Liam spoke at TEDx Monaco.  His talk was titled “What’s really killing us?” I asked him to share what he learnt from his experience. 

- Corina Roobeck

Lets start with how did you get invited to TEDx?

Through networking in Monaco and helping out the University with their MBA students. The TEDx team appreciated what I stood for and wanted to hear more so when they were looking for speakers my name came up.

So overall how was it?

It was a great collaborative experience with lots of moments of collective intelligence.  I  found alternating having time alone to reflect and then working with others to review and refine was a great combination for me.  From a whole person perspective - listening to my gut was important - I got feedback that I used and some I rejected.  Overall things flowed and it was fun.  That's the power of embarking on a new adventure, you have no experience so everything is unknown, you need to learn to swim - fast!

What was the best thing you did to prepare?

I used 4 different groups to practice my presentation and to give me feedback.  The first group was an audience who were new to the topic - my kids and close friends.  I used about 10 people overall.  I wanted to know how it 'felt' and what were the messages they picked up.  The second group were content experts who were able to give me feedback on congruence and how to say things more effectively.  Next, I had 2 sessions with TEDx coaches. Whilst there was not much input on the content, it was great to know that from a TEDx audience perspective they got it, so I felt more confident I was on target.  Finally I used 2 external communication coaches who were really useful.  They helped me to tighten up the key messages adding power and preciseness.  I would use the same structure again.

Is there anything you would you do differently?

More Practice.  The TEDx recommendation is to practice at least 100x.   I went through it only  about 30x due to my schedule  - speaking at the Leadership for Life conference in Prague the day before, and writing a book at the same time.  I felt I missed out on 1 or 2 paragraphs when I was on stage and I was a little bit more nervous than I thought I would be.  I could tell I was nervous because my mouth was quite dry!

Anything else?

Just before the event I downloaded a teleprompter app to use on my iPad.  It was cool and really useful.  So using it earlier in my preparation would have been helpful.  It allowed me to practice keeping my attention on the audience while reading in the privacy of my own home.   On stage you can see your slides but if you want to stay connected to the audience you really need to memorise your material.  After the event I had a new found respect for screen actors!!

How was it on the day?

I had a few technical issues to deal with  - When it was my turn to speak I realised that I wasn’t wired up with a microphone.  The audio guy was focused on supporting the speaker on stage so I sat there knowing I was going to need to act really fast to get the mic on without delaying the event.  They were super professional and I was mic'ed up in a flash - it just looked like I was all planned to the audience.

Then the sound wasn’t turned on properly so there was a one minute delay, which in TEDx is like gold, because you only get 15 min.  So I was mentally working out how to cut down on a minute by deleting one paragraph.  Afterwards they said it would have been ok to go over time, but I didn’t want to impact the other speakers or the audience, so I sped up a little.  

Finally, the slide changer was playing up all day.  The speakers before me all had problems, and even thought they changed it twice the issue was determined to persist!   I was prepared, so it didn’t put me off, and it allowed me to joke a little - but it did slow things down a little more.

I think because I do a lot of workshops and speaking, I felt very natural and connected to audience, still It was hard to see them at the start due to the angle of the spotlights, but as I got used to it, I could see the audience was responding.  Getting feedback in the moment is essential, if your audience is not responding, it can leave you feeling a little unnerved.

When I stepped off stage I felt very clear and present. Quite meditative. Totally immersed in the experience.  It felt like the feeling I had when I first skied a difficult slope and made it down in one piece - a 

What are the three key learnings you got from this experience?

• From a message perspective, how to get down to as few key messages as possible.  I started with six and ended with 3, and it seemed to be a magic number.  Lots of people afterwards could recall at least 2 if not all 3 of the key messages.  I had 3 messages and 3 supporting pieces for each.   Once I had the structure right it was to really own the messages. Only use messages that you really believe in and have experienced.  It amplifies the power of the words.  Humour is also a great recall for the audience. I was the only speaker that used self-deprecating humour.  It got a laugh and helped people remember me and the talk.
• To make more time for practice, and for me, use the 
• Creating the book (cleaningourwater.com) and giving it away as a gift was a great support tool for the talk and it really bought the content of the talk alive in a practical way.  It was super challenging to write a book in 10 days, but I had the whole team behind me and we worked in daily sprints - it was actually an amazing example of collective intelligence.

Any final thoughts to share?

I think everyone has a message inside them and there is a myth out there that you have to be famous or super smart or a speaking guru - you don't.   There really is no such thing as 'ordinary' - unless you make it so.  We all have amazing stores and ideas inside.  Sure there are skills to learn, but anyone can learn them, it may take one person longer than 

Interview with Liam Forde, CEO and founder of The Zone by Corina Roobeck, @LiamFordeZone