On Coaching Speakers.
Some of the groups of speakers I coached in 2013.
This month I’ve been asked twice to orient / train / tell / brief people on how to coach speakers inside their companies. I’ve struggled with responding as I never like to say no, but in this case, it’s the only answer. I came to appreciate that I haven’t clearly articulated (pun intended) why I coach, how I coach and why I’m not ready to train others to do so – yet.
So let’s start here: I LOVE to coach speakers. It is my happy place, sweet spot and I’m in a professional nirvana when I get to do it. I was a speech communication major in college, I was a speechwriter for five or so years out of college, and my favorite moments since then have been when I’ve helped my associates and clients find their voice and tell their story. I also watch graduation speeches for fun demonstrating that I’m a true geek about it all.
That’s why I love to coach speakers. It’s who I am.
When I started to think about how WOULD I tell a client how to coach their own speakers, I started getting a pit in my stomach, clammy hands and a lump in my throat. Was it because I didn’t want to give up trade secrets? Or that I don’t want to give up the special relationship I get to have with every speaker – listening to vulnerabilities, coaching to strengths, celebrating the standing ovation. Maybe.
But as a professional communication trainer as well, I truly appreciate the diligence and discipline in developing the right curriculum for training someone to learn a new craft, like being a coach to speakers. Giving someone some basic feedback on how they delivered a talk that someone else wrote is one thing (i.e. look at the audience, talk slower, don’t pace). But taking that same person on a journey from not knowing what they are going to talk about, to developing a talk, supporting stories, working through the messes of revisions, getting them to practice and rehearse and at the end of it all – not letting them have a single note and no podium – is a different training. One I’ve not yet built out.
When I coach it is at the intersection of teaching, hand-holding, counseling, editing, criticizing, cheerleading, time-keeping, task-mastering, emotional modulating (my own!), re-directing and hours of pure authentic listening.
And I am working at a different intersection of their work demands, travel schedules, family commitments, confidence, content, delivery, expectations (their own and others), history of speaking, event theme, and well, idiosyncrasies.
Maybe it isn’t rocket science, but every time I have a new speaker, I’m challenged to pull the right tools together from that tool kit I’ve assembled and hope and pray they are the right ones for that speaker, for that event, for that audience, for that topic, for that level of confidence and most importantly, for that reputation on the line.
And I believe that my five years of working one-on-one with over 200 speakers has taught me that I’ve only just begun to understand what it takes to be a great coach. Let alone one that can turn over all of that experience and knowledge and in an hour or event afternoon, to teach someone else how to do it. In time, I’ll decide if I can translate the learning to a train-the-coach world-class training. In the meantime, the answer is sadly no.
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Lessons from the Front Row: What not to do in your TEDx talk
photo credit: TEDxColumbus 2013 and Time Tank Labs
It was five years ago this last winter that I applied for one of the first TEDx licenses. And apparently, I’m one of the few crazy enough get a 6th consecutive one. Our event has grown both in size and maturity, and it’s become a well anticipated event in Columbus each fall.
As we began choosing our speakers this year, someone asked me recently what were the moments when speakers really bombed? I can’t say that anyone really has – but I got to thinking: What were the behaviors that caused a speaker to “disconnect” with the audience?
So here they are: Lessons I learned from the front row (Where I sit every year). Several of the winning points are from my close speaker coaching relationships for some of our sister TEDx events.
1. Tell the audience you are funny. One speaker presented an idea he thought was hilarious but half the audience thought it offensive, rude and reprehensible. The other half did laugh. Had he let the audience conclude it was funny, it may have been more funny. But the tweets were brutal. He decided not to put the talk online.
2. Insert some content that isn’t yours. I had a speaker sign his release at the event and he put an asterisk on it “You may release my video but not the video within it.” Turns out that forbidden video demonstrated the essence, the mojo and the rip-your-heart-out story of why his idea was a rock star. Turns out that video wasn’t his property but someone else’s. While it used to be his, he had moved on but didn’t have rights to it. His talk, despite huge audience approval, also never got posted.
3. Be the smartest person in the room – among a lot of other freaking smart people. One speaker was invite to give a second TEDx talk. His first one was abysmal because he was the smartest guy in the room with 12 really big complicated ideas. My assignment from my colleague (another TEDx organizer) was to help him improve. After I realized he was the smartest guy in the room and didn’t need my help (he refused to engage in any coaching), we let him do what he wanted. So he gave his second talk all on his own. And…he had the same results. Boring stares, no shares. This old dog was not learning any new tricks.
4. Assume we know why YOU care. I asked a very talented speaker to simply give us a line about what gave him license to speak about his topic, which was fairly compelling and exceptionally well stated. His response “Haven’t you read my resume? Don’t you know who I am?” I re-stated it and gingerly asked, “Why do you care about this topic? What moment did you know this would be your life’s work?”…Because I am listening to you deliver a lot of interesting information but will walk away like I do at most restaurants. “Boy the food was good. But who knows what my waiter’s name was.”
5. Refuse to be vulnerable. One speaker was quick to point out all the mistakes in the world that everyone else had made in his draft talk, but protected sharing any mistakes he had made himself. I pointed this out to him and suggested he share a time when he failed and how he learned from it. He refused the advice and as a result, came across as arrogant, showy and preachy. The twitter sphere assured that few would click on his link when the talk was published later.
The TED Commandments and speaker coaching guidance includes the comprehensive list of what to aim for as a speaker. But I submit to you these five, of all the mistakes speakers make, will most quickly disconnect you with your audience, and subsequently, to a wildly successful talk.
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The alternative to a disconnected, canned, paid Keynote speaker
I just returned from Dallas and an annual conference for the 250 HR professionals within the Alliance Data family which includes Alliance Retail, Epsilon and Loyalty One Companies. I was invited to curate, coach and host a session called “Perspectives” involving 8 speakers (all associates within the enterprise) for the last day of the conference. Perspectives was inspired by TED platform of highly provocative, concise idea sharing and storytelling. The session was the highest rated by the participants last year that the organizers had no choice but to bring it back. Based on the feedback I got this from year’s session, the response seems to be the same – outstanding.
But why?
Simple. The real, resonating stories from associates who had passion, courage and the willingness to get a big message condensed into 10 minutes connected with every one of the 250 associates in one way or another. They were inspired, educated, energized and proud. Of the eight speakers, four of them addressed workplace issues such as success in a new campus recruiting program, an explanation of talent management, a plea for more mentors and how you CAN change careers. The other four but brought their personal experiences to the talks while weaving in how they impacted workplace performance and connection. They included overcoming deep seeded fear, fighting cancer, overcoming a chronic health issue and being inspired by a child to never give up. Everyone talked about how it offered a needed balance against the other content sessions on executive compensation, HR software updates, reorganization plans, recruitment trends.
The takeaway: A conference with pretty dry, strategic but important information to transmit desperately needs a human element. And while humans may present dry, strategic information in dynamic ways – those sessions don’t always bring a distinct point of view, passion or compelling, resonating stories. They could have spent these two hours on a closing motivational keynote speaker for-hire, but I don’t think any hired keynote would have gotten 10 standing ovations, which is what happened at this session.
I personally was honored to work so closely with the eight speakers and continued to apply and refine The Talk of Your Life methodology toward helping speakers craft, refine and deliver compelling talks without notes or a podium. The speakers themselves offered these comments to me after the conference, validating that this experience is as powerful for them as it is the audience:
Ruth, Thanks again for all your help in making the conference a huge success! The buildup from our people around the talks is just something I have not experienced. You’ve clearly help take our conference to a new level and I’m appreciative of your efforts to get us there. It was a great experience! – CH
Ruth, I can’t begin to THANK YOU for the opportunity to have worked with you! I’m sure you get this all the time but you are truly… truly AMAZING. The feedback I’m receiving really make me feel great and that I actually did this but only with your guidance! You are the best at what you do and I’m so blessed to have worked with you over the last month. – MS
Ruth, Thank you for your guidance and support preparing for my Perspectives talk! There was something incredibly therapeutic, empowering and freeing about sharing my story. The blessings keep on coming. – NT
Ruth, Thanks so much for the experience. It was great to work with you – I really appreciated all of your guidance and support. – CB
Ruth, thanks so much for your guidance and support through our talks. Personally, I couldn’t have done it without you! – DL
Contact Ruth at ruth (at) articulationinc.com to brainstorm how you can improve the experience for your conference or meeting participants.
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Jane’s Summer Playlist
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Jane Addison, my awesome summer intern, on her way to the University of Montana after graduating from Bexley High School. As a way for her to get oriented to great talks, I invited her to curate a “Summer Playlist.” Below is the outcome of her discoveries – I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
– Ruth
My summer playlist is both entertaining and inspiring. Any kid over the age of 10 would enjoy these talks (in other words, they are all PG – except preview the Seduction one to make sure it is okay (it isn’t about sex)!). Share this with the kids in your life as an alternative to TV or their IPADs. Okay, or let them watch them on their IPads! Enjoy!
– Jane
I really enjoyed this talk because Marco Tempest used his profession to capture the audience’s attention. Using his illusions, he made his talk effective and incredibly enjoyable to watch while taking the audience on a colorful and mind-blowing journey.
It is inspiring to see a young woman who not only has a successful website, but who is willing to get on stage and talk about why it is important. I like this talk because it is funny, interesting, truthful, and we are all “Still Figuring it Out.”
This talk is great because it is so disorienting yet so entertaining and brilliant.
This kind of talk is wonderful to see. Colin Stokes, as a father, obviously cares about Girl Power as well as Man Power.
I found this talk to be extremely impressive and inspiring. This fifteen year old, instead of using his computer for social media sites or online shopping, researched Google and Wikipedia to create a Low- Cost sensor to detect Pancreatic, Ovarian, and Lung cancer.
I LOVED this talk. It completely changed my view of gossip. Elaine Lui, a professional gossip, talks about how gossip helps her understand people and social behavior. Today’s gossip will be used in the future by people who are trying to understand what our society was like and I find that to be a fascinating.
I loved this video so much because it was so inspiring impressive, and fascinating. Jacob Barnett, now 14 years old, is a boy with Autism who was enrolled at Indiana University- Purdue University (IUPUI) when he was ten. I love this especially because he is living proof that Autism is not always a negative part of life, but can be a very wonderful part of life.
I really enjoyed this talk because it was funny, and straight forward. The concept on how to conserve paper towels is so simple, and he uses humor to prove his point.
I loved this talk because Chen Lizra was able to turn seduction, a word that is often thought of as a negative thing, into a technique that brings self- confidence and fearlessness of failing to everyday life. Seduction, if looked at positively, is a tool of pride and confidence and can lead to great success in life.
I liked this video because Birke Baehr, an 11-year-old, took a stand against genetically modified foods for kids. His talk was funny, simple, and impressive.
No CommentsThe journey to give a TEDx talk: A documentary.
After the first TEDxColumbus event in 2009 at the Wexner Center, I remember thinking the day after: why aren’t I doing more of “THIS?” This being helping speakers architect their story and find their voice. And deliver what I am now calling “The Talk of Your Life.” It is what lead me to create ar.tic.u.la.tion and the work I do every day.
Now, thanks to video producer Rich Bowers and his desire to follow the success of TEDxColumbus, the journey of two TEDxColumbus 2012 speakers and my passion for coaching people through this experience, we now have this awesome documentary. In a little over an hour, you’ll hear and see the pathway that Naomi Stanford and Jan Allen took on their way to the TEDxColumbus stage, and a lot of my ramblings on how I interpret the TEDx platform, preparation process and my coaching approach.
I’d like to personally thank Naomi and Jan for their participation and extra effort that went into this project. They allowed themselves to be vulnerable, transparent and authentic through each interview. It is my hope and goal that it becomes another valuable and insightful tool for future speakers to use to appreciate the successful ingredients to a wildly successful talk and experience.
Because as Jan said, “You come out of this process a different person than when you went in.”
And here are Jan and Naomi’s full TEDxColumbus talks:
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TED2013: The official download.
The TED2013 conference did not disappoint. My third TED conference, I watched it from the beautiful desert setting of Palm Springs and with the other attendees to TEDActive.
So. Which were my favorite talks? Let’s say I could not choose JUST ONE if you forced me. But I have categorized the ones I feel are worth sharing (once they eventually make it to ted.com). Before I get to those, I’ve come up with the top five types of talks (not based on subject matter) we saw. After all, my inner geek watched nearly every talk with an eye to deconstructing their structure but fortunately, only a few speakers were weak in their delivery. (Speaking of Speaker delivery, I was proud to have been interviewed during TED for this special TEDx post on how to prep your speakers, thanks TEDx!)
Here’s my top 5 list of types of talks for TED2013:
1. I’m going to change the world, dammit. This includes reforming our entire political system, designing a worldwide system for grassland grazing, redefining how non-profits are treated, re-designing an energy system, and making sure you never ever get hacked again.
2. Speak from my heart and rip out your heart (many with no or few slides). These were the personal, heart-wrenching, tear-jerking stories. Like escaping from North Korea, how I embraced my shake, facing the voices inside your head and sharing my passion for getting everyone to be kind in the world.
3. Let me reveal to you my inner geek. I’m going to make you love and laugh with me about the world’s largest prime number, why ducks need to be saved from window murders, and how I will re-design a way to use solar and nuclear energy together (not exactly but close).
4. Let me tap dance for you. The demonstrations of Baxter the robot, new technologies to help autistic kids communicate, how my open sourced architectural drawings work, and then a whole host of unbelievable performances from a yo-yo artist to a gorgeous symphony from East Congo.
5. Are you shitting me? talks. Including how an undercover journalist is tackling massive corruption in Ghana, grazing by herds of animals may be the only solution to re-claiming the natural grasslands and ultimately impacting climate change, how the world’s sanitary system is wildly outdated (okay I included that one in this category for the intended pun), and who knew we made so many consequential decisions in our twenties?!
These might be the general categories of talks every year — so if they are — then TED has done a great job of keeping us wildly engaged and thinking wildly.
Now, for the talks themselves. By the time I post this – or by the time you are reading it – who knows how many talks will be live. As of now (leaving Palm Springs on Friday at 2pm), only 3 were live. Remember, TED is a publisher so they’ll drip out the talks over the next weeks and months to keep us coming back to their site for more.
There were 25 talks out of the 70 that we saw that I will absolutely watch again and want to share. That’s not to say the other 45 aren’t worthy (well, I’ll get to that at the end) but these are the ones I liked most.
Architecture / Design / Creativity
Phil Hansen – The designer that started to have an uncontrollable shake in his hand had to embrace it in his art, and did so with grace and beauty. INSPIRING
Alastair Parvin – One of the best delivered and organized talks (I’ll say that about only 5-6 of them) has an open sourced system for sharing architectural drawings. MOTIVATING
Jim Sop Lee – A multi-sensory designer, the inner storyteller in me saw an internet application for the senses I try to inspire in my classes. THOUGHT PROVOKING
Michael Green – Michael wants to build skyscrapers made out of wood, something currently prohibited in the US. He makes a strong case how this is better for the environment than harmful to it.
Technology / Discovery
Young Richard Turere – Build a security system for his family’s farm in Africa out of scraps and pieced together with a wing and a prayer. HOPEFUL and CHARMING
James Lyne – Hopes that we all change our passwords often and not make dumb mistakes to get hacked. ACTIONABLE
Jack Andraka – The 15 year old wiz-kid has designed a $3 test for pancreatic cancer at the earliest stages. I wonder how many college scholarships he will get? ASTONISHING
Policy
Jennifer Granholm – The former Governor of Michigan opened the conference with a bold statement about the US energy policy and how we can finally have one. BOLD
Larry Lessig – The lawyer activist gets the award for the most slides using the most different font types. But his message was a much simpler one: Our political system is broken, period. He is also the first to use the word “TEDivism” – clearly a nod toward TED’s experimenting with impacting our US political system. EVEN BOLDER
Anas – The journalist in Ghana who has gone undercover to stop the killing of disabled or deformed babies, killings in prison and all sorts of other unconscionable corruption. MASKED
Language
John McWhorter – In his talk defining texting as an extension of our verbal language (not a bastardization of our written one) was when he said “We may talk like we write, but we certainly don’t write like we talk.” FABULOUS
Dan Pallotta – While his talk was about the horrible habit we have as not valuing non-profits for their potential scalability, it came down to one word: overhead. PROVOKING
Education
TED Prize winner Sugata Mitra – of course his talk will be worth watching. His wish for Self Organized Learning is creative and inspiring as an alternative way to educate. ASPIRATIONAL
Freeman Hrabowski – The president of a college in Baltimore, he’s shaken and stirred how black students can excel in the sciences. HOPEFUL
Environments
Steward Brand – He’s all about bringing back extinct animals through their kept DNA and cloning. One of those talks with an icea I HAVE NEVER CONTEMPLATED.
Allan Savory – The grassland guy. Another one, having lived in a city my whole life, the greatest grass issue we have is crabgrass. He took me somewhere I never knew existed. STRETCHED
Ron Finley – One of the most truthful, wholehearted talks about growing gardens in South Central LA. PRIMAL
Kees Moeliker – How could we not laugh at this serious museum curator who wanted to save ducks from killing themselves by flying into windows? WITTY
Entertainers
Amanda Palmer – So, she stole the show. The week. The tweets and the posts. AMAZING
Adam Spencer – He may be a radio personality, but he’s a math geek too. Self-depricating and HILARIOUS.
Personal / Life
Shane – The poet from the Canandia Olympics who produced a mesmerizing video about being bullied, performed the same script on stage. TEAR JERKING
Meg Jay – Makes the argument that 30 is NOT the new 20, but that the 20s have a set of life-changing consequences so make the decisions carefully. CONTEMPLATIVE
Daniel Reisel – His studies about prisoners and the ability to grow the empathetic system lodged in the amygdala sparked many chords. INTERESTING
Eleanor Longden – Her mis-diagnosis of schizophrenia lead her to manage the voices that did exist in her head, as a result of early childhood trauma. MESMERIZING
Jim Flynn – Begins to explain how access to technology and products has helped to grow our IQs. RELEVANT
Joshua Prager – His personal journey to meet the bus driver that left him a quadriplegic was beautiful and poetic. VULNERABLE
Orly Wahba – Her pursuit of spreading kindness was supported by a tear-inspiring video and spirited soul. GORGEOUS
And then a few Ooops!
Jordy – An artist and architect delivered a rambling mess of a talk, highly self-centered and barely acknowledge that the audience was in the room. ABSORBED
Lesley Perkes – An activist from South Africa wandered through her story only to admit to Chris upon leaving the stage she knew she went over. BRASSY
Christopher Ryan – When he opened with the words “I hope to be accomplished enough someday to be in the audience here at TED,” made me shut out the rest of his talk. And insecure arrogance will get you no followers. UNPRACTICED
That’s a wrap. And after I’ve read this list again, it is probably more for me than you – so I don’t forget all the goodness I’ve just digested amongst the brain warp that I’m feeling about now!
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Live from TED2013: My inner geek had a blast.
At the InsideTED Session at TED2013 with 5 other TEDx organizers.
At the InsideTED Session on Monday, six TEDx organizers (including myself, as you can see), were invited to share a few words about our TEDx experience. The one thing I didn’t get to say about it is, I always have FUN. I talked about how it inspired conversation, addressed a pent up curiosity in our city, motivated me to new heights and others to address new challenges. But it is in the thoughtful pursuit of ideas, knowledge sharing and curosity seeking that just makes all of this TED stuff fun.
Monday was no exception: We had to work in tandem with each other in the rhythmic execution of our lines, have TED Curator Chris Anderson throw us some last-minute curveballs during rehearsal, and engage the crowd to what became the only standing Ovation of the session. We were exhausted, we were proud, and since I’m a geek about these things, to me, it was a blast.
Chris Anderson and his wife Jacqueline Novogratz celebrating the successes of the TEDx movement at the InsideTED session at TED2013.
I ended my portion with a nod to my co-organizer, curator and confidant, Nancy Kramer, who was in the audience. I said we are looking forward to starting our planning for our FIFTH TEDxColumbus when we return next week from TED2013. We are quietly proud of our longevity together, the growth of the event and what it has done to influence the cultural fabric of Columbus, a city we both love. Here’s to TEDxColumbus 2013 on October 11!
No CommentsBefore and After: Ariel Garten
Ariel Garten, CEO of Interaxon Computing, delivered a TEDxToronto talk in 2011 to great reviews (top video), including 250,000 views on TED.com. She was invited to speak at TEDxSanDiego in December, 2012 where we worked with her on the “re-do” of her talk (below) which was to be 6 minutes shorter with a tighter opening, story arc and transitions. See if you can tell the difference, and which talk resonates with you more.
No CommentsThe Talk of Your Life.
Which way do you read that?
The TALK of your life.
or
The talk of your LIFE.
I want to talk about both.
In coaching speakers toward a major talk – i.e. a Keynote address to 1000, a major presentation and of course, many TEDx talks – I have seen a recurring theme as one of the outcomes. Many, if not all, as a result of preparing the talk of their lives change the talk of their lives.
“I have not taught the same way since I delivered that TEDx talk in 2011,” reported Dr. Maryanna Klatt, a professor at The Ohio State University.
So what can be learned about how we prepare, organize, sequence and deliver our more casual deliveries of messages from the times that we have to stand at the podium with blaring lights in our faces, headsets taped to our cheeks and an audience of people expecting to be engaged. Even if you never have a chance to delivery that “platform” speech, you will more deeply understand what speakers like Maryanna experienced to apply to your own everyday deliveries.
In this series I hope to tease out many lessons I have learned over the last few years from my clients and TEDx speakers. I have read most (if not all) the books on presentation skills, public speaking, storytelling, but I have yet to find one that anchors from the point of view of the speaker him or herself. As I collaborate with dozens and dozens of individuals in helping them find their voice, their content and their story for the talks of their lives, I hope to reveal insight about mindset, organization, structure, story curation, practice and delivery that others can learn from.
I’m thrilled to have the collaboration of Rich Bowers who last year, during TEDxColumbus, built an archive of video footage for a documentary of a few speakers working their way through the TEDx pathway — from being selected to actually presenting. We expect to do the same again this year to compare with last year’s findings. We wanted to better understand what it took to prepare for this Talk of their Lives. Stay tuned for the findings. They may surprise you.
From the collaboration with Rich in addition to a host of data I’ve collected from my own ongoing clients, I hope to produce a useful series of posts that will help anyone prepare for any talk. Many of these topics I have blogged about for the last few years, but hope to sequence and relate to you, the speaker, in the order you need them. And the expectation is that it may change the way you change every talk you give in your life, not just the TALK of your life.
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Dear Amanda Palmer :
Congratulations for being chosen to speak at TED. You posted in your blog that you were full of terror about this experience. I thought I’d offer you a little more than a blog comment about my advice (since you asked for all of our advice). I’ll be speaking at TED in Long Beach on Monday night at 5pm with 5 other TEDx organizers from around the world, showcasing what we’ve collectively done in the last 4 years (5000 events, 20000 talks, not much really). So if you like this advice below you can thank me then.
I’ve compiled the top points I think apply to you and your delightfully crazy state of being. This advice comes from coaching TEDx speakers for four years now — and trust me, some of them started with the same level of terror you have.
1. Per TED Speaker Amy Cuddy, fake it until you believe it.
Or in my words, act like you have been there, done that before. You have been on a stage. With people in the audience. And you have uttered words and more to them. You have been recorded. You have had lights blinding you. A headset taped to your face. You have worried about what to wear. So calm down about it and act like this is something you do every day. I know it isn’t, but once you envision all those pieces you have done and can do — the rest will come a bit easier. (promise).
2. Stop taking advice on the content of your talk — for just a moment.
Be alone with your own thoughts. On a walk, in the shower, away from everyone. Work on revealing what insight you have against your one idea. Yeah, yeah, we know you have a huge freaking gallery of work to bring to the stage — but we only are there to hear one of your masterpieces. And hear a provoking point of view (like Chip Kidd brought us from his crazy wardrobe) about it that we won’t forget. Ever.
3. Ask yourself, when you are alone hopefully, what was the one moment when….i was most inspired. most proud. most scared.
Use those answers as a curatorial process for stories you can share that help to reveal the insight against your idea. Remember — we want to hear stories that visually transport us. That evoke our senses, emotions. We do not want to hear a sermon. Bryan Stevenson told the best story of TED 2012 when his grandma told him never to drink. And as a 50-something, he admitted he had heeded her advice.
4. Make love to your Iphone or other smart-ass phone with the “voice memos” ap.
Record yourself. Listen. Transcribe. Record again. You will be in disbelief a) how horrible you sound at first and how much listening to yourself will improve your game.
5. Plan to rehearse in front of a few diverse audiences BEFORE you leave for TED.
Sure, you’ll have a rehearsal with Chris, Bruno or June when you get to Long Beach — but its gonna go better if you show up prepared. I agree with the one hour for every minute formula. But then That way, you can take your gorgeous talk or performance and just let it melt into the stage and set. As opposed to knocking the set over when you arrive because of all the baggage you’ve brought with you — since you didn’t know how to pack it tight. Your message, that is.
6. Don’t try to be like anyone else’s talk.
Be authentic and yourself. But DO remember not to say the word “TALK” in the first sentence. As in “In my talk today I’m going to…” Meh. Practice like hell your opening story or hook that involves us (the audience, don’t forget about us); and make sure to end on a very specific call to action ending (like Susan Cain nailed). It will help to make sure you DO finish and on time. As most seasoned speakers will tell you — getting in and getting out of your talk is the hardest part. So make those parts damn bulletproofed.
7. And don’t do these things. My top list of pet peeves from TED 2012.
Best of luck to ya. Break a leg.
Ruth Milligan
Columbus, Ohio
TEDxColumbus Organizer
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