Hoping To Give a TEDx Talk? 6 Steps To Developing a Powerful Talk and Readying Yourself for Success

Part of Kathy Caprino's series "Thought Leadership and Impact"

Just this week, I heard from an individual who wants to create and deliver a TEDx talk, but has some key questions about the topic and approach. In particular, he wondered if the idea for the talk and the "framing of it" was big enough in scope.

Over the years, I've heard from a numbers of people who also dream of giving a TEDx talk, and have lots of questions about the key message, format, approach and more. This week's question got me thinking again about my experiences giving a TEDx talk and some big lessons I learned.

For many years, I dreamed of delivering a TEDx talk, especially after watching some of my favorite TED and TEDx speakers like?Shawn Achor,?Cheryl Hunter,?Brené Brown, and?Amy Cuddy?create a huge sensation with their presentations. And in seeing new TEDx speakers like?Kristen Pressner?share a quick but intensely powerful message that has the ability to change in a second how we think and behave, I was excited to try to do the same.

Back in 2016, I had the opportunity to speak at the TEDxCentennialParkWomen event (thanks to leadership expert Henna Inam, the organizer of that event in Atlanta, and an inspiring leader I've had the pleasure of interviewing and knowing) and it was a true game-changer for me. Mustering the bravery to even believe I could this was one thing. But then engaging in the rigorous process of honing a teachable message into a 15-minute memorized talk -- and crafting it in a way that could (hopefully) move people forward in their lives -- was daunting and, honestly speaking, very scary to me.

The topic I chose was “Time To Brave Up,” and it shared what my coaching work and research had uncovered about the need for professional women to exponentially expand their bravery, confidence, and internal and external power if they wanted to achieve their highest visions and goals. And it offered some key steps to building that needed confidence and power.

Since that time, I've developed a new framework called The Most Powerful You which emerged from my research and book by the same name. I'm focused intensively now on teaching and training how to close the 7 most damaging power gaps that negatively impact a staggering 98% of women and 90% of men globally, keeping them from reaching their highest, most thrilling goals and potential in their work.

But back in 2016, as I was in going through a two-month process of preparing for the TEDx talk, and in the months and years before being invited to speak, I experienced six eye-opening lessons that were instrumental in readying me for embracing experiences that stretched me beyond my comfort zone.?These lessons also helped me understand more clearly what matters most to me personally, how I may see the world perhaps a bit differently from others in my field, and how those different views and insights might be helpful to others.

Below are the six lessons I’ve learned that I hope will help you on your path to the TEDx stage and other exciting new ventures.

#1: Determine the most essential, core message you want to share, and why and how that would help others.

The single most challenging part of this experience was trying to determine -- out of all the material I'd learned over my 35+ year career -- the ONE core message I wanted to share. And how could I ever distill it down to 15 minutes??You might as well have asked me to scale Mount Everest.?I struggled so hard with this because I've created a lot of content in the past, and choosing just one key issue that could be covered sufficiently in a very brief time felt daunting. But in the end, I found it.

So, how can we discover that one core message that we want to share with the world now?

Tip:? Think about everything you do in your work or life, every single day. Pull the viewfinder back and ask yourself:

? What are the major common themes of all this activity? In all of this, what am I really trying to create, achieve and impart?

? If I had to stop doing everything today except one thing, what would I choose to do?

? Of everything I’ve ever learned, what’s the single most important lesson that I wish I had learned 20 or 30 years ago, that's critical to share now?

? Of everything I see around me, what’s the one biggest impediment to success and happiness that I see?

? What do I stand for at the most fundamental level? What do I care most about and strive for, over and above everything else?

And most importantly, if you could elevate and expand this message and teaching to be about other people and not just you -- to create a framework that would be helpful to thousands of others -- what would that be?

Then, put your responses together to help identify what you want the world to know in terms of what you’ve learned in your life, in a way that will move them forward towards what they want.

#2: To make a difference in your niche, don’t just go with your opinion.

From my view, the most powerful and popular TED talks are grounded in some form of research – not just someone’s opinion. These talks share findings and ideas that are formed through a keen, well-developed understanding of who we are at a more macro level than just the individual. To do that, we need to be a student of our area of expertise or field, researching and studying deeply an area that involves how humans operate and why. Some people are brilliant writers, storytellers and philosophers and don’t need research to reveal the basic workings of humanity in a new way. But most of us can’t glimpse the deepest realities and realizations just by looking at our own experiences and thoughts.

That’s where research comes in. Personally speaking, both qualitative and quantitative research have changed everything in terms of how I look at the professional challenges that women around the world are commonly facing, and how to bring new solutions, strategies and ideas to the table that could help them address and overcome those problems.

Tip:? Have you conducted any form of research around your big idea, or is it just your personal opinion? If no research has been done, I’d highly suggest conducting some research (both qualitative and quantitative) with your niche and community, to test out your hypotheses and also to expand the way you’re thinking about the key challenges and the solutions.

When I conducted my very first study back in 2006 about how women overcome professional crises, I found that over 50% of my original hypotheses about the topic were incorrect. Research helps us understand more clearly what’s going on, reduces the chance that our own biases will taint our understanding, and teaches us how to address the challenges in ways that will help a larger group of people, not just people like us.

And today, there are so many free or affordable survey tools (such as Typeform which I use), polls and other means of collecting data, that we all can become researchers and learn more about the issues and topics that deeply matter to us.

#3: Say what you want to say, but differently from the ways others say it.

Another step we need to take to be ready to share our big idea is to ensure that it’s truly our own idea, honed through our own way of conceiving and articulating it.

In interviewing many authors, writers, and experts in my blogs and podcast, I’ve seen that the writers and speakers who achieve the largest, most loyal following are those who are saying something fundamentally important yet doing it in their own, unique voice and language – with fresh new categorizations, patterns, characterizations and descriptions. They help us see what is right in front of us but in startling new ways we just never noticed or understood before.

On the other hand, we also see people who are just regurgitating other people’s ideas, without a fresh spin. Yes, it’s vitally important to build on the pioneers and thought leaders who came before us. But to make an impact, you need to present your critical ideas and messages in your own, distinct voice and language, seeing new connections that others before you hadn't, in order for your ideas to be memorable and have “stickiness.”

Tip:? Write down all the core messages you want to share, then take a step back and re-read what you’ve written. And get a number of trusted advisors to review it as well. Is it fresh, new, different? Is it something we could read in 100 other books or articles, or is it truly unique to you in how you’re seeing and articulating the idea, and how you uniquely relate to the world?

Does it give us new thought connections we’d never considered? If it’s not new, then go back the drawing board and dig deeper. Conduct more research or examine what you’ve learned again for new, revealing trends that even you hadn’t seen before.

#4: Know the necessary ingredients for a dramatic, memorable story.

To develop a dramatic, powerful story that leaves people changed is no small feat. It requires an understanding of what great stories entail. Leading presentation experts like Nancy Duarte have studied the most powerful and memorable talks of our time to find that there is a consistent arch – with riveting story ingredients and "archs" – in these talks that make them so stirring and impactful.

From Martin Luther King Jr. to Abraham Lincoln to Steve Jobs, riveting thought leaders and speakers show us a vision of the world that we long for and then show us what has to happen to get there, with powerful examples, illustrations and thought-bending language and images.

Tip: Before you craft your talk, learn more about what makes a powerful story, and make sure to incorporate those critical elements in your own talk. (Check out Nancy Duarte’s great TEDx talk The Secret Structure Of Great Talks, and read more about compelling presentations here. And hear Nancy discuss how to explain data and inspire action through story.)

#5: Visualize yourself giving your talk successfully, and knocking it out of the park. And practice, practice, practice.

Visualizing in great detail an outcome that you want is a powerful tool and technique, and it works.? As Shakti Gawain states in her internationally bestselling book Creative Visualization,

The process of change does not occur on superficial levels, through mere “positive thinking.” It involves exploring, discovering and changing our deepest, most basic attitudes toward life. That is why learning to use creative visualization can become a process of deep and meaningful growth.

I’ve found that creative visualization can help us attain our goals in a new way, helping us unlock and overcome what may be blocking us unconsciously from achieving our goals.

Tip: Check out Creative Visualization and give the exercises and strategies a try for your TEDx talk.? Visualize yourself giving an amazing, impactful talk and having it meet with great success. What happens when the talk lands powerfully with the audience? What do you feel and see in front of you and around you. Use all your senses. When you visualize great success, you’ll see results that will move you forward in ways you never imagined.

In addition, hitting a home run with your TEDx talk requires a great deal of practice. Write it, learn it, then master it. Record yourself delivering, then watch it numerous times. Practice in front of numbers of people, and gatherings of friends and colleagues. Ask for honest, open critique. You don't have to take all the critique to heart (in fact, be careful what you do take in and only ask for help from people who support you and believe in you completely.) And also feel free to get some support from a presentation expert who can give you helpful feedback that will make your talk stronger.

#6: Finally, let go of your attachment to perfection and your need for praise.

I’ve written a great deal about perfectionist overfunctioning (I’m a recovering perfectionistic overfunctioner myself) – which is chronically doing more than is necessary, appropriate and healthy and trying to get an A+ in all of it.

Perfectionism is the death of peace and the death of bravery and it will stop you from stretching into critically important areas for your growth, because you're deathly afraid to "fail."

Especially in situations like these where you want to bring yourself forward on a world stage, it’s critical to let go of your dreaded fear of not being perfect or "worthy enough." That core need to be perfect stunts our growth and brings pain and disappointment with it. It will also keep you from moving out of the starting gate towards those goals and visions you care about most.

And we have to give up our attachment to the good opinion of others. If you’ve offered your messages up in a big way, and done the work to hone your helpful messages, you’ll have fans and you’ll have detractors.

After all, if no one is disagreeing with us, we're probably not sharing anything of real value or depth.

Given all the factors that are involved in delivering a live talk today, and needing to do it in 15 short minutes, with all the technology involved, a lot can go wrong.? Know that, and let go of perfect. Do your best, and know that your best will be great enough.

Tip: If you’re a struggling perfectionist, don’t let your driven fears stop you from being brave and putting yourself out there as a TEDx speaker. Work on your message, practice and and hone it. (And practice it for a shorter duration than the 15 minutes allowed because once you’re on stage with a live audience, your talk will take longer).?Visualize and feel down to your toes your amazing experience of knocking it out of the park.

Then share with everyone you know that you’d love to give a TEDx talk, and believe that you’re ready for it.

To learn more about becoming a TEDx speaker, click here. And for upcoming TEDx events, visit https://www.ted.com/tedx/events.

To build your unique thought leadership, join me in a Thought Leadership Development coaching program. And if you're a professional coach, check out the upcoming International Coach Federation "Business Growth Development Series" program in February. I join host William Arruda and coach Hélène Thériault to discuss “Brand Your Process: Document and Articulate Your Intellectual Property." Learn more about how to build and leverage your thought leadership to expand your coaching impact, programs, services and your ultimate success.