEDx talk. Here’s what I believe worked:
Tell Your Network – What do you say when you get asked “What have you been up to recently?” I usually mention the TEDx talk when I’m talking to my friends, family, and professional contacts. Before the talk was released on the internet, I told people that I would be delivering it and made a list of those who expressed interest. I sent the link out to each of the people on the list with a personal note, and encouraged them to share if they found it interesting. This drove many of the initial views.
Social Media – Post about the talk a few times on social media. You can get creative with your content; for instance, speaking about it on a podcast (I have a podcast episode coming soon!), posting a clip on your story, or writing a blog post 🙂
Email Signature – Put a link to the TEDx talk in your personal and company email signatures. If you link directly to the video, some email services have an awesome feature where the video automatically appears as an attachment to the email. This is super noticeable when emailing, and it’s definitely increased views. Check out my simple personal email signature:
9] If you could go back in time, what would you do differently?
I would have rehearsed more with the slides. I practiced my speech extensively, and knew what I was talking about like the back of my hand. But, at the second dress rehearsal, I realized that I had no recollection of when to flip the slides. After that, I tried as much as possible to practice going along with the slides while I was speaking, and by the final dress rehearsal I had a solid grasp of when to click the remote. As they say, practice like you play!
10] Do you think it was worth it, and why?
Absolutely. If you have a message that you are passionate about sharing, TEDx is a great outlet to do it. The reason why I put so much effort into the talk is that I want to effectively convey my ideas to anyone who watches the video or is sitting in the audience.
What makes it worth it is the people who watch the talk. I enjoy talking to people about the content of the speech. The first piece of feedback I got from a live audience member was that “the last three sentences gave [him] chills.” I was taken aback; I knew the speech was impactful, but I was so engrossed after 50 practice run-throughs that I hadn’t taken a step back to appreciate it. This attendee and I had a great conversation about capitalism afterwards.
Since the speech has been published on the internet, I’ve received comments from friends, acquaintances, mentors, idols, and total strangers. Some of these have been positive, and some negative, but both create great discussions. I have learned a lot since my talk from the insights of those who have watched it.
So, if you watch the talk, it would truly make my day if you shared your perspective with me by leaving a comment on the video, blog post, or contacting me.
Thanks for reading this blog post! View the TED Talk here or contact me.
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