How to Get Your TED Talk Banned: Free book serialisation, Part 4

This book tells the story of how doing an 11-minute TED talk changed my perspective of myself and other people, almost got me slammed up in jail, and could have cost me my job.?

Let Battle Commence

I thought about where else I could gather support in the hope that Harrison and Jane might change their position. Small towns have their advantages and I happened to know the sponsorship contacts at the two main companies that sponsored the event. I decided to write to them as well, asking for their support.

Still with no word from Jane and Harrison directly, a few days later I received a call from one of the TEDxBasel volunteers, who happened to work in the same building as me. We met for a coffee and she kindly offered to act as a mediator, as she had seen that tempers had flared on both sides. She asked me not to contact anyone else while she attempted to find a mutual agreement.

On her advice, I wrote to Jane:

Dear Jane,

I understand that you met with?[TEDxBasel volunteer]?following the conversation I had with her yesterday. She requested a "ceasefire" for a few days while you reconsider your decision, to which I agreed.?

I refute strongly your assertion that I have been a "poor ambassador for TEDxBasel" when I gave you nothing but my full support for the event and encouraged others to do the same. I would be interested to hear on what grounds you make this assertion.?

I still await the results of the audience survey, which I have requested from you previously. It would be interesting to see how my talk was received by them, and if the survey shows any compelling reasons not to publish. Other extremely popular TED talks contain language stronger than the word I used, so your view doesn't appear to be shared by TED itself.?

As you reconsider your decision, I would like to refer you to the published TEDx rules, which state that event teams must upload videos of every talk.?

If you still decide not to publish, I would insist that you provide me with a video of my talk that I can publish myself.??

I look forward to hearing from you before Thursday next week.?

Regards,

Peter Sandbach

I had checked the TEDx rules on the TED website, which stated that “event teams?must upload videos of every talk from their event […]?unless the content is in violation of our content rules.” The content rules forbid anything “commercial, no pseudoscience or anything inflammatory from a political or religious perspective”. They say nothing about the word “bullshit” or any other profanity for that matter.

The rules also state: “If an organizer chooses to withhold a talk, they are fully responsible for informing TED staff and then for communicating the reasoning of their actions to the speakers.”

Two weeks later I finally received an e-mail response from Jane. She said that they had never viewed the situation as a battle, and had no reason to engage in one. She reiterated that she stood by her decision, which she made based on the information she had. Then she finished by saying that TED rules state that third parties are not allowed to publish talks and that permission is required to use other’s content and ideas.

I tried several times to call Jane but she didn’t pick up my calls or return my messages. So I called Harrison from a landline number he wouldn’t have recognised, he answered, somewhat startled, and agreed to meet me.

If it hadn’t been clear before, it was now clear to me that they were not going to be particularly open to discussion. They were both teachers, I had disobeyed them, and now I had to be punished.

It was time to take matters into my own hands.

Fighting the Good Fight

While I took a week’s holiday and tried to forget this whole business, I sent the download I had of the live-streamed version of my talk to a friend in the film industry who did a couple of nips and tucks to make it look professional. He also blurred out the TED logo on all the shots. At the same time, another friend set up a YouTube channel for me.

On my return, I met with Harrison at a café in Basel. I asked if he wanted a drink and he declined. So I fired away with the three questions I’d prepared:

“Will you publish my talk?”

“No”, he replied.

“Why not?”

“Because you broke the rules.”

“Your rules”, I reminded him, knowing that we were both aware that the TED organisation would have accepted a bleeped bullshit.

“Yes, our rules”, he replied. “You broke our rules, you were disloyal, and you were a poor ambassador to TEDxBasel.”

My final question: “Is there anything that can happen now to make you reconsider your decision?”

“No”, he said firmly.

I stood to leave. “In that case”, I told him, “there’s nothing left to discuss. One more thing: if you think I’ve been a poor ambassador for TEDxBasel so far, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

I walked away briskly, quivering with frustration and an anger I’d had a difficult job to prevent from turning into a painful punch in the face for this man. After all, I grew up in Winsford, Cheshire, a town in the North of England where it’s so rough, every pub has two bouncers on the door throwing people?in.

But walk away I did, and behind me I heard him call “Peter! Peter! Do I have to warn you?” Firmly biting my lip, I looked straight ahead and carried on walking.

Later that week, I received a mass e-mail from TEDxBasel proudly announcing that the first talks from the event were available on the official YouTube channel. I took a look and they had done an excellent job of seamlessly editing the best shots of the other speakers, without a hesitation, missed word, or stumble in sight.

I decided that now was the time to let the world enjoy my TED talk as well. I sent the YouTube link to my edit of the live-streamed version (minus TED logo) to everyone I knew, accompanied by the message that “due to a disagreement with the TEDxBasel organisers” I had been forced to publish this myself. I published the link on LinkedIn and Facebook. In the first three days, my talk had been viewed more than 3,200 times.

I was overwhelmed by the positive responses I received, many from people I’d not heard from for several years, some from people I’d trained, from fellow trainers, speakers, journalists, and some from business leaders and CEOs I’d worked with.

Once I’d stopped blushing from all the accolades and messages of support, a message arrived that made me stop, think, and remember someone who had greatly influenced me but had lost his battle with cancer several years ago.

The lead story in my talk was about a former boss of mine, Stephen Smith, who had been CEO of a seed company in the UK at the time when the public debate about genetically modified crops was raging. I was his communications person and our company was the only one with genetically modified crops in the ground in the UK at that time. Even though he was a business leader, Stephen had an uncanny way of connecting with people and talking about the science and the issues around this topic on a level that normal folk could understand. It was Stephen who had ignited my passion for plain talking in business and it was my experience with him that featured in my talk.

I knew he had three sons and I wanted to share my talk with them so I sent the link to someone I thought might know them. She told me that she had forwarded my message and I was so pleased that Stephen’s sons might receive a reminder of what an inspirational man their father was.

A couple of days later I was touched to receive an e-mail from one of Stephen’s sons, Luke. He told me that my talk was a pleasure to watch, despite my Gloucestershire accent needing some work. He wished me luck and signed off with “Godbless”, the way Stephen always used to end his phone calls to me in his unmistakable accent.

Someone else I’d worked closely with on the genetically modified crops issue was a brilliant communicator from Canada, Sheena Bethell, who had been based in Basel for many years. Sadly, she also lost her fight with cancer a few years ago.

I received a mail from her husband:

Hi Peter,

I was thinking of Sheena when I saw your talk, as I know she had quite some admiration for Steve Smith...even if his style was quite different from Sheena's!?The world still feels a poorer place without them. However, I think it is great that we have the opportunity to continue their legacies, in our own ways.?I'm sure they were both smiling, and laughing, with your talk.

Take care,

Brian

The fact that the stories I used in my talk were stirring fond memories of great people among the people they loved made my maverick decision to self-publish all worthwhile.

To be continued tomorrow...